Finally a GL-1200 owner...

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DaveKamp

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2017
Messages
563
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Location
Argo, Ia
After owning a CX500D for 29 years and over 350,000 miles, I finally got the handlebars of a GL-1200 in my paws. I rode it about a quarter of a mile prior to driving it up on the trailer, and just got it home a few hours ago.

:hi: I'll be in for some learning curve time over the next few days, but I've already been lurking and reading tech articles.

Thanks to all who contributed!
 
Welcome! If you got 350k out of a cx500, I'll be interested to see what the 1200 will do for you!

I have a soft spot for the 1200 myself - I put about 20,000 miles on an '84 Aspencade, but I sold it a couple of years ago. It has a few idiosyncrasies that the rest of the 1200s don't share. Starter, shift lever and ignition pulsers immediately come to mind.

Great place here to do a deep dive into the Goldwing world.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=189984#p189984:1n5rei2y said:
desertrefugee » Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:42 pm[/url]":1n5rei2y]
Welcome! Great place here to do a deep dive into the Goldwing world.

The BEST!

Welcome to the fun!

oh yeah, If you've been lurking you already know we want pics. :yes:

~O~
 
Welcome to the fun, :hi: 84's the red headed stepchild of the 1200 bunch. :read: But being the last of the standard's, as well as the first year of the 1200's makes them a transition bike, :roll: using up all the n o s 1100 motor parts. :salute:
 
:whip: Slavedrivers!

Actually, that's EXACTLY what happened... well... sorta... I rode it to work every day for the last two weeks, so y'know...

Anyway, here's my impressions:

First, for being such a big beastie, it handles incredibly well, and for the most part, it's smooth. Irimajiri-San did a really nice job on the basic plan, and those that followed, carried through nicely with the drivetrain. With exception of footpeg (specifically, my left foot fouling in the left cylinder bank) and the right footpeg (pedal surface being right where my foot wants to be in 'rest' position) the positioning is excellent. Suspension is crisp, even with no pressure in front or rear. Passenger on back is unnoticeable in any way (of course, my passengers aren't big and heavy, but still). Power? Plenty. Everywhere. I like it.

Now, for this particular unit, I've got somet things to address:

First, #1 cylinder has a pretty incessant miss at low speed. It wakes up immediately upon rolling in plenty of throttle, and also if I crack the enrichener (choke) control a bit. When it's getting fuel, it purrs like a kitten on all four cylinders, but when not, that front right side drops out, and the IR thermometer says EXACTLY which one it is. I've lifted plug wires, and yep, it's #1.

I'm hearing a slight tapping noise that sounds like it might be in close proximity to the miss... so I MIGHT have something going on in the valvetrain that's causing this... and of course, it may be that it's totally unrelated, and my problem might just be a speck of something insoluable stuck in a low-speed jet. Considering how smooth it gets, and the quantity of torque available when I grab a handful of fun, I don't think there's something seriously wrong with the cylinder... but I'm entirely open to suggestions.

Next... the left handgrip is clicking to beat heck... after doing some reading, it's clearly the turn signal cancelling solenoid. I can start the engine, back it out of a parking space, and the darned thing is bangin' away. When I turn the signal on, it clicks and cancels sometimes,and sometimes not. Sometimes I'll be sitting at a T-intersection, not moving the bars, and it'll cancel sigs two, three, four times... and sometimes not at all. Sometimes I'll be driving along with no turn signals in use for a long time, and it'll start clicking like crazy... Henceforth, I figure that the controller has either lost sanity, or there's a very unique wiring fault. I'll probably just disconnect power to the cancelling solenoid and cancel them by hand, the old fashioned way.

The stereo doesn't work... turn it on and it powers up, but barely any discernable audio quality in what comes out the speakers, it's distorted, weak, and useless. I'll probably get an aftermarket marine-environment AM/FM/media unit (like the Infinity PRV-250 https://www.crutchfield.com/p_822PRV250 ... l?tp=61742 and a Millenia remote control https://www.crutchfield.com/p_822HBREM/ ... HBREM.html ) and then fit in a good helmet bluetooth system to link my phone, the stereo, a HAM radio, and mebbie GPS)... but for the meantime, I plan on probing the connector and seeing if I can hard-wire in audio from my cellphone's headphone jack to the OEM amplifier, perhaps the current amp and speakers are still good.

It's gonna need a trailer hitch.
I'm gonna add marker light functionality and turn sigs to the side reflectors and trunk.
I'm gonna convert all the marker, turn, and headlamp bulbs to LED.
I'm gonna add a set of driving lights to the engine case guards.

Anybody have suggestions? I'm all ears!
 
And for those of the school "Pictures or it didn't happen"... :fishin:

I've been busy rotating the tires....
 

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Keep up that rotating and the other stuff Dave. :good: :salute: :moped: :moped:
 
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