86 GL1200 Refresh and Mod project

[joedrum]

it been hot mike take it easy .....looking good

 

[slabghost]

Wow! It is tempting. Looking so near finished.

 

[Ansimp]

You are right Mike, finish it then you can enjoy it in all its glory :good:

 

[dan filipi]

Yeah leave it on the lift til your done.
I do the same thing.

 

[backlander]

Over the last couple of days I have progressed with the body, bumper assembly and have reached the point where I have to stop and pull all the wires for the electrical modifications. The first blk-red pair are #6 & #8 for external alternator, the second pair #10 go to front left fairing pocket for accessory hook ups, the third pair #10 go to rear trunk for accessory hook up and the blue cable goes to rear of bike for future amp in trunk and to power needs such as extra battery mounted on tag-along trailer and 12v cooler. Everything is being routed thru individual 5 pin relays and then broken down to fused 20 thru 5 amp hook ups to each accessory that is added like driving lights, cig lighters, phone chargers, woo-hoo horn. The headlight circuit and coil circuit will be diverted thru relays also. All OEM systems wiring will remain stock other than those two.

 

[joedrum]

wow looking good mike! :good:

 

[Ansimp]

Excellent work on the electrics Mike :good:

 

[Denver]

Nice work ,noticed your battery was the old type. Never had very much luck with them. One or two season's was about it. AGM(absorbed glass mat) battery's are far better as far as power,& longevity. Just replaced the one in my 91 after 10 years. No indications of starting problem's, but a voltage drop check was not very assuring, now I can watch the 1200's they were replaced in 07 & should last for a while if the one in the 91 was any indication. The difference in price is not that much more, Deka is the name brand.

 

[backlander]

Thanks for the battery info Denver, that little Walmart special was installed 7/28/2010 and still going strong. I think it cost 48.00 then.

All the mechanical work is complete and the bike is together, still working on the wiring mods, going over the electrical schematics, there seems to be a lot of redundancy in the power distribution involving the ignition, charging and starting circuits. I'm trying to redesign it into a lot simpler circuit. Most of the headlight relay mods I've seen involve two and even three relays and I don't see any need for more than one at this point. Anyway I'm down to doing all the little time consuming detail work like this, red clearance lamps, hard to find and a little pricey, mine worked but the color was coming off

. The fix,

this special lens translucent paint and a piece of styrofoam. Also touched up some of the faded lens, the paint really works good.

Thought I would show you my contrasting dash and fork cover, painted the same as the engine. Breaks up all that black inner fairing which I never really cared for.

 

[joedrum]

sheesh good stuff mike cant wait to see this bike

 

[Ansimp]

Good looking as always Mike. You will need Two relays or a double true relay ( not a changeover relay) to make sure that all the current bypasses the switch gear. I am using HID lights on the 1100 that have a battery supply so that the switchgear will not see any current. The other advantage as I am only using a 35w kit.

 

[Denver]

The contrast was a nice touch, don't think I've seen it before.

 

[backlander]

I decided this morning while waking up with my first cup of coffee that today was the day, 12 1/2 months of working on her and no riding was fixing to end. Check all the fluids again, tire air pressure, lights and unstrapped her and let her down off the lift. Fired her up. My blood was racing, I knew I would have to get used to balancing the weight again, lord knows I didn't want to drop her. Made it out of the driveway, taking everything easy, two lane to the four lane and headed south for about 10 miles, came back, oh man was it nice to be back in the saddle again. Everything felt great, rides, drives and handles like a different bike. Love the throttle lock, backrest, makes so much difference. The drive-train purred, engine performed flawlessly, cooling system worked like a charm, so I was beaming. Well this calls for a fill up so off we go to the fuel stop, non-ethanol of course. Had people walking up and paying compliments on the bike, now I'm blushing. My head's all swollen up and I go to leave the pump, and the real world sets in, I left the kick stand down, SCRAPE !!!!! Luckily I had only moved about ten feet. Hope nobody saw that, yeah, right. Then I decided it was time to stretch her out. 40 miles later and speeds up to 90 mph and nothing fell off. Smooth as silk, love them new Shinko tires and counteract balancing beads. Got her parked at the house, and checked her over, All parts are present and accounted for, no fluids leaking and I'm still in one piece, so I guess this project is finished. I got a few more pieces of chrome to put on and then I'll post some pics. Thanks to all for all your help and your patience with me in this journey. See everyone at Joe's hopefully.

 

[joedrum]

great mike sounds flawless first ride that's speaks for itself ...the minor flaw of the sidetand was all you not able to handle the praise of your work LOL....

 

[Ansimp]

Excellent outcome Mike. See what happens when you haven't been riding her for over 12months you forget the little things :smilie_happy:

 

[slabghost]

Congratulations Mike.

 

[dan filipi]

Ah don't sweat the small stuff Mike.
Seems every damn time I forget the sidestand is after gassing up.
Don't know why that is, probably pissed at the high price of gas I'm distracted.

Hope you can make it to Joe's to show her off, I want to meet you too!

 

[backlander]

Ok, just got back from my final 60 mile shakedown run. The first run was flawless, the second run I began to hear a growling, grinding noise coming from the rear of the bike but I couldn't locate it, my initial thought was final drive problems. The noise was not constant but you could hear it slowing for stop and taking off from stop. Pulling the clutch in, still had the noise. On this third run, I narrowed it down, I had already checked for tire rub and there was none. I found out that if I put just a smidgen of pressure on the foot brake, the noise stopped and would return after a few seconds after I let off the peddle. Under accelleration or decelleration , a small amount of pressure and the noise would quit. There for, it's bound to be coming from something to do with the rear caliper or new brake pads. Shouldn't be much of a problem to fix. Here's the before and after pics I promised.

 

[slabghost]

Looks great!

 

[joedrum]

:shock: Vs dresser not looking so good compared to that ....its a pile of rubble :fiddle: sheesh I sure hope to get it up to your bikes level mike :builder: nice ride :ahem: