A free 81 gl 1100 for me in Alaska

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I like he way you think ...your a smart hands person ...me too ....yes this is a great forum....the members here really gang tackle others problems with there bikes ...most of the time this results in good outcomes for the members
 
Not much done today except lubing push pull throttle cables, removing fairing and cleaning out more nest material and looking for chewed wires.Will be adding fuel to the bone dry tank, replacing filter and hopefully the carbs won't leak, and then fresh oil and filter and if I have to bypass the start circuit I hope to get bike running, have available to get valve cover gaskets from my local Yammy dealer. Definitely need a new battery.After that I will dive into the complete brake system.
Seals for the tranny cover for the KZ1000 should be in soon, fresh oil and a temp Ultra Black RTV on the carb boots should see it running as well.
 
Turned out to be simple corrosion at terminals and kill switch, replaced oil filter and put some Rotella 5-40 synthetic in engine and a half tank of fuel, gave it some starting fluid and it Ran! 17 years in storage, valve cover gasket rubber is all crack, just a small weapage here and there, no carb leakage but smells rich, choke cable may be stuck, will tear into that, lube it up. Gave a generous dose of Marvel Mystery oil and ran the rpms up and let off over and over hoping to float the rings loose by blipping throttle, kept the rpms on the low side for now. Doggone clutch master cylinder screw corroded so bad not even my hand impact driver won't budge it, time to dremel it out, removed lh controls and clutch MC to remove the handle bar extension to clean and epoxy paint.
Next step is to get rear brakes working.
Removed all the front fairing to sanitize wiring, relays supposedly sit in rubber pockets but they all broke, will use a linerless rubber tape that I have for wiring to wrap around them. Bike is butt ugly with its clothes off I have to admit. I wish I could just replace those little windows in the master cylinder and the one for the clutch. I may experiment with making my own out of lexan, I have a ton of hobby tools. Being a model maker and train collector I'm used to small scale fabrication.Before I button up the front end I will convert the H4 to HID. And the dash lights to LED, take some load off the stator.Cooling system gets drained and the first of several flush and rinses will occur using white vinegar and then when thats out a mix of Peak Global of Asian formula antifreeze with distilled water goes in.
parts should be in tomorrow from Kawasaki then I switch over to the 80 KZ1000 police bike, try and see if it runs.
 
I finally figured out how to use my Samsung Tab 2 to just take pictures, video may break the space time continuum.
So many small details to attend to, every single screw needs to have threads cleaned, the handlebar extensions were rusted and the throttle sleeve frozen, when I did get it off it was just sold rust, I used a series of long strips of crocus cloth to dress it down and painted them with VHT epoxy paint, letting them sit for several days so the epoxy cures. All lettering gone on RH controls from sun bleaching, apparently bike was left out in the open recently but otherwise looks to have been stored inside, inside of instrument panel is clean though the housing is heat warped slightly, I may just use an adhesive backed carbon fiber material that I have used on other projects and basically cover all the dash area with this, may look better than just plain painted plastic. I have seen almost all the plastic body parts on Ebay but for now the emphasis is evaluating the degree of age on components like anything made of rubber. I would think modern bikes should use something more ozone resistant such as having a higher silicone percentage.

Since I will be completely flushing brake system I will be going to synthetic brake fluid with does not absorb moisture.
VHT makes roll cage and frame paint, I may touch up some rust spots with that, I love the VHT epoxy, really hard when it cures and impervious to most chemicals, you see thats the trick to a good restoration, its adding newer technology to something made several decade hence, such as using an AGM battery, which leads to modding a simple battery monitor the Venture has, its a probe that sticks into the middle of a conventional wet battery, when its out you get a constant red flashing light and a battery icon on the message center, so you can solder in either a 1k ohm or a 2.2K ohm resistor and connected to the battery + terminal at the fuse block.
And replacing the tube fuses fot spade fuses or even circuit breakers.I have plenty from a wrecked Peterbilt.
And adding an HID lamp is making the Reserve Light module go into an epileptic seizure so one has to work around that.
Since the headlight is turned off when starting the motor you may not get the lamp to re-ignite when its running. On my other bikes I just use a single type of HID and not the bi-xenon and when I start it move the switch to HI beam which just turns on nothing, will see if that works on the Venture, or I may integrate a high output Cree emitter type of lamp module.

I will be using an extensive amount of synthetic grease, I prefer the Superlube grease, even in electrical plugs. Its a PITA to remove the fairing to gain access to all the relays and even the headlight on the 83 Venture so when it gets butooned up I don't want to be pulling plastic off every week, and I am shopping for Torx stainless screws instead of Phillips as over time a Phillips head wears out. And I need to get some die grinder polishing pads, I have the mini scotch twist locks, gree is the finest, brown the coarse but I need to get something to polish all the aluminum from the handlebars to the case side covers.
Well another day starts and another day of digging for issues, I keep waiting to find some drastic problem with this bike, so far its just been hibernation or frost burns so to speak of an extensive long term storage, 17 years, never ran or started, moving parts don't move very well or at all like the throttle and the rear brake bellcrank.
 
To revitalise faded controls I use silicon spray to bring the color back in, just make sure that it is good quality otherwise it drys out and the fading returns quickly.
 
Do some research on switching to DOT5 and I think you will realize the benefits just aren't worth the hassle, Your not track racing it or setting any land speed trials so do yourself a favor and use the DOT 3 , or 4 maybe 5.1.
I still have a bottle of DOT5 sitting on a shelf, bought it and realized what a total pain it is to switch.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=88774#p88774:h06hyrjw said:
zman » Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:28 am[/url]":h06hyrjw]Do some research on switching to DOT5 and I think you will realize the benefits just aren't worth the hassle, Your not track racing it or setting any land speed trials so do yourself a favor and use the DOT 3 , or 4 maybe 5.1.
I still have a bottle of DOT5 sitting on a shelf, bought it and realized what a total pain it is to switch.
+1 dot 4 :popcorn:
 
I used synthetic Dot 4 in my first three bikes. its compatible with regular Dot 3 or 4, funny thing is technically all brake fluid is a synthetic but after looking at the results of long term storage and what happens when using regular brake fluids I would most definitely convert to a pure synthetic no matter to what degree of flushing is involved.
the Venture has an integrated braking system, rear brakes have its own reservoir and MC with a proportioning valve and a line to the front, bear with me I am a bit new to this design....my other bikes are all independents.
I ran that actuator 6 times through my ultrasonic cleaner with an industrial degreaser solution mixed with a commercial aluminum brightener, no luck freeing the electrolysis buildup. Its been soaking in another witches brew overnight, I may just have to get another, so with this page read and done it makes me think about long term effects, and I mean LONG term, like the scene of the new Star Trek movie with young Kirk driving a vintage Corvette in the far future, so can our bikes by somebody, perhaps our progeny and descendants in the family line.

And brake fluid is terribly unstable for long time storage, like in this Venture, it sat in a warehouse for 17 friggin years, it only has 17k miles on it, no issues with the engine other than degraded rubber gaskets, even the carbs seem to be functioning good.
It was insurance totaled and then forgotten, a faded beauty queen left standing at the wedding alter while the groom went to war and then never to return. Still a virgin in some respects. Does not mean it can be ridden on the highway as yet, switches are oxidized and require meticulous cleaning, anything that is suppose to move has to be cleaned and lubricated and there is a fine division line of whats acceptable as oxidation just being lubed does NOT make it better, you have to remove the oxidation, and that can be a hassle, especially control cables.

But getting back to fluids I will use a safer silicone fluid be it DOT 5 or such just to prevent what has happened and that was the complete crystallization of existing fluid in lines, all thats left was a waxy sludge grease.
 
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John another forum member rides in from Anchorage on his 82 Goldwing to say hello, I assisted in tweaking his air suspension front and rear and took a look at some brake issues, he has a nice bike, really makes me motivated to either rebuild my 81 or find a good barter deal for another.
Anyway I made great progress on the Venture, was able to recondition the rear brake master cyling and proportioning valve plus the resevoir that was actually brokem I used industrial ystrength JB Steelweld on it.
Then I removed rear caliper and thoroughly cleaned it inside and out and epoxy black spray painted, when its cured I will use my high speed scotbrite ypad on the fins to highlight them and also a clearcoat.
Ran into a Harley tech mechanic at the nearby store, the HD shop is just down the road, I inquired about the massive bin full of take off mufflers, he says come anid get whatever you need, hooya!
Started the morning modifying a zenith updraft carb on a wisconson robin engine for a friend, made $150 on that alone.
 
I rode out and met Dan (Silverado6x6 yep, he has a Silverado and it says 6x6 right on it!) in his shop in Wassilla today, he was extremely friendly and helped me learn a bit more about my 82 Goldwing.

He really needs to get some pics of his projects up for you all to see!

It is really nice to know that if I need help there is someone nearby that may be able to get me steered in the right direction.

Thank you, Dan, for putting up with my novice questions, and helping me get the suspension on my bike set right. Who knew that the pressure on my forks was way over where it was supposed to be, and I was not supposed to be feeling ever single little bump!!!
 
I bet the ride back to Anchorage felt a lot lot better!
Yeah the forks were rock hard, but at least the seals are good.
Did the rear brakes feel any better?
 
Is anyone else totally lost with what the topic of this thread is about!

It started out as free 1981 and now it's about what.....Silverado starting some sort of restoration shop?

Right here and now this topic needs to get back on track with the original post or I'm locking this thread.

Your free to start new topics about anything you like but please do so in the correct forum.
 
Sorry Dan, I have 5 bikes at work, the Free Gl1100 is in the middle of everything, the heads are off and on the workbench, intake valves on number 2 cylinder too badly pitted to use again, valve seats "might" be good, as the bike sits it needs basically a new set of case halves because the cylinder bore in number 2 is too badly pitted to save, its too expensive as I see it trying to sleeve the motor. And it needs a set of carbs, a wiring harness, I am looking for another Goldwing but instead I keep on finding Yamaha Ventures. But if and when I get around to actually getting some parts the Goldwing is in stasis, I tried posting over at a Venture forum just to keep things nice and proper but this forum is soooo much better, the members way more friendly and sociable, one actually rode out from Anchorage to meet me at my shop.
Its sunday evening, I'm tired, started working on bikes since 3am, plus my truck and another engine. I figure it may be later on in the week before I get a chance to post again.
Gotta get back behind the wheel of a concrete mixer monday morning.
 

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