Bruce: A Naked 1981 gl1100 Interstate

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Curbfeeler

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2020
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Location
Des Moines, IA
I found Bruce in a CL ad that was over a month old, and being the end of the season the price was right. He's a 1981 gl100 interstate with 50k miles.

The good:
-Price was right
-Includes service manual
-Master cylinder rebuilt, 2019
-Fuel pump replaced, Carbs rebuilt and synched, 2019. Included randaak book.
-Seat re-covered, 2019
-Came with extra (nicer) upper fairing and lower cowls, trunk, brackets, highway bars, various duplicate chrome whatnots.
-Extra gauges with extra fairing (volt, temp, alt, clock)
-Tires good.
-Runs well


The bad:
-Very dirty
-Right header trashed by a road rash
-Front fender paint stripped by power washer
-Both fairings have some damage
-Muffler rusty
-Shelter exposed to elements, oxidized
-Gas cap and tank rusty inside
-Motor mounts, few spots on frame have surface rust.
-Broken bolt on points cover
-Timing cover gasket askew, globs of silicone on cover.
-Timing cover missing a bolt.
-SAE nuts/bolts found here and there
-Taillight wiring mis-routed, birdnested

My plan for Bruce is to strip off a lot of the plastic and chrome and to reveal the beauty of the naked form. I'm also planning to do a few reversible mods to install some non-Goldwing parts. I've have the space to store all the stock parts, and I won't be modifying or "chopping" anything stock. When I go to sell it I will have the option to return it to a stock interstate in maybe an hour or so.

Adding some pics of the bads, to show my starting point. Will lay out my vision in the next post.
 

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A few pics of my attempt to change the color. I'm planning to go with brown for the shelter and side panels
 

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My plan for Bruce is to go with the look of a simple standard, while keeping all the plastic and chrome in one of my storage buildings. I will not do anything to modify or chop any stock part, and will not make any mod that cannot be undone in under an hour total. When I go to sell it down the road I'll list it as two bikes for the price of one, so to speak.

Last night I took a road trip with my dad about 2 hours away to get some parts. My parts guy, Keith, actually grew up a few blocks down the road from me, rode my bus as a kid, etc. Crazy small world. It's end of the season, so he was having a sale on all his parts, and I picked up 1 of everything I thought I might need and a few things I probably don't. Get it while the getting's good, I figure. It's less effort to store it than to wish I had it down the line...

List of parts I got for the bargain price of $150
-2 sets of good headers
-2 sets of good mufflers (like-new harley take-off and used 80's CB900 Custom)
-Extra shelter in original color
-3 seats ('79 cx500 and two 80's Nighthawk)
-Pegs from '82 CB650 Nighthawk (to modify, perhaps???)
-ears from '80 goldwing and '75 cb750
-buckets from two older (70's) goldwings, ring
-turn signals from '80 cb650
-tail light from '72 CB350
-Chrome rear fender from '79 cx500
-Chrome front fender from 83 nighthawk
-Chrome motor mounts from '79 gl1000
-Chrome mirrors from gl1100

I'll start cleaning some of these parts up and start installing them soon, hopefully this weekend.
 

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How does the three yellow wire connector on the left side of the engine look? They are very very prone to failing which means a stator change(an engine out repair) or an alternator conversion. Please check asap!

~O~
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=219555#p219555:vdn79vgf said:
Omega Man » Fri Oct 09, 2020 10:19 am[/url]":vdn79vgf]
How does the three yellow wire connector on the left side of the engine look? They are very very prone to failing which means a stator change(an engine out repair) or an alternator conversion. Please check asap!

~O~
Nice to hear from you Randy.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=219555#p219555:3o1j2ijb said:
Omega Man » Yesterday- 18:19[/url]":3o1j2ijb]
How does the three yellow wire connector on the left side of the engine look? They are very very prone to failing which means a stator change(an engine out repair) or an alternator conversion. Please check asap!

~O~

I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have re-pinned a lot of connectors in my pinball hobbies, but did not think about it for a motorcycle.
 

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[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=219563#p219563:1c80ziuv said:
Curbfeeler » Fri Oct 09, 2020 9:21 am[/url]":1c80ziuv]
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=219555#p219555:1c80ziuv said:
Omega Man » Yesterday- 18:19[/url]":1c80ziuv]
How does the three yellow wire connector on the left side of the engine look? They are very very prone to failing which means a stator change(an engine out repair) or an alternator conversion. Please check asap!

~O~

I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have re-pinned a lot of connectors in my pinball hobbies, but did not think about it for a motorcycle.
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Wow that was a close one! Nice job on the repair.

[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=219557#p219557:1c80ziuv said:
Ansimp » Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:27 am[/url]":1c80ziuv]
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=219555#p219555:1c80ziuv said:
Omega Man » Fri Oct 09, 2020 10:19 am[/url]":1c80ziuv]
How does the three yellow wire connector on the left side of the engine look? They are very very prone to failing which means a stator change(an engine out repair) or an alternator conversion. Please check asap!

~O~
Nice to hear from you Randy.

Thanks Tony, I think I'm back for good now. :good:

~O~
 
Very happy with the look of the smaller CB-style lamp and much shorter rear fender.
 

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A lot of what I am doing is better described as deep cleaning rather than restoring. The battery box is an example of a rusty mess that I de-rusted, repainted, etc. Not complicated but certainly therapeutic and relaxing, not to mention satisfying.
 

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Had never tried electrolysis before, but I can see how it could become addictive. Only downside is it appears to work by line of sight. The rust under the chrome didn't seem affected. Still, a great result versus the mess on the original exhaust.
 

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Again, not complicated but very satisfying. Find rust, remove rust, etc.
 

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Nice project. You mentioned going with a brown for the shelter and side panels. I have just painted my '85 Limited Edition, two colours - brown and gold metal flake. The brown metal flake is quite nice, here's the paint code:
Brown Metallic Colour.jpg
Here's the colour on the front fender:
Front Fender Brown Metal Flake 2.jpg
Clear coat 2.jpg
You'll be the only GW with this as the main colour. Good luck.
 
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