Popeye
Member
Greetings fellow wing nuts, I hail from the burbs of Chicago. I'm here looking for advice and parts to get my new-to-me Gold Wing back on the road.
My riding career was interrupted by life, jobs and my other hobby, sailing (just like riding, but MUCH slower). I used to work at local Honda shops, and graduated to instructor for a Kawasaki distributor in Michigan and as a Suzuki Factory Technical Advisor on the east coast.
As an example of karma, last year I gave my brother my 1982 Suzuki GS750 in my garage so he could ride in Patriot Riders parades. In January, a buddy told of a friend that had a Gold Wing that he crashed and wanted to sell cheap. I wasn't in the market at the time, but thought "what the heck." She started right up, had a knocking in the swing arm that the PO said was in the transmission, so I took a chance and rode her home. :moped:
She's a 1987 1200 Interstate. She was rear ended by a car and slid down the road, scraping the right side. The bags and trunk are cracked through their mounting holes. She has 167,585 miles on her and was "rode hard and put up wet". But she starts every time, with no smoke after the choke is opened.
I removed the bags, rear wheel and swing arm and found the knocking noise was a bad u-joint. Now I need the u-joint and the rubber boot that disintegrated when removed. The bike also needs shocks, whose oil is all over the rear of the bike, a left (battery) side cover, a right fairing pocket cover, and an antenna that the PO says fell off one day?
I have been searching eBay and looking for salvage yards, which is how I found this forum. I imagine there aren't too many new parts available from the factory for a 28 year old bike, but there are a bazillion Gold Wings out there, both dead and alive.
I can fix the mechanical issues, but I'm no body man. My first question is how to repair the cracked luggage? Super glue, fiberglass, plastic welding, or bigger washers on the bolts?
Thanx for the help, and hope to see you on the road.
My riding career was interrupted by life, jobs and my other hobby, sailing (just like riding, but MUCH slower). I used to work at local Honda shops, and graduated to instructor for a Kawasaki distributor in Michigan and as a Suzuki Factory Technical Advisor on the east coast.
As an example of karma, last year I gave my brother my 1982 Suzuki GS750 in my garage so he could ride in Patriot Riders parades. In January, a buddy told of a friend that had a Gold Wing that he crashed and wanted to sell cheap. I wasn't in the market at the time, but thought "what the heck." She started right up, had a knocking in the swing arm that the PO said was in the transmission, so I took a chance and rode her home. :moped:
She's a 1987 1200 Interstate. She was rear ended by a car and slid down the road, scraping the right side. The bags and trunk are cracked through their mounting holes. She has 167,585 miles on her and was "rode hard and put up wet". But she starts every time, with no smoke after the choke is opened.
I removed the bags, rear wheel and swing arm and found the knocking noise was a bad u-joint. Now I need the u-joint and the rubber boot that disintegrated when removed. The bike also needs shocks, whose oil is all over the rear of the bike, a left (battery) side cover, a right fairing pocket cover, and an antenna that the PO says fell off one day?
I have been searching eBay and looking for salvage yards, which is how I found this forum. I imagine there aren't too many new parts available from the factory for a 28 year old bike, but there are a bazillion Gold Wings out there, both dead and alive.
I can fix the mechanical issues, but I'm no body man. My first question is how to repair the cracked luggage? Super glue, fiberglass, plastic welding, or bigger washers on the bolts?
Thanx for the help, and hope to see you on the road.
