Hibernating 1982 GL1100 gets a little attention

[Ausfahrt]

I have no idea how this will play out but I have finished working on my son's 1991 750 Nighthawk that will be his daily rider and I'm as ready as I'll ever be to have a look at the 'Wing. I've been riding and wrenching for over four decades but I've never had a Goldwing before and the entry price of $200 was too tempting to resist.

The PO stated that the bike had been sitting for a decade and I found a key code on the pannier and ordered a key. The little storage space under the faux tank had a 1984 Connecticut map and a 1983 Vermont fishing guide so I suspect that this bike has been sitting for more than a decade.

The odometer shows 13K so I need to check it out and find out why it was parked at such a young age. I just put it up on the lift and I am in the process of lifting her skirt so that I can have a peek at her goodies.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I made a little bit of progress this morning.

The Good: The engine is not seized and all the valves seem to function when I crank the engine by hand. The radiator and cooling system appear to have been drained so that reduces worries of a cracked block. All of the rubber hoses and gaskets are still amazingly pliable given the age of this bike.

The Bad: What a PITA it is to remove the radiator. It's out and I will eventually have put it back in but I really don't want to do that again. The gas is really old and smells like carb rebuild time.

The Ugly: The gas tank is trashed. Without a key I was unable to take a peek at it when I bought it but that's one of the reasons that it was cheap. I will try to save it but I dunno.

So I am thinking about slapping the valve covers back on and hooking up a battery to see if it will crank on starting fluid. I know that the timing belts need to be changed but I just want to see if it fires.
What do you guys think?

 

[zman]

Those look like Honda or K&L belts, good belts, I would eventually change them but see no problem in giving it some fuel just to hear it.

 

[dan filipi]

I would fire it up.

 

[julimike54]

I'm your naysayer, from my understanding the belts left under tension and NOT moving is the setup that can best cause a belt to break. They can take a set and not be flexible enough. Don't know how much belts are, for sure, but it's cheap admission to success. Best of luck.

 

[eatherton]

I'm your naysayer, from my understanding the belts left under tension and NOT moving is the setup that can best cause a belt to break. They can take a set and not be flexible enough. Don't know how much belts are, for sure, but it's cheap admission to success. Best of luck.

I agree once you break a belt it's too late cheaper than ruining a perfectly good engine.

 

[Ausfahrt]

OK. Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

The belts look good and I know that means nothing but I've never seen a belt, even an old belt, disintegrate in a few dozen rotations so I am going to take a chance. Once I hear it fire I don't have a problem spending money on belts, hoses, carb kits and such but I just don't want to throw good money at a boat anchor.

It will be a couple of days before I have a chance to get back to it but I will try to to take a short video and post it if she fires up.

 

[joedrum]

That the plan I always used .

 

[actungbaby59]

OK. Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

The belts look good and I know that means nothing but I've never seen a belt, even an old belt, disintegrate in a few dozen rotations so I am going to take a chance. Once I hear it fire I don't have a problem spending money on belts, hoses, carb kits and such but I just don't want to throw good money at a boat anchor.

It will be a couple of days before I have a chance to get back to it but I will try to to take a short video and post it if she fires up.

I agree fire it up see what u have sure its no boat anchor though .there early 80s vt 250 engines i know i brought two. Am close getting 1984 goldwing been sitting two .getting it home going be misson so i follow ur progress .

 

[Ausfahrt]

As I was preparing the bike for a quick startup, I discovered a couple of things. First, there was a mouse nest in the airbox which for any of you that have any experience with New England should not come as a surprise. I would have been more surprised if there had been no evidence of mice and I blew out the airbox before I got my camera out but here is the air filter.

I also noticed that the bottom of the left side valve cover was clean.

While the bottom of the right side was not.

Hmmm.

I then discovered that the lower rear valve cover bolt won't thread in and is probably stripped. On a positive note, the timing belts are definitely Honda but I'm not sure if they are the original 40 year old belts because there are obviously sharpie marks on the sprocket.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I found an old battery that was undersize but should work temporarily. The lights lit up when I turned the key.

So far so good.
Then I sprayed a little ether into the airbag and turned the key. The starter slowly cranked the engine and it fired for a brief second. I sprayed and cranked again and the engine ran for a few seconds this time but accompanied by a loud screeching noise.

Upon inspection, it seems that I neglected to replace the cap from where I had been hand cranking the engine and the bolt had backed out.

I can't push it back in and the cover won't screw back in either.

I know that the crank bolt is in the stator area and stator is a bad six letter word in the Goldwing community. I am fearing the worst. How bad did I screw up?

 

[dan filipi]

Replacing the cap wouldn't have prevented the bolt from coming loose, the bolt must have been loosened up prior.
I'm not sure why the bolt and washer won't go back in. Normally they only loosen up and don't come out the hole because the washer is bigger than the hole. Can you get a light and phone camera in there for a shot?

 

[Ausfahrt]

Sorry for the delay but sometimes life gets in the way so back to business.

The bolt to the stator is now about half way back in but won't go further regardless of how hard I crank on it. It's just going to have to be that way for now.

I hung up my aux gas tank to bypass the rusted one under the seat and with a little shot of ether I got it to fire up for a few seconds. It runs!

But then my aux gas tank emptied overnight with no gas smell so I suspect it drained past the carbs into the crank. So my next steps are to drain the pan and refill with cheap oil, replace the shutoff valve on my aux tank, fire the bike up for more than a few seconds, replace the timing belts, pull and clean the gas tank and go from there.

My wife is going out of town tonight for 5 days so I will be able to eat shrimp and work on my motorcycles. Woo Hoo!

 

[Motörhead]

I'm going to retrace your steps on my 85 GW when it arrives on the truck next week with the added step of Marvel Mystery Oil soaking the cylinders. Interesting thread, please continue with the updates.

 

[Rednaxs60]

 

[Motörhead]

I love those old school Honda green faces analog gauges.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I am at a crossroads. I bought this bike on the cheap knowing full well that it may have major issues that I would not be willing to deal with.

After sitting for a decade or more I knew that the carbs and tank would probably need attention and I can deal with that. I also knew that the gas tanks on these bikes are under the seat but what eluded me was the fact that the whole ass end of the bike needs to be removed to get the gas tank out.

The bike is really clean and unmolested but I'm just not sure that I want to invest the time and effort so I need a little guidance. The bike is off of my lift and in the "longterm project" section of my garage at the moment while I contemplate how and if to move forward. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome and here's a pic looking into the tank and it's worse than the picture shows.

 

[dan filipi]

You could use the "sacrificial anode" method to clean it in place.


He took the tank off to flush it but I bet could use a shop vacuum or similar.

 

[Motörhead]

If you're on the fence and not committed either financially or emotionally it's going to take up space and be good to no one. Put it back together and sell it.

 

[pvasc]

I bought the GL1100 in June, with a rusty tank. After researching ways to get rid of the rust I chose the vinegar method. I bought 6 gallons of dollar store vinegar and filled the tank for a week. Most of the rust sluffed off and I could, after draining the tank, vacuum it out...most of it. There is some big flakes I noticed in the right hand aft part of the tank i could not get to easily so I have to go back after it.

Caution, make a cap for where the sending unit goes. The vinegar will eat that float and arm up and sending units are hard to come by. Also be careful not to mash the screens on the fuel pick up tubes when vacuuming the rust out.