The $500 Goldwing is real

[TMF]

Hello everyone. I've lurked a slight bit and see there's plenty of good people and information to be had here. I'm a life long rider having begun circa 1973 at age 15. I've ridden continuously since then and have a growing collection especially since Covid hit. Since March of 2020 I've rehabbed a '99 Triumph Trophy, '83 CB650SC Nighthawk, '97 Transalp, '96 Trident and '92 ST1100. The Trophy was crashed (not my fault) and Nighthawk sold. The rest remain along with my '03 Suzuki SV1000S, '00 Triumph TT600 and CT70 clone with 140cc engine.

I recently stumbled into a '75 Wing that's been idle for 25 years and will be taking delivery this Sunday. It's got 30K miles on the clock and is said to have run smoothly before retirement.

 

[Dusterdude]

Welcome

 

[Freedom]

Hello, welcome to the forum. That's a good crowd you got there. So $500 for the Goldwing?

 

[TMF]

Hello, welcome to the forum. That's a good crowd you got there. So $500 for the Goldwing?

I was just arriving at a Bikes and Breakfast meet last weekend and the Wing owner pulled in and parked directly next to me. We got to talking and he casually made the offer. Accepting did not require a lot of thought.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Good score. That is something I could get my teeth into so to speak.

 

[julimike54]

Welcome to The Forum and enjoy!

 

[eatherton]

Welcome

 

[Denver]

Great find, you are truly fortunate to find a 75, the true original Gold Wing
In what appears to be in almost pristine condition

 

[Freedom]

I was just arriving at a Bikes and Breakfast meet last weekend and the Wing owner pulled in and parked directly next to me. We got to talking and he casually made the offer. Accepting did not require asss lot of thought.

Congrats on your new bike. Thanks for your response.

 

[Ansimp]

Welcome from Oz. Congratulations on a great purchase.

 

[Daeouse]

Hell of a good deal, man! Good for you! I've never received an offer like that. . . maybe I should go to more motorcycle social events in my area. . . LOL

 

[pidjones]

Welcome! Doing a '72 T150V right now myself. BTW, CHANGE THE BELTS!

 

[TMF]

The '76 is safely at home and responded well to it's first detailing session. All seems there except the instrument panel overlay covering the indicator lights.

 

[Winger 82]

Welcome

 

[Randy Yocum]

Great Score,good luck with getting it running and back on the road where it belongs.I recently spent all winter restoring 75 model ,Ive put 700 miles on it so far this spring,a fun motorcycle,I've been riding for 50 years and this is my first GoldWing.By the way what is the serial number on your bike? mine is GL1-1006301,maybe they were on the assembly line together..;-)

 

[TMF]

Mine is actually a '76 and GL12009159. So much to do - gas tank completely rusted, petcock, fuel pump needs checking, battery, carb rebuild and sync, belt, valve adjustment, tires, brakes, hoses. All routine and an act of love and respect as I get into it. Patience mandatory. Main worry is whether valve guides and seals are degraded. I do know that oil was changed 500 miles before the long storage. When it looks good as this one does you go the extra mile.

 

[Randy Yocum]

My fuel tank was I thought was toast because the bike sat in a shed since 2008,It was full of rust and sludge, but I managed to save it, here are a couple pictures of it after my cleaning treatment which in the end made a usable tank but destroyed those small wire filter screens at the fuel intake tubes on the bottom,I ran what was essentially a roto rooter through the tubes and those screen filters were sacrificed in order to get all the rust and dirt out.I figured what the heck,there is a good external inline filter anyway.A friend told me a trick to prevent rust from forming back inside the tank,a cap full of 2 stroke oil in every tank full of fuel,I've been doing it ,im not seeing any rust. Also I use only Ethanol free fuel, I can buy it at only one gas station in town,Its more expensive but I feel its cheap insurance. I run it in all my motorcycles..
The cam belts will need to be replaced,you might as well remove the heads and separate the valves ,clean everything ,carbon and such while your at it, those valve guides I bet are fine..These engines are really simple and easy to work on,I did not however split the main case ,the piston crowns and cylinders looked great after cleanup.I figured with just 33k the engine surly dosn't need a bore job,that would mean spliting the cases. (and after running a while I did compression test and all four cylinders show from 170-175 psi which was super good news) Warning... carbs may give you the most trouble, because in my case the fuel tap was left on when the bike was parked, fuel seeped into the carbs for what must have been years, layer upon layer of varnish was laid down by the old fuel.After several wasted tries I gave up on my original set of carbs and found a decent set on Ebay that in the end cleaned up nicely.It took awhile but they are dialed in ,and synced to perfection, The bike starts great and runs sweet.
You may have gotten lucky and the fuel tap was turned off when it was parked and all you have to deal with is dust in the carb bowls.
Good luck,if you run into a problem, bounce it off me and the other guys in the forum ,we'd be glad to help. I added a picture of those carbs I just could'nt get clean enough to work, I hope yours don't look like this.

 

[Denver]

I use A T F in my gas, instead of two stroke oil.
Use marine outboard 2 stroke oil with TCW3.
In all my 2 stroke engines, chainsaws, weed cutters, etc
The A T F Keeps the idle jets nice & clean.
Or will help to open, & clean them.
If their only partially plugged.
Keeping the tank full of fuel, also helps keep the rust at away.

 

[TMF]

My fuel tank was I thought was toast because the bike sat in a shed since 2008,It was full of rust and sludge, but I managed to save it, here are a couple pictures of it after my cleaning treatment which in the end made a usable tank but destroyed those small wire filters at the fuel intake tubes on the bottom,I ran a what was essentially a roto rooter through the tubes and those screen filters were sacrificed in order to get all the rust and dirt out.I figured what the heck,there is a good external inline filter anyway.A friend told me a trick to prevent rust from forming back inside the tank,a cap full of 2 stroke oil in every tank full of fuel,I've been doing it ,im not seeing any rust. Also I use only Ethanol free fuel, I can buy it at only one gas station in town,Its more expensive but I feel its cheap insurance. I run it in all my motorcycles..
The cam belts will need to be replaced,you might as well remove the heads and separate the valves ,clean everything ,carbon and such while your at it, those valve guides I bet are fine..These engines are really simple and easy to work on,I did not however split the main case ,the piston crowns and cylinders looked great after cleanup.I figured with just 33k the engine surly dosn't need a bore job,that would mean spliting the cases. (and after running a while I did compression test and all four cylinders show from 170-175 psi which was super good news) Warning... carbs may give you the most trouble, because in my case the fuel tap was left on when the bike was parked, fuel seeped into the carbs for what must have been years, layer upon layer of varnish was laid down by the old fuel.After several wasted tries I gave up on my original set of carbs and found a decent set on Ebay that in the end cleaned up nicely.It took awhile but they are dialed in ,and synced to perfection, The bike starts great and runs sweet.
You may have gotten lucky and the fuel tap was turned off when it was parked and all you have to deal with is dust in the carb bowls.
Good luck,if you run into a problem, bounce it off me and the other guys in the forum ,we'd be glad to help. I added a picture of those carbs I just could'nt get clean enough to work, I hope yours don't look like this.

I can see why those carbs were scrapped. I've had an ultrasonic cleaner for a couple of years now and would have liked to try it on something like that. My goto right now for tanks and rust is vinegar, a medium chain inserted inside, shaking and patience lasting weeks. The last tank I did came out clean enough to leave unlined but I did install a large Fram G3 paper fuel filter just in case. I've been extremely lucky with engines and never had one degrade to the point where it needed a new top end other than some two strokes in the 70's. This Wing only has 30K miles so I'm inclined to run a compression check and leave it alone should it "pass" the check.

I haven't looked at any profiles but I'm guessing most of the members and in their 60's and 70's? I do wonder what a youngster thinks about the first generation Gold Wing and it's engineering excellence especially for the era.

 

[TMF]

I'm looking through gas tank posts and YouTube videos for gas tank removal. Can anyone comfirm the silver shaft drive housing that contains the rear axle must come off?

Followup: Remove the 3 axle housing bolts, pull the housing and the tank come out easily. Clymer does not mention that.