Topic: 78 GL1000 20 year sleeper! Old Blue.

[desertrefugee]

I had a black and gold 79 that was naked for a while, no one knew what it was. I'd bet your bike with the Webers got similar responses.

It did.  That configuration really freaked people out. Got a lot of attention.

[Don R]

 I peeled the license sticker off today before I put in the new one.  The first one is 5 years old but I went to Sturgis 6 years ago so it must not be the first sticker.

[Don R]

  I threw a pair of batteries on the rack and went to the storage unit to start the kz1000. I was up to 155 miles and still haven't hit reserve. I really wanted to see if it works but gave in and filled it up. I went a bit over 161 miles and it took 4.05 gallons to fill it up.  That's 40 mpg! There was about 2 inches of fuel left in the sump.
  I'm going to help a herniated friend work on his 41 Willys tomorrow. We're mounting the fuel cell, its a 45-minute ride so I'll take the wing and hide behind the windjammer.
  I still didn't do the seat cover, the old one is starting to show the seams opening. Soon.

[Don R]

 I was riding it to the bank today to make the car show deposit and the replacement blade type main fuse holder had a total meltdown. Right in the middle of an intersection turning left. I walked it to the corner and was pleased to find an accessible sidewalk ramp if front of a gas station to park at. Even a nice curbing to sit on while I was working. An old former Goldwing guy stopped to help, he was a delight. He had good advice, the right tools and got me going in a few minutes.
 I made it to the bank, the parts store and back home.  I wasn't thrilled to be stranded with over $4K cash in the fairing. 

[RAFster122s]

Good you had helpful help, rather than the typical knows nothing pita with stupid questions. Having a bunch of cash in a vulnerable area is kinda stressful.

Any idea what shorted to cause the fuse & holder to do a failure?

[Don R]

 I stayed on the seat and pushed with my legs to get it out of the intersection, Bad idea, pulled groin muscles.

 Worse than just a bad idea, hernia. Doesn't need surgery at this time.

[Don R]

 I'm thinking it was corroded inside and the corrosion made it get hot, it must have gotten water in it when I rode for hours in the rain going to Sturgis. I noticed Advance Auto parts doesn't sell that brand anymore, they may have been inferior when new.
  I also gave the new one a dose of di-electric grease, hopefully that cured the problem.

[Don R]

 I have a cool driving mount light bar that attaches to the bottom of a windjammer, I couldn't believe the old ford lights were shorted out, got annoyed and removed them. This is what I found a year later.

[Don R]

 I'm wondering about the timing advancer springs, this beast spits back through the intake when cold, especially at low speeds and much worse if it gets higher octane fuel. It despises Shell 93 octane premium.
  That seems to be a 750 malady caused by early timing advance and as described by Hondaman.

[Don R]

I took old blue out for a spin today to run some fuel through it, it's got a mix of regular no alky pump gas and LL110 avgas. It never ran so good on a cold day. It used to take a warm up ride and then let it sit and heat soak for a few minutes. Today it didn't spit, fart, or protest in any other way.
 I'm thinking about what Hondaman said about today's slow burning fuels spitting back into the intake and helping deal with it by using less timing advance. Makes sense. 

[BenelliSEI]

I took old blue out for a spin today to run some fuel through it, it's got a mix of regular no alky pump gas and LL110 avgas. It never ran so good on a cold day. It used to take a warm up ride and then let it sit and heat soak for a few minutes. Today it didn't spit, fart, or protest in any other way.
 I'm thinking about what Hondaman said about today's slow burning fuels spitting back into the intake and helping deal with it by using less timing advance. Makes sense.

My buddy Gary’s ‘75 is in the shop right now. It occasionally barks back too. Will try and back off the advance next time we fire it up.

[Don R]

 I tried the shell premium with nitrogen and etc. It ran horrible, I thought it might have been a bad batch of fuel so later, I tested it again with the same poor running. Both times after I was able to get some regular back in it the rideability was better.
 The avgas was just used as a storage stabilizer but I was pleasantly surprised with how good it ran. I'm wondering about the advance springs being loose like the 750's are sometimes.

[seanbarney41]

I used to always run that Shell premium in my 750's too...and yeah, it always made them run like #$%*.  I finally found out, anything 92 octane or higher actually makes stock 750's suck crap at part throttle and results in sooty plugs.

[Don R]

 The GL1000 got its legs stretched out a little, I rode 13 miles to my daughter's house, helped work on the new pool heater and outran a storm coming home. I got passed by a batch of euro sporty sedans and decided to tuck in behind them, we ran 85 with gusts up to 90, the old windjammer kept me comfortable, and I didn't get wet.
 Our Son in law got called in to work, 12 hours since he went in this morning, he's a lineman. We'll finish tomorrow.

[Don R]

The sleeper is close to 60,000 miles now, I still hear strange noises inside but it is what it is.

[Don R]

 The PO liked the pic, said I got it with 51,000 miles showing. He's moving back to the area, we'll try to do some riding. I hope he doesn't want it back for what I paid L0L! 

[grcamna2]

Nice looking GL Don.

[RAFster122s]

That's a nice one Don, wouldn't mind owning that myself.

[BenelliSEI]

Don…..”strange noises”? Last time on the ‘75 is was one of the idler pulleys for the timing belts. Made an odd rattle, occasionally. Not all the time.

[Don R]

 Thanks, it's my daily, at least while the blue green 750 is still imprisoned in the race car trailer. I've made new cam belt idlers out of Hyundai parts. I keep the vetter saddlebags on a shelf, my wife can't get her leg over them.

 Tonight, I looked for new vetter air vents in the windshield. I discovered that the design was stolen by the light aircraft industry. There are lots of catalogs listing them but everyone is out of stock. The company that appears to have been making them has no order form or prices. Snapvent Plastics does not sell to the public, or anyone else it seems. Snapvent#F325A. I found an ultralight aircraft company that may have a couple sitting in stock at a reasonable price. 
   The guy that bought my 76F said he used to work where Vetter got the originals made, they made them by the truckload.

[Don R]

 I did an oil change, got defective filters that don't fit. A trip to a different parts store solved it. Anyway, it had 15/40 Rotella and a little Rislone to try to clean the varnish from the starter drive. I'm told to run the oil a little high to help wash oil onto the starter clutch.
 At any rate, it seems to have worked, knock on wood. It hasn't failed to catch in quite a while. In Sturgis, I had previously topped off with a little Castrol high mileage oil for the detergent additive.
 It does smoke on startup sometimes when left on the sidestand but not lately, probably a symptom of overfilled oil.
 It does burn a little oil, The exhaust swirls around behind me (windjammer) and I can smell it sometimes.

[Don R]

 Old Blue is shifting a little clunky. It just had an oil change with Rotella T4, maybe it's time for a clutch adjustment, I haven't messed with that yet.
 I read Mike Nixons advice on adjusting the gl clutches, it's on the Naked Goldwing site, he suggests a lot less free play in the lifter than the manuals call for. He also mentions lubing the lifter shaft.
 I'll also refer to the manual, but not like it's written in stone.

[Don R]

 It's a treat getting the rear clutch cover off although not as bad as the sissies on youtube make it out. I got slack in the cables and turned the lock nut but can't seem to get the adjuster screw to turn in much past where it started. If it was a 750, I'd take the cover off and check it out. I did get a squirt of blaster on it, back it out and screw it back in hoping that would carry some lube in with it. 
 The service manual says to back the screw off 3/4 of a turn, I barely backed it any. It still releases pretty far out, with this many miles it could need a clutch. I got it warmed up, it didn't clunk a lot and I was able to find neutral without trouble so it may have helped a bit.

[Don R]

 The guys on NGW helped a lot and I replaced the clutch cable and went through the clutch adjustment again. It seems better but I'm not totally pleased yet. It's really the same as a 750 except at the back of the motor near the centerstand and swingarm.

[BenelliSEI]

Don….. we fiddled with this a lot on Gary’s GL1000. From memory I remember leaving very little play at the clutch end and then fine tuned at the lever.