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Post by urbanmadness on Feb 16, 2014 5:43:28 GMT -5
Got my first Real Motorcycle last night.... It was an epic journey.... I traded my lil' red 150 for an 82 honda Goldwing Aspencade... yup, that's right... My first motorcycle is a 1100cc Goldwing... I know... ambitious but I do have an Aprilla Scarabeo 500, I bought a week ago and it's a real heavy bike (400 plus pounds) and the Goldwings feel better balanced then the Scarabeo. So that's three bikes since November... Holy moly.... Anyway, on to the epic journey and story. My buddy Matt wanted my 150 but didn't have what I was asking. He did manage to find a Goldwing and he knew I wanted a Goldwing, but I of course didn't have the money for the wing, especially after buying the Scarabeo. The Wing has new tires, new fork seals, new tires, new brakes, new timing belt, and new clutch plate. It also has the External alternator mod. 1100 wings tend to eat stators and to change it, you usually pull the engine and the stator, assuming you can find one is expensive, so this is a common mod and it actually looks kinda cool having a motorcycle driving an alternator off the crank pulley. I'm thinking, my wife is gonna kill me. But sometimes you just fall into these things and you got to act before you think "should I, or shouldn't I" I live in Sacramento, and the bike was in Oakland, about miles away. Matt hands us the money for the wing and me and my buddies pile into the car drive down to pick up the bike. My best friend Ray would ride the bike back, as he already has a Wing and is an experienced rider. This all goes without a hitch. The plan was, to get out of the bay area, fill the bike up with super, and be home in time for our weekly dinner at Denney's, in Roseville. The bike would spend the night at Ray's place until I spent a little time getting familiar with the bike. Then in a week or so, I would drive it home. Well, about 20 miles into the trip back, the bike decides to get an attitude. We lost two cylinders, Making the bike un-drivable so, ray gets off the freeway and parks it, and calls us to let us know where he is. It's 7:30pm at this point and we break out the tools to see if maybe something came unplugged in the ignition system. We spend about an hour, trying to figure out what went wrong, we lost spark on #1 and #3 cylinders, so the right side of the motor doesn't have any spark. Bad coil or CDI module is the diagnosis. We decide to call Cody, another friend of ours, to get Ray's truck and trailer so we can get her back to the Ray's place. I put the bike back together and get it ready for transport. Mean while, we leave Ray with the bike, and get coffee and burgers and bring them back to our improvised picnic and begin the task of waiting for our Friend. We play around with the bike while we wait, checking out all the various compartments, and bags and find out it is equipped with a CB, along with the stereo and an intercom system. Looking at the bike and talking about what to modify, how we should paint it, we even found an pair of gloves and the original owners manual for both the stereo and the bike. My wife calls, tells me I'd better not be buying another bike because there's no more room in the garage. I tell her no, I didn't technically buy another bike, I traded the red bike for a Goldwing. She says what she always says, "stay safe, I don't care what you do with it as long as you build something cool". Good, I'm cleared with the wife. Cody finally shows up at 2am, we load the bike and start the long journey home. Finally pulling into Roseville at about 3am. I finally get to bed at 4:30 after telling my wife about the bike and how much I love her. I really do have an awesome wife and a great bunch of friends, and getting this Goldwing would not of happened with out them.
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Post by ramblinman on Feb 16, 2014 6:12:28 GMT -5
i can't wait to see what you do with this bike. my grandfather took me for a ride on his Goldwing when i was 8. (or 10, 11. somewhere around there) if i ever buy a motorcycle i want it to be a Goldwing. that bike sails over the pavement.
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Post by flyangler on Feb 16, 2014 7:06:51 GMT -5
Congrats and have fun with that Wing , I'm looking foreword to some long distance touring this year.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Feb 16, 2014 15:40:08 GMT -5
Woo Hoo! You got a a Gold Wing for the wife for Valentine's Day!!! I remember back one year I got a new deer rifle for the Missus... And women say men "don't understand"... HeHeHe...
Anyway, you obviously do have a swell wife, and, a swell bike! Those big Honda 6-bangers are a sweet ride! I rode one only once, wanted to buy it but couldn't get it for what I could afford. I remember the neat feature of an electric reverse... I guess it somehow engaged the starter-motor backwards, and moved the big bike backwards at slow walking speed. Pretty handy if parked downhill with an obstruction in front!
Best wishes on the project! Please do keep us posted! I remember how nice the Wing rode... Like a Lincoln Town Car on 2-wheels! Mighty nice on the road.
Ride safe!
Leo in Texas
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Post by shalomdawg on Feb 16, 2014 18:40:45 GMT -5
howdy, yup, nice scoot. I had an 81 so know that the 82 is a 4 banger rather than 6 but the extra two would be totally un-needed anyway---- I just looked at an 83 and found that the pegs have magically immigrated back about 4 inches further than my leg bends--- just head out and get high gear then engage the magical friction cruise control(on mine anyway)and relax und vatch the scenery blinkin' bye.
lotsa miles and smiles to ya ken
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Post by rockynv on Feb 16, 2014 19:22:57 GMT -5
Spoke with an old timer who just traded his old Aspencade for a new Wing and he wants the old bike back. New one is spending more time in the shop than the old one and the new one is more thirsty for fuel even after break-in.
Be safe and enjoy.
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Post by DaveC on Feb 16, 2014 19:38:01 GMT -5
I have an Aspencade GL1200 with 105K miles on it I can't ride on 2 anymore, but refuse to sell it Done many a cross country ride. Been to both coasts, San Diego to San fran, to Tx, to Colo to Va Gonna either trike it or get a Voyager kit for it, but not gettin rid of it.
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Post by mopedjay on Feb 16, 2014 22:46:30 GMT -5
i love the late 70s early 80s goldwings the best riding most comfortable bikes ever built i love them all stripped down bare bones i want one but my legs are messed up so i have trouble holding a heavy bike up
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Post by spandi on Feb 17, 2014 0:19:22 GMT -5
Wow! Great story.....You showed up at the house in the early am with another bike, and you did't get creamed with a waffle iron or nothing! (better buy some high end chocolate in a hurry!)
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Post by DaveC on Feb 17, 2014 21:12:08 GMT -5
i love the late 70s early 80s goldwings the best riding most comfortable bikes ever built i love them all stripped down bare bones i want one but my legs are messed up so i have trouble holding a heavy bike up One word: TRIKE If this GL1200 craps out, I'll get another one.
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Post by spunn on Feb 17, 2014 23:35:37 GMT -5
Nice bike
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Post by urbanmadness on Feb 18, 2014 11:27:12 GMT -5
I can't wait to get pictures of this bike... and to get it running.... I think it pluged up the pilot jets. We have spark on all four cylinders but it just don't wanna fire... runs great on starter fluid.... LOL
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Post by junkyarddog on Feb 18, 2014 18:21:10 GMT -5
Good luck finding parts for the Goldwing. I had an ' Aspencade, and finally gave up on it due to a lack of parts, especially rubber parts, which were all rotted. Seems like the 4 cylinder Goldwings got abandoned when the 6 cylinder models came out. That alternator you are talking about is commonly called a "poorboy conversion" but I thought they were mainly made for the 1200s. I highly recommend Steve Saunders Goldwing forums for information. They helped me a lot.
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Post by urbanmadness on Feb 22, 2014 1:34:40 GMT -5
Well, we now know what's wrong with the gold wing.... We blew the right side timing belt, and bent both the exhaust valves on the right side... so I'm pulling the head tomorrow and checking to see if we put holes in the pistons. If we didn't put holes in the pistons, we'll get a used head and put her back together.
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Post by spunn on Feb 23, 2014 0:54:59 GMT -5
Oh gold wings are common for parts. Should be cake! GL
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