haha, I almost was going to duplicate JRKs thread title, but that would have been too confusing.


I've always wanted a goldwing, I see them as the ULTIMATE touring motorcycle, a new standard in high class luxury bikes.

So I went and bought a 1978 GL1000 for 450$


heres how it looked when I got it.



and the trip home




The guy let it sit for 10 years, but before then it was his daily driver.

He also threw in a DOUBLE of nearly every piece, enough to build a new goldwing if I only had a frame! rims, shocks, forks, motor, fairings, you name it, i had a double of it! in refurbished or new condition!


Well, the next day my property was broken into and the stuff (it was so much I couldn't fit it indoors) was stolen. I had everything under a tarp and behind a car in a fenced yard, but lots of other stuff was stolen too...

The only thing I saved was the second Vetter Windjammer, and the bank of 4 carbs.


So I started work on the bike, Compression check, oil change, spark plugs, general tune up, cleaning the electrical contacts, checking the wiring, carb rebuilding, re greasing of all bearings. new battery, fresh gas, everything

I did this all in one day and had it running in 24 hours from purchase.



since it sat for 10 years, the paint was all corroded and nasty, but it was driveable, heres a pic after i switched to the replacement windjammer fairing and put the bags back on.





I rode it like this for 3 days, when I realized it was too ugly for the street. so I spent a whole day tearing it apart and painting it. the hardest job was sanding these parts down enough to be painted.

pearl white, it was a REAL quick spray can job, so it looks messy up close. But i could NOT have it looking like it was about to keel over.






the owner also gave me an original Vetter Radio console that was designed to fit in the fairing. so I got it wired up with an old toyota radio and some speakers i bought.




this restoration to a daily driver condition took 5 days.



since then, I have added a cigarette lighter adapter and various gadgets like a clock and extra mirrors in convenient places.

I plan to add a nice crash bar under the fairing to which I'm going to attach 4 fog lamps and a smaller fairing to keep the wind off my legs.

All in all, its an AWESOME bike. rides great. and to my great surprise, it gets compliments from everyone everywhere i go, especially when I tell them its a 1978, there just flabbergasted that a 32 year old bike could look and run so good.


it has 87k miles, 2k of which was put on by me in the last 2 weeks. yea.. i ride a lot, but those were careful test riding miles. I get to really rack up the mileage now




and in case your wondering, it has brand new tires, and brand new brake pads, brand new fork seals, new bearings, its well restored. im not riding on old parts that are about to give out any minute


so what do you guys think?

 

cool, man. me and my friends are looking out for a KZ1000 or a GS1100 with a Vetter fairing and bags. love the white.

If that GL makes anywhere near the power the KZ makes I bet that thing HUALS!

 

I actually owned a KZ1000 for a few months, it was nice, but my CB1000custom was quicker, and had a ten speed gearbox.

this bike is a SOHC 2 valve, not as high tech, only makes about 89 -95 HP and it has to carry all the extra weight.

I've found it to be quicker than pretty much any car, but as far as bikes go its a slowpoke. but it is a first year model, in 81 they went to a 1100, then a 1200, then a 1500 flat 6 cylinder.

 

Damn nice , and quick resto ! Good job !

 

very cool I always remebmer the old bikes ( i remember when they were new) and say one day i might do the same thing. I always wanted a kaw 7502 stroke triple than KZ 900

 

Nice score..I just enjoy bikes period,and you got into that one right..

 

Looks awesome!

 

It's so ugly it's cool LOL! Looks kinda like a cop bike now that it's white, but that is not a bad thing.

 

haha that is way cool man!! F'ing sweet. I'd love to pick up an old goldwing. That'd be fun to cruise on. Good job on the restoration.

 

Joe i dig it man, i have to say before we tore my brothers apart i put on a good amount of miles, i was blown away by how light they feel when you are moving! great scoots! ha ha ha
dig your rebuild man, i will def hit you up for some parts!!!!!