My Dad's Goldwing

This isn't much of a restoration, just a clean it up and get it running.

My Dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last August, and although he was in good shape when he died, he had ridden his Goldwing very little in the last few years. When he did ride, he complained that it wasn't running well and would only idle with the choke on, so it spent a lot of time sitting in the garage.

About a month ago, I decided to tear into it and get it running right again. (Which of course I regret not doing while Dad was living)

It took about three afternoons to get through all the plastic and get the carbs off, but once out, they were pretty dead simple to work on. It's a '96 GL1500 BTW so there's only two carbs to deal with. I didn't replace anything in the carbs, just cleaned them up and checked float levels. The battery was dead and wouldn't take a charge, so I installed a new AGM battery. The tank was drained and refilled with fresh gas.

After another afternoon or two fighting the carbs back into the bike, she fired right up and ran great. I finally got all the plastic reinstalled yesterday, and took it out for a ride.

Here's a pic of her after the ride, running great but still needing some cleaning and basic maintenance.

So, you riding this thing to the next get together?

Very cool man what are the plans for it? Keep it just like dad left it or change some stuff up?

and damn that is just an enormous bike

It may be a strange feeling.
Enjoy these times.
Nice bike !

JustinLonghorn said:

So, you riding this thing to the next get together?

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Might as well. I'm usually "the old guy" at our gtg's, that would make it official.

SONIC. said:

Very cool man what are the plans for it? Keep it just like dad left it or change some stuff up?

and damn that is just an enormous bike

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Not sure what I'll do with it. Keep it as is for sure. Ride it for a while and decide if I like it. Then either keep it or sell it for my Mom.

Yeah, it's a monster, but I gotta say, for a 800+ lb sofa, it gets up and goes and handles pretty damn well too.

Cool man! I'd love to do a joint father/son project, but RichArd won't sign the adoption papers.

You may be "the old guy" but you are definitely the most willing to risk his life, you damned daredevil. Ha!

make sure you look/at or do the timing belts on it

they need to be replaced at a max of every 6 years or 60k miles you could lose the motor

they are not expensive or terrible to install so check the service records or mileage and do it unless they are new

cxman said:

make sure you look/at or do the timing belts on it

they need to be replaced at a max of every 6 years or 60k miles you could lose the motor

they are not expensive or terrible to install so check the service records or mileage and do it unless they are new

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Only 30K miles, but obviously over the 6 years if they're original. Thanks, I'll look into it.

with the 1500 i use gates timing belts number T275

i get them at advance or autozone a great belt and cheaper/fresher then the honda ones

sad thing about the belts is if one lets go most of the time a valve gets bent

Glad I'm not the only one with a GL.

Looks like it would be like riding the living room couch LOL

SaltCityCafe said:

Looks like it would be like riding the living room couch LOL

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Sits like a sofa, rides like a bike.

Just got the beast moved from my Mom's house to mine last night. My God what a space hog. Got to do some serious garage reorganization or build a storage shed. Or both.

Whoa Chris!

Just saw this. After talking to you about your dad, etc, I don't know if I could get rid of it. However, I am one of the sentimental sort of personalities that borderlines on causing me to be a hoarder using sentimentality as an excuse to collect things.

Those bikes are proven multi milers though, and it would take you anywhere on this continent happily. You may have just stumbled into a bike that you never thought you'd want, but quite possibly couldn't live without!

I like it.

Thanks Kiley. I think you hit the nail on the head. For a bike that I never really had any interest in, I'm liking it more every time I ride it.

Hey, a 'Wing is the best car on two wheels! I still miss my '76. For longer trips, they are Da Bomb!

CCRider said:

Might as well. I'm usually "the old guy" at our gtg's, that would make it official.

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psshhhh. Do I need to post videos of your balance beam act in the cabin at RRG? Or how about your rock climbing antics?

Someone had carved Metallica on the rock. He just wanted a closer look. Ha