1975-1976 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing Tech Tips

Tires

This bike appreciates good rubber and doesn’t wear rears too badly. Fronts go away fairly rapidly especially if you use the front brakes. And you should. You’ll see cupping, but that’s a feature of today’s rubber matched with yesterday’s front suspensions. Cupping doesn’t seem to do much to handling, but replace the tire if it gets bad. These bikes really respond to decent rubber. Hard rubber will get you the mileage, but nice, supple rubber will let you corner this monster until you start dragging hard parts.

Brakes

Once again, old tech, but better than some. I would like to see what venting would do to my disks, but I’m not interested enough to actually drill them. The disks do seem to be pretty warp resistant. Fresh pads of modern compounds will help you stop quickly. Fresh fluid will keep these brakes working. Given the sheer size of these bikes, it is entirely possible to boil the brake fluid, so keep it clean and keep the boiling point high. Lever action will always be pretty hard due to the fact that the brakes do have a good bit of leverage over the master cylinder. Live with it and amaze people with your ferocious grip when shaking hands. When rebuilding, be sure to grease the sliders and make absolutely double-sure the dust boots are on correctly. I’m sure steel braided lines will help the cause. I’m going to fit them to mine this spring if money permits.

Suspension

The spirit of ’76. The rears on this bike have been trouble free. They get overmatched when my wife and I are on the bike, and I’ve been thinking of getting some air shocks for it, but for now, I’m good with the way they perform.

The front forks are another matter. They dive like hell if you have too little oil in there. The springs are easily overmatched for the load, so I always put a bit more fluid in. This stiffens up the ride considerably at the expense of fork seal life. Bushings and such will wear in these forks. Have someone else install the seals and have them check the bushings and stuff. Personally I’d rather nail my hand to our oak tree than do another fork seal job, so my local shop can have my business. I hear cartridge emulators are the thing for oldsters like this bike, and perhaps at the next rebuild I’ll consider it.

Exhaust

Forget about it. Take the muffler off and repaint it black once in a while. If you must modify it, remember to rejet.

Motor

This is one of the most complex motors you’re going to find in a motorcycle, and it can be one of the more difficult to work on as well.

Engine IN FRAME work

• Cam Belts: This must be done every 20,000 miles or say goombye to a lovely engine. This is, to my knowledge, a zero tolerance engine, so if a cam belt breaks it’s sayonara, dudesickle. The manual says you should take the radiator out to do this job and it does make the job easier. However, if you have a ratcheting 10mm wrench (not a socket wrench, but a ratcheting WRENCH), you can get the job one no sweat. A long 10 mm wrench (6 or more inch long handle) can also get the job done, but it is not near as convenient. Remove the cam belt covers. Use the back wheel to move the cam timing marks to the mark on the backing plate. If you’re looking from the front of the bike, the clutch side of the bike mark will be at 3:00 and the accelerator side will be at 9:00. Leave the bike in gear and wedge something down on the rear brake pedal to lock the engine in place. Mark roughly where the tensioner place is sitting so that you can get it roughly to the same place when reinstalling the belts. Use chalk or a sharp knife or whatever. Remove the two screws that hold each tensioner wheel in place. This removed the tension on the belts, now remove the belts. Install the new belts. Tension them roughly where your old marks were. Double check your valve timing. Are the marks still in alignment? Good. If not, then release the belt tensioner on the side that’s not in alignment and realign. If the crankshaft has moved or things just aren’t adding up, release the brakes on the rear wheel. Move to the area on top of the engine, just aft of the carb banks and just underneath the petcock. On top of the engine casing, you’ll find a large round cover with a slit in it. Using a large screwdriver, turn the cover loose and see the flywheel beneath. There will be timing marks there. Using a manual as your guide, line up the timing marks on the flywheel and the cam sprocket/backing plate and do your timing. When you’re done and everything is set, reinstall the cam belt covers being careful the gasket gets installed correctly. If you have to, use something to tack it to the cover so that it doesn’t flop around.
• Radiator: Pull it out and put it in. Not too big a deal there. However, you may want to seriously consider replacing the hoses when you do. Be sure to use coolant that does not have silicates in it. If you aren’t using Hondaline coolant or some other specially prepared coolant or the long-life red coolant that say they have no silicates in it, then you will be replacing your water pump sometime soon. It’s not a big job, but a messy one. The silicates (microscopic bits of sand)in the coolant, will eat away the rubber seals around the pump’s drive shaft, hosing it and making your pump leak. The next time you see a gathering of Gold Wings, look underneath the front of the bike. If you see a puddle of coolant, you know someone’s running silicated coolant in their bike.
• Oil change. Drain it and put it in. Don’t worry about the filter bolt as they’re available at most bike stores. Replace it once in a while.
• Coolant: Radiator above.
• Water pump: Pull it out and replace it. No big deal. Read Radiator above.
• Carbs: Yes, you can take them off without pulling the engine. Unlock the top of the “tank” and take the storage tray out and the side covers off. Undo the butterfly nut on the top of the air cleaner and remove the lid and the filter. Undo the two 10mm bolts that hold the air cleaner enclosure to the carb assembly and wiggle the air cleaner enclosure out from between the frame rails. Disconnect all four intake tubes by loosening the hose clamps at the top and removing the two screws each at the bottom. Disconnect the choke cable and the accelerator cables. Disconnect the fuel line. Slide the carbs out of the bike on the clutch lever side. You may have to remove the carb tops on the brake lever side and you will probably have to remove the fuel bus diaphragm. That's a little dingus that sticks up off the top of air plenum on the front of the assembly. It's held on by two screws. Access them from the hole where the air cleaner assembly was. Be careful as those screws have legs and the cap you're removing has a big spring under it. Reinstall by reversing the process (sorta).
• Valve covers: If you’ve crashed your bike and you don’t have engine guards on, you’ll be needing to do this. First, remove both valve covers by loosening the two sets of four valve cover screws. Make note of any that are bent or of any rubber grommets that look damaged, cracked, or chunked up. Once removed, check your valve clearances. This is a pain. Now, go to your Honda dealer and secure a bunch of replacement grommets. Order at least twice as many as are messed up, as its possible you’re going to need them in the future. Order fresh screws while you’re there, or go to the junkyard. As long as they’re not bent, you’re OK. Secure your old or new valve covers and check the valve cover gasket. It’s long and shaped funny and just about impossible to mess up, so it’s probably OK unless it tore or was damaged somehow. Replace it if it’s messed up, reuse it if it isn’t. Get four straight screws and four good grommets assembled. Stick them in and tighten all four by hand until snug. Tighten the rest of the way with a wrench. Be sure to watch the rubber grommets. If they don’t seat right, you’ll have a leak. If they seat right, you’re done with the project. Clean up and drive off…
• Fuel Pump. Remove it and replace it. No big deal.

Engine out of Frame

If you have to take the engine out, figure the motor to be more like a car’s engine than a bikes. You have NO HOPE of manhandling this one alone. Get help, get a motor lift and get a rolling cart/creeper that is nice and low to the ground. This will help you maneuver the motor once it’s out.

• Charging System: Be sure to check the rotor and stator assembly. Any signs of browning of the glop they slather over the windings in the stator means that it’s getting or has gotten hot in the past and is probably well on it’s way to frying. Yes, this is an engine out sort of project, so do it now rather than having to pull the thing again when it fails. Check the rotor’s inside surfaces for cracks in the little oval retaining plates. One of these let go on my bike and that’s the reason I had to take the motor out.
• Clutch: While it’s out, check it thoroughly and replace anything even slightly worn. I would recommend a Barnett clutch. Get the friction plates and the metal plates and replace the whole shooting match. Check the grooves on the side of the basket and replace it if it needs it. Be careful when you take the clutch apart. The cover is not very strong and if you loosen the spring loaded screws in a pattern that doesn’t disperse the force, you will shatter the clutch cover. I did it and it was a pisser. Be especially careful when you put it back together as Barnett springs are noticeably stronger than the stockers. Mix them with the stockers or not (lever pull pressure increases) be careful putting it back together. Change the clutch cable at this point as well. It’s a royal pain to get to if the engine is in the bike.
• Output shaft: It should be OK, we just replaced the bearing/seal thingy so I didn’t have to later.

Final Drive

Check the gear oil in the rear end frequently. Any leaks are bad news. Be careful to get the wheel seated when you install the back wheel. Improper installation chews up the splines and then you have to replace the whole unit. Bad. There’s some sort of special grease you need to use. Contact Honda or the manual to figure it out.

Last words

• This is a pretty nice looking bike. The stock seat and the taillight setup is very nice looking. If you don’t change it, it looks good.
• The stock bars are a bit big. It is possible to change to TT bars.
  
  I have these and run bar-end mirrors because I’m a fat bastard with a bad back. I need to lean into the wind, or I’m intensely uncomfortable on the road.
• Chances are if you find one of these bikes, it’s been fitted with a Vetter fairing and bags. This makes it a touring rig. Getting rid of these items and restoring it to a roadster that can tour is difficult. It’s worth it, but for the amount of dicking around, you’d almost be better off leaving it the way it is. If you must dump the fairing, be prepared to pay through the teeth ($150.00-$200.00) for new fork ears and a headlight. You should also expect to do a lot of electrical work. Make sure you have a schematic wiring diagram and some SOLDER and SHRINK TUBING. Wire wraps, electrical tape and twisting wires together just won’t cut it. Not now, not ever. Do it right or don’t bother.