[GoFastMike]

Started my 79 GL1000 today for the first time since I bought it. Took a few minutes for the carb bowls to fill but it eventually fired up, kinda. I rebuilt the carbs and used the workshop manual settings for idle mixture but the synch is way out. So it started out pretty rough but got better as I fiddled with mixture and balance settings. Don't have a synch tool yet, it should be here in a week or so. Runs okay once it warmed up, so I'm lean at this point.

Rebuilt carbs, new fuel lines, new air, oil, fuel filters, new plugs, changed oil after it got up to temp. Added some seafoam to both fuel and oil. New battery. New headlight assembly although it didn't light, something amiss in the wiring or the bulb is dead. Removed the touring gear except for the crash bars; figure I'll leave those on until I've ridden it a few times since it's such a heavy beast. All the gauges work but the tach seems really sluggish. The PO wired in a thermostat bypass switch, one of about four cheesy toggles on the gauge cluster. Got the other three off but this one was stubborn. Good thing because it has to be thrown for the rad fan to come on. Will yank that soon.

Hate the seat, the bars, and the front fender. Have a superbike bend coming, still looking for a seat. Replaced the foot boards with stock pegs, still need to install stock gear shift arm. Brake caliper rebuild kits on their way and have new steel front brake lines to install. Right fork leaking pretty good, new seals on their way. Have what I believe are stock turn signals but they're still attached to fairing and trunk, will tackle that soon, the wiring is uh, not clean. In fact, there's several extra wires roughly patched in to the harness which will see the trash can soon as well.

Having a great time and anxious to go for that first ride. First pic is the day I bought it, second is how it stands today. Think I may paint it soon, it's kinda rough. At any rate... it's alive and breathing. One more vintage Wing on the road again soon.

 

[Burnerboy]

I've always wanted to do that RE-build an older bike myself.BUT never had yet............ enjoy!

Ronnie

 

[crownfire]

Looking great! Keep those progress pictures coming. Love to see a classic still on the road. That's also a project I hope to tackle one day......

 

[Barry Dupler]

Wish you luck.

 

[NREMTP]

That looks like great progress. Hopefully you will find all the parts and accessories that you want.

 

[RayJ]

It is great to get the first purr from the new kitten. Mine is a 75. About the same place as you but mine is running pretty good. Working on brakes and wheels and tires now. First real ride only a short time away. Stay on it. The second pic is way better for me.

 

[TmDILL]

Except for the Seat the bike looks stock. I had a 77 wing bought used and sold it with 97,000 miles on it. Sold it in 81 when the AF sent me to Germany. My longest trip on it was from San Antonio, Tx to Seattle, WA. But lots of riding in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Put a Vetter Fairing on it with Cycle Sound as part of it. I loved that bike.

 

[GoFastMike]

Made pretty good progress the last few weeks. Rebuilt the front brake master and calipers, steel lines, new pads. New super bike bar. Synched carbs. Shed a few more pounds. Gave the bodywork a quick sand, prime, color. Need to put some miles on it before valve adjust and new points and condensor. Running some seafoam in the oil and fuel so hate to drain fresh oil to do the valves. Need to do the fork seals soon. It also suffers the constant neutral light problem which I'll get to at some point. Figure I'll get to the rear brakes fairly soon. PO installed an override switch for the fan (red toggle near gauges), cutting out the thermo switch altogether. Not sure what's up with that but need to return to stock. Have a set of stock turn signals ready to go on but need to sort out some of the wiring since I yanked the fairing and trunk. Hunting for stock badges. Have hardware for shelter wires and pins. Figure I'll continue cleaning and painting but I really need to go for a ride. Waiting on mityvac to bleed front brakes so first ride next week.

Hate. The. Seat.

 

[Burnerboy]

WOW! Man, that's quite a difference since it was a stock machine.. SweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeT lQQk'in

Ronnie

 

[JK McDonald]

Hey Mike - You are making great progress in breathing life back into your GW. Getting her running is often the biggest step. From there on, the brakes, tires, paint, etc..... will gradually fall into place. Your 928 sure looks familiar. When we 1st bought ours I kept a post-it stuck to the dash reminding me to watch out for all the front spoiler parking lot eating curbs. This shot is of "Miss Purdy" during a recent road trip to Colorado.

Ride Safe - Michael

 

[superdave1120]

Nice looking bike. Keep us posted on the updates. Enjoy the ride.

 

[GoFastMike]

Hey thanks, JK. It's a meditative process for me. I focus on one or two things and achieve a bit of Zen while 'restoring' the part to what I imagine it looked like when it rolled off the showroom floor or how I think it should look based on 40 years of riding and looking at motorcycles. Having a ton of fun.

Always cool to run into another 928 fan. I've had several including an 84 S that I put half a million miles on... commuting from DC to Detroit every week for a few years. 550 miles door to door. The beast and I could do it in 7 hours flat. I've been wrenching on them for 20 years, the engineering in these cars is just amazing. Omitted this pic because I was afraid they would steal the focus. lolz White guy is an '80, first year of electronic FI, red guy is a '79, pure mechanical fuel injection. Both are a joy to drive. May the Bwaaaaa be with you...

 

[GoFastMike]

Welp, it WAS alive. Now it's semi-dead. lolz

Stranded me on the side of the road yesterday, ran but had zero power. I had been out about 20 minutes and it starts losing power, wot and no acceleration and it just got progressively worse. Turned around and headed home, got within 5 miles and it just quit moving the bike. I could rev it to 4 grand or so, slip the clutch, move forward about 3 feet, revs fell to 2k, clutch in, rev, repeat. Moved it about 50 yards to a turnout. Called AAA. Coolest motorcycle tow truck showed up and carted us home.

Pulled the plugs this morning, all totally white, very lean. I ordered a new fuel pump last night so I think I'm on the right track. Checked the points, both pitted. Have new points and condenser to go in today. Ordered 2 new coils figuring they're pretty tired after 40 years. Plug wires seem okay but will put a meter on them and make sure. Going to take this down time and adjust valves and new ignition bits means it's time to verify timing. Will also check the timing belt, PO said it was fresh but I want to make sure it's timed correctly. All this gives me a chance to deal with the fugly valve and timing belt covers, chrome is flaking off so gonna sand and paint.

I do love old motorcycles, honest. They remind you they're old from time to time. Figure all these 40 year old parts don't owe the bike a thing at this point. Slowly they get replaced and the bike comes back to life. According to my theory. lolz

 

[RayJ]

Good luck. If you figure out a definitive reason for the behavior let’s us know.

 

[GetAway]

I had a 1976 CB750 and I replaced the points with an electronic unit. I was putting 2000 miles a month on the bike and I got tired of messing with the points. I took that bike to a place that had a dyno for bikes and the electronic unit gave me a pony or two but the best part is the electric charge to each plug was right on, no minor missing etc.
It was a black donut with two holes in it and the inside 'rotor' had a hole and when each hole lined up it would fire.

 

[GoFastMike]

Yeah, I had a dyna electronic ignition on an old Sazook 1000 several years ago, it was pretty good, except it would overheat and cut out. My then wife looked at the wiring diagram and figured out the PO had wired it wrong. lolz Wired it correctly and it was flawless from there. Going to install the fresh points and run those awhile, switch to electronic down the road when I'm more cash flush.

btw... anyone know if there's a 'direction' on the condenser? Old one has color coded wires, new one they're both black. Figure I'll follow the install orientation and plug it in accordingly. Odd things to have to think about...

 

[Limpy45]

You mentioned dropping the oil to adjust the valves? You don't have to drop oil to adjust them, in fact you should not even lose any at all. Pull valve cover and turn over slowly by hand, set each cylinder etc. Button up and ride!!

 

[GoFastMike]

Welp... I killed it. After it died I was pretty sure it was fuel pump but put in new coils, points, and condenser as well. Installed points, set the gaps, assumed timing was correct, and went for a ride. It was pretty sluggish, not much power, so figured the timing was off. And that's where the saga gets dark.

I'd never heard of, let alone worked on a 'wasted spark ignition' system. 2 sets of points, 2 high lobes on the point shaft, first time by fires a plug for the power stroke, next time by fires a wasted spark during exhaust stroke. No big deal says the internets and Honda did this to keep the coil count at 2 to save weight. lolz Save weight. That's funny. Anyway, I go to time the ignition having read all about 'splitting the timing' to account for shaft wobble on point set 1/2 but I wasn't really clear on wtf they were talking about. Didn't have my mechanic test light so was using an ohm meter. Shop manual details using a test light in parallel with ignition on, series ignition off. I was getting reading changes with ignition on so did it that way. Well I adjusted, adjusted, adjusted and couldn't get it right. After a day of this went and bought a continuity light, still with ignition on, damn light would not go out. Duh. Fiddle farted around with that for a few hours then back to the ohm meter. Got both sets of points close to correctly set (or so I thought) and fired it up a few times. Ragged, no power, really bad idle... no joy on the timing clearly.

I go read some more and the light goes off... pun intended. Next day, unplugged the point leads near the battery and used that as one end of the test light connection, other end on the point spring and bingo, I'm getting correct light behavior relative to the timing marks. Felt pretty dumb at this point. 1/2 was really good, 3/4 were way off. Switch my light to set 3/4. All this time I'm cranking the engine via hand at the back. Until this morning. I get a full flywheel spin then next time around it gets harder and finally won't budge. Back it up a bit, go forward again, sticks and won't budge. So I've broken something, probably a ring, and it's jammed in there somewhere. Made me sick to finally be close and on the right track, literally minutes away from perfectly timed points... and it dies.

So... I've ordered a rebuild gasket set and a set of rings. Have the bike torn down and about ready to pull the engine. Anxious to see inside and determine what broke. Geez this bike has kicked my ass. The good news? I got a new seat and painted the t-belt covers. Will keep you posted, assuming everyone is glued to their screens to see what kind of damage I've wrought. lolz Sure hope this bike screams with speed and not pain pretty soon.

 

[GoFastMike]

Doesn't appear to be a broken ring. Bores are smooth and even have factory cross hatch still. I was able to get several full turns backwards, then it locked up going forward after 270 degrees or so. Back and forth and no joy. So it's something inside the case. Stand back... I'm going in!

 

[GoFastMike]

And it's out... geez, what a job.