New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

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mgb1100gl
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New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#1

Post by mgb1100gl »

Hello from a new member. I have a 1979 GL1000 that I have questions about. This is my first year riding it.
First, when the engine is cold, the shifter and clutch work quietly and smoothly. As the engine warms up, a few miles, the gears seem not to completely disengage when I pull in the clutch, and the gearbox makes a "clunk" sound when going from neutral to first, or from second to first to neutral. This does not happen every time but often enough that I am curious. My other bike (Moto Guzzi Breva 1100) has a loud shift but that is apparently normal for that bike.
Second question: the bike can be very difficult to start when it has been setting for a few days or longer, and once started it spits and sputters and backfires for a few minutes. I've learned to start it up well in advance of wanting to ride and letting it warm up for maybe three-to-five minutes once the spit/sputter has died down. Is that typical of these old goldwings? I live in central Pennsylvania and cool weather is arriving so I suspect this may get worse.
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Re: New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#2

Post by Sagebrush »

Second question: the bike can be very difficult to start when it has been setting for a few days or longer, and once started it spits and sputters and backfires for a few minutes.
Are you closing the gas flow to the carbs from the petcock as you should? If you are then the gas evaporates from the bowls in the carbs and it takes a while to fill. Different bikes exhibit different behavior along these lines. I had an 1100 that would do this on a regular basis. I finally found that if I remembered to make sure that I had a half a tank or more of gas in the tank before I parked it and then simply opened the petcock about 15 minutes before I planned to start it then gravity would fill the carb bowls in that time and the bike would start right up. These bikes are a bit cold blooded as well and usually need some choke for awhile after a cold startup before they run smoothly. The colder the weather the longer period of time that the choke is needed.
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Re: New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#3

Post by Sagebrush »

First, when the engine is cold, the shifter and clutch work quietly and smoothly. As the engine warms up, a few miles, the gears seem not to completely disengage when I pull in the clutch, and the gearbox makes a "clunk" sound when going from neutral to first, or from second to first to neutral.
These are not the smoothest shifting bikes in the world. However, I would find the clutch adjustment procedure in the GL1000 Honda Service Manual and follow it to the letter. It may clear up your shifting problems for you. Another thing, as you probably know this is a wet clutch and engine oil is used to lubricate the clutch plates. Therefore engine oil is critical. Make sure you do not use engine oil designed for gas engine cars that contain friction modifiers. I use, and others have as well, with great success Shell Rotella-T engine oils designed for diesel engines. No friction modifiers.
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gltriker
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Re: New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#4

Post by gltriker »

mgb1100gl wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 5:47 pm Hello from a new member. I have a 1979 GL1000 that I have questions about. This is my first year riding it.
First, when the engine is cold, the shifter and clutch work quietly and smoothly. As the engine warms up, a few miles, the gears seem not to completely disengage when I pull in the clutch, and the gearbox makes a "clunk" sound when going from neutral to first, or from second to first to neutral. This does not happen every time but often enough that I am curious. My other bike (Moto Guzzi Breva 1100) has a loud shift but that is apparently normal for that bike.


Second question: the bike can be very difficult to start when it has been setting for a few days or longer, and once started it spits and sputters and backfires for a few minutes. I've learned to start it up well in advance of wanting to ride and letting it warm up for maybe three-to-five minutes once the spit/sputter has died down. Is that typical of these old goldwings? I live in central Pennsylvania and cool weather is arriving so I suspect this may get worse.
note: I found Sagebrush had already addressed the second question before I finished and submitted my contribution. There may be something beneficial in my response, as well. ;)


Hello new member! I live in central New York State. My trike is a 1975 GL1000.

I will help with your second question.
Yes, the engine may seem very difficult to start after setting a few days, or longer. The fuel in the fuel bowl will vaporize from the heat normally produced by a normally operating engine, after the engine is turned off. Not completely, but the fuel level is reduced enough to rely upon the mechanical fuel pump to refill to the proper level to keep the engine running with a fully applied choke (high engine idle) for a minute or two.
-Setting all 4 carburetors' air/fuel pilot mixture screw at 3 turns out from their very lightly seated position is very beneficial for several different reasons. Leave them set there, too.
I, too, allow the engine to warm up for usually 5 minutes, even in the summertime temperatures. Warm enough that a normal application of throttle will get the bike underway with very little protest.

A Cold engine IS a Cold engine. ;)
Cliff (74yrs ;) )

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mgb1100gl
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Re: New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#5

Post by mgb1100gl »

Thank you. I did not know about the fuel petcock matter.
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Re: New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#6

Post by redglbx »

Totally normal old wing stuff and good advice above! The only thing I would add is that a carefull carb sync will help with the clunky shifting (maybe) along with careful setup & balance of the ignition pairs.

These are really good bikes but they use a variant of the cb750 transmission which typically is a clunky piece, Honda used this transmission in a number of their bikes and they all exhibit the same characteristics. Just the nature of the beast but as said above oil choice along with careful balance of the ignition & carbs can improve things as well as the starting. Turning the petcock off at the end of a ride should be a part of your normal routine to prevent any possibility of hydro locking a cylinder, particularly if you park it on the side stand.

Which by the way will give you a cloud of blue oil smoke sometimes after being parked on the side stand, it’s a Goldwing thing.
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Re: New owner clutch, gear shift and cold starting questions

#7

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Mine makes a cloud sometimes and it is always parked upright because of the sidecar. It only takes a pinpoint sized drop getting past the gaps in the rings to make a huge cloud.....
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