1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

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Lucien Harpress
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1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#1

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Three-ish years ago, I had a wonderful GL1200 Standard that met an unfortunate accident. The full story can be found here:

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=47715

Short version, it ended up at the bottom of an 8 foot ditch and was no longer so wonderful. Well, fast forward to now, and I finally, FINALLY got this bike back to a state I would call "finished".

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It went through several iterations of what I thought it wanted to be before I ended up with what I got. A bigger hangup than what I thought it was going to be ended up being the saddlebags- initially I was going to re-run the Interstate hard bags, but happen to luck into a Standard 1200 rear fender, so there was no way I wasn't going to use it. However, I wanted to keep my trailer hitch as well, so I was locked into a set of leather bags that could only be a certain size. The first set I bought were wrong (factory screw-up), the second were too big, the third wouldn't open due to lid geometry, and what you see here is set 4. 20 trips to a hardware store later, and I'm fairly happy with what I ended up with.

Now, it's not 100%. I still need driving lights, might do some funky stuff with trim, and need to wire up the trailer electrical connections, but that's all I'd consider "extras". I'm just happy to be able to look at this bike and say, "yeah. Done."

For those interested, I'm riding this one to the bike show at Gilmore next weekend along with my yellow 1000. If anyone wants to see them in the flesh, or just hang out with about a million classic bikes and cars, I highly invite anyone who can make it to come check it out.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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chewy999
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#2

Post by chewy999 »

action1 action1 action1

Looks very nice, all the effort was worth it.

anim-cheers1 anim-cheers1 anim-cheers1
Previous Rides,
1980 CB250N Good to learn on
1981 CX500 good mid range tourer, went to Austria on it!
1983 GL1100C Pride and joy, sold when I bought my 1st house, big mistake
1985 GL650 Silverwing another mistake, horrible bike
1986 CBX550 Good commuter
1989 Suzuki GS750 (1976) cheap and cheerful until a dog ran out in front of me on Xmas Eve, 1991
Current bikes
2010 CB1300 back on a bike after 19 years, two divorces, children grown up etc
1980 GL1100 NOW ON THE ROAD, still use CB1300.
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Whiskerfish
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#3

Post by Whiskerfish »

Very Nice!!
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
"Yea I do dance awkwardly, and I am having more fun than you" Taylor Swift
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1984 GL1200 Standard
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike

Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
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Graham Cracker
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#4

Post by Graham Cracker »

Looking great!
Mark

1975 GL 1000 Candy Antares Red
1976 GL 1000 Sulfur Yellow
1977 GL 1000 Pearl White
1978 GL 1000 Candy Limited Maroon
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salukispeed
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#5

Post by salukispeed »

So glad to see you got her back together. I like the saddle bag set up
Honda 72 CL100 sold
74 CB750 K4 nice driver
1966 CA77/305 Dream nostalgic driver
84 GL1200I work in progress
1970 CT 70
1982 GL500 Interstate
madmtnmotors
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#6

Post by madmtnmotors »

Looks great! I hope either one of my new projects turns out even half as nice.
Lucien Harpress wrote: I'm riding this one to the bike show at Gilmore next weekend along with my yellow 1000.
Wait a minute... you can ride two bikes at the same time? That's amazing! anim-cheers1 lolol
A little tutorial on electrical connectors: https://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic ... 42#p725425
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#7

Post by avg_joe »

madmtnmotors wrote:Looks great! I hope either one of my new projects turns out even half as nice.
Lucien Harpress wrote: I'm riding this one to the bike show at Gilmore next weekend along with my yellow 1000.
Wait a minute... you can ride two bikes at the same time? That's amazing! anim-cheers1 lolol
Maybe that's what the trailer hitch is for? confused22 :shock:
In the garage:
1977 GL1000
1982 GL1100 with California Side Car hack
1982 FT500 Ascot(Wife's bike)
1983 FT500 Ascot
1983 XL600R(with some 85 parts)
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#8

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Now that you mention it.... :lol:

What's actually happening is that my brother got his learner's permit a little while ago, and I'm riding with him right now to get him more practice. The goal is for him to ride the small(er) 1000 up while I keep an eye on him on the 1200. Adrian to Gilmore is a bit of a hike, but we're sticking to back roads and not going to rush it. He followed me in a truck last year and he vowed to never do it again. ;)
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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brianinpa
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#9

Post by brianinpa »

Looks great! I keep looking at my Standard in the corner of my garage and cringe knowing the work I have ahead of me to get it back into running order.

What bags did you finally settle on?
Brian
ADC(AW) - US Navy Retired 1983-2003
If you aren't having fun doing it, find something else to do.

1984 Standard - 18,000 miles - Naked... the way it should be
1987 Interstate - 62,000 miles - Resurrected from the rust bucket
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#10

Post by Lucien Harpress »

I ended up going with a pair of box-style bags from All American Rider. On the one hand, they were the style I wanted from the very beginning. On the other, it IS a definite downgrade from the hard bags. However, I'm constrained by the old bars that surround them.

The worst is the handles on either side of the seat. Because of this, standard bag lids won't work- the handles get in the way and the lids won't open far enough. I actually tossed a REALLY nice set of Saddlemen bags because I couldn't open the lid far enough. The main upside of the set I have now is the top is just a flap, so there's some flexibility to get it open around the handles.

I'm looking into ways to keeping the stuff inside waterproof, but for now I'm just enjoying the first storage space on my 1200 in years.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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GL1-242
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#11

Post by GL1-242 »

Very nice.

Paul
84 GL1200 STD
75 GL1000 #202
75 GL1000 (AKA, GL1-242)(AKA, Flipper)
76 LTD
76/77 CB750F
Bultaco's = 121, 152, 167, 188
Gowing
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#12

Post by Gowing »

She's a real beauty! LH!
Dave

1975 GL 1000
1980 XS650
1981 ct110
1972 F7 KAW 175
2000 moby blaze 40cc
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heraldhamster
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#13

Post by heraldhamster »

awesome rebuild sir!
sorta bulldogged custom 1978 GL1000 - "geekster"
full Vetter dress 1979 GL1000 - "Barge" (currently down)
1986 1200 Aspencade - "Heart of Gold" - daily rider
1990 1500 Aspencade - It's ALIVE! but very, very naked. not in a good way.
1978 for $100 - project in worx
1978 from a previous member here - taking up space
my original '79 bought in '91 - replacing engine (eventually, maybe someday)

H2G2=42

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5speed
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#14

Post by 5speed »

beautiful bike...
now I want a 1200 standard.. lol
1982 1100 standard. (sold)
1986 Yamaha FJ1200
2000 Yamaha Roadstar
1976 GoldWing. running but not on the road
1978 Goldwing. future cafe project.
2019 Can-Am ryker (boss's new ride)

2002 Shadow American Classic(sold)
1983 Shadow 500. (sold)
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Re: 1200 Standard FINALLY DONE!

#15

Post by desertrefugee »

Lucien. As nice as that thing is, why the heck would you be considering a Valkyrie? Ride that danged thing. Time's wasting! Snow is coming.

(The only thing I'd do is ditch the front fender rail. To my eyes, it somehow doesn't seem to fit the style of the Standard).
- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to ride in the rain.
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