Another GL650 owner

for those of you that have M.B.S. (multiple bike syndrome) and have the "silver wing" models.
as our sponsors also have supplies for those bikes and they are popular with the "wing" crowd.

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cmyoch
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#16

Post by cmyoch »

[i] wrote:Sold my 78 GL1000 last week, local broker picked it up and getting it shipped to Norway:

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Today, picked me up an early birthday present for cheap

83 GL650 Interstate, +13k mi., runs decent, cosmetically 60-70%, PO took a nice tumble that had some nice scratches on the sidecases and topbox, dent on exhaust headers and the swingarm; but rides nice, tracks straight, no wiggle at 70+ mph when I let go of the handlebars.
Tires, forkseals, brakes all in decent shape, there may be a cafe/bobber in my near future.

Image
1976 GL1000
1978 Yamaha XS650
1984 Harley Davidson XLH1000
1969 Camaro Z28
1977 Redheaded Wife (Better move her to the top of this list)
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chewy999
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#17

Post by chewy999 »

chewy999 wrote:
Sidecar Bob wrote:
chewy999 wrote:Long story short, ended up back at the dealer who had to use a bar on the swing arm to make enough room to remove the wheel!
Talk about butchers. I hope you never, ever let that dealer work on anything of yours again. If the tire is the stock size you should be able to get it between the final drive and the swingarm if you let the air out. If the tire is wider than stock you sometimes have to remove the final drive.
The tyre was the original, and I'd owned a CX500 and GL1100 (and at the time I was an RAF engineer), so expected the wheel change to be easy. Even the dealer had problems. May be wrong, but seem to remember the problem was a spacer that just couldn't clear the space to allow the wheel to come out, (without a little persuasion)!

lolol lolol
Without making myself look even more stupid, (to late I hear you all say), both the CX500 and GL1100 rears wheels came off just by undoing the axle, remove a spacer and lift the wheel out! Thought the GL650 would be the same, pretty sure even the manual said so. Alright you can loosen three more nuts, but my point and opinion is that you shouldn't have to. One of the joys of having a shaft drive is no messy chain to deal with on a tyre change. Maybe I've been wrong all these years!

:oops: 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.
[i]
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#18

Post by [i] »

Removed the passenger seat and side cases to mount the rear trunk... hopefully lose some weight off the bike.. that passenger rear seat has a heavyweight steel seat pan, felt like it weighs over 10 lb.

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With the sidecases removed, I get a better look at how much rear wheel travel I actually have with the leaky rear shock of mine.
Seems that the rear shock leaks air pretty bad, pump up to 50 psi. and down to zero by the time I get back from a 5 mile ride.

Image
1983 GL650 SilverWing InterstateImage
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#19

Post by Sidecar Bob »

That's OK. Lots of people spend big $$ to lower their bikes :roll:

Seriously, the shocks in these bikes were designed to be rebuilt, much as you would rebuild the forks. Unfortunately, the seal you need is no longer available from Honda. If you can find one from a bearing &/or industrial supplier and you have access to a press (I used the arbor press at work) its not a hard job. If you can't find the seal there are alternatives but you would have to search at cx500forum.com to find which ones have been tried and which ones work.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
[i]
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#20

Post by [i] »

If anything I want to raise the rear end with a longer rear shock, or longer travel rear shock, stiffen up the rear end for better 2-up performance.

Looking into converting a CBR600F4 rear shock to use on the GL650, cutting off an eye mount to weld a clevis mount should be the least complicated process:

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1983 GL650 SilverWing InterstateImage
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#21

Post by Sidecar Bob »

I can't remember what the GL650 shock's ends are like but that could work. Maybe. I was lucky enough to find an original shock with a good seal to fit mine so I don't know which ones work.

Before you buy anything look up the weight of the bike it is from and make sure it is at least as heavy as yours.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
[i]
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Location: Phila PA; Hoboken NJ, Brooklyn NY USA

Re: Another GL650 owner

#22

Post by [i] »

here's what it looks like on the parts fishe

Image

Here's an ebay item:

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1983 GL650 SilverWing InterstateImage
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: Another GL650 owner

#23

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Yeah... When I needed a shock to replace the very rusty original (winter does stuff like that) I looked up the part numbers and looked at pics on eBay listings and IIRC the GL500, GL650 and CX650E shocks are all slightly different. I couldn't say what the differences are off hand. All I remember is that I had to get a CX-E shock because I wasn't sure the other ones would fit and I didn't have time to mess around making one fit.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
[i]
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Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 1:37 pm
Location: Phila PA; Hoboken NJ, Brooklyn NY USA

Re: Another GL650 owner

#24

Post by [i] »

Well, I have replaced my OEM rear shock with a Hagon unit with remote preload adjustment.

Anyone looking for a OEM rear shock to replace seals?
1983 GL650 SilverWing InterstateImage
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