My very second 1977 Honda GL1000 =D

[aaronrecine]

Hello everyone!

It is official. The test results came back and I tested positive for MBS (Multiple Bike Syndrome).

I have been restoring a black 1977 GL1000 which you can track in the Members Restorations and Projects section of the technical forums under the name My very first 1977 Honda GL1000 =D.

I had found on my first GL1000 that my center stand had bent the frame which is common for very rusty, neglected wings which pushed me to look for another frame / project bike if I was unable to repair the frame.

So the search began on craigslist and I made a deal that I still cannot believe happened.

I paid $350 for the bike and threw the guy $20 extra bucks because he HAND DELIVERED THE BIKE STRAIGHT TO MY HOUSE.

It has hondaline bags and seat, a sissy bar, randakk's grips and oil filter conversion, all electronics function, good battery and much more!

It is in amazing condition, BUT has a seized engine. This is no issues for me as I have a good running engine from my other project and I've also wanted a reason to take one of these engines apart and really start understanding them.

I have pulled the plugs and sprayed PB Blaster in the cylinders and let it sit. I have marvel that I bought on lunch on work that I'm going to put in the bike tonight and let soak until the weekend.

Oh yea... The center stand and surrounding frame are in PERFECT condition. Could not be happier!

The first 2 pictures of the bike below are at my place, and the other 4 are off of the craigslist listing the PO had posted.

Stay tuned for more updates!

[platinum]

I know that bike! (I sold it to you)

Again, super happy to give a good deal to someone that's gonna enjoy it and take care of it. She took care of me, so she deserves as much time as you can give her.

[aaronrecine]

I know that bike! (I sold it to you)

Again, super happy to give a good deal to someone that's gonna enjoy it and take care of it. She took care of me, so she deserves as much time as you can give her.

You have no idea how happy you have made me man. Stoked that you will still have somewhat of a relationship with a bike that was so special to you. She is in good hands and will be on the road sooner than you think

[desertrefugee]

Nice! Pull the timing covers. I would think the most likely reason for a seized engine on what appears to be a well-cared-for bike would be a broken timing belt.

...and thanks platinum! This guy will do right by the machine.

[aaronrecine]

Alrighty, so I made some progress this weekend. Here is a brief summary of what I now know...

GOOD NEWS:
-COMES WITH A TITLE!
-LOTS of aftermarket goodies! (Custom exhaust, progressive suspension rear shocks, Steel brake lines, Randakk Grips, Standard Oil Filter Conversion, Dyna S ignition, H4 headlight bucket and more)
-LOTS of oem or randakk quality reproduction parts! (Nice chrome kickstarter with great condition strap, decent battery strap, top shelter hinges and cables, reprint of factory service manual and the owners manual, hondaline bags / sissy bar and more.
-Ignition system was updated to GL1500 coils which is very nice to have as a backup / spare set (Already have Dyna coils)
-The wiring harness and its connectors are all in very good condition
-The gauges look really good. Seems they have been painted at one point.
-ALL THE CARB BUTTONS LOOK TO BE UNDAMGED. WITH MY ORIGINAL 1977 CARBS AND THE ONES COMING OFF OF THIS BIKE I SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE A REALLY NICE SET OF OEM CARBS
-The center stand is perfectly vertical! YAHOO!

There is a lot more good stuff to mention, but I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves

BAD NEWS:
-Engine is no good. The top of the engine case has a crack. Cosmetically the engine is in very good condition, so anything that can be used will be used on the engine that is getting swapped in. The heads look to be in pretty decent condition as well. I will be ordering a full engine gasket kit in the next 2 weeks as I plan on taking the cracked engine all the way apart to see if there is anything mechanically worth using. The heads might still be okay and it would be nice to rebuild them and clean them up, then swap them onto my motor so their is less downtime
-The removable section of the frame has so much rust inside it that it sounds like a Rainstick. Other parts of the frame have rust as well so I will need to strip and wire wheel a lot of this frame. I want to make sure there is absolutely no rust left so this bike lasts for a loooongggg time. It does not seem to have any super cancerous parts, but knowing what I know about these frames I would be an idiot to not take it apart. If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you?
-One of the side covers is cracked and the new paint is chipping and has runs in certain parts. I plan on using the black panels from my first build to complete this one.


This is a mucchhhhh better starting point than my first 1977 and drastically cuts down the list of parts I wrote up.

It should be noted, when I took the engine out it had about a half cup of coolant in the system and almost no oil. Though I am hopeful to find some internal goodies, I very much doubt much of this engine will be usable.

Here are the pictures per usual. Enjoy

[desertrefugee]

Too bad. Something was reaching for daylight there, for sure. At least it'll have a few goo-gahs that might be usable on the other motor. Heads are probably ok. And that does look like a much better baseline unit. Still, I'll be happy to see the other thread/bike resume someday.

Meanwhile...

[aaronrecine]

Too bad. Something was reaching for daylight there, for sure. At least it'll have a few goo-gahs that might be usable on the other motor. Heads are probably ok. And that does look like a much better baseline unit. Still, I'll be happy to see the other thread/bike resume someday.

Meanwhile...

Thanks I look forward to starting the first project back up as well.

[Rat]

If you take the old engine apart keep the bearings if they look good .... both ends ....

Gord(they're hard to find)Jones

[robin1731]

If you take the old engine apart keep the bearings if they look good .... both ends ....

Gord(they're hard to find)Jones

If you check the manual on how Honda does the code for the bearings. You shouldn't put just any bearing in an engine. It's complicated at first but easy once you understand how they did it. After checking them put them in a bag or something and mark them as to which they are. Sometimes you can still see the color on the edge of the bearings. Sometimes not.

.

[5speed]

you have a set of rebuilt / modified idler pulleys to put in the good parts bin..

[desertrefugee]

The case damage suggests a seizure of some kind. Probably rod bearing, but if that's the case, I'd be suspect of the mains as well. Of course, only disassembly and inspection can tell you if they're reusable.

[Rat]

Listen to the guys who know whereof they speak ....

Gord

[aaronrecine]

Thanks everyone! I plan on keeping the entirety of the engine the whole time I own the bike. Parts are hard to find now, meaning in the near future they will become unobtainable. I haven't thrown nearly anything out either, even if it appears to be beyond repair. Only completely useless maintenance items like spark plugs, oil filters etc have been tossed.

The engine was seized when I got it, had 1/2 cup of coolant in it, and no oil. I rammed her into gear while running it backward to break it free after letting PB soak in the cylinders for a while.

I will be transferring many of the engine parts over. I had noticed the rebuilt idler pulleys from reading the rebuild instructions in shop talk and was stoked. Looks to have a new thermostat as well.


This engine was really well built / dressed up. It is such a shame that it sustained so much damage from what might have been a simple coolant check before riding. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and I wouldn't have gotten such a score on a running GL so I can't complain.


Always appreciate the input guys. Also, just noticed the NGWclub hat and next pay period that is for suuuuuuuuuuuureeee getting ordered.

[aaronrecine]

Listen to the guys who know whereof they speak ....

Gord

The older I get the more I realize I don't know and the less I listen to young guys when fixing old stuff. I have a great respect for veteran wrenches who have experience not only greater in time than mine, but also experience that is much different than my own.

At the shop I work at I can use the diagnostic computers for each brand to figure out 90% of the issues I run into. On older bikes like the GL you have to have some sense about you to figure out what is going on. I love mechanical / electrical puzzles and the GL is just that. You can't just read a code, you have to ACTUALLY diagnose a problem.

I love that old bikes are this way because a lot that I have learned from my old wings has helped at the shop. This is one of the main reasons I want to take apart the previously seized engine. The more old technology I understand the better, as it gives me a better understanding as to why things have changed.

A great learning lesson for me was points. I'd never dealt with points before so once I grasped the fact that the spark plugs fire when the points are open, the mechanical advance changes the degree of the lobes, etc my mind exploded hahah. Also the phrase "loading the cam(s)" or "the cam(s) is/are loaded" finally clicked when I changed my timing belts. The whole process, though a lot of hard work, has truly been nothing but joyful discovery after discovery.

Thanks again and my ears are wide open to "guys who know where of they speak"

[rcmatt007]

this looks fun to watch