75 GL1000 Project

[MikeNTexas]

I received the Gates idler pulleys yesterday to I warmed up the shop and went to work on them.

To remove the old idlers I drilled part way through the shaft on the rear with a 17/32nd drill bit. This allowed me to punch the shaft out leaving the original hole undamaged.

I found some 10mm bolts with a large hex head along with some flange nuts in my metric bone pile. I then found a couple of copper washers to use as a spacer to center a 10mm bolt in the hole. with the large hex head bolt there is plenty of contact area to keep it straight in the hole.

I have seen where others have left off the heat shield and shim that goes behind the bracket but I decided to reuse them. It was necessary to cut a notch in the shim and a hole in the heat shield for bolt head clearance.

Hey, what's white stuff between the layers of the heatshield? Not asbestos I hope!!

Installed the idlers and adjusted the belt tension then checked the cam timing to make sure nothing rotated while the belts were loose.

[MikeNTexas]

Found a bolt in my metric stash with a large diameter hex head along with a self locking flange nut.

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need to make the hole in the heat shield large enough that the idler could travel its full range of adjustment.

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Tensioner installed on bracket

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Tensioners installed

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[cfairweather]

You will have a real nice bike when you are done. In 1975, there were only two color selections: red and blue-green. Wish I had a set of the Abe Henry wheels.

[MikeNTexas]

I took apart the forks today and spent a couple hours cleaning and polishing the lowers. Took a while to get through the old clear coat and oxidation but their starting to shine.

One lower polished

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Both lowers polished

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[codyjames707]

Great progress so far, and the engine looks to be in great shape too! I am INSANELY jealous you scored the henry abe rims, I've been looking for that front rim for YEARS now! Haha. Looking forward to seeing this build progress! Are you aiming to return it to stock? Or are you doing any crazy customizing to your 75?

[MikeNTexas]

Great progress so far, and the engine looks to be in great shape too! I am INSANELY jealous you scored the henry abe rims, I've been looking for that front rim for YEARS now! Haha. Looking forward to seeing this build progress! Are you aiming to return it to stock? Or are you doing any crazy customizing to your 75?

Nothing crazy planned. Probably going to keep it as close to stock as possible with the exception of paint, seat and exhaust.

[Easter]

Mike, just a tip for the future, lacquer thinner will take off most of the factory clear coat and make the polishing go much faster. Love those idlers. I think you said the headlight and ears were sold? If not let me know.

[MikeNTexas]

Mike, just a tip for the future, lacquer thinner will take off most of the factory clear coat and make the polishing go much faster. Love those idlers. I think you said the headlight and ears were sold? If not let me know.

Ears are gone. Still have the headlight for the ‘80

[MikeNTexas]

Cleaned the shelter frame yesterday, hit it with a scotch bright pad then sprayed some VHT gloss black epoxy paint on it. Today I started putting all the electrical components back on it. The fuse holders looked kind of corroded so I took a rifle bore brush after them. Now if the sand blaster would just get my frame blasted I’ll start putting this beast back together.

Shelter frame painted

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Shelter frame assembly

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Cleaning fuse block

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[Track T 2411]

Looking great!

[MikeNTexas]

Lets see some polishing now

Worked on them for an hour or two today. Looking better.

Henry Abe wheels

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[cfairweather]

Absolutely beautiful.

[codyjames707]

I'm so jealous of those rims... That front Henry Abe rim, SO NICE!

[Chainman]

Great, now I want a pair.

[Track T 2411]

Yummy!