'79 Wing and a Prayer

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Fred Camper
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#136

Post by Fred Camper »

My input is to push that back and work on other items to get a clearer picture of "all" possible issues. Nice to have a long term list and then prioritize it.
Proud member of the NGW Cartel (Rochester MI)
1977 GL1000 BADDOG (April 2012 BOTM)
1976 LTD - '993 LTD...and so it begins'

You should remember that it's peace of mind you're after and not just fixing the machine. R.Pirsig
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#137

Post by Lucien Harpress »

I second the idea to move past it for now. Get it together, run it for a decent length of time (4-5 gas tank fill-ups sounds good to me), see if it goes away. Things maybe just need time to settle down and wear into each other. If not, it's not the end of the world to re-do that front cover with the engine in the frame. And you'd be surprised how much faster jobs go the second time you do them.
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

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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#138

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

Onward it is!

A week or three ago, I had pulled the unit apart and painted it with black caliper paint. Then I sourced a full rebuild kit (with stainless pistons) from BrakeCrafters - I like those guys, btw.

But my unit didn't have those thin metal anti-chatter/squeal plates. And they're not readily available as replacements. eBay it was. A little patience and regular searching turned up a couple whole unit candidates. When the price on one that had good looking plates fit my budget, I jumped. I picked up a decent, likely rebuildable '78 rear caliper with one pin, retaining spring, pads - and those plates.

So I got busy buttoning up the caliper this evening, working in the den because it's about 10 degrees (F) outside. (I rode today, can report that it was a harder commute home than it was in the early AM.) As things are free of oozing fluid, the boss didn't complain.

Here we have it.
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I had also planned to reassemble the rear MC, which was disassembled and cleaned a couple ago. The rebuild kit had come over the weekend.) By the time I finished up the caliper, though, I was thinking it would be good to save the MC for another day. I reattached the fluid reservoir and called a night.
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There's no rush here, as I don't yet have the part I need to connect the MC to the caliper.

In Other News.

I'm pretty pleased about scoring a good, clean, working front MC from an ST1100, complete with seemingly nearly new Galfer braided lines mounted up via a double banjo. I was looking for a good MC that could drive the '82 dual pot calipers. I'm going with sport bars and may use bar end mirrors, so a mirror mount wasn't important.

It was iffy on the line length. I measured things up on my own ST1100 and compared with what I'd need on this '79 with '83 fork, and I knew I might find myself an inch or two short on the lines. But I figured I had little to lose given the price - quality MC with stainless lines for about what a rebuild kit or Chinese MC would have run me. I've got it all mocked up with a bad old bar and the lines work - if I keep the bar rise to about 2.5 inches. (Another bar is on order, which will help me lock it down.)

It's way too early to know, but the in-the-saddle feel is pretty good. I'll post up some pics once I get things a bit more sorted on the handlebar, brake, and lever front.

Soon it'll be time to open the bag containing my new air filter and drop in the airbox. I'm hoping Pidjones' (The Hunley) guidance on routing the throttle/clutch cables over the air cleaner helps me clean up the appearance and avoid tight cable bends. I don't know that I trust my soldering to the point of shortening cables and reattaching barrels.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
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Fred Camper
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#139

Post by Fred Camper »

I hear you on the clutch mod, it takes a good strong connection since the pull is not minor like on the gas. But if you need to do it, get everything very clean and it can work well. Took me two tries on Baddog to get it right, and next up is the hydraulic clutch.
Proud member of the NGW Cartel (Rochester MI)
1977 GL1000 BADDOG (April 2012 BOTM)
1976 LTD - '993 LTD...and so it begins'

You should remember that it's peace of mind you're after and not just fixing the machine. R.Pirsig
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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#140

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

Detour City.

(This is a story that might be worth skipping.)

I'm not the only one here who spends time keeping one eye out for possible bikes. It's mostly Hondas for me, but I also wander away from Honda when something speaks to me. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately? Hmm), I've somehow managed to find myself with a couple GL1100s that can't be be brought back without motor swaps. So I'm currently something of a sucker for an inexpensive, potential powertrain.

About 6 weeks ago or so, someone posts up a pair of GL1100s that might have motors that could fire up. The price is too high for me, but I'm curious. I watch and inquire about the $200 one, as that's about my price point for this sort of thing. No carbs on it, but I can see parts scattered around and a big plastic bin with take-off bits hanging out of it - a carb rack, a radiator, etc. But there's no actionable intel on the motor - got in trade, told it ran, haven't tried to... I don't act.

It's the holidays. I move on, but the bikes remain listed and the prices come down, and down, and down.

Last Friday evening, after clearing it all with The Boss, I reach out to the seller again about buying both bikes (an 80 and an 81, I discovered when I got to the field where they sat).

My wife and I have a 3-hour drive north already planned for Sunday and the bikes are "on the way" (20 minute side trip), so she agrees we can take my truck, rent a trailer, and swing over to buy the bikes. I can't believe she was up for all this, and yet there she was standing in a field in the middle of nowhere at lunchtime on Sunday. Our plan was to meet the guy, do the deal, load the bikes, and leave the trailer at his place until we were on our way back home - about 6 hours after we bought the bikes. Ahh, the plan.

The seller texts to report that he may not be there when we arrive, so he tells me to put the $ on the seat in his truck. OK. And there'll be a bill of sale on the seat for me. OK. It's Maine. Our slogan at the border: "The way life should be." I've done these kinds of deals and never been stiffed. I'm sure he wasn't concerned about me stiffing him for 2 rough, really rough Wings.

We get there. The bikes are in his yard, which is basically a large open field. They sit amid at least a dozen various small engine-powered outdoor tools - mowers, trimmers, sleds, and more. They're not really near the road or the driveway. And the yard has a nice coating of ice across it. It's about 20 degrees, with howling winds. (I was at least smart enough to dress for the weather, which meant I wasn't cold as long as I was able to keep my gloves on.)

I slide over to check out the GLs. It's challenging to say the least. The wheels on both had sunk into the ground about 1", so they were basically sitting in holes. One has no tank (it's over near the parts tub), no speedo, no..., and the starter is hanging by its cable. I think the fork springs are probably missing, as the front suspension is bottomed out. Someone got "into" it, then threw in the towel. The other has a Vetter fairing (floppy, semi-attached) and a pair of K&N bags. It's the looker of the pair, as the black paint/pinstripes seem to be in pretty good condition - one side panel missing. Neither has the carb rack.
And the kickstand for one of the bikes has sunk 4" into the ground, which is frozen solid with ice. It won't budge.

There's a gigantic plastic tub full of GL parts. That's great - if only it hadn't filled with water, which was frozen solid. It weighs probably 200 pounds - most of it ice.

Mentally, I'm rocking back and forth. Yes. No. Yes. No. It's $200 for the pair and a roll of the dice on the motors. We drove quite a way.

And then there's the real conundrum: Can one middle-aged man move 2 old GoldWings across an icy lawn and up onto a trailer without injuring himself? (Spoiler alert: yes, but it's not advisable.)

Hoping he was maybe up the road with a buddy, I text the seller to see if he might assist. He reports back that he's very far away visiting his grandfather. My wife is 5' tall and has zero business trying to help.

I make a decision: If I can rock these bikes out of their holes and get them across the lawn, I'll try to run them up the ramp and buy them. By this point, I've chiseled the kickstand free, so I've overcome that obstacle.

I get the "naked" one out of its holes. The brakes had been removed from the rotors, so it rolled around relatively easily. Then I get the other bike out of its holes. But it's a bear to move, and I'm sliding all around just trying to get traction to push. (Yes, I dumped each bike a couple times before I got to the trailer.)

Now, I have my toolbox, so I start in on removing calipers to free the wheels. Not fun with bags in the way. By this time (maybe 40 minutes into the adventure), my wife is not pleased. I don't blame her: She imagined we'd back into a driveway, say Hi to the nice gentleman, and get help pushing a couple motorcycles onto a trailer. Easy enough - in theory.

I had said nothing about needing to take parts off a bike just to move it, all so I could possibly hurt myself by sliding on an icy lawn with 650 pounds of metal trying to crush my leg. She wants me to throw in the towel, so we can get on the road to visit our son. We have a long drive up, followed by a long drive home. And the weather is going to come in as we get to mid-evening.

Once the rear caliper was free, the looker rolled a lot better - which really just means I was able to grunt to get it going.

I reposition the trailer so I can get as much of a "downhill run" before the ramp, coupled with a nice "not so icy" patch of grass just before I need to make the transition from lawn to ramp.

I take the naked one first, and things go well. I get it up there on the second attempt. It's going to be a tight squeeze in this little U-Haul, so I move it way, way over. Then I start down the decline with the dresser. It's trickier for a few reasons, but I get it up in there. I strap them in, sandwiched together, and raise the ramp. I'm patting myself on the back for getting the trailer with high rails. I abandon the thought of leaving the trailer and getting it on the return trip.

We get back on the road and take the bikes up to see our son's apartment and have dinner with him.

And then we have a 3 hour ride back in snow and sleet. Oh, joy.

Here are a couple pics:
I had to get the bikes from behind that big trailer.
I had to get the bikes from behind that big trailer.
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That bucket is full of ice, and it's about 24" deep.
That bucket is full of ice, and it's about 24" deep.
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According to my wife, this adventure has used up all my allotted "shed time" for two weeks. I don't know how much work I'll get to on the '79 between now and mid-February. I am going to get some PB into the spark plug holes on those GL1100s soon.

End of Detour.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#141

Post by Rat »

Great effort … let’s hope the bikes live up to their potential …

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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#142

Post by ritalz »

So did you get the 200 pound tub also?
Al

2003 Goldwing Daily Rider
1975 Goldwing 'Max'
1984 Goldwing New Bagger Project
1976 Goldwing 'Grocery Getter' Sold
1985 Goldwing Interstate 'NCC-1985' sold
1981 Silverwing Sold
1982 Goldeing Project Sold
1981 Goldwing Parted Out
1983 Goldwing Project Sold
1973 CB500F Long Gone
1966 CL77 First Street Bike
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#143

Post by Fred Camper »

dancr The tub was the real prize. We need to know. dancr
Proud member of the NGW Cartel (Rochester MI)
1977 GL1000 BADDOG (April 2012 BOTM)
1976 LTD - '993 LTD...and so it begins'

You should remember that it's peace of mind you're after and not just fixing the machine. R.Pirsig
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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#144

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

Sometimes what's behind Door Number One isn't what you thought it might be.

I'll start with an update on the '79 Wing-and-a-Prayer project, as this is my '79 project thread.

I got back into the shed on Saturday afternoon and mounted up new-to-me sportbike bars, checked clearance against the shelter panels, and I'm good. I popped on the original '70s GL seat I have, climbed aboard, and the position works. Raymond is hooking me up with a one-piece braided line for the rear master-to-caliper connection. And I put in some fresh oil after draining the oil during my little "possible coolant leak" scare. I turned the petcock on my external tank, cranked, and after a few cranks she was running. It had been a few weeks. I ran her up to temperature, the fan kicked in somewhere around 3/4 up the gauge, and temps came right back to the midpoint.

On to the twofer GL 1100s, an 80 and an 81.

As a fun comment, I'll share that the bill of sale priced one at $75 and the other at $125. I'm not sure quite what that does, but it's meaningless to me. Maybe the PO just needed to be able to tell himself that the one with more (or maybe more promise?) sold for more money?

OK. It's been pretty much "high of about 35-40" for the last week, with lows in the teens. That's Fahrenheit for those not on that system, which means water won't melt - much. We got hit with 8" of snow on Thursday into Friday as well, and work's been a bit time consuming. Ice is heavy, we know.

I have been chipping away at the ice, using water, etc.

My hopes from the bucket: a blue left side panel and an original black/pinstripes left side panel, plus some assorted other goodies that can be tough to acquire.

As I got further into the ice, I could see a couple boxes of parts emerge - full of ice, of course. And there are a few plastic buckets, one with an air filter, and a plastic container or two (nuts and bolts?)

I fished out timing belt covers, a couple battery trays, the rear fender and blinkers - with a plate showing last registration of 2004. There are two air cleaner housings, one of which is a bit melted on one side.

On Saturday, after the wife left the house for a couple hours, I got the two boxes separated from each other. Down to about a 40 pound block of ice for each box, I packed each in a separate small plastic bin and hauled them to the bathroom off the kitchen for some rapid thawing. Here's what I found:
  • Carb rack, deconstructed. What a mess. I suppose I might salvage a bowl float a couple pins, and maybe some of the brass bits. I won't even ponder trying to put that mess back together.
  • Plug wires, intake manifolds, intake bolts, parts for the radiator, and a bunch of little bits that are good to have when you need them.
  • Oh, there's what looks like a salvageable rear master cylinder, with reservoir. That's nice.
By the time my wife got home, I had the parts out of ice, most of the water off them, and everything was neatly sitting in a couple plastic buckets near the woodstove for evaporation purposes. She shrugged when I told her.

I'm not deep enough into that bin yet to be sure - and I have yet to really look over the bikes themselves - but I think the wiring harness - or lots of the electrical bits under the left shelter side - may be in another box that's still down in the ice.

I'm deep enough into the bin - and the bin itself is mostly a bunch of broken bits of plastic - to see that I did NOT get what I REALLY WANTED - the left side panel to go with the other black painted parts on the '81. If I manage to get one of the motors free and pull a bike from the parts I have, it'd be worth a little green to pick up that panel in the right color. I have a butt ugly left panel that'll work, but complete and original color just looks better.

I don't think I'm going to find a headlight bucket either. (My guess is that both bikes had Vetter fairings.) One bike does have progressive rear shocks that seem clean and serviceable.

There was another carb rack sitting in the yard, which I tossed in the truck. But one look at it revealed that it had a bad fall at some point, as the body is broken in a couple spots. Useless. Another possible carb bits donor, I suppose. I do have a couple complete but not clean racks.

One more note: I did get two decent grab rails from the pile, a good thing.

I'm now going to stop reporting on these on-the-brink-of-disaster GL1100s in this thread. If I get a motor to move and start to get mildly serious about fishing a runner out of them, I'll start another thread.

I need to think about building a "GL1100 Wing Coop" for these things.

My shed is a total mess, but I'll end with a shot of the '79, taken yesterday afternoon.
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Side panel is still vinyl wrapped, an effort that just didn't pan out. Paint will happen. I'm going with those bars. The left front caliper is mounted but the brakes aren't hooked up. Rear shocks will be replaced with my Progressives after I button up the rear by replacing the tank, mounting new tire, etc. Mufflers aren't bolted up, of course.

I'm mulling original front fender vs. mild chop to it vs. CB900c that folks do. I'm also mulling rear fender - original, maybe chopped a bit vs. CX500 chrome jobby that some use.

I think I'm going with a different seat, but I won't molest the original. It's really in pretty good shape. I'm going to recover it with a replica. It does feel good to be able to do more than imagine what this bike might be.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
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Fred Camper
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#145

Post by Fred Camper »

Nice to get an inventory on your cold icy outing. Also nice to have your 79 running well.
Proud member of the NGW Cartel (Rochester MI)
1977 GL1000 BADDOG (April 2012 BOTM)
1976 LTD - '993 LTD...and so it begins'

You should remember that it's peace of mind you're after and not just fixing the machine. R.Pirsig
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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#146

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

Not a whole lot of visible progress to report, but I can't call this a build thread if I don't post up reports periodically. Here goes.

Rear Master Cylinder
Raymond at Apex hooked me up with a very reasonably priced custom rear SS line running from the MC around the swingarm and over to the caliper. The mock up looks good, but I have yet to bolt it all in - the tank is still not back in the bike.

Here's some visual evidence of the MC rebuild.

I had the reservoir fully removed for a good cleaning of all bits - no photo, oddly.
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Once things were cleaned to my liking, I used a flashlight to make sure I had both holes clear. You can see that I'm getting good light through both in the photo below. My understanding is that failure to clear that itsy bitsy hole means brakes won't release - or might not release once pressure builds. One ounce of prevention, I hope.
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And reassembled!
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Fork Lowers and wheels
I took some time to clean and polish both the Comstars and the fork lowers. No photos here, but they cleaned up pretty nicely, or nicely enough for me to feel good about them.

I'm not stripping the front Comstar to remove the black paint. It's from an '82 because I'm running an '83 front end, as some may recall. I'm simply accepting the mismatch - at least for the time being.

Seat work
I also worked up a foam mold for a fiberglass pan using my original GL1000 pan as the form. I'm pretty sure I have a 78/9 seat given what I've seen online, but I'm not 100% certain about that. Either way, the pan was a nice way to get the mold.
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I'm going to get a replica cover for the original seat, as I really don't care to mess with an OEM seat in pretty good, serviceable condition.

But I do want to play around with something a bit different in the seating department. Having a fiberglass pan gives me the ability to do that.

LED Instrument Bulbs
I was finding the fuel, voltage, and temp gauges a bit on the dim side. Those sad old bulbs had so much "black" on the inside that anything would have been an improvement.

I found some inexpensive LED replacements in a pack that enabled me to also swap out the 4 bulbs for the speedo and tach: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9VW9HY?re ... tails&th=1

The sizing is spot on. I don't think they're the brightest LEDs money can buy, but most of what I've read about going LED on the gauges is that things get too bright.

I'm really pleased with that swap!
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The gauges pop.

They're not mounted back up, as I took the chrome backs off for a nice cleaning, which explains the off-kilter positioning.

I was thinking I might repaint the black case, but I've decided against it. They're in ok shape, with some light rust showing through, as one might expect after 45 years in/out of weather.
The oil, neutral, etc lights did NOT get changed. I don't see any need for more brightness there.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
User avatar
Fred Camper
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#147

Post by Fred Camper »

LED's in the instruments is the same upgrade I did, not riding a bunch at night but huge visibility improvement. Nice to see your update.
Proud member of the NGW Cartel (Rochester MI)
1977 GL1000 BADDOG (April 2012 BOTM)
1976 LTD - '993 LTD...and so it begins'

You should remember that it's peace of mind you're after and not just fixing the machine. R.Pirsig
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#148

Post by ritalz »

I like the led upgrade. Maybe will do the same for my current project. Progress is progress.
Al

2003 Goldwing Daily Rider
1975 Goldwing 'Max'
1984 Goldwing New Bagger Project
1976 Goldwing 'Grocery Getter' Sold
1985 Goldwing Interstate 'NCC-1985' sold
1981 Silverwing Sold
1982 Goldeing Project Sold
1981 Goldwing Parted Out
1983 Goldwing Project Sold
1973 CB500F Long Gone
1966 CL77 First Street Bike
http://www.ngwclub.com/gallery3/index.p ... ans/ritalz
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#149

Post by rcmatt007 »

the 78/9 seat has a little rise for the passenger. Only the 76 LTD has that seat as well
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Fred Camper
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Re: '79 Wing and a Prayer

#150

Post by Fred Camper »

My stock 1977 seat as te same rise, just a different vinyl pattern. 76 Ltd, 77, and 78-79.
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1977 GL1000 BADDOG (April 2012 BOTM)
1976 LTD - '993 LTD...and so it begins'

You should remember that it's peace of mind you're after and not just fixing the machine. R.Pirsig
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