Ride Report on a newly revived '76

[DSA]

My posts on this forum have mostly consisted of posting questions about symptoms and issues in the Technical Discussion area, where I've received an incredible amount of great advice. Thanks to this, over the past three years, I've gotten my purchased-not-running '76 Sulfur Yellow GL1000 back on the road. I figured I'd change it up and write about the riding experience while everything is working properly.

The bike is finally riding well enough that I took what I'd call my first joy ride this past weekend - the first time the ride wasn't either diagnostic, stressing about some aspect of the bike's performance or commuting to work.

In short - I love riding this thing. I found myself in a series of tight twisties. Where my VFR makes me want to ride through these as briskly as possible, the Wing compelled me to flip open my helmet, breathe in the scent of the redwoods and take it all in. This is mostly down to the riding position, the muted noise from the stock exhaust and the general heft of the bike. The engine itself actually seems at odds with this: it's distinctly happier above 3000 RPMs, and seems to be in its sweet spot at 4k+ where it pulls delightfully cleanly and smoothly. It will lug around at 2k or under if you ask it to - it's a bit chuggy (which I weirdly enjoy) and doesn't hold small throttle openings at these revs very well. It seemed so antithetical to the bike's mission that I spent some time looking it up after the ride, and as per Randakk, apparently this is how it is meant to be on these early bikes with their superbike cam profiles. I've never ridden a 78+ (heck, this is the first GL1000 of any kind I've ever ridden), but I think I get why Honda made the change for the later bikes. I do think it's also just a matter of getting used to it. Between the heft, riding position and more than anything else the engine sound and vibration signature, I find myself riding this thing like I did my old Valkyrie, which was much better suited for lugging and short shifting. I think once I get used to keeping the revs up high, I'll find a better rhythm with this Wing.

The above observation notwithstanding, the ride was still very enjoyable: I really like the way it falls into turns, and I love the sound and feel of the engine. If it weren't for these annoying short days and the fact that traffic renders the roads here unrideable on weekday evenings, I'd be hankering to go out again every day this week, but looks like I'll just have to let the anticipation build till next weekend!

[gltriker]

[Rednaxs60]

Great report. All 1000/1100/1200 lug in the 2000 RPM range depending on the gear. The 1000/1100/1200 engines rely on RPM to be in the power band, these engines do not have a lot of torque in the low end, and are different then the 1500/1800 that have lots of torque and don't need to rely on the power band. You can ride a 1500/1800 around town all day long in 4th, BTDT.

I try to maintain at least 2800 RPM in all gears (also good for the charging system) - except in 1st or maybe 2nd, seems like the engine is revving a lot but it is not, not even half way through the RPM range.

Enjoy your new ride!

[Lucien Harpress]

My favorite way to describe these bikes is that you gotta throttle them a bit to wake them up. Even the exhaust follows suit- it's very muted in the lower revs, but get it over 5k and it HOWLS.

[Fred Camper]

Many of us feel the same way. When not in a hurry, she pulls fine in a gentile throttle from 2k.