Lucky Find, (I hope), 77GL1000

[gltriker]

Good catch Cliff. By now,I should have noticed that the linkage arms were tubular, not flat. I wonder what other stories this bike has to tell. So far, it has been easy to work on. Everything is coming apart easily. I am looking forward to opening the carbs. The engine serial number is: GL1E-3018330. Can you tell me from that number what year it is?

Whiskerfish can
https://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic ... ef#p827418

[leonardhcross]

Thanks Cliff. GL1E-3 denotes 77. So, frame and engine are 77 but carbs are 75.

[leonardhcross]

More stories from my project bike. Today, I discovered that some PO had decided to change the handlebars. All of the wiring from the switches run outside of the handlebars. I have a spare set so will go through the process of fishing the switch harnesses through the handlebars. No big deal, (I hope).

[Lucien Harpress]

Fishing wires usually isn't too bad. Make sure whatever you're using to pull them through (I've used a spare clutch cable that last couple times) is secured well, and take your time.

[leonardhcross]

Fishing wires usually isn't too bad. Make sure whatever you're using to pull them through (I've used a spare clutch cable that last couple times) is secured well, and take your time.

Thanks for the advice. Pulling a 50-year-old switch harness through the bars can be a real pain. This time, I used a dremmel tool with a small grinding tip and expanded the hole up by the switch. I only increased the width by about 1/8th of an inch and it really helped. Just the same, pulling and pushing, there were lots of times when I was advancing 1/2 inch at a time.

[leonardhcross]

I like the "detective work" aspect of these projects; trying to figure out how things ended up the way they are. Today, I removed the timing belt covers. As I loosened the bolts, a small amount of rusty water started dripping out. At first, I figured that it was antifreeze that had dripped in from the thermostat housing directly above but, it was not antifreeze so I don't think that's it. The bike was stored inside for 23 years according to the PO. I don't know how the water got there. From the pictures, you can see that it had been sitting like that for a good while. Apart from looking ugly, there appears not be any significant damage. Looking at the left side timing belt gear, you can see the rust line where the gear sat in the water. The rollers are even spinning easily and quietly. Notice the rough bottom edge of the heat shield.

left side timing belt cover.jpeg

Left Side Timing Belt Gear.jpeg

Right Side Timing Belt Heat Shield.jpeg

[Rat]

Yikes, looks like it sat in water on the side stand, at least for a while …

Gord

[leonardhcross]

I see no other evidence that the bike was submerged. Do I recall that the timing belt covers have weep holes? Maybe the gaskets were not installed properly. Water entered through the top and was trapped inside? I’ll investigate more thoroughly and report back.

[ramjet]

What does it look like inside the cylinder head covers?

[leonardhcross]

What does it look like inside the cylinder head covers?

Good question. My garage is unheated and we are getting blasted here in upstate NY. I'll remove the covers and take a look. I am betting that they look perfect. I'll post the results.

[Rat]

Valve cover gaskets should be waterproof … timing cover gaskets are not, they’re just dust covers … lots of our guys have run without them.
I’m guessing water because of the angle of the rust residue on the timing belt cover looks like the bike was leaning left (on the sidestand), also only part of the pulley was submerged …

Gord(not a detective)Jones

[leonardhcross]

I have been in possession of this bike for three months. It has been in my shop since it arrived. There has been no dripping from the bottom of the covers. When I loosened the bolts, maybe two ounces of Rusty water ran down onto the floor. My point is……the bottoms of the covers were water tight. It seems that water entered quite a long time ago and then sat in the bottom of the covers. The constant contact with the steel gears created rust in the standing water. I suppose I’ll never know how the water got trapped in there in the first place.