Which bike to choose

[Grumpy75!]

I found an 85 limited edition i can get cheap.i was interested in the 400 price, i would offer 250. He said ALL the plastic needs replaced. Since i was going to throw it away thats not a problem. I have owned 7 oldwings and 4 1500s. I was planning on doing the keith wright mod or similar. My concern about being fuel injected was honda was not successful and i dont know why. I could find a jillion carb models but i hate ditching perfectly good plastic. I was thinking not removing the tank shelter and switching to a real tank because the shelters look great. Instead buy a cheap totaled shadow 1100shadow and replacing the rear frame with that. I at least want to modify the rear frame so the engine doesnt have to be pulled to replace the stator. I have a friend is a master welder.

[CYBORG]

welcome. Sounds like you're taking on a project. We are here to help if you need it.

[Rednaxs60]

I found an 85 limited edition i can get cheap.i was interested in the 400 price, i would offer 250. He said ALL the plastic needs replaced. Since i was going to throw it away thats not a problem. I have owned 7 oldwings and 4 1500s. I was planning on doing the keith wright mod or similar. My concern about being fuel injected was honda was not successful and i dont know why. I could find a jillion carb models but i hate ditching perfectly good plastic. I was thinking not removing the tank shelter and switching to a real tank because the shelters look great. Instead buy a cheap totaled shadow 1100shadow and replacing the rear frame with that. I at least want to modify the rear frame so the engine doesnt have to be pulled to replace the stator. I have a friend is a master welder.

Welcome to the madness. '85 Limited Edition, great bike, have one myself, bought in 2015. It's my retirement project. Lots of misconceptions with these older GW FI models. Honda did not continue with FI because it was expensive at the time to do what it did, and emission standards did not require it. Carbs will always be less expensive.

The first iteration of the CFI system was the '82 CX500 turbo, followed by the '83 CX650 turbo.

That is why all GL1500 GWs are carb models; however, Honda did produce an engine and engine systems (5 of them) that emulate an FI model. The GL1800s are all FI, emission standards.

The '85/'86 CFI system rivals today's aftermarket FI systems and you can upgrade/modernize it to emulate most newer FI systems. I have a CFI ECU replacement/upgrade project going, have replaced the ECU with an aftermarket Speeduino ECU, changed out the spark units for a single 4 channel coil driver. The crank and camshaft sensors are now Hall effect sensors; however, the 2 camshaft sensors used to emulate semi-sequential fuel injection cannot be used with an aftermarket ECU - these only use one camshaft sensor. The two PB sensors are replaced with a single MAP sensor. OEM fuel injectors can be used with the resistor pack - low impedance fuel injectors require a resistor pack. The fuel pump can be used as can the FPR.

The only aftermarket ECU that I have read about that can use two O2 sensors is one from MaxxECU.

I have configured the engine for sequential fuel and ignition. Use COP units for sequential ignition. Sequential fuel and ignition is mainly for emission standards.

I have installed a wide band O2 (WBO2) sensor, need this for engine tuning and efficient engine operation. Honda did not use one but did tune the engine to compensate, quite an achievement. The O2 sensor I have installed only monitors the right cylinder bank. If the fuel injectors for the left cylinder bank start to fail or fail, the O2 sensor will not indicate any change to the ECU. Thinking of installing a second O2 sensor to monitor the left cylinder bank.

One issue is the inability of the owner to update the engine tune when things start to happen. You cannot modify, adjust, recalibrate the engine tune in the ECU and are stuck with what you have.

Engine timing is fixed, cannot be changed.

When you change to an aftermarket ECU you loose the OEM CFI ECU diagnostics. The get home capability if you loose one or both PB sensors is gone, see with the two camshaft sensors.

The '85/'86 1200 FI model fuelling profile is misunderstood. The CFI system uses a speed density (SD) fuelling profile, uses the PB (MAP) sensors for engine load and engine RPM, for all power ranges. When both PB sensors fail or are faulty, the CFI ECU switches to an Alpha-n (AN) fuelling profile - uses the TPS and engine RPM, to get you home.

When there is a fuelling issue, most owners will check the TPS to determine if something can be done. The TPS does not influence engine fuelling when there are no fault codes for the PB sensors. I submit that the PB sensors are out of spec or are starting to fail.

Short history on the '85/'86 CFI system and Honda's foray into FI. There is more, but this should give you a better understanding of the CFI system. If there are no ECU error codes generated, a person must look elsewhere for the issue.

The "plastic" is ABS. I painted my '85 in its entirety during C19, lots of cracks and such to fix, looks great now.

Good luck. Will follow.

[Grumpy75!]

Ernest, does your head hurt? It should. You convincedme,buy a carb model. Dual webers.

[Rat]

Welcome to the 'Wingdom.

You’ll fit right in …

Gord

[Rednaxs60]

Ernest, does your head hurt? It should. You convincedme,buy a carb model. Dual webers.

Not really, the FI world is very interesting, especially since I decided to upgrade/modernize my '85. The change in CFI system components and choosing an aftermarket ECU is the easy part. Populating the engine tuning software, understanding the interrelationships between components and such has a steep learning curve. Features/functions, component data that I thought would be easy really aren't.

I started my project in 2019, thought about it for a few years earlier. Doesn't take long for time to pass.

Besides I'm retired and need a retirement project, and what could be better than this.

As for dual webers, only know of one inmate that converted an '85 FI model to weber carbs. Did a great job.

Early Honda GWs have ignition systems have fixed, non-adjustable ignition timing. The 1000/1100 GWs have distributor style ignition timing, the 1200 GWs have electronic ignition timing.

You may want to consider upgrading any GW you mod with an aftermarket ECU for engine ignition timing only. Best bang for your dollar if keeping carbs. Allows you to calibrate the engine ignition timing for optimum engine performance and fuel efficiency. I have a thread on Classic GWs regarding this, not complete but a lot of good information.

The new family of Speeduino aftermarket ECUs are extremely small and have a good feature/function set. I mention Speeduino because that is what I am using. The Speeduino ECU that I am using is no bigger than 2 decks of cards:

Spark Gap X4 Size - 1.JPG

Spark Gap X4 Size - 2.JPG

The C2C from DIY-EFI is no bigger than a single deck of cards.

Lots of options. Cheers

[Grumpy75!]

This is great information on the ecu.i bet they are expensive. I have owned 11 goldwings. Never a 1800. I have a complete set of plastic in yellow from an 88 if anyone needs a piece. I personally think the first goldwings are the best. I strip them down. All i need for riding is a windshield. I hate all the plastic.

[Rednaxs60]

This is great information on the ecu.i bet they are expensive. I have owned 11 goldwings. Never a 1800. I have a complete set of plastic in yellow from an 88 if anyone needs a piece. I personally think the first goldwings are the best. I strip them down. All i need for riding is a windshield. I hate all the plastic.

I have owned a 1200/1500/1800.

The Speeduino ECU is not expensive in the world of aftermarket ECUs. A MaxxECU mini is some $1200.00 USD from Sweden - good unit, compared to the Spark Gap X4 at approximately $275.00 USD.

I would only do a CFI ECU upgrade if the OEM CFI ECU starts to fail.

The '85/'86 GW FI models are great when operating well. These models do need a bit more understanding than the carbureted models.

It's a "tale as old as time", the discussion between carbs and EFI. Parts obsolescence and such are issues with both systems. Conversion projects are not that easy, and most do not come to fruition. The issue is that there will be a time when parts for the distributor type ignition systems of the early GWs will not be available.

If you have the space for another bike, the '85 1200 GW FI model you have found would be a good purchase. Does the engine start? What are the issues with the bike?

Cheers