$200 1979 GL1000 barn find

[ejedmond]

Found these so far, still one more and the other halves of the brackets not sure why these were all removed, maybe because this bike had saddle bags at one point who knows. Got more parts in the attic hope to find the rest. Not in the greatest shape sadly.

[rcmatt007]

saddlebags should not have had any effect on those brackets.... but sometimes you have to wonder what a PO was thinking.

I know I wonder a lot about what the PO of my '78 was thinking

[ejedmond]

saddlebags should not have had any effect on those brackets.... but sometimes you have to wonder what a PO was thinking.

I know I wonder a lot about what the PO of my '78 was thinking

Yeah luckily for the most part they did things right, for example they didn't saw off the turn signal brackets nor did they cut any wires for the fairing install, they even had a rubber cover on the original head light tub and kept most of the factory parts.

Where they failed was putting all the factory parts in effectively a crate with a bunch of parts from a kz1000 (a bike I also brought home that day) must of stored this crate outside as alot of it is now scrap metal, the paint on the bags is dissolved must of got some solvent on them.

[rcmatt007]

yeah, sometimes I look at some parts and wonder "what the heck did that come from". Recently I put up on the shelf a center stand and it clearly is NOT from a wing.... was it from a "box O' parts"????

[ejedmond]

Yup I’m starting to be the same! Here’s the headlight rim that I dug out of the tub, not pictured but I do have the rubber cover as well. Always amazes me how many wires the cram into headlight buckets.

Also pulled valve covers and checked clearances they are all over the place. So that’ll be my next task

[ejedmond]

Well I got a better seat, started polishing the fenders and grab bar, cleaning up pretty well, need to do that exhaust next.

[Track T 2411]

Looking good!

[pidjones]

That grab bar looks great. I am jealous.

[Fred Camper]

Nice update, getting closer every day. Riding season is around the corner.

[ejedmond]

Thanks everyone, I did pull plugs and the cylinders were as followed 1 lean, 3 slightly lean, 2 wet, 4 good/slightly rich. We have not synced the carbs and based on the exhaust having been blue when i bought it for cylinders 1 and 3 this has clearly been a problem for some time. Will non synced carbs cause this? also when checking valve clearances I have several that are tighter than that .004" that the manual specifies, some of which may be hanging open.

I'm hoping syncing carbs and fixing clearances will resolve this issue, I'm unsure what else would cause 2 cylinders on the same side to be lean and the other 2 on the other side rich. wouldn't be ignition. I would think ignition could effect front 2 and rear 2 cylinders. Any other thoughts? carbs were meticulously cleaned plus since this appears to be a prolonged issue I don't believe its a jetting issue. Getting good spark on all cylinders as well. Have not had it hot enough to run a true compression test.

[Fred Camper]

Think you are on the right track, valve clearance first, then carb sync. Nothing more until that is done.

[gltriker]

Thanks everyone, I did pull plugs and the cylinders were as followed 1 lean, 3 slightly lean, 2 wet, 4 good/slightly rich. We have not synced the carbs and based on the exhaust having been blue when i bought it for cylinders 1 and 3 this has clearly been a problem for some time. Will non synced carbs cause this? also when checking valve clearances I have several that are tighter than that .004" that the manual specifies, some of which may be hanging open.

I'm hoping syncing carbs and fixing clearances will resolve this issue, I'm unsure what else would cause 2 cylinders on the same side to be lean and the other 2 on the other side rich. wouldn't be ignition. I would think ignition could effect front 2 and rear 2 cylinders. Any other thoughts? carbs were meticulously cleaned plus since this appears to be a prolonged issue I don't believe its a jetting issue. Getting good spark on all cylinders as well. Have not had it hot enough to run a true compression test.

Test cylinder compression when the engine is cold.
Throttle wide open. Choke button pushed in fully.

171psi is ideal.
But, you won't come anywhere close to that factory number, without utilizing the correct compression tester adapter.

[Jonesz]

Hey GLtriker excellent advice on testing the compression when engine is cold, throttle wide open and choke off. To do otherwise gives a false reading from all that I have read.

[ejedmond]

Update, valve gaps seemed to help. Cold compression is better. Snowing here so can’t really warm the bike to sync the carbs. Cold the sync shows cylinder 4 off from the others. Reset the pilot screws to 2 turns out as the manual suggests.

Still getting spark on all 4 cylinders. Still thinking one cylinder on the left bank isn’t running. Exhaust temp not near as warm.

[Jonesz]

Do you have an IR temp gauge, if so it is a simple thing to check the header temp from each cylinder. They can be purchased relatively cheaply from places like harbor freight etc, I use mine many times a year especially working on old bikes but many other uses as well. Just a thought