New Member from Vermont (Goldwing)

[Vermonter]

Hey Everyone! My name is Tom, I just bought a 1979 Honda Goldwing (GL1000) back in May. I have been working on it little by little and finally have it on the road. It started out as a typical Goldwing with all the extra baggage, but now it has lost some weight. Tell me what you think. If you see me around, feel free to say hi! Also interested to hear from other members who have interests in bobber/brat/cafe styles.

Here's how it started...



This is where it sits now...




Feel free to comment.

[maxim_X]

Welcome to NESR! I don't think and of the other wingers on here have done that.

[Chippertheripper]

It's gross. But if you like it, who the fuck am I to tell you otherwise.
Enjoy the show. Some great peeps from your neck of the woods, if your name is any indication of where you're from.

[carsick]

How much weight have you shed? Is it safety wired for the track yet?

[jasnmar]

My opinion (which means nothing as I ride a stock GL).

Either move the headlamp up or get some sort of naked fairing to take up the space between the lower and upper triple.
Get a hugger or some sort of bobber fender for the rear. Naked is just too naked. It looks like you just forgot to put it on.
Get rid of the chrome (in general) tank rack. It's just silly. If you want a naked, don't put a rack on it.
I don't like the high bars, but that's me (for a naked, with the front fairings everything changes) .

Very interesting idea.

[Doc]

It definately needs a rear fender and maybe a second headlight above the first?

And I bet I have a set of handlebars that will fit that monstrosity.

[jasnmar]

Yea.. a headlight would work there as well. Just not a "space".

Actually the more it think about it the cooler another headlight would be. Good idea.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

Welcome to the show! With this crowd, I'll be surprised if you come back

Definitely a good start on the goldwing build! There's some cool cafe/custom style 'wings out there for inspiration; they do have potential!

[SRTie4k]

That would look 100% better with just flat bars/shorties.

[Vermonter]

Hey, back everyone. Totally forgot I even existed on this forum...
Anyway, thanks for the constructive criticism. It's not often people will say outright "it sucks, but that my opinion and what does that matter..". Usually any forum i have visited comes back with the usually "what the F were you thinking" or "It sucks because it doesnt look like a cookie cutter image of everything i am used to seeing"...blah blah... honestly, the site of most your bikes would probably make me puke in my mouth as well, but thats what makes the world a great place to live DIVERSITY! glad to know ya, anyhow, and ultimatley if your bike indicates that you at least have passion in what you do, its your character i care more about.
I do absolutely agree about the open space, it needs something there, although i do plan on putting the stock 7" headlight or a 7" off-yellow round from a vw/merc. This headlight was simply to get me through the summer legally and safely. I shoved my coat in that little space when it got too hot for me and I guess that hole served some purpose for now. Although i did not take into account the height on the headlight, and with my leaking forks, the headlight has put a nice little dent in my front fender from bottoming out the front suspension. The sandwich rack stays! For some reason I like the out-of-place look it gives the bike, and it has also served its purpose more than a handful of times as i use this bike as a daily commuter to work and its the only place i can put my lunch without bringing a backpack. plus its funny when people point it out and are like "why did you drill a rack into your gas tank?"
And lastly, i did put a rear fender back on. it only takes one day of rain to motivate that decision. Although i did cut it so it is very short, not like the ugly stock gl1000 fender so i should probably just embrace the rain. I wish i had some updated pics, but it will have to wait til spring, as the bike currently sits in a storage unit in hibernation.
I do not know for sure how much weight i have shaved by taking all the extras off, but it 'feels' substantial.
And SRTie4k- I agree, I am currently in the market but I am being very subjective about what handlebars I put on this bike. I am still up in the air if i want a bobber or more of a cafe/boardtrack look.
My plans for this summer are to take the mufflers off and add a 4-6" pipe off the headers. depending on how well it works out (backpressure) i may have to just get the shorty mufflers designed for this purpose. I wanted to use old vw beetle tips but i think the diameter is way off. Did i mention i am an aircooled vw fanatic? i think a lot of my inspiration for ths bike will be noted in the subtle vw accessories i use to build this bike.
Other plans include: making a gd decision on which handlebars to get, timing belt service, rebuild starter, changing the awkward combo of tailights i have going on to something more "flowy" or appropriate, new tires, 11" rear shocks to drop it down a bit, and to somehow fix the front forks (scarred on the inside). I dont have any mechanical attributes that i claim, but i am really good with a wrench and i work on all my own cars so I am not too intimidated by a goldwing.
Thanks for taking the time to read that, hope to meet a few of you guys this upcoming season!

[Eric Baker]

Cool man. Can't wait to see the updated pics. Looks like a cool fun project.

[Chippertheripper]

Although I wasn't too terribly enthused about the rest of the bike, I DO like the sandwich/tank rack.
If anything, keep that, for certain.

[Vermonter]

chippahrippah, i am going to come up to fairhaven and ride around with my sweet sandwich rack and youre going to be soooo jealous.
I hope to give you some kind of faith in my build in the upcoming months!

[Chippertheripper]

Do yo thang. But I live south. Way south.
Fhvn mass.

[Vermonter]

again... forgot I existed on this site.
I messed around a little with the bike, changed a few things, made adjustments, fixed some stuff.... etc. anyway, heres how it sits right now.







You might be thinking, "Hey wtf, thought you said this bike was inspired by your love for VW's?", well I did what I could for what I had for a budget and availability.

I added clubman bars that are a little too narrow for the bike (I will fix that), new tires, Made the pipes I wanted (sans VW tips), Changed the taillight setup and wired the harley tails to a 3-way lighting system (brake,turn,constant), removed the sealed beam headlight and replaced with an h4 bulb housing in the same tractor foglight assembly from last year. MOVED THE HEADLIGHT UP to get rid of the nasty empty space under the guages, swapped '81 gl1100 forks on with some minor modification, added a used fork brace, cut a front plastic touring fender into a useless joke of a mudflap for the front fender, upgraded the front brake lever and resevoir, and did some maintenance on the ol girl (tuned carbs, etc.). New belts are on hand, waiting on the rest of the pieces for a timing belt replacement. There's probably stuff I am forgetting but it's been a trip.
If you are concerned about just how naked she is, don't worry. I just ran out of time re-assembling stuff after a maintenance and the plastics didn't make it back on. In a way it almost looks better this way, and gives me more handlebar clearence until I can lengthen the bars.
Enjoy. or not, i cant force you.