I have not used this forum much for promoting products however,
recently I used some items from a guy who is HUGE in the classic
Goldwing circles. His name is Randall Washington but he responds to
Randakk on occasion. His site http://www.randakks.com/
is a treasure trove of invaluable information on these fine old machines.
As some of you may know I bought a 1977 GL1000 over the summer while
working here in Seattle:
I got the bike for practically nothing, in fact when responding to the Craigslist ad I drove by the bike twice, thinking it was way too nice for what he was asking and could not have been the bike I was there to see. It had a few issues, the old hippie fellow told me never to use the front brake, because it sticks. He also told be the bike was "cold blooded" as it didn't like starting in the cold. When I got it home I rebuilt the front caliper and rode the snot out of 'er all summer. After Karen and I rode the GL1500 out here in Sept. Nancy (the GL1000 pictured here) became less of a priority. I knew the carbs needed a GOOD rebuild and the throttle control required a death grip to cycle but it kept getting put on the back burner. I gave the bike to Karen as she was dying to ride her own bike again. She would take it to work here and there but the hard starting and debilitated battery where not a confidence building combination. I have been commuting to work since July by motorcycle and this past week the shaft drive in my GL1500 bought the farm and left me with no way to work. I went to start Nancy (the 77 GL1000) and she would simply not have any of that...I charged the battery and rode her down to Pacific Power and put in a new AGM glass mat battery, but now it just didn't start faster than before. I knew if I was going to get to work this week (New drive shaft is on its way from Florida) Nancy needed her carbs done. I had investigated rebuild kits for price and quality and stumbled accross the preachings of the one called Randakk. He claimed to have a kit that in many ways was BETTER than even Honda could have offered. He also had a DVD on carb rebuilding that could be had at a discounted price if purchased with his Master Rebuild Kit. I PayPal'ed him the money and within days the package arrived along with a personal note thanking me for my purchase. I watched the DVD and was amazed at how excellent his technique was. I had bought the kit in early Fall but never got around to rolling up my sleaves. Now I was in a pickle and needed a reliable motorcycle to get me to work. I was a little concerned with surgery this envasive that I might end up with two crippled bikes in the garage if something went awry. Of course I dove in head first, I would play a section of the DVD and go do that work (I had watched it twice from end to end prior) come back in, watch a bit more, and so it went on... It was like having the foremost authority on Goldwing carburation looking right over my shoulder, wait...it is was exactly that. When I got done (3am on Saturday night/Sunday morning) here is what I had:
I was WAY to tired to go any further so I left the install and tuning for Sunday. Karen and I went down to Bent Bike to get some new throttle cables as I was sure they where binding and sticky. The task of replacing the cables is much easier with the carbs removed so I swaped the cables and took the throttle handpiece apart for inspection/cleaning. There was no lubricant in the grip tube at all and it was full of rust and road dirt. I cleaned the throttle tube and lubricated it with triflow, swapped out the cables and lubed them with Cable Life (They where new Motion Pro Cables but most of the stuff at Bent Bike is really old and dusty). The differance was outstanding it was like a new bike. Next I slid the carb rack in and mounted it in place. After a few short cranks (Fuel bowls where empty of course) she fired right up...ON ALL FOUR CYCLINDERS TOO! AT THE SAME TIME! The improvement was insane. I hooked up the carb balencer and dialed in the dampners and had them synced dead on to my guages in minutes, The throttle response was wicked fast and the off idle stumble was gone as well. It was a bit chilly but I NEEDED a ride bad. I grabbed my touring jacket, helmet and gloves and headed up to Smokey Point. Randakk had mentioned in some of his writtings that the GL1000 was "Super Bike" league in it's day and with the state of tune mine had been in I was not seeing the light. Now, from traffic light to 60 is just a flick of the wrist away and it pulls like raped ape all the way there. On the highway I had to fight to keep it under 80 mph for fear that the "Man" would be lurkin around the next bend. A shame really, that bike was so smooth and well behaved at better than highway speeds and I live in an area with militant speed enforcememnt. I'm thinking a trip to Montana is in order, should be able to air that girl out over there. After my initial test ride I was so enamoured with the bike that I came back to the shop, donned my touring pants and rode down to see Karen at Sea-Tac Internationl Airport (almost a 100 mile round trip) (Did I mention it's 29 F out?). She really liked the way her bike turned out and kept asking me when the parts for my bike where coming in so she could have her ride back. In closing I want to thank Randall at Randakk's Cycle Shack for FANTASTICK products, super advice and service, you made this whole project a snap THANK YOU! Now if I could just get this silly smile off my face....
I got the bike for practically nothing, in fact when responding to the Craigslist ad I drove by the bike twice, thinking it was way too nice for what he was asking and could not have been the bike I was there to see. It had a few issues, the old hippie fellow told me never to use the front brake, because it sticks. He also told be the bike was "cold blooded" as it didn't like starting in the cold. When I got it home I rebuilt the front caliper and rode the snot out of 'er all summer. After Karen and I rode the GL1500 out here in Sept. Nancy (the GL1000 pictured here) became less of a priority. I knew the carbs needed a GOOD rebuild and the throttle control required a death grip to cycle but it kept getting put on the back burner. I gave the bike to Karen as she was dying to ride her own bike again. She would take it to work here and there but the hard starting and debilitated battery where not a confidence building combination. I have been commuting to work since July by motorcycle and this past week the shaft drive in my GL1500 bought the farm and left me with no way to work. I went to start Nancy (the 77 GL1000) and she would simply not have any of that...I charged the battery and rode her down to Pacific Power and put in a new AGM glass mat battery, but now it just didn't start faster than before. I knew if I was going to get to work this week (New drive shaft is on its way from Florida) Nancy needed her carbs done. I had investigated rebuild kits for price and quality and stumbled accross the preachings of the one called Randakk. He claimed to have a kit that in many ways was BETTER than even Honda could have offered. He also had a DVD on carb rebuilding that could be had at a discounted price if purchased with his Master Rebuild Kit. I PayPal'ed him the money and within days the package arrived along with a personal note thanking me for my purchase. I watched the DVD and was amazed at how excellent his technique was. I had bought the kit in early Fall but never got around to rolling up my sleaves. Now I was in a pickle and needed a reliable motorcycle to get me to work. I was a little concerned with surgery this envasive that I might end up with two crippled bikes in the garage if something went awry. Of course I dove in head first, I would play a section of the DVD and go do that work (I had watched it twice from end to end prior) come back in, watch a bit more, and so it went on... It was like having the foremost authority on Goldwing carburation looking right over my shoulder, wait...it is was exactly that. When I got done (3am on Saturday night/Sunday morning) here is what I had:I was WAY to tired to go any further so I left the install and tuning for Sunday. Karen and I went down to Bent Bike to get some new throttle cables as I was sure they where binding and sticky. The task of replacing the cables is much easier with the carbs removed so I swaped the cables and took the throttle handpiece apart for inspection/cleaning. There was no lubricant in the grip tube at all and it was full of rust and road dirt. I cleaned the throttle tube and lubricated it with triflow, swapped out the cables and lubed them with Cable Life (They where new Motion Pro Cables but most of the stuff at Bent Bike is really old and dusty). The differance was outstanding it was like a new bike. Next I slid the carb rack in and mounted it in place. After a few short cranks (Fuel bowls where empty of course) she fired right up...ON ALL FOUR CYCLINDERS TOO! AT THE SAME TIME! The improvement was insane. I hooked up the carb balencer and dialed in the dampners and had them synced dead on to my guages in minutes, The throttle response was wicked fast and the off idle stumble was gone as well. It was a bit chilly but I NEEDED a ride bad. I grabbed my touring jacket, helmet and gloves and headed up to Smokey Point. Randakk had mentioned in some of his writtings that the GL1000 was "Super Bike" league in it's day and with the state of tune mine had been in I was not seeing the light. Now, from traffic light to 60 is just a flick of the wrist away and it pulls like raped ape all the way there. On the highway I had to fight to keep it under 80 mph for fear that the "Man" would be lurkin around the next bend. A shame really, that bike was so smooth and well behaved at better than highway speeds and I live in an area with militant speed enforcememnt. I'm thinking a trip to Montana is in order, should be able to air that girl out over there. After my initial test ride I was so enamoured with the bike that I came back to the shop, donned my touring pants and rode down to see Karen at Sea-Tac Internationl Airport (almost a 100 mile round trip) (Did I mention it's 29 F out?). She really liked the way her bike turned out and kept asking me when the parts for my bike where coming in so she could have her ride back. In closing I want to thank Randall at Randakk's Cycle Shack for FANTASTICK products, super advice and service, you made this whole project a snap THANK YOU! Now if I could just get this silly smile off my face....
