I love ratbike Goldwings When I do get one it will be a tough decision, rat one out or buy a newer luxury cruiser. If it's a newer one, this will be the first mod - http://www.mblinnovations.com/customgw.html
I've got a 76 Gl1000. Excellent bike. Just got back from a 3800 mile tour on her. Here she is after a bath right outside Glacier National Park. And here she is in the middle of nowhere in Montana.
Thanks! The fairing is a Don Vesco Rapid Transit. On the trip several people asked me if it was a BMW RS fairing which is likely why i was attracted to it. The R100RS is my dream vintage touring bike. The GL1000 was a competent tourer though even two up and fully loaded. It gave us little trouble. Here is a picture of the bike loaded up in Yellowstone.
Nice 1976 wing. Those tube type tires are not fun repairing on the side of the road. I always travel with a tubeless tire repair kit. Needed it more than once. I had a black 1978 wing. Bought new, it had electrical problems. My 2012 is a world of difference.
I got to ride a leftover 09, since the guy got such a good deal that he couldn't wait to get his endorsement. It was all low speed stuff, since the Honda dealer is right off base, but I was amazed at how well handling it was in the parking lot. I didn't get to peg scraping levels, but I was apparently pretty close, by the look on the owners face. The saddest part was his wife had a terrible scare when riding on the back, so he sold it and hasn't ridden a bike since.
I haven't posted this here yet, but it just goes to show you what you can do, if you're persistent and talented, or you've got money!
That's what I'm talking about Only thing I would do differently is that would have a solo seat and a bigass rack behind it. Cool setup. Was this a kit or all custom?
Just bought an 83 today. All I need is a couple cans of black paint and time to remove an assload of unnecessary crap and I too will have a Franken-Wing.
Funny you should say that. 40 miles into the trip my front tire went flat. I had just had a new tire and tube fitted to the front rim the day prior. My first road side tube change was sucessful. I was terrified i was going to pop my only spare tube while prying the last few inches of bead onto the rim........ We were touring with a couple on a GL1800.....a 2006 maybe? Great machines, and it sure was nice that my friend let me put some extra gear in his trailer. I like riding the old bikes though.
Thanks! I really like the Vesco fairing. It does its job well. My only complaint is the reduction of steering lock required to fit the fairing. Modifying the locks is on my to do list. I have smashed my fingers several times between the front break lever and the fairing. Ouch.
A set of bar backs may keep your fingers out of harms way. The only issue is that you may end up in more of an upright position or get the bars too close to you.
Yeah........i looked into handlebar options and ended up going with "superbike" bars. if you have too much pullback you end up hitting the tank on these bikes. i saw a thread where someone drilled, tapped, and installed a small bolt into the steering lock to make the stop point adjustable. the stock bars have the control wires mounted internally. it was no fun drilling the new bars for internal wiring. I guess it really wasn't a proper road side tube change because my girlfriend showed up to the rescue with a jack and tool box.
There was a company that made kits for the 4 cyl Wings called Wicked Wings. I did like how they completely changed the look of the Wing but keeps the Honda motor that just keeps going.
