New owner here..

[RBGA_BOB]

Hey fellow riders, I just purchased my first Goldwing over memorial weekend. Memorial day I already had it apart fixing the previous owner's wiring nightmare. Been riding since, but still working out some bugs. Plans are to tear her down this winter and make her beautiful again, along with some personal touches. In the couple weeks I've had the bike, I've found this forum INCREDIBLY helpful. I do have a basic question about the key switch tho. I know the lock/on/run positions, but what is the "P" position all the way to the right for? I attached a couple pics of my GL1000 the weekend I got it.

day one

memorial day

[wog]

Nice looking bike.

That is the park position, lets you remove the key with the tail light on.

Wish I had that kind of room in my garage!

[RBGA_BOB]

Oh, that would make sense. I noticed the head lamp went out, but never checked the tail lamp. Thanks WOG. I own an auto repair shop here in Ohio. This much space cost me $1,000 a month.

[Fred Camper]

Sweet looking 1977 you have there. Be sure to replace the belts unless you know they were replaced within 5 years. Some like more risk, but with an interference engine, I think 5 years is a great time to get them fresh again.

[RBGA_BOB]

I'm not sure when they have been done, but on my ride Sunday I stopped off and picked up a craigslist find. I found two new belts, new air cut of valve, 4 quarts of 50/50 coolant, bottle of fork fluid, and new fork boots and seals. All for $25. I'll be doing the belts here in the very near future.

[spookytooth]

I found that while changing the timing belts it's also a great time to lash the valves as well. I did the belts, valves, oil and coolant all in less than an hour.

[portugeezer]

I did my belts last fall in an hour or so but managed to smash my thumbnail in the process! Nice looking wing!

[RBGA_BOB]

I changed my belts and adjusted my valves the other day. Aside from the one bolt smack dab in the middle of the radiator, it was a fairly easy job. I was not impressed at how loose the belts seemed with just the spring tension alone. So, against instructions from the manual, I applied a little extra pressure to the tensioners. A lot less belt slap at a free rev, I can only imagine its better at highway speed as well. Valves weren't too far from adjustment, but it now idles down when coming to a stop. Now I can't wait to rebuild my carbs this winter. I'm hoping it's what is causing my 29mpg issue.

[Placerville]

The 'Park' position on these ignition switches is particular to older vehicles and is a hold-over from the time when vehicles first appeared in the U.S. Local authorities and city administrators were offended by these loud and smelly machines and they did everything possible to discourage their presence within city limits. One such law enacted to harass vehicle owners was one that required any vehicle left "Parked" (not running and unattended) on the roadway during the hours of darkness was required to display, to the rear, a light of sufficient brightness so as to warn others of it's presence. This particular harassment law was one that remained in the vehicle codes of most states for many years as it was seen to benefit public safety and not strictly designed to discourage vehicle ownership.

When this particular law was enacted in various states, many owners had to scramble to comply by adding some sort of low-wattage switched lighting to their vehicles so they wouldn't received a 'summons'. Below is a photo of an offering of such an 'add-on' light made by non-other than Tiffany. Bolt it to your rear fender, run a hot wire to it and when you got out of the car at night you switched it on. White to the front and red to the rear.