How amazing are these bikes ???

[WingNutJC]

Recently got my "restored" GL1100 on the road.

First time ever I've ridden a Goldwing, and have been more impressed/amazed each time out. Wheee

Handling/cornering is at the top of the list. The front/rear grip is absolutely confidence inspiring and surte-footed, despite cornering on rough, fast, bumpy surfaces, with not a moment of hesitation.

Having said that, the bike can be peeled over to silly horizon angles in turns, stopped only by scraping of footpegs and sidestand. Wheeee ...

With the low CoG the bike can be tipped upright very quickly out of turns, with power on, before other machines are fully upright. Hee hee. And they wonder why I'm still on their tail. LOL

I've fitted longer rear shocks to gain more rear ground clearance. Which has worked well up to where I'm rolling off the shoulder of the rear tire. Aaaaackk. }:-0 And - s/steel brake lines and racing pads will aid in adding the fun factor to my 1100.

What a remarkable machine.

Cheers

WingNutJC

[WingAdmin]

Welcome to a great kept secret! Glad to hear you're enjoying your "new" bike.

The stainless steel brake lines will transform the bike, giving it modern, powerful brakes. They were the single best upgrade I made to my GL1100.

However, be careful about hard/metallic/semi-metallic brake pads. Brake rotors are rare and getting ever harder to find, and are very expensive when you do find them. Better to wear through a set of organic pads than to have your metallic pads wearing out your rotors.

[WingNutJC]

Welcome to a great kept secret! Glad to hear you're enjoying your "new" bike.

The stainless steel brake lines will transform the bike, giving it modern, powerful brakes. They were the single best upgrade I made to my GL1100.

However, be careful about hard/metallic/semi-metallic brake pads. Brake rotors are rare and getting ever harder to find, and are very expensive when you do find them. Better to wear through a set of organic pads than to have your metallic pads wearing out your rotors.

Thanks WingAdmin.

[Old Fogey]

Good advice to make your discs last as long as possible, but eventually you will need new ones.

I'm still working on the GL1100 / 12O0 brake disc pages on the website, but I can supply new discs for all the the four cylinder Wings apart from the 75-77 GL1000 front friction sections which will be available in February and the rear of the 82 Aspencade.
Not all that expensive for top quality German discs. For instance, front discs for the Standard and Interstate are $170 plus shipping from the UK.

[Wingsconsin]

The GL1100 I had was a lot of fun to ride ..and the GL1200 was alos a peg scrapping fun ride...
The GL1500 was perfect for long distance rides with more comfort , but sacrifices a little of the 'fun' factor the 4 cylinder Wings offered..
The GL1800 I have now is a perfect combination of the FUN factor ad the LONG RIDE ideal.
Enjoy and keep surprising those v-twin riders

[WingNutJC]

The GL1100 I had was a lot of fun to ride ..and the GL1200 was alos a peg scrapping fun ride...
The GL1500 was perfect for long distance rides with more comfort , but sacrifices a little of the 'fun' factor the 4 cylinder Wings offered..
The GL1800 I have now is a perfect combination of the FUN factor ad the LONG RIDE ideal.
Enjoy and keep surprising those v-twin riders

V- twin Riders ??? LOL. And the rest ... muaahhh harr harrr .. ):-]

Last Sunday, found myself setting off in the midst of a group of sport bikes, on the way to a slower version of Pike's Peak, but just as many turns to remember, many through shady rain forest areas, with slippery damp patches just to keep you on your toes. }}}:-0 LOL.

First part is several miles of long fast sweepy stuff, the occasional cow grazing at the road side, then into a 1500 ft climb: 180 deg switchbacks, off-camber turns blaah blaah (follows an old logging track), then into a dozen more miles of faster, tighter stuff thru the rainforest.

By the foot of the climb I had only an elderly Ducati ahead, but it's rider managed to make it seem like the size of a truck. LOL

Never mind - overtook him near the top of the climb and then it it was on for young and old between me and a BM Adventure bike for the next several miles into the biker's coffee shop. We dismounted, removed helmets etc a few minutes before the pack arrived. Yee haaaa. And all with my top box attached, just to rub it in.

Then went to turn off the bike cam ... ... ohhh arrrr carp ... had forgotten to turn it on. Arrrggghhhh!!! Banging head on nearest lump of concrete.

Never mind - I have a clip of a slower, earlier run up the hill - will give an idea of the road. I'll post after editing, probly to my Dropbox account. Will advise.

Anyway by now you've probably realised that I've taken a real liking to my 'Wing, not only for its general riding manners, but also for the high quality standard of engineering making up not only the engine (Ten stars out of Ten), but also of the frame geometry and dynamic handling balance. Just a pity that weight reduction is such a challenge, since Honda did so much in that area to begin with.

Never mind - takes nothing away from the GL fun factor. Hmmm ... now about that compression ratio ... LOL




WingNut

[johnfliesagain]

Welcome to a great kept secret! Glad to hear you're enjoying your "new" bike.

The stainless steel brake lines will transform the bike, giving it modern, powerful brakes. They were the single best upgrade I made to my GL1100.

However, be careful about hard/metallic/semi-metallic brake pads. Brake rotors are rare and getting ever harder to find, and are very expensive when you do find them. Better to wear through a set of organic pads than to have your metallic pads wearing out your rotors.

Well Mr WingAdmin:

Do you have a specific brand of pads that you would reccomend for my 2000 SE?

Thanks,
John in Baltimore

[maintainer]

Does anyone have some waders I could borrow?

[flogger]

Does anyone have some waders I could borrow?

Times 2 but it's true, lol...

[WingAdmin]

Welcome to a great kept secret! Glad to hear you're enjoying your "new" bike.

The stainless steel brake lines will transform the bike, giving it modern, powerful brakes. They were the single best upgrade I made to my GL1100.

However, be careful about hard/metallic/semi-metallic brake pads. Brake rotors are rare and getting ever harder to find, and are very expensive when you do find them. Better to wear through a set of organic pads than to have your metallic pads wearing out your rotors.

Well Mr WingAdmin:

Do you have a specific brand of pads that you would reccomend for my 2000 SE?

Thanks,
John in Baltimore

Honestly, the best pads I have used on my 2000 SE are the Honda OEM pads.

[johnfliesagain]

'bout the pads, thank you very much!

John in Baltimore

[salty1]

Welcome to a great kept secret! Glad to hear you're enjoying your "new" bike.

The stainless steel brake lines will transform the bike, giving it modern, powerful brakes. They were the single best upgrade I made to my GL1100.

However, be careful about hard/metallic/semi-metallic brake pads. Brake rotors are rare and getting ever harder to find, and are very expensive when you do find them. Better to wear through a set of organic pads than to have your metallic pads wearing out your rotors.

Well Mr WingAdmin:

Do you have a specific brand of pads that you would reccomend for my 2000 SE?

Thanks,
John in Baltimore

Honestly, the best pads I have used on my 2000 SE are the Honda OEM pads.

I agree. I've also had good service from organic EBC pads.

[WingAdmin]

Honestly, the best pads I have used on my 2000 SE are the Honda OEM pads.

I agree. I've also had good service from organic EBC pads.

My only complaint with EBC is that they don't last anywhere near as long as OEM, and they also produce copious amounts of brake dust.

[Steamboat7404]

I just rebuilt a 63 Honda Dream 305 and thought it was fun to ride. I then purchased a 80 goldwing for a project and since fixing its many issues, have started riding it around. What a pleasure to ride, smooths and just floats around corners. The last owner cut the turn signal light studs off the head light mount so I'm dealing with that issue. But mechanical the bike is a delight to ride around...

[Solina Dave]

However, be careful about hard/metallic/semi-metallic brake pads. Better to wear through a set of organic pads than to have your metallic pads wearing out your rotors.

"How amazing are these bikes???" If you have to ask, you've never ridden one!

Having said that, obtaining genuine Honda OEM parts for my '78 GL1000, is a challenge at times to say the least. That certainly has been the case, with the bike's brake pads, for years now. One thing that I seem to remember, is that the OEM pads rarely squealed when stopping. This, I found, was not the case with a lot of replacement pads. Stopping beside another vehicle was often embarrassing, to say the least.
I finally tried a set of pads from Saber Cycle, supplied buy Barracuda Bike Parts. I found that the squealing was reduced by at least 85%, they stopped my motorcycle, which is good, and they were reasonably priced. The following are the specs. for these pads. Since a lot of it is like Latin to me, I'd be interested in any comments regarding these specs. Are they hard/metallic/semi-metallic/organic, suitable, good, bad, etc. etc. And also any comments about other pads that you might have had experience with would be welcome. Thank you.

SPECS: Friction Rating FF (.40 average), "Little Metallic" Type (15% copper, 3% ferric oxide, graphite, friction particle and powder), colophony bonding resin (organic), organic and mineral fibers, high friction coefficient with minimal wear, laboratory tested friction, coefficient .41 @ 150C ranging to .35 @ 300C. By Barracuda Bike Parts®.

Please, gimme a brake ...................................Dave

[Old Fogey]

Well, first your pads. FF grade is usually the sintered metallic type used for sports bikes. Yes they will stop you well, at the expense of higher disc wear. The 'normal' pads that are usually fitted are GG grade organic compound that cope well enough for the majority of riders.
Second. With good reason, and from personal experience, most of us would not even think of dealing with Sabre Cycle. I'll leave it at that.

[Solina Dave]

With good reason, and from personal experience, most of us would not even think of dealing with Sabre Cycle.

That may be true. But in several dealings that I've had with Saber Cycle, the price was right, delivery was prompt, product availability was consistently good, and customer service was courteous and efficient. I'm generally a repeat customer if those criteria are properly met, especially product availability. Having said that, generally speaking sellers usually only get one chance with me, so they'd better perform.

But then that's just me................................Dave