GL1100 Interstate Restoration Project

[Sentrosi]

Hello everyone, I recently bought a 1981 GL1100 Interstate that was a pair to a 1980 GL1100 Standard that my cousin had purchased. The bikes were originally owned by a couple, who put around 40,000 miles on them then let them sit for nearly 20 years (According to the PO). A local collector bought them after that, and was going to fix them up himself, but never got around to it. My cousin traded an old Suburban for his 1980 GL1100, and I saw the 1981 in the back of his garage and ended up buying it for $400.

Picking the bike up from PO with tie-down straps

After getting it home, I decided I wanted to really get deep into cleaning it and restoring it, so I used some of the DIY articles to remove the back tire, to have a new tire put on it.

Back of bike with back tire removed

View from behind the bike

I then removed the false tank, drained all the gas out of it (about 4 1/2 gallons, which might explain how little rust there was inside the tank compared to some I've seen), and removed the gas tank, in order to clean it out and de-rust it.

Gas tank pulled!

[Jeditaz11]

How's the new restoration going? I am going to be working on an '82 GL1100 Interstate myself soon. It appears to be in better shape than yours, but I am still going to do all I can to make sure it is in tip top shape and remains that way.