"New" GL-1200; New Member Intro

[sphen]

In my search for a project bike, I stumbled upon a 1986 GL1200 Aspencade with 33k miles...and brought it home for $300!

The bike has been stored for a while, and the PO removed all the bodywork/bags for painting...

...which is fine by me because I'm wanting to do a 'naked' conversion.

Lots of work to do, and i'm sure i'll be chatting about it on here in the future.

i would like to pose this curiosity question as a start: if i get fork springs and shocks from somewhere like Progressive, am I correct that I can do away with the air system? (Seems the answer is yes for the shocks, but i'm not clear on fork spring kits - a matter of blocking off the air ports?)

[CrystalPistol]

If you put Progressive Suspension fork springs in (Progressive # 11-1122 is the # for 1200s) then you'll have no need for fork air and will want to block off hole in the right fork tube where the air line attaches, but easy to just leave in place the "manifold" which both tubes pass through, which has O rings, and it provides air to left tube from right tube.

[sphen]

Thanks!

Next: what are my options for replacing the key switch? I have seen OEM ones available for $165ish - are there suitable alternatives?