GL1500 Transmission Questions

[lrburke64]

Hey again guys, are the transmissions in the GL1500s pretty solid units? Is there any way to kind of tell if the transmission works with it non running? Is there any concern about a transmission with 50K on it? Is there a separate oil I can check for the trans? Thanks

[Rambozo]

Pretty good gearboxes and they got better in the later years.
Not really any good way to check them without running the engine.
50k is barely broken in on a GoldWing. You can find bikes with ten times that mileage with no transmission problems.
The trans and engine share an oil bath, so the type of oil is critical but the good thing is it will be changed a lot more often than your typical trans.
The one weak point are the shifting forks which can be bent. This typically only occurs if the bike is fitted with a heel/toe shifter used with floorboards.
There are ways to check this but the engine has to run to do that.
The only check I can think of is to put it on the center stand and while moving the rear wheel, see that it can go through the gears.

[lrburke64]

Very good info. I’m impressed by the quick replies from someone!! Thanks very much.

[lrburke64]

Hello again, sorry to beat a dead horse but I’m supposed to go check out this Goldwing today. Question on the engine! If I check compression on the rear cylinder of each bank and it’s good would that tell me the timing belts are ok? Those 2 are visible the way it sits now. The seller is not thrilled about me taking more plastic off to check all 6. Like I said in my first post the engine has a nice even cadence when cranking. Thanks

[Rambozo]

That will only tell you that they are not broken now. The sound while cranking is a pretty good indicator, though.
Just keep in mind that you are buying a bike that doesn't run and price it accordingly or consider it a parts bike. It could be something simple and cheap (The only thing cheap on a GoldWing is the rider) or it could be uneconomical to repair. There are plenty of running examples to buy with less risk. Without a thorough inspection, you are buying the proverbial pig in a poke. You could end up with a real bargain, or a complete disaster. You can find plenty of examples of both on this forum.

[lrburke64]

Thank you for the advice.

[blupupher]

'97+ GL1500'a have a little stronger transmission, and less chance of the 4th gear shift fork issue (not completely eliminated, but less of a chance).
When Honda introduced the Valkyrie (based on the 1500), they beefed up the driveline a little bit, and that made it into the production line for both the Goldwing and Valkyrie.

As mentioned, floor boards with a heel toe shifter seem to be a common item in many 4th gear shift fork issues, but nothing has ever been proven that it does cause or contribute to it.
Theory is that with the heel toe, you are more forceful with the upshift, and many also ride in 5th gear with foot resting on shifter, putting pressure on the shift linkage. Even in the short time I had the heel toe shifter, I found myself doing this absent mindedly.

Having been a victim of a bike that ended up having an issue with the shift fork, I probably would not buy a pre '97 bike, and for sure would not buy any year that had a heel toe shifter on it at all.
My bike had floorboards w/heel toe shifter for about 75,000 miles prior to me getting it.
I got it with 81,000 miles, took the heel toe shifter off and went back to stock pegs and shifter (and added a shifter shaft brace) @ ~83,000 miles, and had the shift fork go @ 98,600 miles doing a trip in the Texas Hill Country.
Rode it back home and sold it for half what it was worth to a guy that had some plans for it.

I was looking for a replacement GL1500 I was only looking at '97+ bikes, hoping to find a "diamond in the rough" with poor cosmetics to transplant my bodywork on to since it was still immaculate, but ended up getting an '02 1800 instead.