98SE New to me service checklist.

[krismoto]

New to Goldwings but been wrenching on bikes and trucks since a teen.

Picked up a 98SE a week ago and have been cruising the forum putting a checklist of things to do. If there is anything missing, while I have the body work off, I would appreciate the heads up.

Backstory:

PO bought it from an estate before Covid for him and his wife to go across Canada. But we all know what happened to that plan. Now he is terminally ill and selling everything. He said he brought it to a shop and told them to do everything so he could go on his trip but he is in the middle of cleaning his house that he just sold and can't find the bill for the work.

He said he knows the timing belt was done and he has put 2000km on since then. Going to take his word for it on that one for now and maybe change it in the winter for piece of mind. He knew nothing about the splines. E3 tires had good tread but a 2010 date code is all that needs to be known. This brings the shop into question, pre Covid still would put these at 10 years which is absolute max especially for X Country trip.

Enough with the backstory here is my list:

1) I checked head bearings and wheel bearings for play and they are all good.

2) Ordered new G701/G702 combo. Tried for bias ply E4's but Canada seams to have a shortage. Local shop will mount mail order rubber.

3) Ordered 4L of GN4, and filter for oil change. Can get gear oil locally for final drive. Ordered M-77 for splines.

4) Will check air filter, available next day on Amazon

5) Have DOT 4 for brake and clutch flush. Will check brakes closer while I have everything apart.

6) Rear shock holds air and compressor works good.

7) Reverse works good.

8) Battery is strong, and looks to be new. Alternator/ Stator is charging.

9) Bike starts, runs and idles good.

[MikeB]

Tires - The GL1500 was made for Bias Ply tires. Radial tires do not work well with the GL1500. The bike will wallow on you and feel unstable. At least that is what I have heard. I use Avon, Dunlop or Bridgestone tires. Shinko and Metzler have been given poor reviews by friends who have used them.

Air Filter - Use a Honda OEM air filter, Big Bike Parts Air Filter, Emgo Air Filter or K&N Air Filter. DO NOT use the Caltric air filter. Many reports about how they do not fit. If you use the K&N, you will remove the large rubber O-Rings around the filter box lid. The K&N filter is made to fit in the recesses where the O-Rings go. Make sure you keep these O-Rings, they are no longer available. You would need to re-install O-Rings if you went back to a paper filter.

Good luck with the bike, it will serve you well. I have over 197,000 miles on mine and all but 2200 miles of it has been put on by me. I really like the GL1500.

[Rambozo]

1. Change the coolant as well.
2. There are two additional air filters, cruise and sub. They are just foam and typically crumble into power if original.
3. Have a look at the spark plugs.
4. Change fork oil and check seals for leakage.
5. Check rear air shock boot. It can also get a fluid change if needed.
6. Check all the light bulbs while everything is apart.

Sounds like you have everything else covered.

[krismoto]

1. Change the coolant as well.
2. There are two additional air filters, cruise and sub. They are just foam and typically crumble into power if original.
3. Have a look at the spark plugs.
4. Change fork oil and check seals for leakage.
5. Check rear air shock boot. It can also get a fluid change if needed.
6. Check all the light bulbs while everything is apart.

Sounds like you have everything else covered.

Yes of course fork oil, coolant... Thanks just added all to my list!

[krismoto]

Tires - The GL1500 was made for Bias Ply tires. Radial tires do not work well with the GL1500. The bike will wallow on you and feel unstable. At least that is what I have heard. I use Avon, Dunlop or Bridgestone tires. Shinko and Metzler have been given poor reviews by friends who have used them.

Air Filter - Use a Honda OEM air filter, Big Bike Parts Air Filter, Emgo Air Filter or K&N Air Filter. DO NOT use the Caltric air filter. Many reports about how they do not fit. If you use the K&N, you will remove the large rubber O-Rings around the filter box lid. The K&N filter is made to fit in the recesses where the O-Rings go. Make sure you keep these O-Rings, they are no longer available. You would need to re-install O-Rings if you went back to a paper filter.

Good luck with the bike, it will serve you well. I have over 197,000 miles on mine and all but 2200 miles of it has been put on by me. I really like the GL1500.

Yes I ordered Bridgestone 701/702 bias ply tires. I think they were original equipment up to 96. Reviews seam so/so but I will wear them out in good time and try something else next time. It's what is available at the moment.

[krismoto]

1. Change the coolant as well.
2. There are two additional air filters, cruise and sub. They are just foam and typically crumble into power if original.
3. Have a look at the spark plugs.
4. Change fork oil and check seals for leakage.
5. Check rear air shock boot. It can also get a fluid change if needed.
6. Check all the light bulbs while everything is apart.

Sounds like you have everything else covered.

Wow those little filters are a PIA! Well I guess this is the horse I am riding out on so gotta be done. Think I'll break this into two parts so I don't get overwhelmed. Back end and front end. Sounds like I should order a few of each and do them fairly often. Trying to track down a new/used meter panel and was planning to do the full LED conversion at the same time. Hope I can pull this off all in one go.

[GrapeVine]

viewtopic.php?p=414162#p414162

In the link above, I mention my VERY POSITIVE experience in changing my rear wheel dampers. It's a VERY EASY job if the rear wheel is off. Please consider this as a service item as these rubber pieces have ALWAYS been exposed to age and temperature changes and other aging factors

[jfairman]

any recommendation on age or mileage to change spark plug wires?

[Rambozo]

More of an "as needed" item. So much depends on storage conditions.

[Bonnie and Clyde]

Ill jump in here. I just bought a cream puff 1999 SE with 22K miles on it. It didnt sit but only rode about 1k miles a year. Anyway I need to do a full service belts plugs etc.(all original stuff) Where is the best place to order service items. Piece it out or buy a complete service kit? Pleas and thankyou

[Rambozo]

It depends on the parts. Some are Honda only items, so your local dealer or one of the many online OEM sites like Mr.Cycles or Partszilla.
Cyclemax has a lot of GW items you might need.
Amazon or Napa, etc. for Gates timing belts.

[GrapeVine]

As you (or your shop) get to doing this maintenance, removing the timing belt cover is EASY, or the PO may have placed the belt change stick in an easy to read place behind the lower cowl.
I put mine in place as soon as I did it, and it’s recorded in my logbook[/img]
Not the right page, but I hope you get the idea
This sticker was provided in the Gates box

[krismoto]

Ok so I pulled the rear bags and rear wheel. My biggest worry was the final drive splines. I will pull the axle tomorrow but so far it's not looking too too bad. A little wear visible but having seen pics of worst case scenario it looks like I have some life left on this final drive.

[krismoto]

I also found that the alternator was replaced with an earlier 95 unit. With a note that says "good - mine" on it. This tells me that the original owner probably did their own wrenching and knew some of the ins and outs of the bike. If I have read correctly the 95 alternators weren't as troublesome as the 98 alternators? Who knows when it was replaced and how many miles were on it but a little piece of mind that at some point the "bad" alternator was replaced. Is this an accurate assumption?

[John K]

Items I have replaced on our 98 since 1999, tires, filters, belts, plugs, etc like others have mentioned. Also rear wheel bearings, o rings, & dust shield ( was told NOT to use so much water pressure when cleaning wheel ) battery replaced a few times ( dies when you are on your way some where not while home or in garage. Can be pushed started, if down hill ) Plug battery into Battery Tender EVERY time at home. ( last battery was 9 years old when replaced ) Installed Comp-Fire 90 max amp alternator ( since have installed mostly LEDs I like the look of LEDs up front, Pathfinder head lights & 50 watts for position & driving lights) brake pads front & rear, installed Auxiliary Shifter Pivot & seal ( positive shifting & stops leak ) Replace fuel filter Rebuild fuel petcock in same area as fuel filter ( rubber diaphragm cracks with age ) Flush & replace clutch & brake fluids, yearly. I use distilled water when changing anti freeze. Put fishing leaders on side covers & front ( to keep in place if rubber o rings dry out "covers are obsolete" ) Have gotten parts from WingStuff, Direct Line Inc & Cyclemax. Some from local Honda dealer. Price and availability are worth checking out. Sierra for intercom items. We put taller & wider windshields on even tried a lipped Long Rider finally Put a Madstad windshield on it in 2020 ( she said we should have done that years ago ) Take Care

[bellboy40]

This is a post I made on which LEDs I installed in my instrument panel. It includes the part # for the bulbs I used from Superbrightleds.com.

I just finished replacing the bulbs in my dash with LEDs and I am very pleased with the results. Here is a list of the bulbs I used and where they go in the instruments and indicator lights.
GL1500 LED dash light replacement:
superbrightleds.com no longer have the WLED-series LED's but they have been replaced with the 194-series that has 5 LEDs, one on each side and one in center. These bulbs do not have any hotspots and light up the instruments nicely. I switched the blue LED's to Natural White and used the following bulbs:

Turn Signals (Amber, Qty 2): 74-AHP3
Top/Bottom midline LCD lighting (Natural White, Qty 2): 74-NWHP3
Main Illumination (Natural White, Qty 4): 194-NWHP5

For the indicators below the instruments, I used these bulbs in the 90° version. These have just 1 LED. The ones with 5 LEDs were too bright.

Oil (Red, Qty 1): 194-R-90
High Beam (Blue, Qty 1): 194-B-90
Overdrive, Side Stand (Amber, Qty 2): 194-A-90
Neutral (Green, Qty 1): 194-G-90
Reverse (White, Qty 1): 194-W-90

Low Fuel, Cruise On, Cruise Set: left as-is with incandescent, but replaced with new 194 incandescents.

There was no need for any diffusers on the lights for the instruments. They work perfectly with no hot spots with the 5 LEDS on them. I tried using the 5 LED type bulbs in the indicators below the instruments, but they were just too bright. I changed them to the 1 LED bulbs with 90° spread and they look just like the stock ones.

[krismoto]

Thanks for the replies. I got all the rear end stuff done. Didn't get new cush drive dampers but they are on my list there was a small amount of play but that probably means they are dried up and not "cushy" anymore.

Sub filters came in yesterday, gotta get my bulbs together and then I will attach the front end.

Going dirtbiking for the long weekend though. So I will regroup when I'm back.

[Wildwilly018]

Tires - The GL1500 was made for Bias Ply tires. Radial tires do not work well with the GL1500. The bike will wallow on you and feel unstable. At least that is what I have heard. I use Avon, Dunlop or Bridgestone tires. Shinko and Metzler have been given poor reviews by friends who have used them.

Air Filter - Use a Honda OEM air filter, Big Bike Parts Air Filter, Emgo Air Filter or K&N Air Filter. DO NOT use the Caltric air filter. Many reports about how they do not fit. If you use the K&N, you will remove the large rubber O-Rings around the filter box lid. The K&N filter is made to fit in the recesses where the O-Rings go. Make sure you keep these O-Rings, they are no longer available. You would need to re-install O-Rings if you went back to a paper filter.

Good luck with the bike, it will serve you well. I have over 197,000 miles on mine and all but 2200 miles of it has been put on by me. I really like the GL1500.

Yes I ordered Bridgestone 701/702 bias ply tires. I think they were original equipment up to 96. Reviews seam so/so but I will wear them out in good time and try something else next time. It's what is available at the moment.

I know it was mentioned earlier, but the E3 Dunlops are not radials. They are meant for GL1500's. I have an E3 on the back of my 88 and an E4 on the front. Never an issue. The original GL1500 tires were K177 Dunlops, which was on my 88 when I bought it. Very hard rough riding bias.