Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => Other Bikes => Topic started by: TezzerTel on May 24, 2025, 01:14:10 PM
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Just fancied one of these and after looking at a fair few I fired the cash cannon and brought this one home. It's a 1979 with 20k on the clocks. It definitely runs and I'll see how it rides later😬. It's hopefully a 'running restoration' but I guess only time will tell
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I remember when those came out,
Very sophisticated, unusual fuel tank,
Looked very big,
But looking back, seems small compared to modern bikes,
Quite quick as well
Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk
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It's fairly big definitely heavy 😬
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Looks in good order, change the belts if you have no idea when done, somewhere i have the Honda workshop manual for that and the number for Gates belts
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Looks great Tel,
Yes, they are a bit on the heavy side when manoeuvring around but great on the road for mile-munching. We had 6 all together - a very early GL1000, 3 1200s and two 1500's and did well over 100,000 miles on them in total. Aftermarket head gaskets can be troublesome and the drive shaft splines need a decent high Moly content grease to keep them good. Belts need changing regardless of what PO might say. You will soon warm to it!
[attach=1]
For some reason the colour in this pic is not as the bike was.
Oops, Bryan beat me to the belt issue
Ian
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looks pretty tidy, they do ride well and handle better than you might think, sold mine because i found it too heavy to manouver.
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1979?
There should be a grease nipple to lube the shaft spline ar the pinion which i cant see, was an update in first year, obviously repainted but looks good.
They have quirks as do all old Hondas, as a shop in Glos we had one that did a lot of miles
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I have the gates reference at home and where I recently got a pair from.
Will be back on UK Wednesday, can post it then.
Michael
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Only rode one once and I could not get over how smooth and agile it was when moving.
Cheers
Dennis
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The carbs can be a bitch to vac until you figure out the trick of it.
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Thanks for the kind comments I really think it's a keeper. Did a 30 mile trip on it this afternoon and I really like it. It's so smooth I can't tell it's running when I'm sat on it only the sound gives it away. Needs some fettling but it was cheap. Going to change the cam belts before long as the advice. Do the tensioners need doing at the same time?
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Tensioners are not easy to get and expensive but on one of the goldwing formums is a how to adapt a car roller to a wing bracket, basically leave alone unless bearing noisy.
One cam will insist on trying to move as you fit belt be careful
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Worth joining www.goldwingfacts.com forum, lots of info on there, Stateside based but lots of UK members. Some of those early GL1000s have done unbelievable mileages without serious issues. As Bryan says, someone posted a mod for the tensioners but all of mine have been smooth and quiet, so not needing replacement. Does yours have the kick start knuckle at the back of the engine? Can't remember when they deleted that useful feature. The removable kick start was housed in one of the dummy tank sides.
Ian
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Great thanks I was just thinking I should join a goldwing forum as there is so much knowledge about (just like this forum) It has a space for the kick-starter in the dummy tank but it is missing. I haven't been able to locate where it would fit on to the engine yet but it's had a replacement engine at some point (different number to what is on the v5) so maybe a later engine?
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Randakk cycle shack in US is great for spares and advice for goldwings, they have had many parts manufactured that are unavailable elsewhere especially carb parts. https://www.randakks.com
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I have the gates reference at home and where I recently got a pair from.
Will be back on UK Wednesday, can post it then.
Michael
If you could please
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Whether there's any choice of manufacturer in this or not, I'd not know.
Gates along with Dayco and Continental have good reputation if offered as supply part. All original fit in automotive, I use routinely in replacement without reservation.
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Gates T274 for the 1000 and 1100, 2 of them of course
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I use Gates belts in the Morini as a lot of people do in the owners club. The only issue with the Morini is the crankshaft and cam wheels are marked A, B or C at the factory when the engines are built. Morini recommend you buy the specific belt for your engine and marked accordingly. The maximum slack is 6mm on its longest stretch (not very long considering the crank pulley is virtually directly below the cam pulley). It seems Moto Morini bought belts from different manufacturers back in the day and therefore there were tolerance differences between the manufacturers (remember we are talking 70’s manufacturing technology). Morini would then try different belts on every engine to determine which belt provided the 6mm tolerance and marked the pully to suit with an A, B or C. This is why Morini OEM belts are four times the price of a Gates belt or any other manufacturer. I bought a number of Gates belts at different times and fitted them by trial and error to find the one with the correct tolerance. It is surprising the variance of what are the same spec of belt by the same manufacturer but over different batches.
Toothed belt manufacturing has moved on dramatically over the past 20 years with new technology making them much longer lasting and resistant to heat and oil (although I'm not sure if anyone running a Ford Eco engine would fully agree!).
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I've ordered a pair from Amazon £57 delivered (hopefully 🙏) there coming from American so not sure if there's duty to pay 😬.
In going to get some car tensioners and modify them
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HI,
The references I have are :-
Timing Belts
GL1000 & GL1100
Gates - #5119 or #T274 (2ea.)
NAPA - #250274 (2 ea.)
Goodyear - #40274 (2 ea.)
I have the 5119 version from a UK supplier.
As I understand it almost all belts are made by Gates, some are then branded for others.
I'll send you a Message re GL1000 bits etc.
Michael