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1983 GL1100 rebuild.

3K views 47 replies 7 participants last post by  AZgl1800 
#1 ·
I had an '84 v45 magna 750 in the spring. I found the bike too small for my 6'3" body and decided to place it for sale. I ended up trading it for an '83 GL1100 that needed a little bit of brake work to get it road worthy again. The thing ran perfect. I spent a little time in the garage getting her up to my standards before putting her on the road. Basically, all she needed was to have the brakes bled and a little cleaning. I put a new front tire on her and got her on the road.
 

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#3 ·
So I was enjoying my time with the new used wing and taking her to work whenever the weather would cooperate. She was running great. I was planning a bike trip with my dad and brother for a few weeks later. Then it happened....

I don't remember any of the events surrounding the accident. What I remember is leaving the office at lunch time with the bike. I had appointments that afternoon in town and was looking forward to cruising around on the bike between appointments for work. In the process, I was going to have lunch at home that day. I came to a stop second in line at a stop light on the 4 lane highway about halfway home. It was lunch time and also rush hour. The car infront of me left when the light turned green and we all got up to speed. Suddenly, a family of ducks tried crossing the highway and the car in front of my slammed on the brakes. I slammed on the brakes on my wing and got her to a quick stop but went over the windshield going head first into the back of the car in front of me landing in the outside lane. The car directly behind me at the lights swerved to avoid hitting the bike but ended up running me over. The truck behind her ran into the bike pushing it into the first car that stopped.

Basically, the bike ended up sandwiched between a car and a pickup. The top luggage rack was bent and pushed forward about 6". The taillight was busted and the rear fender bent. The front forks were also bent. The top fairing also had a crack in it.
 

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#4 ·
After a month and a bit in the hospital I was home recovering with a broken back and other injuries by late July. August and September came and went and I finally got the bike home. A friend of mine had gone to pick it up at the accident scene and had it in his yard covered up till I was well enough to get her home.

It took a few tries and boosting the battery but we finally got her fired up and loaded into a trailer to bring home. When I got her home I went to work. First was removing the top luggage trunk which remarkably survived the accident without a scratch. The light bar and crash rack took the blunt of the impact.
 
#8 ·
I debated for a bit on which bike to focus my energy on. The parts bike was nice and straight but when it was stripped down years ago it was left outside without the air box on it. The rad was also removed allowing water to enter the engine. Basically, the engine is now a big corroded block of rust. I installed a battery on it to see if it would at least turn over. Immediately, smoke started coming from the electrical system. I then went back to the crash bike and she fired right up the second I hit the starter. The frame and everything else was straight on it so I decided to fix it.

 
#11 ·
While I was waiting for the forks to be repaired at the shop I got to painting the parts and pieces to go back on the crash bike since the front upper and lower fairing will be donated from the donor bike to replace the ones on the crash bike. I chose a nice metallic blue.
 
#14 ·
I'm still in the process of painting body parts. While waiting for paint to dry and the good forks to be done, I swapped the bent forks over to the donor bike so I could at least move it out of the garage. I also removed the rear luggage rack and installed it on my bike. When I installed the bent forks on the donor bike I inverted the forks so the bends angle outward so the bike can be maneuvered around easily. Can anyone say "Chopper Goldwing?"

 
#17 ·
I did some more painting. For the record, I'm not done painting yet and have gone through 4 cans of paint so far. I still have one saddle bag and the front fairing to paint. The paint I'm using is a good quality paint which includes primer and clear coat so it's a one step process. But with 4-5 light coats to cover each piece it eats up the paint rather quick. Each can is $33. At this point, cost is not the issue. I'm too far into this to stop now with only a couple pieces left to paint.

 
#18 ·
I got the forks back on friday from being rebuilt. I installed them onto the bike and temporarily mounted the front tire so I can move the bike around if needed. I will be taking the front tire off again to clean up the rim before permanently mounting it.


 
#19 ·
Today, I finished up painting the bottom half of the top luggage bag. I assembled the two halves together for the first time. The top came from the donor bike since I preferred the wider chrome bar it had. The bottom half from the donor bike was missing a quarter size chunk out of one corner. I still have to install the top handle and chrome rack on the top half of the bag. The passenger backrest will also be installed. That will be tomorrow's task. So far, I'm about a month into this rebuild project. She will be ready to ride again by the spring.
 
#21 ·
Let's just saw I'd call you tenacious to say the least. Glad you're doing OK after such a harrowing accident. Not to mention your drive to keep winging. I agree it would be a tough call to decide which bike to focus on but I'm sure in the end you'll be miles ahead of where you started.

I'm also fixing up an '83 (Interstate) this winter. But I typically don't do paint so it won't be as pretty as yours, lol. But that is fine with me. Keeping posting your pics and story, looks great! Inspiration for me, for sure.
 
#23 ·
When I had the v45 my plan was to get my wife a bike and she would get her license. We picked up a 1984 v30 for her to learn on. Two things happened. First...I had my accident. Second....the college stopped holding the motorcycle training course. The nearest location for the course was now 8 hrs away. It boggles my mind how a city of 110000 people can't support a motorcycle training program.

After the accident we decided to sell her bike without her ever riding it. I actually considered just keeping it if we couldn't sell it. The v30 was a fun little bike to ride. We ended up selling it.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
Brian, you can get ahold of that (or another) MSF Instructor and set something up for a class in your neighborhood.
They are not bound by location.
They are bound by money: a "per head" fee for Instructing.
Set up a future class with as many people as you can muster and then talk to the Instructor. He or She will then come to you if the price is right.
Maybe make a flyer with a date and location that works for the Instructor and then start hunting for Attendees as creatively best you can.
 
#25 ·
There was rumblings of the guy who did the courses for the college trying to set something up to do it on his own. Funny thing is that a course designed to reduce liability insurance for the rider was cancelled mainly due to liability insurance for the college.

My wife has decided that she no longer wants to get her license due to my accident though she is open to riding with me again if I am able to get back on at some point.
 
#26 ·
The wing had the crash/light bars on it before the crash. I didn't think I'd be able to reuse them as the lights were mangled at the back beyond repair. I did manage to straighten out the crash bar though with a little convincing with a rubber hammer. The bars will be reinstalled. The lights removed easily enough though. I may end up using them again as reflectors but they won't be mounted.


 
#27 ·
One of the modifications I made to the wing prior to the accident was to ditch the factory floorboards and crash bars. I found that the way the crash bars angle outward the loops hit you right in the shin when maneuvering the bike around and the floorboards meant that my legs had to be spread wide in order to avoid being hit all the time. I picked up a set of crash bars which I believe were originally for a 1000. I had to modify the lower fairings to accommodate for the different style of bars.





 
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