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1978 GL1000 Running Badly Again

4K views 43 replies 8 participants last post by  redwing52 
#1 ·
Once again I must ask for the help of you goldwing gurus,

I made a post a while ago at the beginning of summer about my gl1000 which ran poorly. After replacing the points and readjusting the timing which was way off among other electrical crimes the bike ran pretty good to me a little cold blooded but once warm ran good. After about 1500miles of commuting to and from school whenever the weather allowed brings me to around a week ago. The bike sometimes sits outside due to a lack of space available but last week (or the week before) central ohio had a pretty bad storm I wasn't expecting so the bike sat outside in the rain and lighting, which stopped by around 12am-1am.

The next morning around 8am I went to start it to go to school and it would not run right at all i would turn it on and it would only hit on 2 cylinders run for 10-15 sec then die. After fighting it for 5min I left it alone and took the car. After school I came home to see if maybe it was just because it was still wet, no go it ran this time only when the throttle was held open still on only two cylinders so while it was running i pulled the left hand back cylinder spark plug cap and it dies. But when i go to pull the front left it makes no difference. I do the same for the right and the front cylinders didn't seem to fire. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to fix so it sat for a couple days.

after which i tore the shelter off to check the wiring at the coils and found that the plug for the right coil was a little loose and had some rust on it probably from sitting outside so I cleaned that up and kinda clamped it a little tighter with pliers but didn't replace the connector. While I was messing with it I had a brand new condenser that came in so I went it and replaced the old one and cleaned the points up which looked a little worse for wear for only 1500 of running. After doing this work I started the bike up and it came alive like it used to but i only ran it for a couple moments. so I put it back together and went for a ride.

It ran fine at idle but would seem to occasionally lose 1 or 2 cylinders and have no power at all. But then sometimes would run fine. But would "wake up" if given full throttle. The choke weirdly enough seems to affect how it runs when its freaking out which seems like carbs but I want to focus on ignition right now at least. While riding i pulled over and jiggled the junction where the condenser points and coil interconnect and had no change in idle. I also sprayed wd40 around the intakes and had no idle change. I did change the intake o rings around 1000 miles ago.

I tested my coils today and here are the numbers:

1 and 2
with caps: 24,800 ohms
w/o caps: 15,320 ohms

3 and 4
with caps: 26,300
w/o caps: 16,950

Spark Plug Caps (These caps were replaced with the points 1500 miles ago) With ngk caps recommended on randakks site
1: 5,010
2: 5,020
3: 4,830
4: 4,720


I looked at this post on randakks site Coil Testing + Coil Replacement Options | Randakk's Blog

But I don't know how to interpret these numbers I got from testing. I cant tell if its off enough to be a problem or really what is going on.

Thanks again.
 
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#3 ·
An ohm test on coils is almost useless. Unless you find one with infinite ohms or a very low reading, (shorted) they are probably good unless they are cracked which will cause problems when wet & can only be determined by visual inspection, traces of arcing or watching them in the dark.
 
#11 ·
Okay, earlier today I readjusted the points which were a little off and replaced some really old fuel lines as well as the fuel filter I had on its a new unit but I wasn't happy with how much filter element on it. It looked clean on the bike put when i took it off it had already collected a bunch of small specs no idea what they are so I replaced it with a higher quality fuel filter. Checked the plugs while i was at it and they seemed a little on the lean side so I opened the mixture screw about an 1/8 turn. After warming up it runs fine now. I guess I just have to stay on top of my points making sure they are well adjusted.

Thanks for all your help
Now for another issue I have created

Where can I get the connector that runs from the rectifier to the regulator. mine was covered in electrical tape and I removed it while changing the condenser to get more room and now my charging voltage has dropped from 14-15 to 12-13. I can assume its because of my connector its cracked and falling apart. I'd like to just get another OEM style connector I can just repin.
Thanks
 
#17 ·
Okay, earlier today I readjusted the points which were a little off and replaced some really old fuel lines as well as the fuel filter I had on its a new unit but I wasn't happy with how much filter element on it. It looked clean on the bike put when i took it off it had already collected a bunch of small specs no idea what they are so I replaced it with a higher quality fuel filter. Checked the plugs while i was at it and they seemed a little on the lean side so I opened the mixture screw about an 1/8 turn. After warming up it runs fine now. I guess I just have to stay on top of my points making sure they are well adjusted.

Thanks for all your help
Now for another issue I have created

Where can I get the connector that runs from the rectifier to the regulator. mine was covered in electrical tape and I removed it while changing the condenser to get more room and now my charging voltage has dropped from 14-15 to 12-13. I can assume its because of my connector its cracked and falling apart. I'd like to just get another OEM style connector I can just repin.
Thanks
I suspect the bits you find in the filter are deteriorated hose. It is breaking up internally. I would change evry fuel line on the bike from the tank to the carbs. Good chance that was your issue and not the points. It plugged after the TEE and not enough gas was getting to the carbs??????
 
#19 ·
I didn't put any grease on the cam not gonna lie. I'll put some on tomorrow when. But it seems like this didn't actually fix the problem

yesterday I took the bike out and it started good and ran good. smoother than before nice idle at 1000rpm with good throttle response so I though I was goochie.

this morning the bike started instantly with full choke it was around 45 degrees. I let it warm up for 30sec then ride off with 1/2 choke ( I live near neighbors and don't want to bother them at 7:30am otherwise i'd let it warm up longer.) I ride about a mile down the road perfectly fine about on get on the highway and it drops a couple cylinders and loses all power. I pull over in a parking lot and when I pull in the clutch they all come back on and the bike revs fine. okayyy... then I get back on the road for maybe 300ft and it drops cylinders again just going at a constant speed. not accelerating just a constant speed and it loses all power and sounds like its hitting on 1 or 2 cylinders. I pull off again the bike revs fine in neutral with maybe a little stutter just off idle. I ride home and it runs fine but I park it in the driveway anyways and take the car. Cause I was sketched out and didn't want to have to tow this thing home and I was late for class. The temp gauge was just before the start of the solid bar so I assume it had warmed up sufficiently to run properly.

Maybe a lose connection somewhere? I'm gonna take off the shelter, air filter, etc. again check and clean all the connections again tomorrow. While I'm soldering the connector for the rectifier and regulator.
I wish I could show y'all but its hard to recreate it happens seemingly at random.
 
#24 ·
Get your bike a rain coat. (cover) ;) A hair drier can also help to dry out old cantankerous electrics, like coils and plug wires after they get soaked. If it runs enough to ride, take it out and get it up to temp for an hour or so. If you want it to be rain proof, you will most likely end up replacing everything high voltage, coils, plug wires, etc. as a start. Then start going over all the low voltage stuff, cleaning connections and applying dielectric grease, like when the bike was new.
 
#25 ·
I was planning to get a cover for it but I never got around to it. I am thinking of just buying coils off a gl1500 and bypassing the ballast resistor because from what I understand it has it built in. I see them online used for around $40-60.
I saw this video:


where he mentions changing the coils over. but the guy in this video has dyna ignition. Will this work still with the points or am I better off just getting aftermarket stock coils? I had to buy LCAs for my car so I don't have the money right now for it but I paid next week so I'll have to wait to order them then.
 
#28 ·
I was planning to get a cover for it but I never got around to it. I am thinking of just buying coils off a gl1500 and bypassing the ballast resistor because from what I understand it has it built in. I see them online used for around $40-60.
I saw this video:


where he mentions changing the coils over. but the guy in this video has dyna ignition. Will this work still with the points or am I better off just getting aftermarket stock coils? I had to buy LCAs for my car so I don't have the money right now for it but I paid next week so I'll have to wait to order them then.
I am not sure if the GL1500 coils have an internal resistor or not. It is not always necessary with electronic ignition but it is important for your point triggered ignition. If voltage is too high the voltage will cause arcing across the points while opening. If it were me I would leave the ballast resistor in place and run the bike. If it performs well and has no issues you are good. If there are running issues you can eliminate it.
In years past I have had cars that just seemed to use up points like crazy. I found that it was not terribly unusual to add a ballast resistor to the existing resistor or resistor wire. With an external resistor you could check the voltage at the coil to see that it had 9 to 10 volts running. I'm not sure how you could check that voltage IF the coils have an internal resistor.

Here is an article from Radakk that has a lot of info.

 
#33 ·
UPDATE: 10/4/20

I got the coils actually a couple of days ago now but with midterms I didn't have the time to install them.
Yesterday I finally got around to it, here are my stock coils:

323900

I couldn't tell if they had any cracks in them or not but they seemed to be the original coils cause they were hard wired.
I don't have any photos of the gl1500 coils I bought cause i forgot but it came with the wiring and brackets that hold all 3 together. I basically just snipped the oil coils out and soldered on the connectors for the gl1500 coils onto the harness thing for the coils. Since the gl1500 coils had markings on them for each cylinder I matched it up to that so the wires correspond to the correct cylinders. I had to shave down the airbox intake thingy to make space but they fit.
At first I had the ballast resistor hooked up but they may be something wrong with it cause when I tried to start the bike it only ran with the starter button depressed. So I jumped the wires and it started fine and ran. I only ran it for around 30 sec cause I had other things to do. I don't know if ballast resistors can go bad or if I had something wrong but I'll keep an eye on my points to see if they wear out and maybe buy an aftermarket ballast resistor.

But today I finally took it out for a ride. I don't know why but it took a long time for the bike to warm up its around 65 degrees here. During this time it was coughing sputtering and running like trash. But once the temp guage hit the white part it ran way better and smoothed right out. I readjusted the mixture and idle screws and it seems to run good enough for me. Sometimes i get a little burble or pop on decel but i think that's because my straight piped exhaust. My mufflers rusted off and I haven't had the time to fix it but I have a friend with a welder now so I'll get around to it eventually.
I will try... keyword try to ride it to school tomorrow morning.

 
#36 · (Edited)
UPDATE: 10/4/20

I got the coils actually a couple of days ago now but with midterms I didn't have the time to install them.
Yesterday I finally got around to it, here are my stock coils:

View attachment 323900
I couldn't tell if they had any cracks in them or not but they seemed to be the original coils cause they were hard wired.
I don't have any photos of the gl1500 coils I bought cause i forgot but it came with the wiring and brackets that hold all 3 together. I basically just snipped the oil coils out and soldered on the connectors for the gl1500 coils onto the harness thing for the coils. Since the gl1500 coils had markings on them for each cylinder I matched it up to that so the wires correspond to the correct cylinders. I had to shave down the airbox intake thingy to make space but they fit.
At first I had the ballast resistor hooked up but they may be something wrong with it cause when I tried to start the bike it only ran with the starter button depressed. So I jumped the wires and it started fine and ran. I only ran it for around 30 sec cause I had other things to do. I don't know if ballast resistors can go bad or if I had something wrong but I'll keep an eye on my points to see if they wear out and maybe buy an aftermarket ballast resistor.

But today I finally took it out for a ride. I don't know why but it took a long time for the bike to warm up its around 65 degrees here. During this time it was coughing sputtering and running like trash. But once the temp guage hit the white part it ran way better and smoothed right out. I readjusted the mixture and idle screws and it seems to run good enough for me. Sometimes i get a little burble or pop on decel but i think that's because my straight piped exhaust. My mufflers rusted off and I haven't had the time to fix it but I have a friend with a welder now so I'll get around to it eventually.
I will try... keyword try to ride it to school tomorrow morning.

After a man works on his bike for a long time the bike needs a good run to get the cob webs out.Take her for a 50 mile ride. :p
 
#35 ·
The ballast resistor idea is to give a better spark when starting, the coils are 9v coild not 12 and when in run position the resistor drops the battery voltage to 9 but when you press the starter the starter current draw drops the battery voltage to 9-10 volts and at the same time the resistor is bypassed so full battery voltage is supplied to the coil
 
#40 ·
Update: Thanks for your replies.

I've been riding the bike for a couple days and it has this weird off idle stumble where it chugs and clanks until 2500rpm when cold.


But when warmed up it is way less noticeable but is still there.
I changed the fuel filter 3 days ago and my fuel was yellower than it should be. So I filled it up (the tank had maybe a gallon of fuel) with fresh gas thinking maybe the last time I put gas I had some bad gasoline cause i remember seeing the truck refueling the station. And the bike sat for a couple weeks before I could get around to fixing on it.

Yesterday I rewelded the stock exhaust back on. But it stumbled even before I reattached the mufflers. I rode it to school this morning and it still does it but today after I get home from school I plan to reset the idle mixture screws to stock, run it and change if needed. As well as check the points again for excessive wear.

To better describe the situation im having, when the bike has warmed up when the throttle is barely open the bike chugs but when you open it up more it clears up either pulling away from a stop or moving at a constant speed with the throttle slightly open. But it revs fine in neutral its only under load. It feels fine in the midrange and top end just down low.
 
#42 ·
To better describe the situation im having, when the bike has warmed up when the throttle is barely open the bike chugs but when you open it up more it clears up either pulling away from a stop or moving at a constant speed with the throttle slightly open. But it revs fine in neutral its only under load. It feels fine in the midrange and top end just down low.
The 1000 has a primary main jet which if not completely clean could cause that. The idle jet gets fuel through it so they would have to be at least partially clear.
 
#43 ·
Another Update:

I inspected the points and just touched them up a bit. Then I started the bike and rode it around for a while then when it got warm I went to an empty parking lot and reset the mixture screws for each carb to around 2 - 2 1/2 turns out depending on how each carb changed the idle. They were all at around 3-4 turns out idk why I opened them up so far. I then readjusted the idle and got it to idle at 1000-1100 rpm and the throttle response is better and the chugging is almost gone and happens rarely in specific conditions but its still there I'll probably have to buy the kit and go through the carbs over the main part of winter while I'm doing the timing belt and finding out why the PO wired in a switch for the fan instead of the stock thermostat. But it is tolerable now so I'll continue to ride it around I'll try running a few tanks of some injector cleaner or something until then. And come back when I have more problems.

Thanks for all your replies.
 
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