[jukeboxjury123]

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Any idea what Honda recomend for changing the timing belt. I have a 89 GL1500, no idea from the previous owner whether it has ever ben replaced.

The bike has 32,000 miles. Is it a big job, and do they cause any problems

Thanks

 

[Jason]

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Believe it or not, there is no real answer to this one. I pushed Honda UK (the Irish Honda distributor doesn't have a clue) about this and was informed that they should be changedevery2 years or at100,000 miles!!I personally think they should be changed at 60k or every 2 years, whichever comes first. It's a straightforward job to change the belts, for the mechanically competent. If your ability is limited to changing oil & plugs then I suggest asking a mechanic to do it for you. You don't get second chances changing T belts, one mistake and you are in for a major bill.


Here is a belts changehow-to: Replacing Timing Belts on a GL1500

 

[hayneswm]

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In your case, not knowing the maintenance history of the bike and it being an '89 model, I would definitely advise changing the belts. Just for the peace of mind.

Here in the USA, Honda recommends changing them every 100,000 miles. And, I haven't heard of an officialtime recommendation.

A local mechanic told me the other day that he regularly performed maintenance on a '94SE that had in excess of 600,000 miles on it. He said that the owner had the oil changed every 3,000 miles, whether around town or on a trip. I asked him how many timing belts had been replaced and he said only 2. The original belt was replaced at a little over 300,000 miles. He said that the belt was pretty ragged looking and should have been replaced well before it finally was.

Most folks who change the belts at 50, 60, or 70,000 miles say that the old belts look just as good as the new belts that they are replacing them with.

I now have 32,000 miles on my bikeand I plan to replace the belts at 100,000 miles or 10 years, which ever comes first.

However, as always, YMMV.

Ride safe,

Bill

 

[FitzAl]

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It is generally accepted (and suggested by most T belt makers rather than the car & bike makers) that a timing belt should be changed every 2 years, even if the mileage is lower than that suggested. Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[Skooter]

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FitzAl wrote:

It is generally accepted (and suggested by most T belt makers rather than the car & bike makers) that a timing belt should be changed every 2 years, even if the mileage is lower than that suggested. Sounds reasonable to me.

I'd go along with that Alan. Even on vehicles where the manufacturers don't specify a mileage or time limit on changing the belt, the belt makers will suggest a 2 year change anyway.
The reason many car makers don't specify a change is because the particular vehicle may have a 2 (or more) year/100,000 mile warranty and they don't bother supplying info because they want you to take the vehicle back to them for servicing etc. during that time.

 

[wexy]

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Hi all

according to my goldwing1500 se manual .it says timing belts to be changed every 100,ooo miles ....would you like to chance them for 100,000 miles ,,I wouldn't.I think every 50000 miles would be safe enough...cheers Ciaran

 

[Guest]

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jukeboxjury123 wrote:

Any idea what Honda recomend for changing the timing belt. I have a 89 GL1500, no idea from the previous owner whether it has ever ben replaced.

The bike has 32,000 miles. Is it a big job, and do they cause any problems

Thanks

If there is no history with the bike, the answer to your question is ! ! "Change the Belt" and do all other checks and changes that are required. If some wing riders were to change the belt every two years, that would mean changing every two or three thousand miles, ("because they spend most of their time in coffee shops") which would not be appropriate. You dont count the cost when it comes to service your wing.

 

[Jason]

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Redwing. wrote:

If there is no history with the bike, the answer to your question is ! ! "Change the Belt" and do all other checks and changes that are required. If some wing riders were to change the belt every two years, that would mean changing every two or three thousand miles, ("because they spend most of their time in coffee shops") which would not be appropriate. You dont count the cost when it comes to service your wing.

Age of the belts is as critical as mileage. Tyres are an example of this. I've a classic MG sitting in a garage and the tyres dry out and perish in about 3 years even though I only do about 600 miles a year in the car! Belts ar the same, they age and dry out and will eventually break. Even if you never use your Goldwing and sit in coffee shops all day instead, the timing belts need replacing every 2 or 3 years.

 

[Guest]

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Jason wrote:

Redwing. wrote:

If there is no history with the bike, the answer to your question is ! ! "Change the Belt" and do all other checks and changes that are required. You dont count the cost when it comes to service your wing.

Age of the belts is as critical as mileage. Even if you never use your Goldwing and sit in coffee shops all day instead, the timing belts need replacing every 2 or 3 years.

Now we have it from the expert. It's strange that honda dont even mention the timing belt in the owners handbook. Thats my next job, my 1800 is just two years old with over 13,000 honda miles and been fully serviced four times, including new air filter, new plugs, new clutch and brake fluid, new final drive oil, etc. etc.

 

[weewillywing]

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I had mine changed (unknown service history) just for peace of mind on those long journeys. Theres enough things to focus on when riding a motorcycle without worrying about shedding a timing belt in the middle of nowhere.

 

[edzinohio]

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I have an 83 GL1100 and I changed my belts due to unknown
prior service history. My bike had somewhere over 70,000 miles on it and I think they were the original belts.

I would rather change belts than replace broken and bent engine parts. Cost of parts is a little over $50 for the belts.

 

[Reddy]

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Had mine done yesterday. 66000 miles and no idea when they were done last. The old ones looked okay until the mechanic flexed them inside out and little stress cracks could be seen where the teeth joined the main band. Glad I did it. Looked easy enough to do:

Off with the lower cowl and belt covers, line up the cam pulleys with the marks on the engine, then put a mark on the crankshaft centre pulley where it lines with the engine casing joint.
Loosen the cam adjusters after removing the little black box things for the ignition. Off with the old and on woith the new (belts) and reassemble.


No radiators to remove or coolant or oil to drain. The whole job took about 90 minutes at a leisurely pace.

 

[danxtc]

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This is for HAYNESWM: I've never seen the abreviation "YMMV".

Care to explain?

 

[exavid]

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Redwing. wrote:

If there is no history with the bike, the answer to your question is ! ! "Change the Belt" and do all other checks and changes that are required. If some wing riders were to change the belt every two years, that would mean changing every two or three thousand miles, ("because they spend most of their time in coffee shops") which would not be appropriate. You dont count the cost when it comes to service your wing.

:jumperamn nice of you to do all that work on your neighbor's bike! :jumper:

I don't think I'd change the thing every two years unless it was getting 20,000 miles a year or more, but I think a three year interval is reasonable and 40,000 miles is about as far as I want to run a timing belt. Timing belts in cars routinely run in the neighborhood of 60-80 thousand miles so 40 seems conservative. Since it's an easy job to do yourself and belts run less than $60 a pair in the US there's no need to take a chance.

REDWING is right, I'd change the belts if I just bought a new bike and wasn't exactly sure when they'd last been changed.

 

[exavid]

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danxtc wrote:

This is for HAYNESWM: I've never seen the abreviation "YMMV".
Care to explain?

Care to give us the context?

 

[TheBreeze]

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100,000 miles or ten years though i changed at 11 yrs and 60,000 miles and the belt looked good

 

[hayneswm]

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YMMV stands for "Your Mileage May Vary" which emphasizes the point that I realize that your opinion may be different from mine on this issue <G>.

Bill Haynes
Athens, GA
'00 SE

 

[JDuggan]

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hayneswm wrote:

In your case, not knowing the maintenance history of the bike and it being an '89 model, I would definitely advise changing the belts. Just for the peace of mind.

Here in the USA, Honda recommends changing them every 100,000 miles. And, I haven't heard of an officialtime recommendation.

A local mechanic told me the other day that he regularly performed maintenance on a '94SE that had in excess of 600,000 miles on it. He said that the owner had the oil changed every 3,000 miles, whether around town or on a trip. I asked him how many timing belts had been replaced and he said only 2. The original belt was replaced at a little over 300,000 miles. He said that the belt was pretty ragged looking and should have been replaced well before it finally was.

Most folks who change the belts at 50, 60, or 70,000 miles say that the old belts look just as good as the new belts that they are replacing them with.

I now have 32,000 miles on my bikeand I plan to replace the belts at 100,000 miles or 10 years, which ever comes first.

However, as always, YMMV.

Ride safe,

Bill

The belts are easy enough to do on the 1500, so for peace of mind at least I'd do mine every 3 years.

Hey Bill, 600,000 miles? That has to be a record. Are you by any chance related to the Haynes workshop manual people? Your username hints at this and you have me wondering.

 

[hayneswm]

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>The belts are easy enough to do on the 1500, so for peace of >mind at least I'd do mine every 3 years.

I've seen belts that were replaced at 60 and 70 K miles and they looked about as good as the new ones that replaced them. I have therefore decided that Honda's replacement point of 100 K or 10 years is good enough for me. I'll let you know in 2010 what they looked like <G>.

>Hey Bill, 600,000 miles? That has to be a record.

Yeah, I know. The motorcycle store owner (I have known him for many years and he has always been straight up with me on other matters.) swears that it is the truth. I know of several other 'Wings with more than 400 K on them. I was at the Iron Butt Rally starting point several years ago and noticed one GL1500 in the starting lineup that showed 238 K on the odo whose owner had commited to riding up to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and back. Ten days later there it was in a special parking area for those bikes that had made it to Prudhoe Bay and back. Those LD riders do some awesome feats. It is facinating to be around them.

>Are you by any chance related to the Haynes workshop >manual people? Your username hints at this and you have me >wondering.

Not that I know of. However, I talked to a Haynes fellow several years ago who had done some extensive genelogical research and he said that if you go back far enough we are all related. My Haynes relatives, that I know about, are from the Eastern Kentucky/Eastern Tennessee area. Of course, on my mother's side of the family, one of my great grandmothers was a full blooded Cherokee. A pretty typical background for someone from the colonies <G>.

Bill

 

[GWEddie]

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Hi Bill, if you are around some of the high miler Wings again can you get some pictures of the speedos with the mileage please? It would be nice for us low milers to see what real long distance guys do.

BTW, I thought you were related to the Haynes group as well. I assumed that hayneswm was an abbreviation for Haynes Worksop Manuals! Nice to have it cleared up.