Good Goldwing Mechanic
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Welcome to the Forum.
There are a whole bunch of them right here on line. (I'm not one, but have benefited hugely from their ability.) If you have the time, they will walk you through everything you need to do. Mechanical experience is not a prerequisite.
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As gumbyred said, taking to a mechanic will likely cost you more than the bike is worth.
There are a couple of independent Goldwing shops around here, but they will not work on any of the 4 cylinder bikes. A bike that has been sitting for a while will probably need a complete refurbishing, and that can take a LOT of time. If I got paid what I used to get paid for working on A/C, I could have bought a really nice 1500 for all the work and parts I put into getting my neglected and abused '85 back in running condition. I figure I have over $5000 in labor and $3000 in parts into it. This is 4-5 times what the bike is currently worth. But it is a hobby, and the labor is supposed to be fun (though sometimes it wasn't)
Maybe, but based on the OP it's not clear what it might need. It might be worth the time to at least have someone knowledgable evaluate it to see if it's worth the effort. Or help with the work the owner isn't comfortable doing.
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Welcome tot he forum GEagle!
How Lower are you in Central Michigan? I know a good semi-retired Honda dealer/mechanic in Battle Creek if you are close (Shorty is his name).
But it may well be worth your time to first use the willing and able experts on the forum here to evaluate what your bike needs.
Got any history on it?
When did it run last (sellers always say "Ran when I parked it!)?
Is the motor locked?
Missing any significant pieces?
Do you have physical possesion of it?
Got tools and a garage?
How Lower are you in Central Michigan? I know a good semi-retired Honda dealer/mechanic in Battle Creek if you are close (Shorty is his name).
But it may well be worth your time to first use the willing and able experts on the forum here to evaluate what your bike needs.
Got any history on it?
When did it run last (sellers always say "Ran when I parked it!)?
Is the motor locked?
Missing any significant pieces?
Do you have physical possesion of it?
Got tools and a garage?
Thanks for the replies All, The Bike info:
1984 complete, no missing pieces with 20k miles. I just picked up the bike, and from what I'm told, I am the 3rd owner. The bike starts right up and seems to run fine with the choke on, as soon as the choke is turned off, the bike dies. I do have a garage but thought there might be someone out there (not a dealer), maybe a retired Honda mechanic that works out of his garage in the Flint area. As Gumbyred said, taking it to a mechanic will likely cost me more than the bike is worth.
1984 complete, no missing pieces with 20k miles. I just picked up the bike, and from what I'm told, I am the 3rd owner. The bike starts right up and seems to run fine with the choke on, as soon as the choke is turned off, the bike dies. I do have a garage but thought there might be someone out there (not a dealer), maybe a retired Honda mechanic that works out of his garage in the Flint area. As Gumbyred said, taking it to a mechanic will likely cost me more than the bike is worth.
I cant remember where but you could search "only runs with choke on" or something similar
I'm going to lean towards DIRTY carbs, stuff plugging the passage ways
Myself I'm to lazy to remove carbs. Im in favor of draining gas, fresh gallon of gas, triple dose of good carb injector cleaner, fire it up ,let it run with choke on, so the cleaner gets in there. shut it off, do daily for a few days, maybe even cruise neighborhood, choke on.
If it improves enough to ride- keep running cleaner thru carbs for a few thousand miles. Worked on my Z1
I'm going to lean towards DIRTY carbs, stuff plugging the passage ways
Myself I'm to lazy to remove carbs. Im in favor of draining gas, fresh gallon of gas, triple dose of good carb injector cleaner, fire it up ,let it run with choke on, so the cleaner gets in there. shut it off, do daily for a few days, maybe even cruise neighborhood, choke on.
If it improves enough to ride- keep running cleaner thru carbs for a few thousand miles. Worked on my Z1
Only running with the choke on is a sure sign the carbs are plugged up. If it fires right up with the choke on, that pretty much eliminates compression and ignition. On a bike you just got, the carbs could be a real mess. Especially if left with ethanol gas in them. I would definitely remove and clean them really good, and from then on just do preventive maintenance on them, like draining the float bowls and filling them with WD-40 or Seafoam before letting it set very long. I have cleaned the carbs on every used bike I ever bought, and even if they ran fine, I always found the carbs filthy, and usually covered with a yellow/brownish residue that spray carb cleaner would take right off. But I wouldn't use automotive carb cleaner without first removing all the rubber and plastic parts. You can drain the float bowls and refill them with Seafoam, and let it soak for 24 hours or so, it will not hurt plastic and rubber. It might work.
Thanks smokepole and Jerry H, Jerry above you mentioned "draining the float bowls and filling them with WD-40 or Seafoam before letting it set very long". What is the process/ steps in getting the Seafoam or WD-40 directly into the float bowls?
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I would bet that the idle enrichment valve diaphragm is shot. The rebuild kit is around $25 and it take about an hour to do.
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