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New GL1000 owner. Excited, but bad start..?

1K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  AZgl1800 
#1 ·
Hello all,

I am new to the Goldwing arena and figured it would be good to get on some forums and be able to discuss and research things. I love the style of these old bikes and want to learn more about them.

I recently bought a '77 GL1000. I like it, I want to do some things to it to get it nice and smooth and able to cruise wherever I want.

BUT, I did something quite stupid... I left the petcock on one night, and then the next day, I went out to mess with it. I saw some fuel leaking from the carbs. I drained them a bit with the drain screw on the bottom of the bowl. (Keep in mind, I never did any research on this... stupid, right?)
After I did this, I went to start it. It turned a couple times, then got stuck. I took the kick starts out and manually turned the engine a bit. Then went to start it again. It fired up. I turned it off after a couple minutes of running. I went to start it again, and it stuck. I manually turned the engine slightly again, and started it again. It was running alright, so I took in for a little ride in town. I parked at a restaurant and let it sit for a while.
When I came back out, it started up without trouble. I turned it off, let it sit for a few minutes and started it again. No trouble...
I have since not started the bike and have been reading things about leaving the petcock on, about the carbs and such. I discovered that I made a huge mistake. I should have removed the plugs and turned the crank to get the fuel from the chambers (if it had leaked into them, which is likely) to avoid hydrolock, and maybe change the oil?
From the sound of things, does anyone know if my engine is suddenly going to trash soon? Or does it seem to be alright?

Anyway, off to a sarcastically wonderful start with this old beauty...

Any input is appreciated.
 

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#2 ·
:welc:


Hi, you'll probably be alright if the bike still runs and isn't knocking. But...

You need to get the carbs sorted out. You have an issue with a float or a float valve or... maybe something else, but the carbs need to come out.

Jason, would you please fill in your profile to include your city, state and bike information.

Thanks.

Oh, and that bike's a beauty.
.
 
#5 ·
If you were able to turn it over by hand, the little extra fuel was able to exit the exhaust, unless your rings are really weak, you could turn it over by hand (or foot.) You will need to remember to turn the petcock off every time — good practice anyways. Next you should begin investigating where it is leaking and remedy it.

As to bending a rod, on mine it made a significant smacking sound while starting to crank it over. I drove it the rest of the summer noticing it wasn’t quite as smooth. Doing head gaskets the next spring I noticed one piston did not come out as far as the others. It was only 0.030-0.040” or so.

To find your leak. Carbs on the bike, bike on the center stand, fuel off, remove the air cleaner and box so you can see the plenum. If the plenum is wet, dry it off completely, place a piece of paper towel or newspaper cut to fit the bottom of the plenum, turn the fuel on and watch with a light to see where it gets wet first. If along the center line, it’s your plenum gasket. If from the side, it’s either the carb-to-plenum gaskets(fat orings that seal the fuel rail) or it’s a sticking or leaking float. (Most common)

To find out which one, remove eight mounting bolts for the intake runners, remove the four carb caps and slides, numbering them as the come off so they go back to the same carb. The rack will need to slide a little left and right to get to the slide cap screws. Place paper towels under the four intake runners at the heads. Now dry everything off again and using a flashlight to see in the carb bore through the slide bore, turn the fuel on and watch for where the fuel comes from. You have a good idea of which carb to watch from the first test above. ( might be more than one) If it starts from the plenum side, it can pool a little in the Venturi just to the plenum side first— watch closely there first— it’s your carb-to-plenum gaskets. If it’s from either of the two brass jets in the bore, it’s your floats. It’s possible for the fuel to leak just through the idle ports too which is a float issue as well. The paper towel will get wet to tell you this.

Now, you can “bandaid” it on the cheap, or do it right and rebuild the carbs completely. The only way I’d bandaid it would be if I had just done the carbs somewhat recently.

Lots of cheap carb kits include float valves that are of inferior quality. Most carb builders recommend only OEM float needle valves and seats. Another rookie error is to fail to get a good seal on the washer under the valve seat. It is a crush washer. I hate trying to get them tight worrying about stripping the threads. It’s the one area on the carb that should get a torque wrench.
 
#6 ·
Another rookie error is to fail to get a good seal on the washer under the valve seat. It is a crush washer. I hate trying to get them tight worrying about stripping the threads. It’s the one area on the carb that should get a torque wrench.
Me thinks that gl1000 valve seats have an o-ring seal and are held in with a screw down retainer bracket.
 
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