Days Three and Four

These two days aren't very well documented with pictures; except for a few that I took of the wiring and cable routes so that I can get them back in the right places when it is time for reassembly.

I started by removing the gauge cluster. In the process I tagged the bird nest of wires that go to the headlight assembly, took several pictures of which direction the throttle cable, clutch cable and choke cable move around the frame. The gauges look really good and will clean up nicely.

I continued by disconnecting all the wire harnesses and removed the trunk line of wire from the bike. I took a few pictures mapping it's path as well. I'll clean and recover it before putting it back on.

I at long last was able to remove the gas tank. It took removing all the electrical and the rear brake lines before it would clear the frame. Note to self: put the tank in first.

I got the rest of the front end tore down. Front brake lines and calipers, which I noticed were mounted backwards by who ever put them on last. That explains why the front brake wouldn't release when we were trying to load it in the truck. Here is the pile that was left over.

I finished removing the radiator and fan shroud. I nearly busted my 17mm gearwrench trying to undo the motor mount nut only to find out that the nut is welded and I was to undo the bolt instead. With the radiator and upper mounts removed it was easy to unbolt the carb set and slip the whole unit out in one piece. I turned the bike around and started unbolting the engine.

The Goldwing frame actually has opens up on the bottom of the left hand side. The engine is too big to get in and out otherwise. I placed the bike jack under the engine and jacked it up just enough to take the weight off the bolts. Once all was free I found that I had forgotten to take off the drive shaft and that one small spring clip was keeping me from removing the engine and I don't own a pair of ring expanders. Off to dear ol Dad's house.

After making several futile attempts to remove the ring myself, I called on Dad again to help me. Bettween Dad expanding the ring and my gentle persuasion, from the bottom of the ring with a flat tipped screwdriver, it came loose. At long last. A naked frame.

Day Two of Dis-assembly

So I didn't get enough of tinkering in the garage the other day and the bike wont strip itself so here is some more of my destruction.

The rear tire came of quite easily after taking off the rear brake caliper and the 3 bolts on the final drive. If you are attempting this you'll want to use a regular box end wrench in order to get in tight enough to the drive line. I have been using my GearWrench ratcheting wrenches for almost everything on the bike but the final drive bolts are too tight against the column.

Here is the rear wheel off the bike and the final drive hub:




Again to the front, I removed the air filter box and packed a clean rag into the intake on the carbs to keep things from falling in it.




I loosened the motor mount and attempted to take off the fuel tank.



As you can see in the picture, the Goldwing was built around the fuel tank. It seems that mother Honda wanted more then anything to make sure that it had a huge fuel tank nestled tightly at the heart of the Goldwing. This could easily be an engineering marvel equal to the Great Wall of China or the Sphinx. There is only one bolt holding the massive 5 gallon tank in place. The rest of its support is provided simply by being wedged into the frame. As you can see the tank bulges to fill every possible void of space on this bike.

On the right hand side of the tank there is a drain bolt. I figured that this would be a good idea before removing the petcock and attempting to get this tank off the bike. What I didn't realize was that the tank in mention was nearly full. I must have drained about 4 gallons of skunky orange gasoline out of the tank. Here is a last of what I couldn't fit in old Anti-freeze jugs to be saved and used as 'Boy Scout Water'.



The end result looks like this:



I ended up running to the local grocery store to by a bag of cat litter to soak up all the fuel that spilled while I was draining the tank. As it turns out the fuel will drain along every surface of the bike before falling to the bucket or floor below. With almost 4 gallons in buckets I probably had another gallons worth on the ground.

I've come to the conclusion that the tank was never designed to be removed and that I should continue to the front forks or the motor. I've tagged a lot of the lines and will need to do the same with the electrical. I am going to map the cables with pictures so I get them back to where they need to be routed when I go to put this little beauty back together. Lucky for me I have her big sister right there to use as a reference.

Long Awaited Update

Now that the '78 Goldwing and I have had a little time apart it is time to get reacquainted. I left this project with cleaning up the rear fender's chrome. I removed the entire fender and rear shocks. I started buffing the rust off the chrome and then decided that it would have all winter to rust again. So, I just buffed it up with Eagle One and will leave it until spring. The shocks came off very easily however I broke both of the air lines taking them off because they were so cold and brittle. Just as well. One of the lines had a hole in it and they would need to be replaced anyways.



Moving forward, I next removed a lot of the wiring and the coolant lines in order to remove this large hunk of metal that everything hooks to. That is the technical term for this piece:



Next came off the hand controls and the handle bars. I am considering changing out the OEM handle bars for drag bars. It is a little challenging to find 7/8" drag bars.



This is the resulting mess that will be left behind for another day.

I've Been Thinking....

...and in honor of deere old Dad, I've decided to redo the naked wing like this:



Ya right! But I will admit that they did a great job with it. I would love to see the John Deere Goldwing in person.

On To Lights

I really want to change out the Honda factory lights on the '78 Goldwing. Anyone who has seen them know how big and chunky they are. I would like to streamline the rear fender with a mini tombstone tail light. It is suppose to be a universal fit and the reviews that I have read say that it mounts up nicely and looks good. I wished that I could find it with a red lens however. I think that all the lenses should match. All colored or all clear.

Turn signals on bikes can either be painted or chromed and I think that both look good. For my naked '78 goldwing I like the smooth bullet style signal lights and I prefer chrome for this bike. I also prefer smaller lights. Not dangerously small but noticeably small.

I am looking at the Biker's Choice Smooth Bullet Marker Lights. They come in both red and amber lenses and have about an inch and a half face in diameter. That is about half as large as the Honda OEM marker lights. They have a dual filament bulb and should work well for a lower profile signal light.

The front signals will be mounted on either side of the Honda emblem under the headlight. Originally they were mounted up along side the headlight. The rear lights will be mounted midway back on the fender where the seat will end. The cage for the hard bags and trunk originally mounted there and the rear signal lights were coupled with the tail light and licence plate.

Speaking of the licence plate I want to move it down to the left side just behind the shock on a sideways plate mount. Something like this.
This is the Kuryakyn vertical mount and runs about 100.00 dollars. The nice thing is it is lighted already.

This one is a lot more simple but I would need to add the lights below to make it legal. This placard is about $70.00 and the lights another $30.00. After that and the time to put it together it would be well worth the money for the Kurakyn frame.

A Few Pieces of Chrome

So naturally I've been scouting some bling for the Naked Wing. I personally think that you can have too much chrome. With that being said, there are a few pieces on every bike that should be chromed. (unless it's an outlaw of course)

First the grips. I have these same grips on my Bleubells CM400T. I have been very impressed with how they've held up and they are also quite comfortable. The Rubber inlays are very durable but don't offer any cushion. I'm not old enough that I really care about that yet anyways. These will for sure be the grips on the '78 Goldwing.
The second thing that must be chrome are the mirrors. Plastic stem and mirrors were designed for dirt, sport or touring bikes. Not cruisers. There are a myriad of mirror styles. (little play on words there, ha ha) Some are really cool and other are really out there but which ever you choose it must fit the style of the bike. Example. Flames=flames, Maltese Cross=Maltese Cross, etc... If you don't have any elements of the mirror on the rest of your bike it looks a little silly. I do believe that the opposite is true as well. You can have too many flames, crosses, dolphins or whatever your theme is. A safe bet is to keep it simple. You lose a little originality but make up for it in class. Oval is pretty standard but look good on most all bikes. These are chromed, not billet and i think they look pretty good. (At the end of the day, my opinion is the only one that matters.)

Now lastly, chrome is not needed here but on older bikes I think it is acceptable to spice up what would otherwise be a dark cavase of an engine, cable covers. Now I have heard that they can be really cheap and aren't worth the time but I am considering them in the gold color for a select few cables on the bike. I am thinking mostly of those down buy the engine itself. Not to hot on them up by the controls. I'll need to look at the bike again and see where in any where that I'd really like them.

Fantastic Sticker Remover

I kept thinking about how I was going to get the factory spec decals off the chrome without scratching it up. I knew that Oops! gum remover worked wonderfully but I couldn't keep it on the sticker long enough to penetrate the glue.

I thought about soaking a rag then holding it in place. That would take a lot of Oops! but, if I could keep a small amount on the sticker for an extended period...

Alas! If I placed one square of toilet paper, folded in half, on overlapping pieces of packing tape....then soaked the paper and placed it over the sticker....sealing the sides....much like a bandaid....then let it sit for a little while....

The result:

I was able to remove the sticker by peeling up the edge with a knife blade and then simply pulling it off. I wet the bandaid a second time and reapplied it to the gummy residue and let it sit another 10 minutes or so and it softened right up. I cleaned off the remaining glue. buffed the area with Nev'r Dull and had one nice looking rear fender remaining.