1989 Goldwing Gl1500 - ideal learners bike

[yoeddynz]

7 hours ago, Vintage Grumble said:

Nice half car you have there Sir. You could probably use a spare imp as a sidecar? 

Also, I thought that transporter looked familiar, he giveth, but also taketh awayeth.

ha - snap.  He does get around.

5 hours ago, HighLUX said:

Good to know wisemove works out. Il be needing it at the end of the month

Definitely try out the fella I'd used. Super friendly and great rate. 

5 hours ago, cletus said:

What a bargain, welcome to motorcycles overtaking cars as the preferred hobby 

Cheers.  I'm going to be a super cautious (he seez..for now..) and just enjoy cruising and learning the trade.  But I'm sure pretty soon some unsuspecting Tiidas will get surprise as I trundle by as I gain confidence.

[yoeddynz]

I had a look over it last night. The bike cover its come with is nice. Handy as because we have no spare space indoors to park it if there's lots of work in.

Side bin was emptied.  There's a tool kit in there  

Contents out. Many filters to see it through for a while. Random oils (quality stuff which was good to see) plus a brake bleed thingee.

The tool kit is cute.

The owners manual that was under the tool kit strap. So happy to have this.

Still has the unfilled questionare in the back..

Lol at the questions. Pretty in depth.  Tempted to fill it out and send it in. Ask for a brochure.

 

[Bearded Baldy]

Sorry i couldn't help you out mate, have been wondering how you got on.

Glad to see it got there in one piece.

Throw those horns in the bin, get a stebel nautilus. Best horns on the market, compact and farking loud. 

[Snoozin]

I love it, but you knew this. Happy hoonsing. 

[yoeddynz]

9 hours ago, Bearded Baldy said:

 

Throw those horns in the bin, get a stebel nautilus. Best horns on the market, compact and farking loud. 

Cheers Mike. I'll look them up! 

7 hours ago, Snoozin said:

I love it, but you knew this. Happy hoonsing. 

Offer still stands. Your get to take the bike for a hoon when you next visit. 

[yoeddynz]

Just been taking this out for very short rides so that each time it'll get easier and more intuitive.  Not be tempted to get cocky and carried away.   The road from ours to Kaiteriteri is ideal for practicing cornering this bike on. Really twisty, lots of slow speed corners. 

There's some traffic lights for a section of road where there's slip damage from the winter storms. Ford Ranger waiting at the lights. I was in nice relaxed chilled cruisy happy place as I rolled up to stop behind him.

'Please don't wave me through on the green light' I started thinking. 

He waved me through.

I had to pilot the supertanker tightly around his truck and felt like it was gonna drop, leg out to catch the weight. Ooof - that pinged the hip flexor. Then fumbled the gear shifts as I rode away, stressing that I was now going to be holding him up. 

But actually it was fine. Panic stations over. I forgot how much quicker even a slow bike can be than a normally driven car.  Stood up on the pegs and shook out my leg then relaxed back into it.

Cruising through Kaiteri and I heard a clack clack clack like I'd dropped something or ridden over some plastic. Couldn't spot anything off the bike. Kept going through along the beach side and turned at the boat wash. On way back through a bloke was waving a big bit of plastic at me. It was a part of the fairing that had dislodged.

Rolled to a stop and explained how previous owner had chopped that bit to suit highway pegs I've removed. Could see where the plastic screw tab was broken and still on the bike..

So that's now been glued together. There's quite a few loose bits of fairing not fitted together quite right. I'm hoping the cambelts will turn up soon so I can take it all apart, swap them, do the clutch slave seal (its slowly weeping and I have to top up the lever ever couple of days) and then put it all together correctly. 

There's a few 'added' wires I want to remove or tidy. Generally check it all over.

I wanted to get a photo of the bike on the beach near the carparks.

But more than that I didn't want to be that man who got his 400kg bike stuck on the beach. I'll have to locate some other spots for suitable 'out on a ride photos'

But I can post this here. Actually lowered - not AI.  They look great in white.

 

[yoeddynz]

Picked up the new clutch slave seal from Nelson Honda. I also bought some proper bike gloves while in Nelson so now I'm not wearing loose welding gloves.

Onto the clutch job. Bike on centre stand, towels in place to avoid getting fluid on paint.

Slave came out with no fuss. Bolts on back of engine - you can see one of the locating dowels here..

Messy..

Seal flat and worn. Luckily the bore was good, just a quick hone to clean it up.

Old vs new..

All back in place, bled the system and it feels better than ever.

Our friendly post girl messaged me to say the cambelts I was waiting on were in her van so I set to stripping bike down. I wanted to sort out the old windshield and also remove the white aftermarket gauge faces.

I couldn't find the levers that you undo to release the screen and allow it to slide up or down about 80mm. The levers are meant to be on each side near the mirrors. Upon removing the mirrors I discovered a whole repair section on one side.

The levers and associated bits have been removed. Only one bit remained on one side..

The screws holding the screen to the slidey bits were jammed up solid and the square tabs they screw into would just spin. Bugger.

I drilled the 5 screws out until the heads popped off. Finally the screen was off. Left with these bits...

Luckily I could fit the lugs in the lathe and drill out the remaining screws. Even luckier-  4 of the 5 ended up just spinning out once the drill bit grabbed.

News stainless screws with anti-seize applied and I have working adjustment. Not as fuss free as with the lever system but I suspect I'll only adjust the screen height once then leave it alone. Will fit shiny new clean screen upon reassembly of the bike.

While the screen was out I could remove the gauge cluster and get rid of the white faces. If you look carefully you can see the original black MPH faces beneath. The KPH ones don't accurately match. For example 50mph = 90kph! 

Removed and it looks better already. Sadly the original black faces for the fuel/temp are not hiding beneath. They've been removed completely. So white it shall remain for those.

Next job was the cambelts. Really easy on these engines. Double checked the manual but the pulleys are well marked and its a nice process. Old belts were Honda branded and seemed ok. But better to be sure as its an interference engine.

So the bike is in many bits. I've started removing the aftermarket wiring for the stereo, charging points and those air horns. Found one original horn in place so that's now working again. 

I repaired some small cracks in the some fairing bits, cleaned all the areas not normally easy to get to. The chrome crash bars have come up really good.  I'll clean the other bits as I refit stuff. Enjoy the process.  But while its apart I had to get these shots..

Close up of the workings for those interested...

Must check the plugs, change the coolant and brake fluid, fit some new pads as the fronts are low.  But for now I can at least now put it through a wof. 

[Sunbeam]

Good exploded diagram.

[yoeddynz]

 I got home this evening after another short ride practising twisty roads. I decided I'd ring Rob, the old fella I'd bought this bike from and give him an update.  Because he told me he was going to get into building his model railway I sent him a model train magazine about 12 days ago so I also wanted to check he'd received that.

He answers his phone, didn't remember who I was until I told him. Turns out he's been taken to hospital 8 days ago.   He cant remember what for but he's looking forward to getting home. He got the magazine and loves it! He has it by his bed in hospital and has now got several ideas on how he'll do his layout. (it was a mag I'd bought in England and is all about model train layouts for beginners)

I'm going to keep staying in touch now.  I'm pretty gutted to hear he's been taken in and can only hope its something minor. Shows how we should all make the most of the time we have whilst still capable. 

[yoeddynz]

I measured the discs and the rear was below the limit. $180 later for, luckily available, a new aftermarket disc. Honda want circa $600 for an oem item!

Bought some pads as well. They could have lasted a bit longert on the front but for the money its good to know its all new stuff.

Removed the rear side boxes to get to the wheel. Not a difficult job. Good chance to give it all a clean. Luckily the stainless caliper pistons came up clean before being slid home. Front brakes had clean pistons too and got the cleaning treatment before new pads were fitted. Then we bled the whole system through until it was all new fluid.

Cute little compressor that charges the rear shocks.

It had more recently been fitted with new shocks.

There's also an airline from the compressor into one of the panniers- you can use this to pump the tyres/inflatable boat/inflatable lady up.

While the mufflers were exposed I removed them for a proper polish. This bike sounds so nice, although a bit loud when under load up climbs. Would probably be a bit drony in a car. But I weighed them (quite heavy) and sized them up on the Imp just out of interest.

The bike has had its expansion box removed so there's another reason for the extra decibels. 

The silencers do have pretty small outlets though. Probably the only reason its not horrendously loud.

It thought it rude not to polish up the nice alloy wheels. Mainly the front as its the one on view. It came up pretty good!

In related bike news we visited a friends place down the road. He's got a lovely collection in his living room! I love this bike. CBR1000 with a straight six. What a lovely looking engine. I'd love to fit one of these into a small unsuspecting car  

I've been riding the bike almost every day. I just go out for 20 mins and practice on the quiet roads around here, targeting the twisty roads. I'm improving each time and getting more comfortable with it.  On my Saturday morning ride I actually stopped and took a photo.

Later that morning whilst busy doing an exhaust job on mates car my cousins turned up. Very keen bikers who are pretty stoked I've been bit by the bug. So the yard looked a smidge bikey..

My nephew who's started a bike mechanic apprenticeship locally has got a Ducati speed machine. Very deathy looking.

My next job now the brakes are sorted is to pop into town and put it through a wof.

[cletus]

416 Series Shocks | Progressive Suspension

 

those shocks probably cost near what you paid for the whole bike, ha

[yoeddynz]

Crikey!  Good to know though. Its pretty cool using them with the panel controls. The pressure of the system gets displayed on the little lcd screen between the dials. Must have seemed pretty techy in 1988.

[governorsam]

progressive springs for cheap.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1991886858376575

[yoeddynz]

I honestly don't know if the springs on my bike are too soft or too stiff. I'm not experienced enough so I'm just riding it.

Its so fun and sounds so good but I do yearn for a smaller more nimble classic bike that can also go at least a bit offroad without needing Matt Spears levels of skill.  That's where I'll head in the future.

[yoeddynz]

Fella I know in oz (a torana foamer called Heath) just sent me this photo he took on ferry.. 

 

[yoeddynz]

Oh and while I'm here I have also found an incredibly up to date motorcycle handling program to watch.

  I also feel the need to get a Goldwing belt buckle to go with the Bull-it motorbike jeans and Neo black leather jacket I have picked up this morning in Nelson.  Suitable 80's photos will be taken once I sort out my belt 😎

[tortron]

Some extra storage space for your camper

 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/business-farming-industry/farming-forestry/aquaculture/listing/5814247551

[yoeddynz]

If I could find a smashed gw 1500, keep engine as spare and build a trailer using the spare fairings etc 🤔  like when people build car trailers using the rear half of the same car.

[tortron]

There's a guy in takanini with one of those trailers on his goldwing. Does the dump run with it

[Snoozin]

On 05/03/2026 at 16:22, yoeddynz said:

Fella I know in oz (a torana foamer called Heath) just sent me this photo he took on ferry.. 

 

@Hezath is on here too. Just never blessed us with the elite Torana project fred.