My 1500

Classic Goldwings

Help Support Classic Goldwings:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Rochester
Hello-
In October of 2016 I put out a post stating I was looking for a replacement for my aging and cosmetically flawed 1989 Yamaha Venture. I stated I was looking for a 1200 as I had one years ago and was happy with the bike. I also stated I really was not interested in a 1500. Well I went and did what I said I wasn't going to do I purchased a 1994 1500 with 85,000 miles on it in December of 2016. To further violate rules buying a used machine I did not test ride it as the clutch slave cylinder leaked all the clutch fluid out and the rear tire was in very poor shape. It did start and run so we bought it and had it delivered by the dealer price of around $2800, this includes taxes, fees, etc.

My wife and I spent last winter refurbishing it. I replaced the fork seals and bushings, installed a Blackwing fork brace, and installed Progressive fork springs. I also replaced the shifter shaft seal (common problem) and built a shifter shaft brace to prevent future seal failure. I replaced the steering head bearings, removed and repacked the swing arm bearings, checked the condition of the universal joint and lubed the driveshaft bearings. All fluids were changed. Rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder. Installed new tires and brake pads. There is more I just cannot remember it all now. While I was repairing machine my wife polished the paint and chrome (lucky me). In the end I guess I had $3500-$4000 in the machine. I figured at worst if I did not like the machine I could sell it for close to what I had in it.

Over last summer we put on about 6000 miles, probably 3/4 of that was both of us. We both like the bike. I can say that for me it is the finest machine I have owned. Good power, fuel economy averaged 38 mpg over the summer, handles better than any machine I have ever owned. I can see why the 1500 Goldwing stayed in production as long as it did.

Only complaints I have is the seat could be better, I can sit on it for about 150 miles before my a$$ is on fire. I also missed the gear indicator and voltmeter the Venture had.

This winter I replaced the seat with a new Honda seat for a 2000 Goldwing. This may seem an odd choice but from my research the later Goldwing seat is more comfortable than what is on my '94. I considered a custom seat but was put off by the cost. Going to a Corbin or other aftermarket seat is no guarantee of comfort either. Time will tell.

I added a voltmeter and rewired the bike so that the cornering lights are on all the time and replaced the cornering light bulbs with LEDs. Also replaced the bearings in the alternator. Going to install a gel battery this month. Below is a picture of our pride and joy south of Churches Ferry, North Dakota.

Now if it would quit snowing we could actually ride her. It's April 15th and it looks like January outside and more snow forecast for the 18th. Oh well.....

image.php
 
Is the later seat a "direct fit", or are there some modifications needed?
 
Those windshields look like it would decapitate me. Welcome from beautiful Indiana and great looking motorcycle.
 
Thank you for the compliments.

The seat is a direct fit. The 2000 seat does not have a cover in the back, never used the one on the original seat so it doesn't matter. You can get the 2000 seat in any color as long as it is black. Being the original seat is brown along with the rest of the covers and trim the new seat does not match the rest of the bike but it's good enough for us.
 
I wondered about the windshield myself when I bough the bike, pretty sure it's a Tulsa Tall. It's fine, never rode behind a stock one on a 1500 so I can't compare. Been long enough since I've been on a 1200 I really don't remember. One bad thing this windshield is thicker than the stock one so the height cannot be easily adjusted.

I do like it better than the one I had on the Venture, the material in this windshield is much more resistant to scratches.
 
Jeff DupliColor has vinyl and fabric paint in a lot of colors. If you want to change the seat from black to whatever color. I've used it on bike seats and it holds up great.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=202082#p202082:22tf1rkr said:
jeff1 » Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:30 pm[/url]":22tf1rkr]
I wondered about the windshield myself when I bough the bike, pretty sure it's a Tulsa Tall.

Tulsa windscreens can melt your dash in hot direct sunlight, so ya might want to cover it. I have the shorter Tulsa and even the short one melted my dash around the right speaker a little until I started using the fleece windscreen cover that came with the bike. :doh:

~O~
 
Thanks for the tip on painting the seat, for the time being I'm going to leave it black. If it bothers me I'll look into painting it, I have to say I am a little scared of painting vinyl, don't want to end up with something worse. I also have a gray/white sheep skin so if I use that most of the seat will not be seen. I bought the sheep skin i an effort to make the original seat more comfortable, from my perspective it did not help much.

Tulsa windscreens can melt your dash in hot direct sunlight, so ya might want to cover it. I have the shorter Tulsa and even the short one melted my dash around the right speaker a little until I started using the fleece windscreen cover that came with the bike.

Thanks for this. Guess I got lucky last summer, I may come up something to cover the windshield when I'm not in motion.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=202200#p202200:xfgifpa7 said:
D-50Dave » Sun Apr 22, 2018 3:24 am[/url]":xfgifpa7]
I think a melted dash is more a problem in the SW desert than in more moderate climes, like here in New England. :whistling:

:blush: ...well yes, there's that.

~O~
 
Top