1978 GL1000 resto project

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No strong gas smell. Starts right back up but won't hold the idle. It did not seem to be any particular cylinder. Pulling any one spark plug killed it just the same.
 
HI. When I restored my 78 I had problems with the idle which sounded not dissimilar to yours. Got the carbs balanced by a pro rather than amateur me and it sorted it. No way of telling if the solution would work for you but definitely worth putting on to the list of maybes. I also had problems with the clutch which turned out were down to a previous owner routing the clutch cable the wrong way. I mention this because I note that your cable is to the right of the ignition switch when the standard route is down through the left. It also looks a lot tidier. Best wishes in sorting out the idle, looks like a nice bike.
 
I am curious about this as I have a '78 with similar issues. It seems very finicky about idle speed adjustments, does not like idle below 1000 and also the choke cable on mine does not increase the idle speed at all.
In my case the carbs were rebuilt by a honda mechanic who owned the vike before and synced properly by me.
Please post if you find solutions!
 
You guys are awesome! It didn't turn out to be carbs. It was timing. I noobed it a bit.

I tore it all down again, and the marks were off just slightly. I retimed, this time doing everything I could to make sure everything lined up absolutely spot on. Now it holds idle. It actually holds it too well. It is idling around 2k with vague throttle response. I didn't ride it yet since putting it back together, but my guess is either the choke is sticking or the idle speed is just too high.

Any thoughts? Is there an easy way to check if the choke is sticking?
 
Just a guess but now that you have things lined up properly the jugs are no doubt spinning more freely. You should be able to drop the idle now to normal. Same thing when synching. Idle surge is kind of a result of correct synchronization.
BTW I checked my idle mixture screws and a couple were only a half turn out - make sure yours are 2 turns out for starters and then synch all 4
 
If your choke is in fact stuck all of the cams and linkage is external so you should be able to spot it. Pull the choke and check the right of the carb bank where the cable ends. The cable should pull on the right side and move parts (linkages and cam) all the way to the left
 
Okay, choke looks fine. It's a bit tough to pull from all the way off to half choke, but not terrible. I have been using the crack the throttle technique when turning it on.

I haven't done a synch yet, but i did a preliminary idle adjustment on all the carbs. The curb idle adjustment brought it right down to where it should be, then i set each carb to factory plus a quarter and readjusted the curb idle. The screws were wayyyy out, which I am sure wasnt helping anything. Off idle throttle is verry lumpy. I think this bike is in bad need of a synch. I've never done one before, but it looks easy enough.

Finally, I took it for a light spin around my neighborhood. It has a heck of a time getting into neutral while running. I'm hoping the oil change I am about to do will remedy that. Any issues with using Rotella-T in these? I generally have had good results with it in the past.
 

Attachments

  • 20230731_154449.mp4
    36 MB
When I rebuilt the carbs on my '82, I noted the pilot screw adjustments (idle mixture) when I removed them. They were all at about 2 1/2 turns give or take a quarter turn.
My choke in carb 3 (I think) was bound up pretty good. PO had replaced the cable but there would be no way to fix that if I didn't have the carbs on the bench. Took a lot of carb cleaner and movement of the butterfly pivot to free it up. Synching is pretty easy. I splurged and bought the 4 gage set up. That made a world of difference after I got the carbs back on the bike. Make sure you warm it up all the way before attempting the synch. I would do that first. Don't know if the method is the same for the 78 as the 82. On the 82 carb 3 has no idle adjustment. You synch all the other carbs to match carb 3 and then set the overall idle adjustment to get correct rpm.
 
On the 78 you synch the two left carbs to each other then synch the two right together and then match the pairs to each other. Same as the GL1100 if done right all 4 gauges will move identical
 
Idle adjusted, carbs synched well(I hope, vid attached), clutch cable rerouted and adjusted to just over 1/4 inch of play. Oil and filter changed to Rotella T6. No test ride yet, but I feel good about the adjustments. Hopefully the oil and clutch adjustment help the neutral issue.
 

Attachments

  • 20230812_144455.mp4
    26.1 MB

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