Old Goldwings on the Freeways, how does yours do?

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oldmopars

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Graham Wa
I just got back last night from a very very long ride. I left home a 6:00 am to meet up with a group to ride around the back side of Mt. St. Helens and rode all day with stops for lunch and gas getting home at 9:00 pm. 15 hours on my 1982 GL1100I I got for $300. It was a long day and a great time.
However, I did notice that on the back roads and through the curves the bike performed flawlessly, had no problems keping with the new Harley's and Victory I was with, it was on the freeway that it seemed to struggle. It's not that it would not do 70 MPH, it was that it seemed like I was pushing it and that the RPM's were real high.
It was in 5th and the RPM's were about 4Kish. I assume that this is due to the bike being made back in 1982 when the national speed limit was 55 MPH. I would like to do a SS1000 someday, but now I am not too sure how this bike would do that. I assume that there is nothing that can be done to drop the RPM on the freeway to help this?
There was a point that I had to drop a gear and pass everyone going up a hill to let the leader know several of us needed gas, they were blow away by how fast my old bike shot out and rocketed past everyone.
Any suggestions? A newer bike is not an option right now.
 
ok ...your bike seems like its fine ...but yes Honda made some dumb moves right when things were changing on how goldwings were being used ...first let me say that my opinion was just carbon copy of yours on hiway with the 79 ...your 82 was geared to get back the top gear Honda took away in 80-81 wings while going lower first gear on the cheap but sacrificing fifth ....be glad your bike is 82 instread of 8- -81 would be taching more ...I did a nod to the 79 by putting in 1100 final drive ...lowered fifth gear about 500rpm ...made first gear taller ...that was ok to a point but it was no pull a trailor bike our anything close ...I did like going through intersections turning without have to shift mid way and the hiway miles were easier to take ...as if oldwings are bad in the first place there not ...you said it like me it bothers you as it did me thinking its turning to much ....truth is it 48 mpg on hiway both set ups ...no saving there ...ait was a little more easy on me that was plus but really not much at all ..time in mod was huge ...worth it no ...you just got finished saying riding long ways with 300 dollar bike its obvious as with me ..nit picking even though I thought different at the time ...it was the conclusion

as for me ..and I think ultimate mod in thi direction is 1200 motor with its wide gear ratio and lets say 1100 final makes the perfect all duty bike with no discounts ...rather big step but you ask ...I can set up a 1200 motor that will run with anything out there today and better than most most but I went down a long road to get here ...

reality is your bike is probably better than anything it was with on the trip or capable of it ...id say ride and you get use to it ...its really very good as is the rpm seems nothing to it ...again its you like it was me :mrgreen:
 
Wind resistance of the fairing with windshield and the shear weight of the bike does make the 1100 engine work at that speed.

As far as running that RPM they are totally fine all day long.
Redline is 8,000 rpm, running at 4k is only half.

In my 83 I have an 81 engine.
I've tried swapping wheels and final drives along with putting the 83 gears in this 81 block.
Though it was nice to get the highway rpms down closer to 3500- at 70 it took more throttle to keep it there.
When I ran a 17" wheel with the 83 gears (83 came with a 16" wheel) rpm's dropped on the highway but take off's were labored and gearing in the curvies was "off" and just didn't feel right.
It was just like 3rd needed to be a bit higher and forth needed to be a bit lower so I put the 16" wheel on.
Honda matched it pretty well to the engines capabilities.
 
I use an 83 model and at 70mph she runs at approx 4k. Gives me about 42 mpg and could roll along all day at high rpm if needed. Somehow flat four motors feel lazier than transverse engines for the same rpm. Might be psychological am not sure - just that it feels right at this speed ( not rushed or frantic ) .
As that say - if it feels right then it most probably is right . :moped:
 
The gear swap doesn't sound like a good trade off, Is the 83` rear end identical to the 80` and changes made only to the transmission or would an 83 rear end do anything?, I wonder what RPM`s my 80`s gonna do at 70? I have yet to get it out on the freeway , Need new tires.
 
86 1200 Aspy, 3000rpm=60 mph,3500rpm=70mph,4000rpm=80mph. I've had it a little over 100 but I don't want to be on it at 8000rpm. The deal is "If your scared, say your scared", "I would be scared" With the way the 1200's are geared, Honda hit the nail on the head. They will try to pull your shoulders out of socket on take off but cruise with the greatest of ease.
 
only thing that could help your bike and you would be to put in 1500 or 1200 final and that's required for that to happen ...it would be taller then some all 1100 final are the same even though spec sheets say different there wrong to apply tire size to final drive specs ...but all that will get you only 2to 300 rpm maybe less ..I not going to spec it out it to small to consider....z man
 
I think the only way to get any more out of the 1100 engines performance is to tweak carbs and improve the ignition.
I'm talking an 1100 as stock configuration, no cam changes, no engine changes.

Minor improvements can be had with cam change to 75-77 cams which does improve response in the area of 5-7k rpm.
Change to 84 1200 cams improves lower end torque which I do like but higher rpm suffers.
I'm talking all seat of the pants testing here, no dyno stuff.

I've run mine both ways, they both have tradeoffs.
Right now I have the 1200 cams in it and soon will be installing the C5 ignition.
From what Paul tells me of its improvements I'm hoping for improved bottom and top end.
Will see.

This is all pretty new territory we''re diving into.
 
Now what a minute!! I might be a dipstick, but I use to ride my '81 (remember that knocker with the worn out bearings) at 5-6K RPM all the time. As a matter of fact, it ran at around 5600 at 70 MPH. (Really rapped loud at that point too :hihihi: ) I rode it that way for two years until I installed the '83 engine.

Now, with the '83 engine (and trans) in the '82 frame with the smaller wheels and final drive, I cruise at 4200 at 75 MPH and the engine hits a real sweet spot (usually after about two hours at that speed) where you can just hear it humming right along.

To answer the original question, yes, the ;82 was the last year Honda attempted to gear the bike to perform best at 65 MPH since the national speed limit was still 55. The '83 was geared even better for highway cruising. When I am traveling at 70-75 MPH and I need to pass someone, I have to ease the throttle and wait just a bit for the engine to really speed up. Drop down to 4th while at 70 MPH and you have a crotch rocket!! :shock:

Watch the tach wind out in the video (and this was just around town):

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SyhI7BDnhE[/video]

When you see (hear) the bike reach 5000 RPM, it was not uncommon to just hang there!
 
Thanks for all the input. I do not think my bike has a lack of power, it pulls like a train if I ask it to. If I drop a gear and nail it, it will set me back in the seat and go as far and fast as I have the guts to hold on for. I also understand the time the bike was built. I am overall happy with my bike, it is very fun in the twisties for a large bike and for most of the roads I travel, it is great. I just felt bad keeping it that RPM to maintain 70 MPH. Maybe it was the low RPM drone of the other bikes I was with that threw me. I have no doubt I can get to 60 MPH before them, they just cruise better at that speed.
As I said, I only paid $300 for this bike, new plugs, timing belts, fork seals, etc. and I am in this bike for about $500 total including DOL. I really can not complain, it looks shark, runs great and is getting 42-46 MPG. I guess I will just keep riding it as is and if my needs ever change I will look into a newer 1500/1800. The added cost to stroke your ego is more than I want to own a Harley, even though I suppose they are not bad bikes(Hondas are still better). :Egyptian:
 
:good: 4K at 70-ish seems to be a 'sweet spot' that the engine really likes. I never get the sense that the motor is doing anything but truckin' down the highway....
And has been mentioned above, redline is a long way away, so just enjoy!
 
I usually do not spend too much time on the freeways: I would rather take the slow ride. My tach cable has been broken for the last year, so I have been riding by sound and feel only. I know that when I am rolling at 70 on the freeway the motor just seems to be purring along and there is plenty of throttle left to accelerate if I need to. I just replaced the tach cable so this should be interesting when I ride out to Indiana to actually see where the engine is running at those speeds.
 
Hi everbody I have 3 oldwings 77,80 and 82 here's what I found when comparing them. At 55 mph 77 3200 rpm 80 3500 rpm and 82 3100 rpm . At 60 mph 77 3500 rpm 80 3700 rpm and 82 3400 rpm. At 70 mph 77 4100 rpm 80 4200 rpm and the 82 is at 4000 rpm. The 80 is the lowest geared one I use it as the tug for my hack(california side car) I also some time pull a fully stocked trailer for camping. It has plenty of power for all I've thown at it but the mpg isn't great 32 or so. The 77 one up is around 42 to 44. The 82 is kind of new to me just put new tiers on it and finally resolved front break problem(small relief hole under front brake resovoir!!!!) carb's may need small sinking I had them apart for cleaning, but overall run's great. Not sure about mpg on it. The 77 good for around riding, 80 is the work horse and the 82 is the smoothest of all and I think my favorite of the three.
 
You betha on the meet and greet Joe all I need to remember is to have my head on the up hill while camping!!!! (dang beer) I was sort of thinking of changing hack to the 82 but with the taller gearing I'm not sure about it. The 80 with the side car and three people and pulling the trailer does ok. What do you think about it. The 82 as the tug.
 
Yep had the trailer on that trip. Never know what stuff you"ll need when far from home. Probaely will ride it again this year. The trailer can haul a lot of beer when riding three up!!!!
 

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