daze
Member
Hello all allow me to tell you the story of my new project,
Roughly 25 years ago my mom and I went to visit her parents, something that we did very rarely, so I was amazed and awed one day on this trip to see my grandfather come home from work on this beautiful massive motorcycle (to be fair I was only about 8 or 9 years old, so my perspective may have been a little skewed) I knew nothing about motorcycles all I could tell was that this was a bike meant to travel across the country on. It had big cushy seats, and enough luggage to carry years and years of clothes. He told me all about his bike, and how he wore warm clothes to keep the cold out in the winter months, and how he had a CB radio, and an intercom system, all the cool things a 9 year old wants to hear about. I was in awe, if I had known who James Dean was I would have thought my grandad was cooler than him. The only thing I really knew about the bike was that it was a Goldwing, and from then on "Goldwing" defined my ultimate bike, I wouldn't be allowed to ride anything without a cage thanks to my parents fear, which transferred to me, and I never learned to ride until this year, when my wife and I learned to ride together, and we bought a small Yamaha Vstar that I've been commuting on.
Over the next 25 years, any time I would visit my grandparents, I would look at that old 'Wing sitting in the corner of the garage and wish I could take it home and bring it back to life.
This past weekend I got my wish. I am now the proud owner of an untitled, not running, dirty as hell, '81 GL1100. :music:
BUT.. the price was right, my Grandfather said I could have it, and a bag of assorted parts.
As for the details of the bike, I'm not sure exactly which model it is, it hasn't been run in at least 20 years, shortly after the first time I saw it my Grandparents moved due to my Grandmother's health, and my Grandfather stopped riding it.
So I come to you, the community of folk that know of such things, and wonder two things:
1. Where do I start? I know I need to clean it up and see if it's frozen (a possibility) but past that I'm a babe in the backwoods with no GPS signal. The plastic and metal on the bike LOOK to be in good condition, just filthy, covered in 20 years of garage dust.
2. What is it? Is there a VIN chart somewhere that will tell me what model it is, I know Honda didn't make very many models, so I'm hoping someone here can tell me. It's an '81 according to the registration card I found with the bike. It has a full fairing, with "Honda" on it, Clarion radio that looks to be factory (i.e. it's not a car radio, which is probably what my grandfather would have installed, he's "that" guy) The luggage on the rear doesn't look to be the same as the Aspencade luggage, it's Sampsonite briefcase style. The three pieces are molded to fit 3 triangular racks on the bike, but other than that appear to Briefcases. The rear backrest is separate from the luggage, and doesn't have arm rests
Edit: After re-reading the wikipedia article, I'm guessing that it's an "Interstate" as the Aspencade didn't come out until '82.
Edit #2: Found the owners manual on the bike, it's an Interstate, but I did find something odd. The bike doesn't match the owner's manual pictures, and I found the original luggage key attached to a tag of sorts. Looks like the luggage was an aftermarket universal kit. Thoughts?
Thanks for reading my story, and thanks for the help.
Roughly 25 years ago my mom and I went to visit her parents, something that we did very rarely, so I was amazed and awed one day on this trip to see my grandfather come home from work on this beautiful massive motorcycle (to be fair I was only about 8 or 9 years old, so my perspective may have been a little skewed) I knew nothing about motorcycles all I could tell was that this was a bike meant to travel across the country on. It had big cushy seats, and enough luggage to carry years and years of clothes. He told me all about his bike, and how he wore warm clothes to keep the cold out in the winter months, and how he had a CB radio, and an intercom system, all the cool things a 9 year old wants to hear about. I was in awe, if I had known who James Dean was I would have thought my grandad was cooler than him. The only thing I really knew about the bike was that it was a Goldwing, and from then on "Goldwing" defined my ultimate bike, I wouldn't be allowed to ride anything without a cage thanks to my parents fear, which transferred to me, and I never learned to ride until this year, when my wife and I learned to ride together, and we bought a small Yamaha Vstar that I've been commuting on.
Over the next 25 years, any time I would visit my grandparents, I would look at that old 'Wing sitting in the corner of the garage and wish I could take it home and bring it back to life.
This past weekend I got my wish. I am now the proud owner of an untitled, not running, dirty as hell, '81 GL1100. :music:
BUT.. the price was right, my Grandfather said I could have it, and a bag of assorted parts.
As for the details of the bike, I'm not sure exactly which model it is, it hasn't been run in at least 20 years, shortly after the first time I saw it my Grandparents moved due to my Grandmother's health, and my Grandfather stopped riding it.
So I come to you, the community of folk that know of such things, and wonder two things:
1. Where do I start? I know I need to clean it up and see if it's frozen (a possibility) but past that I'm a babe in the backwoods with no GPS signal. The plastic and metal on the bike LOOK to be in good condition, just filthy, covered in 20 years of garage dust.
2. What is it? Is there a VIN chart somewhere that will tell me what model it is, I know Honda didn't make very many models, so I'm hoping someone here can tell me. It's an '81 according to the registration card I found with the bike. It has a full fairing, with "Honda" on it, Clarion radio that looks to be factory (i.e. it's not a car radio, which is probably what my grandfather would have installed, he's "that" guy) The luggage on the rear doesn't look to be the same as the Aspencade luggage, it's Sampsonite briefcase style. The three pieces are molded to fit 3 triangular racks on the bike, but other than that appear to Briefcases. The rear backrest is separate from the luggage, and doesn't have arm rests
Edit: After re-reading the wikipedia article, I'm guessing that it's an "Interstate" as the Aspencade didn't come out until '82.
Edit #2: Found the owners manual on the bike, it's an Interstate, but I did find something odd. The bike doesn't match the owner's manual pictures, and I found the original luggage key attached to a tag of sorts. Looks like the luggage was an aftermarket universal kit. Thoughts?
Thanks for reading my story, and thanks for the help.
