1985 Goldwing 1200 LTD

1985 Honda Gold Wing

Price: US $2,500.00
Item location: Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Make: Honda
Model: Gold Wing
SubModel: GL1200 LTD Fuel Injected
Type: Touring
Year: 1985
Mileage: 88,499
VIN: sc1461fa118149
Color: Gold
Engine size: 1,200
Vehicle Title: Clear
Contact seller: Contact form
Description

I bought this bike back in July from a guy in Green Bay. He told me the bike was running good until he tried starting it the weekend of the 4Th of July and it had no spark. This is quite typical for GoldWings and in fact all GoldWing prior to GL1500?ˆ™s will at some point in their life loose the Crank sensors. Started and Stator as these are weak point in the GoldWings. I noticed that he had a newer GoldWing in the garage that he?ˆ™d just bought by the fact it still had the (License Applied) plate on it. so I asked if he wanted me to fix the bike or would he sell it. He said he had no need for the bike and wanted to sell it. Being that I?ˆ™m an ex Honda Mechanic and have worked on over 200 GoldWings and about 15 LTD/SEI GoldWings I figured I?ˆ™d buy it. fix it. then either sell it or drive it myself.   I did ask the owner if the bike had any other problems. specifically if the bike had any problems with either the Starter or Stator. He said NOPE. the bike was fine other then no spark.  So I brought the bike home and began working on it.  

The 1st thing I did was to put a new (330 Cold Cranking Amp. $150. 00) battery in the bike ?ˆ?Only the best for the GoldWings?ˆ? and then proceeded to start the bike by pushing the start button. Humm no sound. starter not turning (bad starter. needs to be punished). So I checked the kill switch and made sure the bike was in neutral and still no starter. Next I checked the power at the starter; power was good ?ˆ?Time for a new starter ;-(?ˆ?.  So I pulled the starter and took it to Fondy Electric here and Appleton. They overhaul starts. alternator. etc for about the last 35 years.  They confirmed my suspicion of a bad starter. The nice thing about having them overhaul it vs a 3rd party or even new starter. is that a 3rd party and new both last only about 50. 00 miles based on driving condition. When Fondy Electric overhauls it they use better components that should last about 100. 00 miles.   So just over $100. 00 later I have a new (overhauled) starter in the bike. Now the moment of truth. I pushed the starter button and WALA the starter crank but the bike did not start. I wasn?ˆ™t expecting it to start either.   I removed the seat and plastic fake gas tank cover so I could get the Crank sensor connector. Once there I check the ohms of the Cranks sensor and sure enough as expected the sensor was bad. I have done about 30 Crank and timing belt changes on GoldWing throughout the last 15 years so it isn?ˆ™t anything new to me. I remove the radiator and timing cover to reveal the Crank Sensor and timing belts and then unplugged and unbolted the old Crank sensor and installed the new one. For those of you that have Fuel injected GL1200 there?ˆ™s a trick that we used in the Honda dealership that will save you a ton of work in the future. You see the LTD/SEi?ˆ™s only use 1 Crank sensor. whereas the carbed version uses two. Both GoldWing?ˆ™s use the same Crank sensor just the carbed version has two in the same wire harness. The trick here is to install the carbed 2 sensor version but only plug in one sensor. In this way when the sensor fails in the future you only have to unplug the connector and plug in the other sensor eliminating the need to remove the radiator and timing covers again. Now the 2nd moment of truth; I pushed the starter button and WALA again the bike started and went right to idle and ran as smooth as any GoldWing with fuel injection has run.  At this point I?ˆ™m feeling good about purchase and turned the bike off and when inside the watch the Green Bay Packers game. This is Wisconsin after all.

 While watch the game I could help but wonder about what the owner told me. He said the bike had no other problems and that the timing belts had been replaced two years earlier. Obviously he lied about the starter and the timing belts were original with about 85. 00 miles on them.   So at halftime I thought I better check the output voltage of the other well known and most feared GoldWing problem. the STATOR. I stared the bike and put my volt meter on the battery and lo-and-behold 11. 5 volts. The Stator is bad too. I called the last owner as basically reamed his ass out for lying to me. I told him he didn?ˆ™t need to lie to me as I would have bought the bike anyway and still fixed it. You see I have replaced about 20 GoldWing Stators in my days at the dealership and at home as a hobby ?ˆ?I?ˆ™m gluten for punishment?ˆ?. They are not fun as the engine has to be removed. But they are not difficult either. You just loose 14 hours of your weekend to get it done.

I went back inside to watch the second half of the Packer game feeling a little pissed off. During the game I tried to figure out if I wanted to fix the bike or part it out ?ˆ?Either way the engine has to come out and a new Stator installed before selling the engine?ˆ?.   So I told myself if the Packers won and I would fix the bike and if they lost I would part it out. Being that they had lost the last two games I was feeling confident that they would lose this one too. They didn't. so I guess I should get to work pulling the engine.

After the game I began removing the engine from the bike. I was surprised that not a single bolt. screw or nut broke off. and within about two hours the engine was out and on the stand.   I figured since the engines is now out that it would be a good time to replace the timing belts. stator. stator cover gasket. clutch cover gasket and thermostat  as well as any other gasket that need replacing and of course. wash the engine.  I began by cleaned the engine 1st followed by replacing the timing belts and checking the timing belt tensioners. I then moved on to replacing the Stator and checking the clutch plates and clutch slave cylinder. I then removed old stator and cleaned the stator cover and replaced with a new gasket and installed the new stator. I cleaned the clutch slave cylinder and replaced the cylinder gasket. I then proceeded to check all other gaskets. wire connectors and output shaft seals as they are easier to replace when the engine is out and then last but not least spark plugs .

 Once I was happy with all my work and then grabbed my wife and asked her to help push the engine back into the frame ?ˆ?yes she does like getting her hand dirty?ˆ?. and 15 minutes later the engine was back in its home. albeit not bolted up yet.  I spent the next 3 hours bolting everything backup to the engine and making sure the engine mounts and bolts were all torque to the correct specs.   Now it was time to replace the thermostat. fill the coolant and change to oil and oil filter. Once that was done it was time for the moment we all waiting for. will the motor start and produce the correct voltages. With my finger crossed I pushed the starter button and again WALA ?ˆ?I know you?ˆ™re getting tired of hearing WALA. Well this is the last WALA you hear. ?ˆ? the bike started and again when right to idle and ran smoothly. I quickly put the volt meter on the battery and 14. 6 volts showed on the screen. Wow. what a relief.   I ran the bike for another 20 minutes or so checking for leaks and making sure the coolant system was working correctly.   Satisfied that everything was working I took the bike on a 15 mile drive. Everything worked great. Happy that the engine is now in working order I thought I should make the Honda recommended Stator wire modifications. This requires the removal of both stator connectors under the left side cover and the one at the triple tree and soldering them direct. This removes the problem of the connectors getting dirty and corroding causing the stator the fail in the first place and so I completed this process as well.  

 After all the unexpected work I have done to the bike I thought to myself. ?ˆ?I have replaced and modified all the thing that normally go wrong on GoldWings?ˆ? maybe I should complete everything else as well.   Knowing my chances of making any money on this bike have just evaporated because of all the money spent so far. I decided to put even more work into the bike so the next owner shouldn?ˆ™t have to do anything for a very long time. So I replace the front left and rear ?ˆ?interlock brakes?ˆ? brake fluid. front right brake fluid. new air cleaner. nbsp; clutch fluid as well as cleaning all wire connections with electronic cleaner including all controls on the handle bars and dash. Every button was opened and cleaned.  

All the electronic parts of the bike such as Stereo. CB and Cruise Control work good. There are however few things that still need be to be addressed by the next owner.

The trip computer on the gas tank doesn't work. The Air Suspension gauge shows no PSI reading. The seat cover is dry and cracked in places.

I also replaced the back tire with the correct OEM Dunlop 404 and replaced the rear brake pads at the same time.

 Here's a link to Youtube of the bike starting and running after sitting for 3 weeks.  http://youtu. be/67xVhcJWrT0

So to recap the following work has been completed in the last 50 miles.

          New Timing belts          New Crank sensor with updates          New Thermostat          New Air Cleaner          New (overhauled) Starter          New Stator          New Stator gasket          New rear Tire          New back Brake pads          New front Brake Fluid          New rear Brake Fluid          New Clutch Fluid          Fresh Coolant          New Spark Plugs

 Listed below is what the Honda dealers in Appleton and Green Bay wanted to do the work. Sometimes it helps to know how to do your own work.

Item

Parts

Hours

Labor/hour

Crank sensor bolts

5. 6

Timing Belts

94

2

194

Thermostat/Coolant

37

1

97

Oil Filter and Oil

55

0. 5

48. 5

Rear Tire

185. 61

1

97

Rear Brakes Pads

26. 41

1

97

Battery

131. 21

0. 5

48. 5

Air Filter

25. 76

0. 5

48. 5

Crank Sensor

123. 98

2

194

Stator and Gasket

368. 98

14

1358

Starter

356. 76

1. 5

145. 5

Spark Plugs

17

0. 8

77. 6

Brake Fluid

3. 75

0. 5

48. 5

Clutch Fluid

3. 5

0. 5

48. 5

Totals

1434. 56

25. 8

2502. 6

Total Parts

1434. 56

Labor Rate/Hour

97

Total Labor

2502. 6

Total Parts/Labor

3937. 16

Tax

196. 858

Total Bill

4134. 018

On Oct-07-14 at 05:36:54 PDT. seller added the following information:

Someone asked if I knew what is wrong with the Trip Computer. No. I don't but the dealer and I did some testing and here?ˆ™s what we found.

         The Stereo function located on the Trip computer do work correctly.           The Dash function located on the Trip computer do work correctly.           The Trip computer appears to be functioning correctly but the LCD only shows a ?ˆ?U?ˆ? letter on it.

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