Starters are very reliable on GL1000s, but it’s nice to have a back-up. The back-up kick start lever is found only on ’75-’77 models. Honda deemed this extravagant redundancy was unnecessary and dropped the feature on later models. I’ve actually needed the kick starter on several occasions to make it home when some aspect of the very reliable electric starting system failed. I also use my kick starter for another reason: it’s a good test of your bike’s overall state of tune. If it will start with the kick start lever, then you have a well tuned bike! There are many maintenance operations (like setting timing) where the kick starter provides some nice convenience.
Kick Start Lever Storage Location [Read more…]
Catastrophe or Nuisance?
Greg Jones (left) and Al Wransky (right). Photo by Scott Larson
[Read more…]
I find the factory recommended idle mixture screw setting specs to be very close to ideal. They are listed here for the Honda GL1000.
Idle FUEL Mixture Screw on Honda GL1000
I do usually richen them up an extra 1/8 to 1/4 turn (out) to compensate for the leaner modern “gasoline” which is diluted with ethanol in most US markets.
But sometimes, you just need an excuse to do some high performance tuning on your bike! 🙂
What is a petcock? Why is important to vintage motorcycle owners?
Can Proper Petcock Use Prevent This?
Internally Collapsed Header on Honda GL1000?
Collapsed GL1000 Header
Example courtesy of Steve Seamans of NGWClub Forum
How many million mile motorcycles are there? Answer below. Read on!
Allan Zahrt with his Million Mile GL1000!
In the early seventies Honda launched without fanfare an ambitious project. Internally, Honda had a bold plan: to build the world’s best motorcycle. Not just the best Japanese motorcycle – the best motorcycle available anywhere in the world. Period! The eventual result of this project was revealed to the world at the Cologne, Germany International Motorcycle Show (INTERMOT) in October, 1974 as the GL1000.
This simple device is critical to proper ignition function on Honda GL1000s!
[Read more…]
Randakk’s High Performance Fuel Filters have many technical advantages and are super easy to install as demonstrated in this short video by by Shasta Smith – the Vintage Monkey.
More details on Randakk’s High Performance Fuel Filters here.
