1982 Honda Goldwing

Sorry, but I haven't saved pictures of my many projects. But it's not hard working on motorcycles ... pretty simple machines.

I got this bike in trade for my Quicksilver dinghy - 1955 Evenrude 3hp outboard. He wanted a dinghy, I wanted a cruiser.

So, here is a list of the projects, accompanied by a few comments:

• Put it together
  When I brought this machine home, 30% of it was in boxes, and disassembled, though the motor was still assembled. So, it was just a matter of matching colored electric wires, and experimenting with parts placement, until it was put together again. Probably took me 2 days of tinkering to get it together.
• Make it run
  Hook up a car battery (temporarily -- it's 12V, so a car batter will do the job), buy some new plugs, and put in some fresh gas. Amazingly, it starts after 5 minutes cranking and messing with the idle / choke.
• Change fluids
  I searched the Web, and there are a zillion articles about re-commissioning a bike after a long storage. Basically, change the fluids.
• Test Drive
  This may not sound like a project, but this was my first bike. My first test drive ended up on my neighbor's lawn across the street (I could not turn the bike ... nothing wrong with the bike, but it's not like riding your bicycle). Eventually, I learned that you got to lean into the turn, and I mean really lean into it. Then the bike will turn.
• Change the brake hydraulic fluid
  I should have did this when I changed the fluids, but I didn't. So, eventually, after getting stuck in the middle of no-where with locked brakes, I changed the brake fluid.
• Clean carbs
  The acceleration on this bike was rather eratic, so I figured the carbs needed cleaning. It takes a while to disassemble the bike so you can get to the carbs, but they are fairly accessible. The carbs were all filled with a jelly like substance, green goo. I think it was a combination of gas that had started to go to varnish and SeaFoam (which I had added to the tank of gas). What a mess. Anyway, two spray cans of carb cleaner and the bowls look a lot better. And it runs better too.
• New Starter
  About a year later, the starter went out, so I had to replace it.

But after my first few rides on the open road, I soon discover that I just don't like motorcycles. Too damn scary for me. If some dang squirrel dodges out, we'd both be wet slicks on the road. It was fun, but too scary for me.

So, I traded it to a fellow in Tennessee for a pair of Sea Doo GTI jet skis. He wanted another motorcycle, and I wanted the jet skis.