I am a longtime mechanic but am new to riding motorcycles. I started at 52 , but i should have done this light years ago , i love it !. Anyhoo , i picked up an ultra clean 93 gl 1500 se from an old gentleman for long travels , and your videos have been fantastic in understanding how everything works. I have to say that i am blown away by the " technology " of these bikes , they were at least 10 years ahead of everything on the road in the 90's and remain an icon. Thank you
I am 72 years young. Just starting to ride again after a long hiatus of not riding. I have gotten a 92 GL1500. I do my own work and enjoy Goldwing Docs. A year ago I was in the hospital and had to learn to walk again. I was bummed out. My old riding buddie of 40 years came and check me out of the hospital for the day to go buy my GL1500. My rehab goal in my official medical record was to ride my Goldwing. Thank you for Goldwing Docs!
Going to buy some Seafoam even though it is a US product I can still buy it here in the UK going to try it out for the very first time. My bike is quite old and has had a lot of abuse (running hot as the previous owner had straight through slash exhaust pipes) hopefully Seafoam will improve performance and clean out any harmful sludge. Great channel and God bless you
Great video Scott, Thank You On a customers bike I cleaned the engine at oil change and retuned the carbs and it still made noise from the drive chain. I changed the timing belt and the problem/noise went away. The only thing I could figure was erratic ignition. 200,000 plus miles on a barely maintained Goldwing is a recipe for early death. I choose to ignore the synthetic mileage increase for oil changes and stick with 3,000 miles. As I use Amsoil in all my bikes, I still change oil at 3,000 miles because the steel parts are still moving at high RPMs and environmental conditions wear oil harder then we want it to. Goldwing owners need to remember that your oil is doing three jobs at once, thousands of times a minute. Long distance riders like me even on our HDs need to be mindful of lubrication limitations! I do not always realize how hard I am on my bike because I ride so much and in all weather. Temperature fluctuations adversely effect oils with condensation accumulation. Good luck to all! You are all in my prayers Hoka Hey
Good points. I wonder if one of the belts had slipped a tooth, or had started to fail enough to let it get out of timing? That would certainly cause that rattle. These bikes are interference engines, but one tooth out of place on the timing sprocket will not cause damage, just a poor-running bike that uses too much fuel. The oil in our bikes does serve a lot of purposes, and having it continually run through the transmission as well shears the long molecule chains that give our oil its lubricity. Oil can be "broken down" and not doing its job a lot earlier in our bikes than people expect.
Found channel today. Binge watching now. My 89 GL1500 has a few issues but the #1 is the reverse button backs up the bike every time but only for about one second. So I need to push the button repeatedly to get it anywhere. I'm guessing it's either and adjustment issue or a relay issue but if someone knows... I sure could use advise. Thanks for the great channel.
Hey Scott, take off your fork caps and you'll find air valve's on the front of the Goldwing, I was extremely surprised and pleased to find air up front! I believe recommended psi is 0-6 but I'm a big guy and put 17 psi rides high and responds great! Hope to see you mention this, Cleveland Eastsider here!
For sure, and it's not just the GL1500 that has this. I actually have my forks at 0 psi, as recommended when you install Progressive fork springs. What I was talking about here was the pump-actuated rear suspension, which on the GL1100 also can be directed to the front forks.
Some great advice, I’ll deffo use sea foam prior to doing an oil change soon.I guess I need to drain some oil first to make space for the sea foam..🇬🇧👍
It depends. Half a can of Seafoam is only 1/4 quart, so unless your bike's oil level is right at the very top of the dipstick, you should be fine to just add the Seafoam.
I pulled the vacuum line off the petcock and 1500 stayed running, for like 10 minutes it never stalled. I did the seafoam and marine stable with ethanol free gas so I hope all will be good in the spring.
That's not right. It's possible that a previous owner may have bypassed the petcock, or the petcock itself may have seized. Have a look here: goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=36257
@@GoldwingDocs Thank you so much for your reply. I am the second of my 89 1500, has 68,000 the owner before me was older I doubt he bypassed it looks all original, I will rebuild it. I do have another question are the exhaust and muffler clamp gaskets needed I know there not there I've had the exhaust off the wing and didn't see any gaskets it just doesn't sound right. Sounds like a flutter in the sound. Thank you.
I really like your style Scott. Thankyou for this great channel. I flush my engines with 50% Diesel (Not Running). Sea Foam in Australia? Not sure. Thanks Mate.
Electrical issues with my 2002 1800 Goldwing. I believe I have different locations of electrical issues I first noticed I cannot change any of my stereo components like auxiliary to AM and FM or the Headset to speakers. At first none of this seemed to affect the battery or charging system. However I did begin to notice when I touch the brakes the lights wood all dim slightly. This problem over a time has now left me with a dead battery not holding a charge! Desperate DIY'er of Northern California
All of the symptoms you describe can be caused by a low/failing battery. If you already know your battery is dead, I would suggest you first replace it with a known good battery, and see if the symptoms go away.
7:15 -- if you have manually-adjusted valves, read the manual first to see if you need them COLD or WARM. Then, when tightening the nuts again, hold the adjusters to keep them from moving. Run the engine a little while, then check the clearance again (cold or warm, however it's supposed to be done) because the adjustment may not be correct. The Kawasaki 1000 engine (4-cyl) used shims, and it was a drop-off-today, pick-up-tomorrow job (scheduled ahead of time). They make a lot of sense from a design and maintenance standpoint. 9:05 -- DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT ride the bike while you're doing a Seafoam oil cleaning. Just let it idle, while you listen for any sounds which might indicate a no-lubricant condition. If there is a partially-plugged passage, when the Seafoam unplugs it there may be a slug of ONLY Seafoam squirted past the spot, which provides no lubrication, and it may take a couple of seconds for the oil behind the Seafoam to squirt into the bearings downstream. At idle, the engine can generally take this without complaint, but not at higher RPM.
Correct about the valve adjustment, although I don't know of one that requires the engine to be warm - every valve adjustment I've ever done required the engine to be stone cold. As for the Seafoam, for the purposes we're using it for (clearing sludge from lifters, also common to remove sludge from starter clutch sprags), it requires a good, hot engine and enough oil flow (at high enough pressures) to get the solvent in there and dislodge it. With 8 oz of Seafoam in 4 qts of oil, the Seafoam is well dissipated throughout the oil - you will never get a slug of pure Seafoam anywhere in the engine. As long as you're riding gently, and not putting the engine under load (particularly at low RPM - lugging the engine) you're safe.
@@Akifrend Detailed info on the procedure is on their website or the can (I forget which), but essentially you start the engine, slowly pour in Seafoam until the engine gets too rich and stops running, then let it sit a few minutes. When you restart, LOTS of smoke as the crud comes out.
Hey Scott, thanks for the explanation on the pneumatic suspension , I haven't been riding for a while (20) years and acquired a 1995 Aspencade 1500 last year. All good so for with help from your videos. I noticed the last time my wife and I were out for a ride the suspension seemed softer. I proceeded to increase the air, but when I tried to increase the air nothing changed, it stayed at around 27 psi. Would this be a leak or does the compressor need to be replaced or fixed. I never heard any noise when I pushed the increase button so perhaps I am doing something wrong but I think I followed the how to increase instructions correctly. Any help would be great. Thanks, Hal
I can not figure out what has happened to mine damper. My gauge shows anwhere from 5-8psi and I can not increase the pressure. I checked the hoses and everything seems good. Compressor is working because I can hear it but just no increase in back shock pressure. The shocks are taking all the road holes and it bumps me all over the place. Your thoughts? Thank you for all your videos!
Sir I had a wreck on mine it sit up for 6 months. Ok I got it out and my gas throttle is stuck where do I unhook the end going to carb??? Your answer would be mighty helpful. Thank. You. Johnny McKinley Petal ms. 39465. Honda Holdwing 95. Aspeneade
When I push the buttons to increase air pressure, I get nothing ? How do you trouble shoot a system that doesn't work? No sound no indication of anything happening? I have a 98 GL 1500
I am a new subscriber I like your videos thank you how many pounds do we need to half or one how many pounds do you recommend on the front suspension and rear suspension on a Honda 1997 Goldwing 1500 thank
When I start my 2005 1800 I hear some relay(s) activity under the seat. What relay (s) is being activated and would it make sense to change the relay(s) as preventative maintenance? Thank You!
Unless you're having problems, there's no need to replace them proactively - it wouldn't hurt however to have a few on-hand just in case you do have problems (far) down the road!
Is there any way to clean a lightly rusted fuel tank on my GL000 K2 without having to remove it from the bike? I've had it out twice already as the previous owner had it powder coated and I think I have successfully cleared it, but by the time I refitted it to the bike it had started to rust again. I really dont want to have to go through the removal of it again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Mark
That's flash rust, and you really need to get the bare metal coated in something almost immediately to keep the oxygen away, which is what causes the rust. You can use an engine fogger, some people spray in a can of WD-40 and shake it around (WD-40 leaves behind an oily coating), my favorite is Marine Sta-Bil: amzn.to/3m0kKbN which is intended for this purpose. Mix that 1:1 with gasoline and slosh it around inside the tank. Let it sit for a few hours before draining to install. It off-gases vapors that coat the inside of the tank to prevent corrosion.
Great video thank you. Do you put a whole bottle of sea foam in the oil? What happens if the level of oil is now too high with the sea foam. Thank you.
I use 1/2 a can in my bike. Half a can of Seafoam is only 1/4 quart, so unless your bike's oil level is right at the very top of the dipstick, you should be fine to just add the Seafoam.
Hi Scott, is it usual to see broken valve springs on a GL1000? I am restoring a 1976 one and got 3 of those springs (2 inner, 1 outer) broken. Thanks and happy new year.
No, it's definitely not normal. A single spring broken could be a defect, but several broken is usually caused by engine over-rev. You might want to also scope out the cylinders for valve or piston damage (over-rev can also cause floating valves).
I bought a Goldwing 1500 SE in 2017 that had a broken battery. No problem. Put a new one in and have it serviced. But I have to replace that battery every year. So "something" drains the battery. How am I going to track this down?
Make sure the bike is turned off, and one by one, remove a fuse from the fuse box. Measure across the fuse terminals with an ammeter. The only fuse you should see drawing current is the "backup" fuse, and it should only be a few milliamps. If you see higher current draw, or any draw at all on any other fuse, then you can start tracking the source of the problem. Also check any other accessories directly wired to the battery for draw.
I ran the power wire behind the side cover to the battery, there’s plenty of room, if you take the left pocket out you can look down through there, this is how I did it on my gl1800
