Grouch- ouch. If there's one thing that bothers me, its the people that have no respect for bikes and big trucks.
EDIT- Dude, that's a seriously yellow GW.... I love it

I made a bit more progress on the GW today. Turns out, having a fuel pump in the circuit helps to get things running. I thought this would be like my Magna with an in-tank fuel pump. Gotta get learnt the hard way sometimes! I got most of the rest of the bike put together today, except for the fairing. Turns out that bracket is missing from my box of parts. But the radiator is in (waiting on permatex to dry before I fill it) and hooked up. I did find a pretty nasty crack in one of the heads causing an oil leak, so there's that... but if that's the worst thing I have to deal with from a bike I paid $150 for, I'll deal with it. I just hope that crack doesn't allow a coolant/oil mixture. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

I sure hope we get some nice weather soon... I'm getting antsy to get some work done on the Dakota. But I am glad I finally got that engine off my work bench and into the bike!

 

Ah, I miss being able to ride. I think my favorite bike was my Honda CB900 custom. Comfy bike, and fast enough. (actually, MORE than fast enough.......) But, the MS plays merry hell with my balance, so, no more two-wheelers for me, for quite a few years now. What's really sad is, I just can't seem to part with the cycle endorsement on my drivers license. Wishful thinking? Probably.......

 

When the GL1000/1100 came out in the late 70's, it was a fairly advanced bike. I have a factory service manual somewhere around the house. A cracked head is a serious issue. Probably why you got it cheap. A friend has a bike shop and he has a large area of old bikes for parts. As for the yellow, we wear lime green riding jackets when we go out. At least this bike hasn't nearly been rear ended at a light due to the wig wag brake lights in back.

 

I rode Sport Touring bikes for years. My first one was a '99 Kawasaki Concours. It had 6000 miles when I got it and 110,000 miles when I sold it. I had three of them. The ;ast one was intended to be my last bike but health took a down turn and I had to get a little more sedate ride and go back to 'Wings. The fastest I've ever gone on the road was on a modified C-10 Connie.



My riding days are pretty well done too. I was going to get a trike but they have stayed too expensive for me. The ones in my price range are piles of used parts. Trouble with my left side makes riding difficult and one eye going south makes depth perception at night pretty well non-existent (I sure miss the Mercedes SL in the garage in this picture.).

 

So here is the crack, at the bottom of the head in the oil return gulley. Definitely a bummer but potentially the kick in the *** I need to buy that AHP AlphaTig I've been eyeing for a couple years now. Oh and the other side is missing a head cover bolt and some ding-dong punched out that particular thread to a slightly larger size. I'm gonna head out in a couple hours (once the sun beams down on my shop a tizz), fill the rad and see where it goes from there. Parts are still relatively available and at a reasonable price, so if I had to call this head a loss I wouldn't care much. If I take away the cost of the brand new battery that came with it, I still have less than $200 in this bike. I'm pretty satisfied with that (and so is my girlfriend ).

Yesterday was mid 50s and pretty nice, we are at low 30s and got an inch of snow overnight. Definitely inside bike work today. WHEN WILL THE WARMNESS FINALLY ARRIVE

 

Pity you aren't closer. I'm sure my friend has several good heads for early 'Wings. He saves EVERYTHING possible. As for the wallowed out head cover hole, a Heli-coil might work or you can weld the hole closed and drill and thread it out. I've done that on engines but not such a small head or aluminum.

 

Y'know, I didn't even think about a helicoil. I haven't done this kind of in-depth work before- only been tinkering since 2017 and really getting into it in the last year. A Helicoil would, in theory, at least give me enough to keep that head cover tight enough to let the gasket do its job. Though I'm not gonna lie, the threaded portion looked to me like it actually gets pressed into the head. Interesting design. I posted a few pics in the GW group on Facebook, including that one with the crack, but basically just to show "hey this is where I'm at but it's no big deal for me to fix". I was looking for some ideas for fully bagged bikes without a fairing... my box of parts is missing the mounting bracket and the fairing needs a new windshield anyways... that alone would cost more than what I spent on the bike.

... And then the "eRmGeRd GuTtA jB wElD dAt Up" brigade showed up.

Regrets were immediately had.

 

I had an idea for the crack until you get a permanent fix if you cleaned it real good that muffler caulk Ralph used on his exhaust a few posts back might work to stop the drip.

 

I've dealt with jack leg mechanics all my life. If they tear their own equipment up, I don't care. When they start on normal people and ruin OTHER peoples machinery, I have serious issues with that! My 1980 'Wing was a standard. They built standard as well as faired bikes until 1983 I believe. I found an old picture of my '80.



I sold the bike to get my first Connie in 2000. I just hung saddle bags over the back seat. Vetter made fairing back then and you might be able to find a pair or adapt something else to get hard bags. Vetter quit making them when Honda started offering fairings from the factory.

 

I know my GW will NEVER look that good... but damn that GW looks good!!!

I ended up pulling all the calipers today. Every single one of them seized right up. A lonngggggggggg bath in the ultrasonic cleaner and a pair of vicegrips, and the piston finally came loose. Except somehow I managed to lose a set of pad clips so I guess I should *do the right thing* and get a full set all around with new clips. I just finished up editing a video of getting the GW together too. I wish I had more cameras or more batteries for my camera. It's a real pain to move and of course every time I get to a part where I do some intensive work, the dang battery dies. Jacking engine into bike? Battery dead. Mounting engine to frame? Battery dead. Installing radiator, fuel pump, carburetors, air box, wires and all the other fun stuff? You guessed it...... dead battery. But I did manage to get some magic moments like when I heard that first ignition in the cylinder. A few jokes. And complaining. Boy do I bitch a lot in my videos about hackjob mechanics.

Dak, I might give that a shot, actually. I mean it is a bandaid on a shotgun blast, but worth a shot to save a cup of oil on my floor!