Follow the resurrection of my beloved “Old Gold” as we get her back on the road. She’s been hanging from a steel I beam at the shop for over 6 years and every time I went past her I could hear her callingto me. Enough is enough and after seeing GL1000 in the museum display “Art of the Motorcycle” I know what I had to do– she had to rise again! A stroke of great luck, “AJ” came looking for work, we is a student at the local “MMI” (Motorcycle Mechanics Institute) and he was willing and eager to help me– fire that mother up! From a sad collection of metric parts to something of beauty, follow the worm as it turns into the butterfly we all know was waiting to fly again.
AJ has the motor out now 
and we are getting our first look at the insides and the problems I had. First, I thought the starter clutch bolt had worked loose locking up the alternator hub— 
wrong!!! The 3 screws holding the alternator windings in place backed out and locked the hub up 
, I guess I will take responsibility for that– some 8 years ago I replaced that part & I guess I didn’t get those screws tight enough— we’ll lock-em in for sure now! Next we go after the front main seal under the 2 cam belts 
, glad AJ is here and has the time for all of this, me I’m kinda busy working on the motorhomes around here. Here he is checking out my VW carberator and intake I made 
, it’s totally gummed up and will need some attention 
, hey thats OK, we have to wait a week for the stupid $14 front main seal! Hurry up and wait is the name of this game! Yes, my bike has no motor 
, but hopefully soon it will be right and back in, it will be nice again to be on 2 wheels.
My motor is back together 
, AJ got the timing belts clocked & back in 
and valves adjusted 
and if we’re lucky I might be up on 2 by the weekend! I hope, i hope, i hope!
Back in the hole, the motor is back where it wants to be 
, my VW carb cleaned up well so fire up is getting close 
“Old Gold” is looking great! Some fluids and a new battery and it just might wake up from it’s long sleep.
Let me break here a moment and thank several friends who have helped me get to this point with my Gold Wing. Thanks goes out to Chuck Kellog and Martin Deble for their support in procuring the clutch handle I was needing. The internet is a great place to find things but even better is the daily pose and the help of my friends. The clutch is now 100% and we have moved on to this electric cooling fan which BTW, Martin keyed me into what I have eventually done– read on and see his suggestion.
Well, the replacement fan idea did not pan out– nope– the motor was too big, then the fan was too close to the radiator, then the fan shroud hit the frame— the best laid plans….. it would simply not work. Funny how things are designed so close in bikes that it is difficult to substitute and “close” just won’t do it sometimes. Good news though, “Pistol Pete” Boody of www.oldwings.com (got his # from Western Hills) made me a trade of my original carb set up (don’t need no stinken 4 carb set up when I have my trusty VW Solex one barrol set up) for an original fan motor and assy. It fit like a glove and a couple more adjustments, cleanings, fluid fill ups and we fired that mother up!
Yes— “Old Gold” lives again 
Still have alote of the body panels to put on and the exhaust is still swiss cheese 
but I have a bike again! 
AJ did a great job putting it together– we may still have a few issues but hey– it runs. AJ flushed the brakes and checked out the rest of the systems and even the temp gauge fired up! I’ll get better pics soon but like I said– it runs and that my friend is the name of that game.
