1979 Honda GT1000 GoldWing

OK, I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit too fond of the color blue. Now that that's sorted, lets move on.

This bike started as an idea I had many years ago when I got my first GL1000 GoldWing. I thought it was a monster of a bike and it always impressed me. The motor, to me, looks like something you would see under the hood of a vintage race car. So I built this bike with various inspirations from race vehicles of the 1960s-70s.

First up is the color choice, I chose red for the engine block, brushed the aluminum of the side covers, white for the frame, and Ford Sonic Blue Pearl with white stripes for the body, To me, it has the right bit of old-school and still true to Honda HRC colors.

This bike started as a 1979 GL1000 that I picked up running, with current registration and a bad clutch, for $500 on craigslist.

First thing I did was mock up the tail section and front fairing and try to find the correct shape I envisioned. The fairing is a EMGO Viper quarter fairing, but its mounted on a custom fabricated subframe that houses the gauges and electrical as to remove weight from the forks.

The motor is mosly stock, although completely rebuilt, it has Camshafts from an early 1976 GL1000 for more top end power, and the carbs are GL1100 units with tuned slide needles and jets for the cams. I installed an electric fuel pump, drag header exhuasts with turnout chrome tips, K&N air filter inside stock airbox. I also upgraded the clutch to a higher performance unit with uprated springs. The ignition is a DYNA S powering two GL1100 coils, the alternator is a uprated unit from a later-model GoldWing.

As far as chassis goes, I welded the factory weak points (open seams on stamped parts, etc). I rebuilt the front end with higher preload and heavier oil, and the front brakes got an upgraded master cylinder for better brake feel. the rear shocks are 14" aftermarket heavy duty shocks. The front rim was a 19" but got swapped out for an 18" off a later goldwing so I could run a 120-90-18 in the front, and a 130-90-17 in the rear.

I believe I played to the bikes strengths, It's a heavy bike no matter what, it's never going to BE, or HANDLE, like a CBR. It's a Muscle Bike from a different era. Massive acceleration, and that's about it. Too many builders slap GSX-R front ends on their bike in an attempt to drag a classic bike into the modern age, I try to stay closer to the original idea of the motorcycle.

Electrical: I wired the bike from scratch with a wiring harness of my own design. Every electrical component gets its own fuse, it's own appropriate power supply, and its own switch to manuallly turn it on and off. The wiring system is double-redundant and relay controlled. The factory wiring was "good enough" on a mass production scale, but had weak points, as do all motorcycles from the 70s, I had the time to do it properly, so I did.

Overall, its a fun, quick, muscle-car-inspired bike that gets a lot of attention at car shows, less so at bike shows. Car guys really "get" my intention with this bike, while motorcyclists glance over it as it isn't the same generic cb750 they love so much.

This bike is now sold to a new owner who appreciates the aesthetic direction. He rides it every single day and it's still going strong, over a year later.