Back in 1998, when I still lived in Houston, I bought a 1982 Honda GL1100 Gold Wing Aspencade for $200. Sounds like a steal until you realize what the previous owner had done to it. He had taken the fairing and luggage off and sold them, hoping to turn the bike into some kind of cruiser. Because the models with the Hondaline fairing had the lights built into the fairing, the bike had no signals or headlight. I bought an '82 Standard Wing, which is a street bike with no fairing or luggage, that didn't run too well. Between it and eBay I managed to piece the first '82 together into a workable bike. I put Progressive shocks and fork springs on it and rode it all over Texas and even to Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. It was ugly as sin, but it worked.
I got rid of it in a trade, but in 2002, I acquired it back. I bought a single-carb conversion kit that came with an intake manifold and a one-barrel Holley carb. It replaces the stock 4-carb setup and connects right up to the stock intake manifolds. Here it is:
The carb needs rebuilt, but nobody sells a kit for it; however, a company in California will rebuild it if I ship it to them, so that's my next step. While it's away, I will be pulling the heads off and replacing the head gaskets, o-rings, and timing belts.
I also bought a 1981 Gold Wing back in 2002, with all matching luggage and fairing, and installed them on it. The '81 didn't run, I just bought it for the plastic. Here is the current state of the bike:
It has the Vetter fairing, trunk, and saddlebags on it, but the false tank, seat, side covers, and fairing lowers are off.
Once I get it all back together and running, it will probably be my daily driver. At 40 MPG, it will sure make the trip to work and back a lot cheaper. And with two wheels rather than four, it will be a lot more fun.
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