Windjammer/GoldWing Facelift

[brianinpa]

When I bought my '81 GL1100 in 2010 it looked (for the most part) like this:

I say "for the most part" because it did not come with the saddlebags... those were the first thing I bought and put on soon after buying the bike. In addition to the bags, I also gave the bike a new paint job and changed the bags and trunk to several different configurations over the past six years.

Currently, it looks mostly like this...

Since then, I have changed the motor/drive train from an 1100 to a 1200, swapped out four carbs for one, and changed how the bags are mounted. I have the bike performing and running the way I want it to for something that is 36 years old, but something has been bothering me all this time... the fairing.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the Windjammer, but I am just not a fan of the look of Windjammer SS, IV, or V. I don't like the built in turn signals, so it's time to start working on that.

A few years ago I picked up a WJ III that has been sitting in the attic of my garage just waiting to be put to use. It's time to start...

Last night I brought the fairing into the dining room and began the disassembly process, so here we go!

 

[kjell lindberg]

Subscribed!
Keep us posted of any progress!

 

[Kynan C.]

Last night I brought the fairing into the dining room and began the disassembly process, so here we go!

Dining room huh? Sounds like the ultimate working place.

 

[brianinpa]

When it'starts 25 degrees in the garage, you have to do what has to be done.

 

[brianinpa]

This weekend I had to work on a few things everyone that gets these old fairing deals with... Swiss Cheese. Holes, holes, and more holes.

As I documented in my Vetter Rooster Fairing repair thread, Black ABS Cement works wonders. In this case, I couldn't reinforce the holes, so I backed them with some duct tape and just filled them up.

I just need to scuff up the shiny spots to make them match the surrounding areas and then I think it's good enough for another 41 years.

Next up, replacing the GL1000 turn signals with GL1100 turn signals (it took a little bit to find a pair of those as they are just about as rare as hens teeth) and repairing the side markers and the rest of the wiring harness.

 

[kjell lindberg]

If You have problems in the future to locate spareparts for Your Goldwing you could try these two suppliers for a large selection of Honda spares try:

www.cmsnl.com
Classic Motorcycle Spares Netherland

www.davidsilverspares.co.uk
David Silver Spares.

(I hope it's okey to write these links, if not please Moderstors just delete them.)

 

[brianinpa]

Those two vendors have been in my favorites for a long time. Everything I've needed I've been able to find everything on this side of the pond except for one part fort my 1200 standard. For that I had to go to CMSNL.

 

[brianinpa]

Last night it was down to the wire...

I hate that when I open that left side tonneau cover I always see a birds nest of wires. On my WJ IV, I have added to the mess with the horn wiring, an auxiliary fuesbox, and several extra wires going to toggle switches for auxiliary lights, a rotary switch for my C5 ignition, and a push button switch for my garage door opener.

Because of all this, I don't use the left side of the fairing for anything. Well, for this fairing, I am going to try and change that. I pulled this out...

And this is what I am going to put back in...

Eventually, the entire wire bundle is going to be covered with the braided sleeving, so keeping everything neat and tangle free shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Scott-E]

I've never figured out how wires tangle themselves up without help. Put a few wires in a closed box and when you return later they will be tangled and tied up in the most horrible knots.

 

[brianinpa]

And to make it even more harder to understand, the bundle is even taped together, but it still looks like a birds nest!

 

[brianinpa]

41 years is a long time to build up a few layers. I started sanding a little just to see what I could find. It looks like the original color was silver, then blue, and then the maroon. If I was going with the original graphics, it wouldn't be too hard to figure out where they go.

DA Sanders sure do make this sanding work easy.

 

[desert_SOHC]

Nice! I need to repaint the bags and truck color tiles on mine.

 

[brianinpa]

Today I was Danielson learning from Mr. Miyagi... sand the fairing, sand the fairing, sand the fairing. Dammit! I'miss still not done.

 

[brianinpa]

In addition to sanding the fairing, I also started the process of converting a set of turn signals that were never designed to be mounted to a Windjammer to be mounted. It required cutting the stems off of a GoldWing rear tail light housing and welding on a nut. These still need some work and I need to work on the filler piece, but they are pretty close.

 

[desert_SOHC]

looks good.

 

[roncar]

...I also started the process of converting a set of turn signals that were never designed to be mounted to a Windjammer to be mounted. It required cutting the stems off of a GoldWing rear tail light housing and welding on a nut. These still need some work and I need to work on the filler piece, but they are pretty close...

Might just be me, however, the turn signals seem to stick out quite a ways. I'd look at narrowing them up some. DOT rules say they need to be at least 16" apart (center to center) and 4" from the headlight (edge to edge.) OEM on a GL1000 they are 18" and 5".

"DOT rules 49cfr571.108"

But that may just be me as they appear to be similarly located as the ones you removed.

 

[brianinpa]

That's some of the work I still need to do... shorten the stems. I want to get them tucked in a little better.

 

[roncar]

One of the WJ3's I've acquired had the rectangular lights installed and they are very short. I've re-purposed them for a rear mount, but you can see how short they are in these pics. Unfortunately welding is not in my skillset, so I wouldn't have had this option if someone else hadn't already done it.

 

[brianinpa]

I've already cut the tabs down an additional two inches and just need to weld a bolt onto the tab. Initially I had a nut welded on, but with the shorter length of the tab, I need to go with the bolt instead.

There is a previous repair to the fairing right where the right side turn signal mounts that throws the turn signal at a weird angle, so I will need to be careful with the spacers that I make to fill in the opening.

 

[brianinpa]

Well, it appears that Spring may have finally sprung here in PA, so I was able to spend some time in the garage this weekend. I spent a lot of time filling the holes in this WJ III, I wanted to make sure that I don't put any new holes back into it.

Let's see... I have a charging port (the WJ III has a built in cigarette lighter), and switches for the C5 Ignition, garage door opener, driving lights, Fiamm horns in the fairing (which I will not be relocating into the WJ III), and I also need to add another switch for the radiator fan. That's a lot of holes! So, rather than turning the fairing back into swiss cheese, I mounted a piece of plexi-glass to the handlebar risers that I can attach.

So , here is the before...