1987 Honda Goldwing Interstate

Getting the bike home in the first place was a bit sketchy. I caught a bit of the second Snowmageddeon as I came out of Georgia and had a bit of a white-knuckle ride for fifty miles or so of ice. Once home, I had to figure out how to get the bike from the trailer to the garage. My driveway is sloped away from the house at a fairly steep angle, and I couldn’t get enough lift on the front of the trailer to make it possible to roll the bike off the back. I parked on the street, rolled the bike off, and attempted to start it, and that’s where things started to go wrong. While the bike started right up in the balmy 71 degree Florida weather, my 9 degree Kentucky night proved too much. It came really close to starting after repeated tries, but right when I got to the point where I was starting to think “Gee, I’m probably running the starter too much and need to let it cool for a bit”, there was smoke from the brand-new starter. So, I had to strap my winch to my workbench and pull the bike up that way.

I’ve been making a list of what I need to make this project go, but I don’t want to buy too much or do too much yet since I don’t really have a transferable title for the bike yet. KY is a notary state, and the Florida title is in the name of (hopefully) the guy that owned it before the guy I bought it from. I’m waiting to get a notarized title transfer form back so I know I won’t have to just part it out or try to find another sucker to buy it.

So far, my pick list looks like:

•  Fix starter and re-attach (the new starter overheated to the point that it actually cracked the magnets, but I might be able to piece it together with the original starter to make a working one)
• It’s spraying coolant from somewhere under the carbs. Looks like a gasket issue or something is disconnected
• The rear end is leaking fluid
• I need to have a new key made from the VIN if that’s possible. The current key is so worn that it doesn’t really want to turn
• New front brake master cylinder. Thee current one is held together with JB Weld
• Various bits of the front fairing are cracked up and missing and need to be repaired/replaced
• Radio doesn’t appear functional. It’s a hacked-in aftermarket that I need to do something about
• Torn seats and dried out leather
• Terrible mildew / boat bilge smell in the luggage
• Horn button missing
• Cracks in the instrument panel lens
• Windshield needs to be reattached
• Clock broken
• Missing bits of the side fairings
• Timing belts
• Replace all the fluids
• Lots of polishing
• Mirrors are mismatched and the right one is in bad shape
• Compression and leak-down test on motor to see how that is
• Paint is thrashed (and I hate the color)
• Various electronics not working (probably a result of the radio work)

My first goal — after getting the title square, of course — is to just get it to start up and run well without any leaks. Once that’s done, I’ll be able to take care of all the other bits a little at a time. I’m actually pleasantly surprised at what is actually working on the bike: the digital dash seems to be 100% functional, all of the lighting is working (except for some turn signal flasher issues), and most surprisingly the air suspension works.

From the Grassroots Motorsports forums classified section, I found someone who had a 1984 Honda Goldwing Aspencade for sale in Florida for $500 and a case of beer.  When I showed it to my wife, she told me that I’d be crazy not to go for it, so I made contact and over the course of a couple weeks learned about the bike.  The previous owner had a stroke after he had begun work on the starter.  Because of that, the starter replacement remained unfinished and the bike sat for an undetermined amount of time.  When the current owner was buying an unrelated car from the guy, he offered him the bike for nothing if it would fit on the car carrier.

So far, it sounds like the bike needs work, of course, but is in running condition.  The starter needs to be permanently attached, the exhaust is loose and needs to be tightened up a bit, and the carbs could use a little cleaning.  From the pictures, the windscreen is missing — but comes with the bike — the paint is a bit faded, there’s a little rust on some of the chromed bits, and it looks like the seat is torn.  It also has an aftermarket radio, but no indication if it works.

Right now, it looks like I’m probably going to borrow dad’s enclosed trailer and head out on Sunday evening, pick it up Monday afternoon, and be back home for dinner on Tuesday.  We’ll see how it goes!