Blank Canvas

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
1,358
Reaction score
492
Points
83
Location
Lebanon, PA
Country flag
I picked this one up in October: a 1984 GL1200 Standard with less than 7,500 miles on the dial.

IMG_20131007_160713_918_zpsa4ef3b11.jpg


I am told that the mileage is correct, and everything that I see makes me believe that it is.

I was sure that I was going to keep it naked and use my dressed up GoldWing for longer trips, but now I am not so sure. The added power this bike has might be too much to pass up! I do know that I want some saddlebags for it and I was leaning towards soft bags, but it seems most of those are lined with gold!

I have a set of Vetter bags in the attic of the garage that just might be put back into service and being able to lock them is always a plus. The only problem is that it will take some work to get them to mount up to this GoldWing. I had to make some minor modifications to the mounts (GL1000) to get them to fit the GL1100, so making them work on the GL1200 will take more than minor modifications.

The next long road trip I have planned is July, so there is plenty of time...
 
Nice bike Brain. Are you thinking of a fairing also or just bags perhaps? I have not seen a 84 with a Windjammer on it yet. I think it would look pretty cool. Not sure if the bracket from a GL1000 would work. Unfamiliar territory for me. All in all great find.
 
No fairing... for now. If I do, it will take some work to get it to mount. It came with a small windscreen, but I probably will get a bigger one.

I dug the bags off of the attic to take a quick look and the mounting frames are going to take some work. The rear is wider so the wrap-around piece will need to be lengthened and the tubes that mount to the rear foot pegs will need to be shortened by about three inches on each side AND the angle of the dangle will need to be adjusted so that all the lines match up. When it is finished, I am hoping to have the lines on the front of the bags match the rear of the side covers.


Now, if I can just find the time to do the work that needs to be done, and get it to turn out like the picture I have in my mind...
 
Rear View (2).jpg

Hey Brian,
I took the saddlebags from a gl1000 and got them to work on my CM450a. All they need is just a little coaxing...
1983 Cm450a.jpg

And some bending.
 
Tom, are the saddle bags and trunk covers brown or black? I can't tell from the pic. If they are not brown have you considered color matching them? Your bikes flows so nice with the fairing, tank, and side covers. It would look super all matched up..
 
The saddle bags and trunk are the same color as the fairing and lowers, they are actually burgundy.
 
Please tell me the tank isn't burgundy.... I must be losing my mind. I do love browns...

:bankhead::bankhead::bankhead:
 
Nope, the bike is the original two tone brown. The 1982-83 Hondamatics only came in 2 colors, black or brown. The burgundy on the Vetter parts are faded and closely match the bike. The only way you can tell is if you are up close or just at the right angle.
P1000065.JPG

In this picture you can see the color difference.
 
REAL! I dont even know what to say.....but I need a new years drink! I may just whip out my rusty ol' photoshop this weekend. (notice I didn't say tonight). ;)
 
Too cold to ride too much today, and I had to work to try to keep these old ladies on the road, so I was only able to spend a little time in the shop today. So, this is the look I am hoping to achieve:

th_IMG_20140101_101728_362_zps2853400e.jpg

It won't be too hard, but this is what I am looking at for modifications:

th_IMG_20140101_101657_358_zpsb1fb91e4.jpg


To get the bags to be perpendicular to the ground:

th_IMG_20140101_102003_147_zps32da3d40.jpg
 
Tom,
Is your right side pocket cover a Vetter original or was that something that you did?
 
Last night I FINALLY had a chance to work on this some more. When I got the bag mount on the bike and cut the forward brace, here is what I had:

IMG_20140114_170330_194_zps76b5a200.jpg


So, the question was: where to mount it to without too munch bending... Notice that bolt that is holding the muffler in place and the other bolt hole right above it? That looks really inviting. I just needed to fab a bracket out of some steel and then weld the forward brace back together again (I do not claim to be a welder, and don't get enough practice to do really good welds, but it will do):

IMG_20140114_180558_849_zps220069d5.jpg


The only thing left was drill a final hole and then bolt it all together and see what I come up with:

IMG_20140114_182743_162_zps5a877c96.jpg


I'm happy! I just need to paint the door panel, the mount, and the figure out what I'm doing with the "chrome" brush guard.

One side done, now on to the next.
 
Looking good:-) Must be camera angle but it looks like the bag is almost touching the muffler. Burnt a hole in my partners bag once and have been on the look out for that ever since.
 
Back
Top