Scotty G’s Garage: 1975 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing
It’s been almost two years since I’ve done a Scotty G’s Garage installment, that’s crazy. What has happened to the time? I have gotten a few different vehicles since the fall of 2021, mainly motorcycles or other non-four-wheeled vehicles. The most significant of those vehicles is this first-year 1975 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing. It’s a heavy beast that weighs four times as much as I do and is smooth and fast, at least for 1975 technology.
We were at my dad’s aunt’s house in 1975 when I saw my first Honda Gold Wing, and it looked exactly like this one, although it was probably a little nicer because it was brand new. I had never seen anything like it, having learned how to ride on a 1967 Yamaha YL-1 Twin Jet 100. What do you mean the “gas tank” isn’t the gas tank? My 12-year-old brain (it isn’t much bigger now, sadly) couldn’t comprehend what that meant. A motorcycle gas tank is a motorcycle gas tank, isn’t it?
It actually isn’t in the case of the GL1000, the gas tank is accessed from underneath the locked top panel as seen in this photo. 12-year-old mind blown. There’s a little molded plastic tray for the tool kit, the owner’s manual, an insurance card, a sandwich, or whatever else you can fit there, and you can see the gas cap with a red dot on it on the lower left of the second photo. There’s a little drain hole there in case you put too much in, so it wasn’t foolproof, but the hole is a belt and suspenders solution to getting rid of the excess gas.
Under that plastic cover is the air cleaner, and two knobs for lowering the sides of the “gas tank”. What?! It’s a good thing I didn’t know that as a 12-year-old kid or I could have been scarred for life. Here’s what’s on the right side: the coolant reservoir for the radiator. What?! A radiator on a motorcycle?! You’ll also notice an emergency kick starter that you can plug into a spot and kick the engine over in case the battery goes dead. The left side cover on the tank houses a bunch of 1970s-looking electronic parts that I’m hoping never give me any trouble.
The seller reportedly restored this Gold Wing a few years ago and kept it in his collection. He runs a vintage motorcycle shop and he zeroed out the odometer at that time. It now shows 153 miles, or it did a few days ago when I took these photos, it’s a bit more now. One odd thing is that the neutral light still glows a bit when it’s in gear, and the gauge lights don’t seem as bright as they should be. I need to dig into that. The restoration, in general, was definitely not a Pebble Beach-quality job by any means, but it’s the nicest one that I’ve seen. The engine was totally disassembled and rebuilt to factory specs and it runs like a watch, once it warms up for a minute or so.
1975 was the first year for the Gold Wing and they came in either red or this beautiful teal color, and they didn’t come with factory bags, a faring, a trunk, or any of the luggage and touring goodies that you generally associate with the Gold Wing.
The engine is Honda’s 999-cc SOHC flat-four, which had around 80 horsepower and 61 lb-ft of torque. It’s probably ancient and slow compared to today’s motorcycle engines, but for coming only six years after the moon landing, this was crazy stuff for a motorcycle. I’m used to my 49-cc mini-motorcycles, or my 1976 Honda CB200T, so this thing is a monster in comparison. At just over 600 pounds, it’s literally four times my weight and isn’t easy to wheel around in a storage unit along with a few other bikes, but it’s been fun to own. I’m debating on whether I should keep it or not, any thoughts?
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Comments
Beautiful.
Yes, too 😎 🆒️
Bought a ‘75 XT500 new (1st new bike ever), and saw a brand new GL1000 at the local drive in that night. Four OPPOSED cylinders? SHAFT drive? Gas tank really wasn’t the tank? Crazy, man..
Amazing bike then and yours is also amazing, identical to his for the most part.
“Power cruiser”? Never thought about it until that night and when Vetter introduced the frame mounted windshield it became the Japanese answer to the BMW and HD touring bikes, with arguably better suspension, performance and to some end reliability.
The naysayers will swear the Milwaukee pledge or uphold the Old Continent sneer towards “UJM’s and Japanese Junk” but the GL took the Black Bomber one step further to crest new heights in affordable touring machines.
Some of us ride bikes, not brands..
Nice ride, Scotty. Hope to see you out there on the road with whatever you’ve decided to ride that day someday.
The fastest I ever went (125 mph) was on the back of my friend’s Gold Wing exactly like this one.
Nice bike Scotty & while I pride myself on hooligan sport bikes there is a spot for this beauty. On my 59 yr old self I have a good angel on one shoulder & the devil on the other telling me a ZX12 or CBR 1000 will fall into my hands & of course the Good Angel is asking why don’t I consider a Gold Wing !
Naturally, when I was informed of this purchase, I nearly plotzed. I had this exact bike, so settle in,,again. I realize, my views on foreign makes contradicts itself sometimes. Being from “Harleytown, USA”, one might think a GoldWing would be the last choice in road bikes. Not so, and here’s why. In ’75, Harley, with its AMF affiliation, was lower than kelp roots. Americans were still marveling at the Honda 750, already challenging Harley, along comes the GoldWing to put the final nail in the coffin. At $2900, it undercut a ’75 AMF ElectraGlide by almost $400 bucks, and was a much better cruiser. Like the 750, almost overnight, a GoldWing was the bike of choice for any cruising, and not many remained stock like this. Touring on a GoldWing was an aftermarket sensation. Mine had the usual setup, a cheap fairing, with radio, and a trunk, I put almost 100K miles on that bike. It never failed,,,unlike a certain Harley I had.
Early GW bugaboos include, but not limited to, cam belts need replacement often, or scrambled eggs, water pumps tend to leak, big job, pray the alternator doesn’t quit, as I’ve seen GWs with an external GM alternator, pray the starter doesn’t fail, as the kick start is practically useless,( and eliminated on the Interstate), fork seal fail, tube tires, steering head bearings, replaced the driveshaft, kind of poor riding position, tippy at a stop sign, typical “Honda butt” riding it, but overall, normal repairs for 100K. Then, I bought my ’85 FXRT, that was KIND of like a GW( even got jeered about that once) and while not as dependable as the GW, I loved my Harley. I went bikeless for several years, rode a guys CX500( that I didn’t care for) in upstate NY, and upon return to Wisconsin, bought an ’81 Interstate, that I also loved. It was everything the ’75 wasn’t, with upgrades too numerous to mention. THAT was a sweet bike, and brought it with me to Colorado. It developed an annoying misfire that I just couldn’t find, and besides, I was uncomfortable riding it here anyway, and sold it.
MY ADVICE,,,sell the GW and put the attention into the Yam 750. This is cool, but I think should be in a museum. As equipped, it’s not much fun, and probably worth more to someone as the classic it is with a velvet rope around it.
I have this bike in my garage. I used to ride it and loved the power, reliability and nimbleness when compared to other large bikes. Mine has the Hondaline faring and Samsonite bags. It would be a great restoration project for someone with the time and interest.
@Larry – Send it in and we will help you get it sold! https://barnfinds.com/sell/auction/
Keep the bike, Scotty.
Wait. You only weigh 150 pounds? Really? :)
Hey Scotty. Love this bike! It’s similar to my ’80 CB650C, except with more power and technology. I feel like I could just climb on and ride away when you give it to me instead of selling it. Just kidding… sort of. Make sure you enjoy it before it leaves the stable!
In the summer of ’75, I owned an almost-new Honda XL250. I rode over to the local dealer to check out the new GW. They had several on the lot, and I sat on one. Very heavy, but a low enough seat for my 30 inch inseam leg. If I’d had a little better credit score, I probably would have bought one. (Sigh)
Thanks, folks! Ha, you’re better in math than I was in high school, Boatman. At 6′-5″ tall and 150 pounds, you could say that I never quite got the freshman-15 syndrome that everyone else did.
And, I forgot the actual Barn Finds’y photos! Here’s the seller uncovering it after it was in a shed behind his shop for the winter.
And a close-up.
Honda called the color “candy blue green” but I prefer teal, too. Every last Thursday in warmer months in Sioux Falls, April-October, there’s a get together for motorcycles at a restaurant. I take pictures of all the bikes and put them on my Facebook page. Last time last week I didn’t drive the 45 miles from Iowa because it was nearly 100F! The time before there were 16 brands presented, around 80 bikes. Strangely enough, there were only two Harley’s, one Indian, one beautifully restored ’75 Norton Commando 750, one Rickman Zundapp 125 (mine), Aprilia, Ducati, BMW, Royal Enfield, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, my buddy’s unique Simplex/Yamaha, KTM, Moto Guzzi and Triumph.
Anyway, A friend commented saying he had an old Goldwing, and would I come and haul it away? Like Scotty, the ’75 GL1000 weighs 4 times what I do, 5’11” and 130. But, it was free so… 3 of us pushed the pig onto my trailer and when home I unloaded with my MF compact loader tractor. It awaits my British buyer, DK Spares Kevin Neesam, who has bought over 200 rough parts bikes from me within the past 1.5 years, including my 1940 DeSoto S7, of all things! He’s not aware of my teal, first model year GW that’s not all that bad, in case any of you are interested in a project… It won’t cost more than $500 plus you’ll get the tour for free. 30-ish miles from both I-90 and I-29.
My first Goldwing was the 1000, full dressed by Vetter, I think. They had an accessory kick start crank which I wish they had carried on to the 1100.
I bought the 1000 after selling my CX650 turbo. I needed to start cruising before I killed myself on the turbo. Nasty speedster…
Scotty, great writeup!
Please, please, please do a write up of your XS750. I want to take a stroll down memory lane.
You’re way too kind, sir. I need to dig it out of long-term storage and get it back on the road, but I’ve written about a couple of similar ones.
https://barnfinds.com/?s=yamaha+xs750
Yes, I remember those write-ups and enjoy every time you feature one of them, brings back good memories.
I love that old picture of your XS 750 – time to get it back on the road!
I have owned and ridden a 1979 Gold Wing for nearly 30 years. It is still my daily rider. It’s plenty fast and reliable enough for regular use and most parts are readily available for the few repairs that it has needed over the years. Replace the timing belts about every 5 years or 30,000 miles and change the oil and coolant regularly and it will be pretty much bulletproof. You’ll hear people tell you about carb issues but if you ride it regularly, they are unlikely to give you issue. Check out Randakks.com for some great general early GL1000 info.
The mid 70’s Hondas are nostalgic and beautiful rides. Love this one … my heart however belongs to a 75 Honda CB350.
CB350 1968-73. Maybe you’re thinking of CB360 1974-76? Actually, 1974 CB360 w/drum front brake and CB360G w/disc front brake. 1975/76 CB360T w/disc front brake. 1976/77 CJ360T sporty kick start only, drum front brake, 2 into one exhaust. 1974/75 CL360 with high pipes & drum front brake. IMHO, the 350: CB/CL and SL ran circles around the 360s. Honda went backwards with the 360 as far as quality. The 350 2-cylinder engine was the best engine Honda ever made. The 1972-74 350-4 cylinder was just OK.
These were great bikes for the times…but those times have past. It was a novel thing, now. Today, 80hp is just to establish cred.
I have an old-duffer’s commuter bike, the NC700X…and it’s got 55 hp, and weighs 300 pounds less (470 pounds). Probably performance is equal; and I get 68 mpg.
And the original Gold Wing wasn’t simple. Water cooling; this series didn’t have it, but Gold Wings went in for FI, early. With its own makeup-compact-sized computer unit, which by today’s standards was kludgy and unreliable.
So, as an historic monument, it’s beautiful. As a machine to ride…only to an event that’s geared around historic motorcycles.
Huh? ALL Goldwings are and were water cooled. If properly maintained, these early bikes will run well forever. While they aren’t my cup of tea, their owners love ’em and for good reason, they’re bulletproof Honda top notch quality. You could ride one of the first ever built, like this one, from Maine to California and back without worry. They’re that good.
Fuel injection on a ‘wing began with the 1984-87 GL1200. Carbureted before then.
I knew a retired motorcycle cop became well acquainted. He wanted me to work for him in a couple of his companies. Anyway, he was a motorcycle cop 25 years and then ran some businesses that were doing very well. He started out on HD, Triumph then Moto Guzzi. He said that Honda is fantastic engineering, and could catch most anything. But any quick or tight maneuver, that weight became a handicap. Later I knew other motorcycle cops (it was a club that had a lot of motorcycle cops into motorcycles), who some swore by BMW Flying Brick, another guy said BMW oil head. One Kawasaki guy, and CB1100. That was a really interesting heavy but fast bike. I think they preferred the CB1100 to the Gold Wing on the job, but liked that smooth Honda to take long road trips on probably best. But the cop bike of choice for Honda was that 10 speed CB1100. Not fastest dragster bike, but on the highway, very stable very fast I think 145mph top speed, which was impressive back then.
The nimble quick motorcycle for the Police was always the KZ1000p. some 100 or 1300. Hard to outrun them i found out. It is still my favourite bike to ride.