This is my 1981 Honda GL1100 Gold Wing (now sold). Yes, I said Gold Wing. Well, at one time that's what it was. She has since been modified a wee bit. In the process she told me her name, Chaos. When I got her she was a Standard to which a Vetter fairing had been added. The fairing included a stereo. Well, I don't like fairings and windshields. I really like music but not on my bike. You could say I took her back to a Standard...plus a touch further. The tires were brand new Dunlop Elite II's which I hated. Couldn't wait to wear those things out, which if you've ever used them, takes a long time.
Currently:
Front fender - Harley (tight fit)
Rear fender - Harley Softail, cut way down, longer than the last one tho
Tail light - LED Maltese cross
Headlight - 5 1/2 JC Whitney (looking to replace with a dual setup)
Seat - HD Dyna, late model, recovered, needs refoamed
Saddlebag braces - Softail modified by Scootr and a pipe wrench
Sissy bar - made for unknown, Harley brackets modified to work, again by Scootr and pipe wrench
Pegs - Harley Kuryakn Iso pegs (blems)
Mirrors - cheap aftermarket
Clutch cable - Steel braided, Harley drum front brake cable (works and feels better than the stock one ever did)
Front brakes - Removed the stock lines, junction block, etc. and replaced with dual steel braided lines. Definitely a BIG difference in the front brakes now. I recommend this mod big time.
Coils - Dyna (HUGE improvement over stock)
Front suspension - seals are shot, needs new tubes due to rock chips (picked up entire front end on ebay and just waiting for time/money to finish)
Rear suspension - Progressive 412's (sometime in the future a set of struts will be made)
Saddlebags - Willie & Max, extremely abused, overstuffed and burned on pipes many times, still doing good, altho partially being held together with zip strips
Tires - Kenda, cheap, sticky and last good
Gauges - Removed all stock ones. Use a Battery Monitor from Electrical Connection to monitor battery condition. Headlight, taillight, and ignition are currently the only draw. Headlight is 110 watts tho. Bright driving lights coming soon. Ran a temp gauge for a short period (yes, this is a water cooled motorcycle) but so far I've not found one that can survive being out in the open in all weather. Cyclometer mounted to bars and magnet is mounted on front wheel. (Will be modifiying a spare maltese cross taillight housing as a gauge mount.)
Horns - Air horns stashed inside faux tank (discovered the horns freeze in real cold weather). I've discovered these aren't loud enough for the local brain dead drivers so these will be replaced with something much louder.
Paint job - Rattle can, Patriot Blue. Needs redone and I think this time I'll do it on a warm windless day. *grin*
Exhaust - Stock minus the baffles and rotten in places. Will be making my own pipes as no one sells anything but stock type pipes for this bike.
All told including the purchase price, under $2000. If you're curious about the amount of Harley parts on Chaos, don't be. Until recently everyone I knew only rode Harleys. So when something broke or was just too ugly to keep, the parts floating around were mostly Harley. *grin* Despite some folks thoughts, she leaked oil before adding these parts and doesn't now...well, most of the time she doesn't.
The previous owner had gotten her running and then for some reason she sat for two years. I actually bought two bikes from him, Chaos and a collection of boxes said to contain another GL1100. So far the parts in the boxes have ranged from the 1970's to 1983, from Honda to Kawasaki to Harley. Chaos had a touch over 64,000 miles on her when I picked her up and I've managed to add over 300,000 miles to her since then. She has stranded me once or twice in far off places but for the most part no real problems. Very capable of some rather illegal speeds and faster off the line than most people believe. My longest single day on her has been slightly over 1000 miles. She is in for some changes in the future. The front end needs new tubes and will likely get Progressive springs at that time. The wiring needs removed and redone. Apes are planned with new controls.
