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New owner, what to look for, 85 LTD
I just purchased an 85 LTD that I will be picking up sometime this week and riding back to Iowa from Erie PA. The bike looks to be in very good shape (purchased on Ebay) and the owner says that it runs great. It has a poor boy conversion and it has been used and also seems to be fine. I have a 79 Goldwing that I have ridden a lot except for the last 3 years. I know some of the quirks of the 79, but have been told that the 85 LTD is a whole other matter. I would appreciate it if some of you, who are more expert than I would be willing to let me know some of the things to look for, and any advice at all is appreciated. Thanks J R Ackley
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#1 07-14-2013, 10:28 AM,
welcome to the forum from mid md/pa area

by any chance is the PO a member of this forum,if so you can search for posts he may have made,or some of us may know him

if he's done the solenoid mod and the poorboy alot of the inherit problems with the ltd has been bypassed,i would ask him whem the last time the driven flange on the rear wheel was greased,also hopefully the mc has E3 tires

bring it to our yearly meeting in canada,sudbury this year and we'd be glad to check it out for you
1987 Aspencade 129K
1986 SEI 93K
2014 Tri-Glide HD 17K

Hancock,MD
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#2 07-14-2013, 11:52 AM,
(07-14-2013, 10:28 AM)jra1100 Wrote: I just purchased an 85 LTD that I will be picking up sometime this week and riding back to Iowa from Erie PA. The bike looks to be in very good shape (purchased on Ebay) and the owner says that it runs great. It has a poor boy conversion and it has been used and also seems to be fine. I have a 79 Goldwing that I have ridden a lot except for the last 3 years. I know some of the quirks of the 79, but have been told that the 85 LTD is a whole other matter. I would appreciate it if some of you, who are more expert than I would be willing to let me know some of the things to look for, and any advice at all is appreciated. Thanks J R Ackley

Learn to use the digital compressor properly, it can be quirky as it gets old and the check valves gum up which need cleaning you'll know when this happens because the rear suspension won't pressurize,its not broke just needs the valves cleaned, It has a manual air fill valve inside the right side cover for the rear and a fill valve left side of the steering head for the front. Lots of computer interface plug connections in the Faux tank they get dirty after years of use a good quality electronic spray cleaner works on the plug connections. We found if the digital speedo starts acting up thats the first place I go,unplug the connections in the Faux tank and plug them in again this often works to re-establish the connection from the speed sensor coming from the front axle.If the engine starts running crappy,a bit of black smoke meaning running rich and the fuel mileage drops it often means the TPS sensor (Throttle position sensor)has changed its value. its a very touchy resistance factor in the TPS which can change with time. Mine is still good at around 100k miles but my sons 85 LTD. TPS started acting up (his has a lot more miles) he figured out how to adjust it rather than buying a new one since he's a mechanic.
This bike is awesome thats why we have two of them. with TLC these bikes will be running long after many others have gone to the bone yard.The issues I've mentioned are no big deal they arn't weak points rather just what may show up on a 28 year old machine as a result of time and use.The engines are awesome.
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#3 07-14-2013, 12:07 PM,
(07-14-2013, 12:07 PM)sparky65 Wrote:
(07-14-2013, 10:28 AM)jra1100 Wrote: I just purchased an 85 LTD that I will be picking up sometime this week and riding back to Iowa from Erie PA. The bike looks to be in very good shape (purchased on Ebay) and the owner says that it runs great. It has a poor boy conversion and it has been used and also seems to be fine. I have a 79 Goldwing that I have ridden a lot except for the last 3 years. I know some of the quirks of the 79, but have been told that the 85 LTD is a whole other matter. I would appreciate it if some of you, who are more expert than I would be willing to let me know some of the things to look for, and any advice at all is appreciated. Thanks J R Ackley

Learn to use the digital compressor properly, it can be quirky as it gets old and the check valves gum up which need cleaning you'll know when this happens because the rear suspension won't pressurize,its not broke just needs the valves cleaned, It has a manual air fill valve inside the right side cover for the rear and a fill valve left side of the steering head for the front. Lots of computer interface plug connections in the Faux tank they get dirty after years of use a good quality electronic spray cleaner works on the plug connections. We found if the digital speedo starts acting up thats the first place I go,unplug the connections in the Faux tank and plug them in again this often works to re-establish the connection from the speed sensor coming from the front axle.If the engine starts running crappy,a bit of black smoke meaning running rich and the fuel mileage drops it often means the TPS sensor (Throttle position sensor)has changed its value. its a very touchy resistance factor in the TPS which can change with time. Mine is still good at around 100k miles but my sons 85 LTD. TPS started acting up (his has a lot more miles) he figured out how to adjust it rather than buying a new one since he's a mechanic.
This bike is awesome thats why we have two of them. with TLC these bikes will be running long after many others have gone to the bone yard.The issues I've mentioned are no big deal they arn't weak points rather just what may show up on a 28 year old machine as a result of time and use.The engines are awesome.

Thanks so much Sparky. That is just the kind of information that I was looking for. These are things that I would not have had on my radar, and they can make all the difference. J R

(07-14-2013, 11:52 AM)neoracer Wrote: welcome to the forum from mid md/pa area

by any chance is the PO a member of this forum,if so you can search for posts he may have made,or some of us may know him

if he's done the solenoid mod and the poorboy alot of the inherit problems with the ltd has been bypassed,i would ask him whem the last time the driven flange on the rear wheel was greased,also hopefully the mc has E3 tires

bring it to our yearly meeting in canada,sudbury this year and we'd be glad to check it out for you

Thanks neoracer. I will hopefully see him on Tue. and will ask him if he was ever a member here. I will also ask about the driven flange. In fact I just put a new starter in my 79 wing and took it out for a test drive and I thought that I had lost the clutch, but it might be the flange, never thought about that. It just wouldn't go. Trailer home and left in garage. I'll have to check that out. JR
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#4 07-14-2013, 12:54 PM,
Us carburetor GL's have very small jet ports which can gum up and cause poor performance, thus requiring the NEED to ride the bike. EFI may or may not have a similar requirement, but it's a great excuse to go riding.

I would start with hitting all the general maintenance items first which would give you a good base point, and:
air filter condition
lubed splines
timing belts
dog bone
PoorBoy - done
take note of disc thickness and brake pad thickness
color of brake and clutch fluids
clean the bike thoroughly put some miles on her and check for leaks

start compiling a list of second source part suppliers, especially your EFI regular maintenance parts like the fuel filter.
There may be members here who can help you with that.

Congrats and welcome to the forum.

-Ride On
enjoying the view from the saddle....... due mainly to the people and information found within this site
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#5 07-14-2013, 02:07 PM,
I use a Frame fuel filter #G3969, no modification of bracket needed, just a longer bolt. Works great. I did a poor boy conversion on mine when I got it. No other problems other than the usual little mess around with things, cleaned the switches for air comp/radio/suspension. Did have replace bearings in rear, not much of a job either once you get the rim/tire off the bike. A bottle jack works very well to raise the swing arm for removing the axle{bolt}.
Almost 10k miles since I got it just under a year back. 34k on the clock now.
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#6 07-25-2013, 05:14 PM,


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