Possible Overstretched Shift Drum Stop Spring

[bs175dths]

Well, I have been instrumental with the ending of the heat wave hitting the West coast.....
... the engine halves have been joined and the rear cover has been attached. All fastening bolts have been torqued and I waited a few days before putting the engine back into the frame.
With the time change I have lost available working daylight.
With 55 years under my belt, I have lost some ability to see up close.
Since my garage is full, I store my bike(s) outside so I hesitated about putting the short block in the frame.
Murphy's Law - what might go wrong, will go wrong.
I made some time available and was able to 'slip'? the short block into the frame......
....then the weather changed, it got cold and it rained!
I have the short block completely covered and the bike is covered as well.
Every other day I uncovered the engine and oiled the exposed cylinder walls (heads not installed yet).
The front engine cover has been cleaned and is ready to be installed with the new Honda gaskets. The water pump was replaced about 2000 miles ago so I know that is good.
The heads have been cleaned and the valve guide oil seals (with 150,000 miles) have been replaced with new oil seals made of Viton.
The next steps:
head gaskets and other o rings from Honda
install the heads
then all the rest of the stuff, carburetors (already cleaned, covered and on the shelf), cooling system (thermostat was changed with the water pump) and ALL the other little things required to just start and test my repair........
It would be fun to get another 50, 75, 100, or 150,000 more miles from this 31 year old design!

-Ride On

[bs175dths]

I just Love the way Life gets in the way of projects.......

Since the torsion bar is not installed, I have taken the opportunity to repair/replace the aging wires which run over the top of the engine block, specifically the wires for the oil pressure sending unit and the water temperature sending unit. In both cases the insulation at the terminal end has cracked and fallen off. The insulation is cracked in several location along these wires and oxidation (resistance) has settled in. In addition to the replacement of these old wires, I am extending the leads on the radiator fan to facilitate removal and installation of the radiator for service to the radiator and the alternator belt. (Don's external alternator upgrade.)
This past week I finished replacing the old wires (with same color coded wire) and the wire extensions. I have tested the operation of the fan and fan indicator light with the manual switch to ground, and all is functioning as it should.
Next comes the torsion bar and transmission cover......

unless life wants to take time away.

-Ride On

[bs175dths]

Transmission cover and associated gaskets and o rings
Torsion Bar
Final drive gear cover
Fuel pump
Slave cylinder
Emissions vapor canister
Water tubes
and associated wires and hoses......

as time permits, I am getting stuff done.......

[bs175dths]

About a month later and I am at a point where I could start the engine, and it did start.
It sounds like two of my hydraulic lifters have air in them, but before I get into the heads, I want to recheck the timing marks.
Since I have an external alternator, there is a bit more to remove.....

I thought I would give you folks an update.

[bs175dths]

Good Morning Boys and Girls
The source of the clatter was the timing was a bit off on the right head.
Because I have an external alternator the radiator, alternator belt and alternator drive pulley need to be removed before getting to the right timing belt cover.
That is no biggie since many repairs require removing two or three things to get to the thing you need to repair.....IAC - sure enough, the timing marks did not line up correctly.
Reassembling and she fired right up!
I am planning on re-torquing the heads per Randakk's procedure (Thanks for that suggestion) and then give her a bath and some detail work.

Since some hard parts are obsolete, I looked for hard parts with low miles:
a nearly complete transmission with less than 27K miles
oil pumps with less than 30K miles

All available gaskets were replaced with Honda parts.

Since I have just shy of 150K miles on the bike, while I had her open I cleaned out as much residue as I could without doing a complete disassembly of the case and crank. The problem I was having was with the one shift fork as the cylinders still looked good, the rings of the exposed pistons still looked good, with excellent throttle response and averaging 44MPG. I replaced the valve guide oil seals as my oil consumption was high and it showed on the plugs, head, tail pipes and oil level.
Oil passages were inspected and cleared of residue and blockage. I had an increased idle to eliminate the sound of the main drive chain. The oil supply nozzle had restrictions and blockage. The oil passages in the block, the oil pipe and its banjo bolts, the oil distribution plate in the heads, exposed oil passages in the heads when the cams were removed, the transmission's main shaft oil passage and the list goes on, I think I touched them all.
When I first bought this bike and had her running again, I was concerned the heads were doing too much 'talking' for a Honda design with a zero clearance valve tappet design.
She is much quieter now.

I started this back in July of 2015 and here it is March 20th, 2016 running again and a few body pieces short of being complete.
Items required for the job included:
persistence - Thanks Mom and Dad
support - Thanks to my wife Debbie
technical advice - Thanks to this site, the administration past and present

A Special Thanks to Vic for the Site creation, his Wife and his children for supporting a man who created and maintained this site, through thick and thin.

Do I have a love affair with this 84 GL1200I? What do you think?

I hope this stands as an example to all those who read this thread, don't convince yourself it can't be done simply because you don't know. You may not know now, just read. Do some research. Put in the time to read and do research. Be methodical and organized. Nibble at a project and don't take such a big bite.
Progress is progress regardless of the 'speed' at which it gets accomplished.

I want to once again thank all who are involved with this site for its awesome amount of information.

I still have a few hours before the house and neighbors are awake before I can go outside and 'play', but it is going to be a VERY good week this week.

and BTW, the shift barrel stop spring was not overstretched...............

[SIR tricky]

Nice to see that your getting it ready for the season.

[bs175dths]

Here in Southern California, 'the season' is nearly year round so I have missed a boat load of good riding weather and it has been a HUGE adjustment....
I'm so close to finishing I can taste it which means I need to maintain composure so I give the bike the time to cross the 'T's' and dot the 'I's'.
I need to finish everything before I get my fix.

[bs175dths]

Here it is May 10, 2016 and my last post was March 18, 2016.

Life has been busy, busy, busy and today I am home from work because Life tells me I need to go to the funeral of a friends, friends Husband who passed last week.

It has now been about three weeks since my repair was completed and the results are in:
nearly 600 miles on the repair and all systems are functioning fine
charging
water temp.
shifting
mpg is where I left it in July of 2015 - 42 to 44 mpg

there are no unusual sounds
I attribute less valve train 'talk' to the cleaning and blockage removal throughout the oil galleys of the oil system.

I think I am going to call this a success.

Total $ cost was $410.27 which includes $60 for Honda Piston Sliders (2x @ $30 each)
ALL gaskets, oil seals, orings and such are Honda parts.

A conservative labor estimate is 28 hours. You can do the math given your local labor charge per hour.

Do I love my GL1200I? I think the answer is obvious.

There is more to this thread than the love of this bike...... If I can do it, you can do it. It may take you more time, or it may take you less time, time isn't the issue.
The issue is your faith in your ability.

My approach was to break the repair into two steps: internal parts and external parts
I concentrated on getting the internals repaired and the short block back together. The exploded parts views were studied and lists were made until I knew I had all the parts needed to repair the inside. I spent a ton of time shopping for the right used parts - 1984 model, complete assemblies, reasonable prices, it was all taken into account.
Example: my donor transmission came out of a bike with less than 27K miles. The transmission was complete and selling for $56 and the seller paid for the shipping from Michigan to California.

A similar approach was used to get the outside done.

Tasks were broken down into first-steps-first and I allotted myself double the time I thought it might take.
Daily progress was made, even if it were to simply install a gasket and an oil pump, and the progress was marked off the list and the next task was added to the list.

There were setbacks and times of frustration, but the end result is on the street with a $400 investment.

I want to thank Vic (RIP) and his family, and all those who make this site possible.
I hope this journey of mine will inspire others to attempt repairs they feel are beyond their capabilities.

-Ride On

[collector]

What are piston sliders ? Poorboy

Here it is May 10, 2016 and my last post was March 18, 2016.

Life has been busy, busy, busy and today I am home from work because Life tells me I need to go to the funeral of a friends, friends Husband who passed last week.

It has now been about three weeks since my repair was completed and the results are in:
nearly 600 miles on the repair and all systems are functioning fine
charging
water temp.
shifting
mpg is where I left it in July of 2015 - 42 to 44 mpg

there are no unusual sounds
I attribute less valve train 'talk' to the cleaning and blockage removal throughout the oil galleys of the oil system.

I think I am going to call this a success.

Total $ cost was $410.27 which includes $60 for Honda Piston Sliders (2x @ $30 each)
ALL gaskets, oil seals, orings and such are Honda parts.

A conservative labor estimate is 28 hours. You can do the math given your local labor charge per hour.

Do I love my GL1200I? I think the answer is obvious.

There is more to this thread than the love of this bike...... If I can do it, you can do it. It may take you more time, or it may take you less time, time isn't the issue.
The issue is your faith in your ability.

My approach was to break the repair into two steps: internal parts and external parts
I concentrated on getting the internals repaired and the short block back together. The exploded parts views were studied and lists were made until I knew I had all the parts needed to repair the inside. I spent a ton of time shopping for the right used parts - 1984 model, complete assemblies, reasonable prices, it was all taken into account.
Example: my donor transmission came out of a bike with less than 27K miles. The transmission was complete and selling for $56 and the seller paid for the shipping from Michigan to California.

A similar approach was used to get the outside done.

Tasks were broken down into first-steps-first and I allotted myself double the time I thought it might take.
Daily progress was made, even if it were to simply install a gasket and an oil pump, and the progress was marked off the list and the next task was added to the list.

There were setbacks and times of frustration, but the end result is on the street with a $400 investment.

I want to thank Vic (RIP) and his family, and all those who make this site possible.
I hope this journey of mine will inspire others to attempt repairs they feel are beyond their capabilities.

-Ride On

[K Bergen]

What are piston sliders ? Poorboy

I believe they're what most call ring compressors.

[roscoepc]

Nice report!! Keep on keepin' on!!!!

[neoracer]

good job and excellent posts and repair

[joe turner]

Glad your bike is running ,just in time for spring !

[bs175dths]

Ring compressors are thin bands which compress the rings to allow the piston and rod to slip into the cylinder.
A piston slider compresses the rings to allow the two cylinders in the one half of the cylinder block to slide over the pistons.

Typically you install one piston and rod at a time then bolt the rods to the crank.
For the GL series, the pistons and rods are already attached to the crankshaft. The pistons sliders compress the rings on the two pistons, the crank needs to remain stationary, the pistons need to remain in an upright position while the cylinder block half is lowered over the pistons.

The crank side of each cylinder has a little valley in it which coincides with the peak of the piston slider. One fits into the other which facilitates the alignment of the piston to the cylinder.
Once the piston is in the cylinder, the slider slides down the rod and then the slider can be opened and removed from the cylinder blocks before joining the cylinder block halves.

On-line and the service book use one or two assistants and/or an engine hoist. It can be a one man job (I did it) but it takes longer and the body is sore in places you weren't aware of before.

The GL1000, GL1100 and the GL1200 use different sized piston sliders, so you need to use the correct one. I was lucky enough to find a guy who sold two sliders, one at a time.

It is late so I will post pictures at a later date.


I hope this answers the question.

-Ride On

[bs175dths]

May 2016 was my last post on this subject.
Here it is February 2017 - Life getting in the way of my hobbies is a fact of Life.

Well, here is the short version - I am selling my 1984 GL1200I.

Here is the long version -
The transmission repair, engine refurbish went well, but I tripped at the goal and the clock ran out.
I took the suggestion of re-torqueing the heads after a couple hundred miles and I must have done it wrong because she is consuming oil like crazy. At 1000 miles the bike started to run on three cylinders and in the next 2 miles, she was running on two.
Number 3 and 4 spark plugs are oil fouled. Number 4 considerably more than number 3.
I removed the valve covers wanting to check on the valve stem oil seals I replaced. Hard to see.
I removed the left cam, stuffed number 4 cylinder with rope and removed the lifter springs.
Both intake and exhaust valve stem oil seals are seated properly.
Reassembled, brand new spark plugs and she fires right up, valves are noticeably quieter (I cleaned the oil galleys while I had her open) but a smoke screen was generated at the tail pipes.
Still averaged 44 mpg for that 1000 miles, but oil consumptions was doubled!!!!
My guess - the oil orifice o rings got damaged when I torqued the heads after the break-in period.
It is an easy fix: new head gaskets and o rings.

There is one more ingredient to this recipe - my wife.
"You are spending a lot of time keeping that bike running."
"It's a 32 year-old motorcycle and it needs attention to keep it running good."
(here it comes..........


....... wait for it)
"I am your ** year-old wife and I need attention to keep me running good."
(there is no rebuttal kids!!)

Her suggestion is to sell the 32 year-old design and get something newer. NOT stop riding but an upgrade.
So, I am in the process of doing just that.
In addition to my 84I commuter, I have a 84 Standard, rolling, running. Missing seat, some hand controls, fender and lights. The standard has 45K in grease pen on the final drive housing. Based on the condition of the chrome and front fender paint, and the smoothness of the engine, I am incline to agree, this is the mileage on the parts bike.
The plan is to part out the Standard, sell the Interstate and get something newer.
Probably not a Goldwing because I want to be able to see through the motorcycle. (old school that way) and the new wings are covered in bodywork.

IAC - it has been a fun ride with you folks. I have enjoyed my 8 year ride with my 84I and this forum. I have taken a lot of information from this forum, and I hope I have given back more than I have taken. I hope I have helped others as others have helped me.
If you take away anything from this thread - know you can do ANYTHING with guidance, time and patience. You CAN do it, just do it right. Don't cut corners.

Special thanks to the admins., present and past. (Sundance is one name which comes to mind)

Special, special thanks to Vic (RIP), his wife and children for starting this site.

I'm not leaving as I want to still be able to give back, I just won't be on a GL1200.
Thanks Folks.
-Ride On

(...then again, if the parts engine is not sold, and the commuter wing is not sold, it wouldn't take much to take out the 150K engine and put in the 45K engine. hmmmmm?)