It has warmed up a little today and is dry so I pulled two bikes out to run some Seafoam through them before they hibernate for the winter. As they were running in the driveway I decided I may as well take them for a ride. This is definitely the last ride of the season. It wasn't the temperature, it was the wind chill

It has been unseasonably warm this week and this might be the last time I get to ride before I put the bikes to bed for the winter so I took the '78 out for some exercise.

When the rear brake locked on the last ride, everything got cooked. The disc warped and the caliper was toast (literally). John Bennett, the Goldwing guru, in Welland fixed me up by rebuilding the master and replacing the rotor and caliper. The last time the master was rebuilt it must not have been cleaned properly for the caliper to lock on again. Today there were no issues with the rear brake (yea)

The sun was setting and my rear brake locked on again. I just got it off the highway at an off ramp. The rear disk was red hot and I had to wait about half an hour for it to cool down so I could limp home.

I have a crusty shelter lid from my '79 that I am going to fill the indentation that held the Goldwing emblem and use it on the second '78

This is the tail that I started awhile back for the newer '78. The cardboard framework has been filled with drywall compound. I don't really need another 1000 tail right now so I probably won't finish it. I will use it for inspiration for the 1100 tail I plan on building though.

The side cover and shelter look huge with this fairly light colour. I painted the side cover black and will likely paint the remainder of the body a dark colour

The stock bars are off and the cables and brake line need to be rerouted. Bars with a couple of inch rise like these are good because the clutch cable can run in front of the guages without any tight bends. The excess brake line is routed outside of the headlight ears and ultimately will be replaced with a shorter one. The throttle cables are run straight out the front between the forks and make a nice large diameter loop around to the twist grip which accommodates the excess cable

I'm changing out the stock mini ape hangers on the 1100. There are locating pins on the handlebar controls which require a hole to be drilled on the bottom of each side of the new bars

How not to stay married. The bodywork has been primered and is drying on the dining room table

All three fiberglass pieces are bolted together

The seat pan is roughed out and the T nuts are bolted into place, ready for Bondo Glass. Beside the seat is the other fiberglass piece that holds the tail light and licence plate.

The seat pan is constructed the same way. Masking tape is laid down to protect the tail, then spray glue and tinfoil, then fiberglass

More spray glue and tin foil in preparation for fiberglass

It probably isn't clear what I'm up to here. I'm making a fiberglass bit that will hold the tail light and licence plate. A couple of T nuts have been Bondo Glassed onto the underside of the tail and the tail light and licence plate support are taped into place

We're getting ready to hit the road after a great day in Port Dover. We're all Harleyed out

Another Friday the 13th in Port Dover. My black '78 won't idle without stalling so I rode the new '80 1100. I rode down to Brantford with Jay, on his Yamaha dual sport, and met my brother on my ex '82 1100 and his friend Tim on his Suzuki brat. My daughters drove down with Steve's kids and met us there.

The seat was removed so I could Photoshop a new tail on the 1100. The tank doesn't come up between the frame rails nearly as much as on a 1000, so the seat can be lower. I tried to incorporate the stock tail light into the new tail but it just too huge; it messes with the flow

The pin has been welded back onto the side cover with my soldering iron with the custom tip and welding rod made from a piece of ABS drain pipe

This 1100 had a broken side cover pin like my '82. The PO said he had to re-glue it every year. After I took possession I noticed he had also whittled the pin down so it wouldn't offer as much resistance when the side cover was pulled off. Time for a definitive solution like last time: ABS welding

This is the bike to date. There is a nice sweep to the headers and mufflers. I need to figure out the bars

The bikes are back in their nice clean, power washed home

It was time to clean out the garage so everything had to come out

The brackets have been made and mounted. It looks easy but it took awhile to determine the angles and the offsets

I found some Harley mufflers online that almost bolt right up to the stock headers. They are mocked up with a pail and a gas can to determine the orientation that works and that I like. Now I can figure out 2 brackets that use the stock mount points on the inside of the mufflers and hang the mufflers from the passenger peg mount points. Don't tell anyone I have Harley mufflers on my GL ; it will ruin my street cred. My brother knows and the comments are relentless