Looking at 95 trike goldwing

[turtle]

My wife is looking at a 95 Goldwing trike and trailer . What do I need to look for when assessing this unit not up on gold wings. It belonged to her husband who passed away so I don't know what she knows as far as maintenance records but will ask. What are the pitfalls that this bike has all bikes have known problems please any advice would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

[utadventure]

My friend has a Goldwing 1500 and indicated that the alternator on the 1500 are an issue. He has replaced his twice.

 

Dave

[bostonlawman2003]

My friend has a Goldwing 1500 and indicated that the alternator on the 1500 are an issue. He has replaced his twice.

 

Dave

 

Are you sure your friend doesn't have a 1200? They are notorious for charging system problems.

 

I put 30,000 miles on a 98 1500 that I bought in 2004 and had not a single problem with it before I was t-boned on it. One year I wasn't able to ride more than a few 100 miles because of a surgery, I had to have the carbs cleaned the following spring, let me tell you, that is not a job you want to pay for. It is very labor intensive and if I remember correct was something close to $500. This of course was before I knew of the magical potion SeaFoam which I now run through the bike a few times a year and of course put in when she goes into hibernation.

 

My brother has a 97 1500 and he has well over 100,000 miles on it, again, with no problems other than general maintenance.

[Yammer Dan]

I was thinking it was the early ones in the 80's with that problem and it required pulling engine to fix. 95 it was fixed....I Think..:Avatars_Gee_George:But don't take my word for it we have plenty of experts on that bike.

[MiCarl]

I don't know if alternators were a problem on the 1500, but they are easy to replace. They're similar to an automobile alternator - disconnect the wire, pull 3 bolts and the whole alternator lifts off the engine.

 

Carburetors on them are a HUGE job. Make sure it's not gunked up then take care of it so you never have to pull them.

[cowpuc]

Like already mentioned earlier,, carbs are a monster.. Honda did a bang up job taking care of the stator replacement dilemma of having to pull the engine for that BUT they also moved away from one carb per jug where you could get at em to a carb system buried between the frame spars - similar to our V-4's only way tighter and harder to work on.. One of the little issues sometimes overlooked when test riding that becomes a major with the 1500's has to do with the "accelerator pump" on the carb system - ride it, make sure its warmed up to operating temp and then "feel" for a hesitation while giving it throttle thru the gears. If you do feel hesitation beware that the carb has gotta come out and, as mentioned, not a fun job.

Also,, and one of you guru's PLEASE correct me if I am wrong, I am thinking those were still interference timing belt motors.. Easy to replace but ya wanna make sure you do so if there is no record of it as it would be a shame to loose a motor over a snapped belt..

One of the things that I really liked about em was the reverse drive lever set up.. It wasn't to long ago that a VR friend put @Eck and I in touch with a friend of hers who was having problems with his 1800 wing trike.. Found out that he accidently had pushed the button for reverse when it was in gear and locked up his scoot. Cant remember exactly what the final outcome was (Eck will probably remember) but I do know that I have since looked at that set up on a 1800 and could see how - if a person got distracted when going into reverse - easy it would be to make that mistake.. Being more of a "keep it simple" type of guy and letting grand kids climb on my scoots like I do - I think I would prefer the lever..

Concerning the trike itself.. Been lots of debate around here between straight axle and independent suspention.. I have yet to ride an independent but have put some time in on straight axles (built one for a neighbor, have a neighbor with a HD Free Wheeler and have ridden a number of Demo Tri-Glides.. IMHO - the straight axles can have a tendency to jump around a little on rough road surfaces - especially pot holes in corners. Been told (and makes sense) the independants have more of a stay planted feeling. Saw an ad not long ago for a Hannigan (think it was) independent that came off a wing - the ad had pictures of the rear end they were selling.. Looking at how it was built (AMAZING OUTFIT) I could see why I have had many folks tell me that my staying planted theory was spot on - quite an outfit.. Anyway,, might want to check under the machine and see what make of trike kit it is - thinking the Independant would be worth more (I highly suspect you would find that out to if you price a new Hannigan outfit)...

Thats all I know, my brain is empty - hope it helps in some small way Lawman,,, did I say Lawman,,, I meant Turtle !!

Puc

Edited August 2, 2016 by cowpuc

[turtle]

Well I think I will be adding a Goldwing Trike to our stable on Saturday . It is a 93 with California trike kit and trailer we are trailing up north to Milwaukee area to pick it up only 10.000 miles. This the wife's gift to herself red with flames so if you see us coming back from up north we will be coming down Ill. side hoping stop and see my buddy The Diamond Cut Guy.

[Yammer Dan]

Hey Mike!! TAKE SOME PICS!!! I guess I'm going to be the last person on this site to go to 3 wheels!!:bang head:

[djh3]

Nope dont think so Dan. I'm not even thinking about it.

[Pegasus1300]

I was thinking it was the early ones in the 80's with that problem and it required pulling engine to fix. 95 it was fixed....I Think..:Avatars_Gee_George:But don't take my word for it we have plenty of experts on that bike.

actually it was fixed in 1988 with the creation of the 1500. The alternator is on the left side and is easy to remove.. Also very reliable. It is the 1200 with the engine removal alternator fix. The biggest problem with 1500s is it probably has a solid axle with drum rear brakes and a standard steering neck which will make the steering hard. I had a 1990 Goldwing SE for 5 years and 50,000 miles. It ran well did everything a Goldwing was supposed to do but I never liked it and replaced it with a 2012 Spyder RT last year which I really like.