Goldwing Ride to Lassen National Park

[Spitfire44]

Here is a brief report from an early October ride on my 1984 Goldwing. Before I get started on the ride report, wanted to give little history on the Goldwing. I inherited the Goldwing from my Dad in the early 2000’s. It was my first motorcycle. Early on in my ownership I had charging problems. The stator failed and that would have required removing the engine to repair. Thanks to the interwebs I got plans to install a small Chevy Sprint alternator. With a little fabrication, I solved my charging problems and gained capacity. Since then the bike has been trouble free. Oil changes and tires. 126,000 miles and still going strong.

Back to the story… With two of my friends we left on a Friday headed for Chester (north shore of Lake Almanor). My Goldwing, a Honda ST1000 and a Harley. Because of the load pipes, we made the Harley guy ride in the back so he could save lives from there :laughing.
Once we crossed the Benicia bridge the air quality started to deteriorate from the fires burning in Napa. 580-80-99-70. Got up to around Cresta on 70 and the highway was closed. Had to reroute through Paradise. Still lots of rebuilding going on and many vacant lots with for sale signs two years later. Finally get to Chester only to find everything is booked because of fire evacuees. Ended up with a room Susanville.

Saturday we ended up doing a counterclockwise loop through Lassen National Park. 44-Lassen-89-36. Sunday we headed back home with a detour thru Reno. About 950 miles in total.

I’ve thought about selling the Goldwing many times. But out on the open highway is its environment. It cruises nicely at 80mph with a comfortable ride and great wind protection. Think I need to plan some more long distance trips.

First three pics are from within the park. Last two are a couple drone shots before we entered the park.

 

[SFMCjohn]

:thumbup

fun trio of bikes ... the '84 Gold Wing looks great ... didn't they have an "Interstate" model back then?

always wanted one of the first-gen naked models ...
such a cool Honda engine ... :ride

pretty cool that it was your Dad's and your first bike ... :angel

 

[WoodsChick]

Because of the load pipes, we made the Harley guy ride in the back so he could save lives from there :laughing.

:rofl This line cracked me up!! :rofl

Love that whole area up there. Lassen is a super cool park to explore, and I imagine this time of year things are relatively quiet there.

It's nice that you're keeping the bike. How long did your dad own it?

 

[Spitfire44]

fun trio of bikes ... the '84 Gold Wing looks great ... didn't they have an "Interstate" model back then?

I think the Interstate was a lower finish level Goldwing. I'm amazed at the gadgets the Aspencade has. Air suspension, coordinated braking, adjustable headlight, AM/FM Cassette and CB radio :laughing

How long did your dad own it?

It had some miles on it when he got it. Probably only 5 years.

 

[Maddevill]

Nice pictures. I live 9 miles from Lassen Park. Rode through there last week to Lake Almanor. Park is fairly empty but there are still some people at Bumpass Hell. Getting colder but a beautiful time to visit the park.

Mad

 

[1962siia]

Sweet ride Lance! Love the harley in the back saving lives! :laughing

 

[auntiebling]

I love this
Mostly because there is a goldwing involved.
1984 was the last year honda offered a naked goldwing. Sure, there have been valkyries, f6b, and whatever but 84 was the last year a goldwing badged boxer engine bike was available from honda without fairings or bags at all.

Spitfire I hope you're doing the timing belts from time to time too!

i'd love to see a picture of your alternator conversion. i have a gl1100 that might have a dead stator (hoping it was just the infamous yellow wire connector) and rather than do a replacement stator i'd like to do an alternator. there are so many ways it's been done though i need to do more research

 

[Spitfire44]

Spitfire I hope you're doing the timing belts from time to time too!

i'd love to see a picture of your alternator conversion. i have a gl1100 that might have a dead stator (hoping it was just the infamous yellow wire connector) and rather than do a replacement stator i'd like to do an alternator. there are so many ways it's been done though i need to do more research

Timing belts were last done around 110K miles.

Before the alternator I installed someone's wiring harness that was supposed to fix the charging issues. Also got ride of the plug for the yellow wires and soldered them together. Long term the alternator conversion is the way to go.

Search for GL1200 Poorboy Alternator Conversion. Lots of threads out there. Not sure if anyone makes a kit. I fabricated and welded the mounting brackets. As well as turned a bushing on my lathe to mount the new pulley that drives the alternator. There is a small clearance issue with the fairing. But it was easy to adjust with a heat gun.

This install on a GL1100 is very close to the steps I had to perform.
https://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14362

 

[budman]

Sweet ride Lance! Love the harley in the back saving lives! :laughing

Agreed... on both :laughing

 

[gixxerjeff]

:rofl This line cracked me up!! :rofl

Same here. :laughing