1983 GL500

WD Forte · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 Jun 2010 Karma :

I have a 'new' bike.
It's a 41 year old 1983 Honda GL500 and that makes it tax and MOT exempt
It ran out of tax and MOT in December 2016 and it's been stowed away ever since in a mate's garage.
He's been living in Vietnam ever since and came back to clear out the garage he was renting and on impulse I bought it from him.
It was too cheap to say no to TBH.

The clocks say a mere 14,500 mile and the MOT history supports this
so it could have a lot of life left in it although as the speedo cable is broken
and he was mostly using it like this as local runabout,I suspect its actual mileage is probably closer to 20,000.
AFAIK it was running fine before failing the mot running out of tax
and him going away

https://i.postimg.cc/BnFbmxFs/GL-in-van.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Y9CpBgvv/glunload.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/QNPjvFhM/gland-yp.jpg
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bikers smell of wee

WD Forte · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 Jun 2010 Karma :

It was easy enough to by pass the ignition switch and make a temporary one
and I picked the lock on the tank cap to get it open using a rake
I made from a hacksaw blade.
A new aftermarket ignition switch and locking tank cap are easy and cheap to source
and obviously wont use the same key, but that's not that important right now.

After removing the fairing, tank, seats and panels and stuff I checked the oil and coolant levels and whipped the plugs out and used a wee scooty battery and jump pack to
spin up the motor a few times to circulate oil while watching the oil warning light.
When it was going out quickly I put the plugs back in, rigged up an external
fuel supply and tried to start it.
I really thought it was going to be struggle to get running as I didnt touch the carbs but it fired up on the second attempt with some choke !
Not exactly silky smooth and well balanced but good enough to run in its own
and runs pretty damn well too with no smoke or nasty noises.

https://imgur.com/QLmfH4w.mp4

I'd say its condition is 'complete but shabby' but at least I now know it's a runner and
I'm compiling a list of issues that need addressing to make it roadworthy
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bikers smell of wee

A100man · World Chat Champion Joined: 19 Aug 2013 Karma :

blurredman · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Sep 2010 Karma :

Super ghey
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 17k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 9k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 38k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 50k.