Oil ????

With the changes in technology and the advancements of chemistry today's oils are very different from those of just five years ago. It use to be conventional oil "organic, come from the ground, dead dinosaur"oil was all there was. Now...there's conventional oils, blends, synthetics, bio oils... just where will it stop... I have had several people ask what would be the best oil in or for my bike.... Now let me qualify my answer first... If it is "NOT" mentioned a specific brand of oil that would have certain additive that are needed for your bike ....Oil is oil is oil.... But which works best for you? When I first started doing oil changes on my Wing I only used 30 weight oil and changed it every 3000 miles.... Then I got doing some research and found oil is only changes for one or two reasons. It gets dirty or losses its viscosity..... Conventional oil will get dirty and loses its viscosity at about 3000 miles. That's a given... Synthetic Oil will never loses it viscosity and will get dirty. But, there are synthetic oil companies out there like Ams Oil that will test your oil for little to no charges and let you known when the acids are getting too high or the Ph is getting off and then advise you to pull the plug and do a complete change out. But, until then a filter change every 3500-4000 miles and a top off is all you really need (if you need a top off other that the amount of oil loss from the oil filter change then you have issues). Now, if you coming from the conventional oil side to a synthetic here are a couple of things you need to look at or do... Usually a synthetic is a lighter blends like a 5W-20 or a 10W-30. And because of its pure inheritance it will seep into areas trying to protect all of the metal parts its suppose to. So you could find little oil spots on the drive way or garage floor. NOT TO WORRY. If the bike has lets say over 30,000 miles on it and it not ridden all the time (you know the weekend warrior type)then a bottle of Marvels Mystery Oil will reinflate any worn or dehydrated gaskets. Today's gaskets are neoprene and the Marvels will swell them up like a balloon and the drips will stop (usually with in about 200-300 miles). As for the filter the smaller the microns the better. Most bike oil filters are just one size and that what we have to deal with.... I go about 10,000 miles between complete oil changes....And just change out the filter... Here is what you will notice: Your wet clutch will engage more solidly, you millage will improve (not 30-40%) but about 15 miles per 6.5 gallon tank. The bike will run quieter.The bike will run cooler (go through death valley, Las Vegas or Phoenix in the summer time and tell me that doesn't matter. If you decide to run synthetic stay 100% synthetic. Unless you decide to do a blend of convectional oil and synthetic... Look on the bottles and you will see some say blends and some say pure synthetic. The blends are mixed with conventional oil and synthetic. The synthetics are 100% just that synthetic. After running synthetic for a while, lets say 5-6000 miles here is a little safety feature that synthetic has that conventional will never touch. Let say you have a oil pump failure a complete loss of pressure.... You will be able to get the bike down the road and to a safe place and not have to abandon it on the side of the road.......

Charging System

When I first go my 1500 I could not figure out why my lights were soo dim and that every time I sat in stop and go traffic or a lot of stop and go city traffic the bike would stall and sometimes not start or be sitting in freeway rush hour (why do they call it that when no one is rushing any where) traffic and it would just quit and not start, then have to push it off to the side and wait for AAA to jump it and hope I would be able to get it home. And, as you already know with out some modification the full running light systems comes on the minute you turn the key on and they have to be on by law in some states every minute you are on the road and that just puts that much more strain on an already not charging battery.

Well in checking around it was found that the 1500 stock charging system (alternator) DOES NOT charge below 1000 RPM's. Well guess what?.... that's below idol speed of about 750-800 RPM's......

That just paranoid me to set in any kind of traffic at all and every night I was hooking it up to the charger to make sure the battery was up and full for the next day of hand-to-hand (if you have driven Los Angeles traffic you know what I mean) driving...

In doing some checking around I found the "Fire Storm" charging and battery system.

This is a very easy replacement of the stock alternator and battery system. If you know your way around a screw drive and a couple of wrenches you can do it your self in about an hour. Cover off to cover on. This would include the battery change out.

The system puts out enough power that at factory set idol it will run every conceivable electrical system on any 1500 out there.... yes even the bikes who's owner believe they need to have there bikes look like a landing runway at an international air port. All of the stereo amps you can put on the bike. The driving lights(offical on or off road), LED's, strobes, lasers, NASA tracking equipment.... the works. And it will do it at an idol....No kidding, idol.

Now you CAN NOT use a regular lead acid battery the alternator will fry it. You MUST use a gel cell that the alternator will handle or the one that comes with the alternator in the box.

I have had mine in for over five years. Have driven in the mountain snow and Death Valley in the summer. Drive it all day long in Nevada and not one starting, idoling or running electrical issue to date....

Water Pumps and Cooling System

A while back Honda was running into a rash of failed water pumps and blown out water jacket gaskets. After calling in about two hundred of the failed water pumps and not finding out why. They then asked Honda dealer to call them directly when they had received a Honda with a failed water pump or blown out water jacket gaskets. Well, after about another two hundred on site with water pumps still on the bikes and still not finding out what was up they were completely stumped. They then found that the water pump or water jackets that had failed had also come from owners that had serviced their own bike and the cooling system. They then started asking what coolant was reintroduced back into the cooling system and it was found out to be auto coolant. It was then found that auto coolant has silica in it to actually help clean out any cooling system deposit that could be acquired in the cooling system of the cars cooling system. It was at that time found that the silica that was meant to help blow out/flush out the build ups in the cooling system of the auto was actually destroying the cooling systems of the bikes. Once this was discovered and a bulletin was sent out that this was indeed the cause of the water pump and water jacket gasket failure the problem for the most part went away.... That is why you will now be asked if you have a failed water pump or water jacket gasket and you changed your own coolant and did you put "auto coolant" in the bike or "Honda coolant". If it is found that auto coolant has be reintroduced into the coolant system it will void your water pump and water jacket gasket warranty. You will also now find this warning in your new bike owners manual......

Again, the 1500's blaze the trail........

Keeping Them Rolling

My name is Dutch Rice and I have been the owner of a GL 1500 for over eight years now.

I have been riding for over thirty.

I am also a past Gold Wing Road Riders Assistant Chapter Director

This page will be devoted and dedicated to the GL1500. It is highly regarded by owners current and past as the best GL made as yet. I am told by many that have sold their GL 1500 that they wish they had them back.

In these postings to follow I will be covering hard to find parts and where to get them. The ever allusive "safety" chrome for the GL1500. "Keeping Them Running" tips and a lot more. If your having an issue trying to find a part let me know....

This page is set up for the riders of the 1500.... Any topics you would like looked into or needs not being found to keep you on the road let me know and I will do my best to try and find the answer....

If you have a ride (non profit only) you would like posted let me know.