---

v       8mm socket (1/4? deep well recommended)
v       10mm socket (1/4? deep well recommended)
v       3-inch extension (1/4? recommended)
v       Ratchet (1/4? recommended)
v       Gasket scraper (preferred, dull screwdriver may be used)
v       Pan (for draining oil/radiator fluid)
v       Rags and/or speedi-dry

Parts needed:

v       (1) Water pump gasket and o-ring set
Ø       (1) Front Cover Gasket 11391-371-306
Ø       (1) Water Pump Cover Gasket 11396-371-306
Ø       (1) Water Pump O-Ring 91356-706-000
Ø       (1) Water Pump O-Ring 91305-KT7-003
Ø       (2) Front Cover O-Rings 91312-371-013
v       (1) Mechanical Seal (from a Honda CX500 Turbo) 19217-657-023
v       (1) Mechanical Seal C/R 3952
v       (2) Shaft Bearings 6000 2RS

NOTE:
The bearings and one seal (C/R) 3952 are not available from Honda; you can get these from your local bearing distributor. The bearings are fairly common ones and will most likely be on the shelf. The seal on the other hand is not a
common one and may need to be ordered. Every o-ring is available from either the Honda dealer or any auto parts house (if you?re lucky). I would recommend the dealer as the o-rings are metric and not every auto parts house carries a full selection of metric.  The following is a recounting of my experiences and yours may be different. The bike has no body panels and due to this I am unaware if it is necessary to remove any body panels to complete this task.

Drain the oil and discard correctly.

Remove faux tank.

Drain the radiator fluid and discard correctly. Empty overflow bottle also.

Remove the bottom radiator hose.

Remove the water pump cap, held on with four 8mm bolts. You do not need to remove the small section held on with two bolts, the section the hose connects to. (If you do remove it, you will need an o-ring not on the list.)

Remove the front engine cover. This is held on with nine bolts with 8mm heads. One located on the top throttle side is recessed whereas all the others are not.  This one is easily missed if you are not careful.  Also the top couple will
require a thin socket due to interference from the frame cross rail. This is why I recommend a ¼" drive.  When the engine cover comes off pay careful attention to the location of o-rings, collars and dowel pins. All of mine stayed put but all came out with just a touch of my fingers.

Remove seal located in the front of the engine, which the water pump shaft slides into. This was not on the original list but mine was oval so I added it.

Turn the front engine cover over and remove the three 10mm bolts securing the water pump in.  You may need to tap the water pump out from the front. I used a socket and a soft blow hammer.  By now it was obvious that the cooling system
had never been flushed as it was home to a major amount of crud and deposits.   BTW, so far all of this is covered within the Honda service manual. From here on we go further than the manual suggests.

A small ¾ moon clip on the impeller shaft (located on the backside of the water pump) secures the impeller.  Carefully press this off. You don't want to hurt the shaft or the groove for the clip.  There is no part number listed for
the clip, as I was unable to find a replacement at any parts house. The available ones were either too large or too small. I reused the clip on mine (not really recommended).  A regular outside retaining ring of the correct diameter would suffice.  The ears would be in no danger of impacting anything that I could determine.  Remove the impeller.  You will most likely need to  'assist' it out.  Use a soft blow hammer such as a brass one or a plastic no-bounce one.  Mine was gunked enough I had to use a drift to drive it completely out.  Pay attention as the impeller comes out.  There is a collar on
the forward section of the shaft just aft of the impeller blades.  Make sure you remember its size.

Now you need to pull the water pump bearings from the water pump. There are two within it.  The forward one pulls out towards you and the other is pushed out thru the pump.  Use a socket, which just fits within the space. There is another collar between the bearings, again, remember the size. As you press this bearing out you are also pressing out the mechanical seal in the backside of the water pump.

(As you work clean the inside of the covers, the water pump mount area, etc. as well as possible. Clean all mating and gasket surfaces. My oil-bathed areas had a very slight sludge accumulation, next to nothing really. However the water passage areas were nasty. It appeared as if the bike had never had a radiator flush since it was new in 1981.)

On the water pump itself, remove the two o-rings and replace with new ones.  Insert the water pump into the front engine cover and secure with the three 10mm bolts.

Insert the new bearings into the water pump. DO NOT forget to place the collar in between these bearings. I inserted the forward bearing, then slide the impeller thru this and slide the collar over the shaft. Then I inserted the rear-most bearing over the shaft into the water pump. In order to make seating the bearings easier I used a lightweight oil (3 in 1 oil). Insert the mechanical seal (larger one, appears to have a spring inside of it) on top of this bearing. Seat the impeller completely and slide the ¾ moon clip in the groove.

Fit new gaskets on the rear of the front engine cover and water pump mounting surface (front of front engine cover). I used a very slight amount of silicon to hold the front engine cover gasket on. If you do this ensure no silicon is overlapping into the inner edges. I let it dry over night and trimmed, as needed the next morning.  As I used very small dabs there was nothing to trim.

Replace the old o-rings on the forward area of the engine along with any collars as needed. Should be two upper corners for the water passages, two around collars, and one on the water pump mount area. Insert mechanical seal
into front of engine where water pump shaft inserts.

Slide the front engine cover back onto to engine, being careful to line up dowels. Lightly tap the cover down snug. Insert and snug bolts down finger tight.

Replace the lower radiator hose back upon the radiator. Insert the water inlet portion of the water pump cover into the radiator hose and swivel the water pump cover into place against the front engine cover. Insert and finger tighten the bolts, which secure the cover.

Look around and ensure you have no left over parts. If no left over parts are found (which is what we hope happens!), then tighten the bolts. Once again the upper throttle side bolts require the use of a thin drive (1/4" works great) socket. I personally tighten every other one around the cover in gradual steps to prevent warping.

Fill system with 50/50 mix of anti-freeze/water and look for leaks. If none are found start the motor and monitor the flow, adding mixture as needed. If you are changing to something like Evans NPG, follow the instructions included with the Evans fluid. Once the system appears to be topped off, fill the overflow tank as needed, cap it and the radiator. Replace the faux tank and go for a ride. Check periodically for leaks and ensure the overflow bottle level is between the minimum and maximum level marks. Enjoy!

Total time should be less than one hour. (Bike with no extra bodywork needing removed.)

Recommendations:

Use a piece of cardboard as a template to hold the bolts as both the water pump cover and the front engine cover are held on with several different sizes. This will save you some time and worry when it comes time to replace everything.

Have plenty of rags and/or speedi-dry on hand, as no matter how well you drain the bike, there is more oil and water inside waiting for you!

Take your time. If there is sludge within the oil-bathed areas, consider a motor flush afterwards.  Inspect the sludge for metal particles.

RIDER
Product Test

The Flying Wing :  Supercharger Makes the Gold Wing a Pavement Wrinkler

Getting a small accessory firm off the ground floor has never been easy.  One of the first objectives facing any new business is to create product awareness with the public.  That usually requires coming up with some kind of a promotional gimmick.  Some use the traditional bikini-clad poster girl to open your eyes, while others plaster their products with big name endorsements.  These ploys, however, seem a little tame compared to what the fellas at CC Products use to stir up some attention.  They?ve got something that borders on the bizarre - an honest to goodness supercharged HONDA Gold Wing.  This hunk of rolling thunder is the creation of Chris HODGSON of CC Products.  You probably wonder what motivated him to take on such a project.  Well, that answer pretty much lies in the kind of products this Los Gatos, California based firm produces.  If you hadn?t guessed by now, they more or less cater to the high performance touring crowd.  For being in business just over a year now, they already have a wide range of products: roller cam kits and machined triple clamps for BMW?s, strengthened swingarms for all the shaft-drive bikes - fork braces for all 400cc and up machines, and naturally they?ve got the Gold Wing well covered with a full line of suspension components and accessories.  When it came time to test the suspension products for the Gold Wing, Chris realized that first he had to bring the Wing?s bad handling characteristics more readily to the surface before he could fix them.  We all know how that?s accomplished on Japanese bikes - you just pour on some additional power.

But why supercharging?  Why not something a little more conventional like turbocharging?  Well, Chris admits he was going for the ultimate shock treatment and the pure sight of a blower certainly provides that.  But in reality, he?s a firm believer that when it comes to force feeding motorcycle engines, especially a flat four configuration like the Gold Wing?s, supercharging is much more efficient and better suited to the task than turbocharging.  Having a bachelor?s degree in aviation management and a minor in mechanical engineering, Chris is well qualified to verse the pros and cons of each application.  He acknowledges the fact that turbochargers are excellent horsepower producers in certain instances - like on airplanes and big diesel rigs where throttle settings are kept relatively constant.  But like many of you, he isn?t ready to accept the familiar turbo lag that nags the turbo installation on motorcycles.

Supercharging on the other hand isn?t afflicted this way.  The compressor, being driven directly off the crankshaft, pumps essentially the same amount of charge for each revolution of the engine, regardless of speed, and because it is a positive displacement device all of this charge must pass through the engine.  So with supercharging there is no waiting for the power to ?come on?.  It is almost instantaneous the moment the throttle is cracked open.

As you might suspect, getting the application from paper to reality took some engineering prowess on Chris?s part.  The most laboring task was hand fabricating the intake manifold in just the right configuration so that all the mixtures flowed properly.  Then he had to remove the Gold Wing?s cooling fan and cut away portions of the cambelt covers to allow installation of the toothed blower belt and drive pulley to the front of the engine.  To restore some air circulation through the radiator, Chris resorted to the electronics world for a little help, utilizing a tiny pair of fans whose original purpose was to cool the insides of computers.

Actually the Gold Wing is probably one of the most applicable candidates for supercharging simply because of its widely spaced frame tubes and hollow tank.  It provides an excellent cavity for housing the 20 pound Magnuson MC60 blower and the accelerator pump equipped Holley/Weber two barrel carburetor.  This particular Magnuson blower displaces 60 cubic inches of volume with every rotation.  That makes it a little bit smaller than those used on the typical top fuel drag bike.  Chris also has it a bit undergeared with the blower turning 95% of crankshaft speed.  So in essence, this is rather a mild application supplying only around five to six pounds of boost pressure.  Chris intentionally kept it on the mild side so that all of the Gold Wing'? internals could be left totally stock.

Now some of you may still have the wrong impression about a supercharged Gold Wing.  All you can relate to is the drag racing jobs, sitting there rumbling at the starting line, spitting flames and nitro fumes.  That?s certainly not the case here.  I jockeyed this beast for a couple of days and can truthfully say it?s almost as docile as the stocker when it wants to be.  In the mornings, a couple of squirts from the accelerator pump easily brings the engine to life and it will sit there and idle just as patiently as a thoroughbred commuter bike. Oh sure, there are a few constant reminders that you?re riding something a little different.  For instance, there?s always that soft ?whine? from the blowers straight cut gears.  And at low rpm, you can sense some vibration and hear the faint clatter caused by slack in the blower?s drive line.  But otherwise, there?s hardly a hint of the thunder lurking within.  One of the alleged downfalls of supercharging is that it takes power to make power.  This bike pretty much disproves that assumption because believe it or not, under a gentle throttle hand it can still deliver 41 mpg.

But obviously what sets this bike in a class by itself, is the ungodly amount of power it produces.  This thing is a genuine asphalt wrinkler.  Chris claims he?s turned 11.8 second quarter-mile times aboard this behemoth.  I have no reason to doubt this either, because I remember how easily it stretches my arms when I cut it loose on a lone straight away.  You have no idea what it feels like to have 650 pounds of Gold Wing literally try and jump out from under you.  More weight would surely dampen this, but on a more practical note, it should be great for the heavy, fully dressed Gold Wings, including those that pull trailers.  The supercharger delivers the power immediately, evenly and smoothly and when weight gets up around the ton mark, it should greatly improve throttle response and make the Gold Wing more enjoyable.

As mentioned earlier, all this power was intended to bring out the Gold Wing?s poor handling characteristics.  Well, if it ever did handle badly, then such items as the CC Products fork brace, the strengthened swingarm and The Fox Superbike Shox that were added to the test machine certainly straightened that act up.  In spite of all the horsepower, this was one of the best handling Gold Wings I?ve ever ridden.

I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on this bike I chuckled with skepticism.  But now, after riding it, I?m inclined to think that supercharging a streetbike isn?t all that crazy.

CC Products will offer the supercharger system for about $2250 plus installation, which they expect to be $200 to $300.  That?s a healthy tab for improved performance, but just think - you won?t have to put up with those ?Lead Wing? jokes anymore.

(Company Address:   CC Products, 14431 Winchester Boulevard, Los Gatos, California  95030).

-  Rich COX
JANUARY 1983
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RIDER
Product Test

CC PRODUCTS? Single Carb Conversion Kit

The term ?maintenance free? is a buzzword borrowed from the automotive industry that?s fast becoming part of the motorcyclist?s vocabulary.  Many new bikes incorporate low or no maintenance features such as pointless ignition, self-adjusting cam chains and shaft drive with the new GL1200.  HONDA has taken a giant step toward making the Gold Wing truly maintenance free with the addition of hydraulic valve adjusters.  Now the only major routine maintenance chore left (aside from occasionally snugging up the cam belts) is carburetor synchronization.

Considering how much of the hassle of keeping the Wing tuned has been eliminated, most people would be satisfied with only having to sync the carbs.  But not Chris HODGSON, owner of CC Products.  HODGSON thinks this maintenance free mania should go a step further with the elimination of three of the Wing?s four carbs.  And his single carb conversion kit is compelling evidence for that proposition.

Retracing HODGSON?s line of reasoning, let?s see why the Gold Wing needs four carburetors in the first place.  Consider the average multi-cylinder motorcycle engine, equipped with a separate carb for each cylinder.  This layout provides more or less equal intake tract length among cylinders - critical to high rpm performance.  A single carburetor mounted on a manifold and placed in the center of and behind the engine, would feed the inside (nearest) cylinders more efficiently than the outer ones.  While this arrangement is satisfactory on a number of low revving, low output, four cylinder automobile engines, a high spinning motorcycle engine would be reduced to an asthmatic cripple at engine speeds barely above idle.

But the Gold Wing engine, points out HODGSON, is neither an inline configuration nor a performance-oriented power plant.  A single carburetor positioned directly above the engine would be equidistant from all four cylinders - ideal for low and high speed running alike.  So why does HONDA continue to equip the Wing with four mixers?  HODGSON suspects it?s a marketing move.  Motorcycles have always had multiple carburetors, and riders are used to it.  A drastic change to a radically different method of carburetion might scare off potential customers.

HODGSON makes his living being different, though, and the CC Products conversion kit won?t scare anyone but carb-synch gauge manufacturers.  Inside the kit is a Weber two barrel carb with a vacuum actuated secondary and a manual choke, and a one-piece cast aluminum manifold.  The same Weber is standard equipment on zillions of econo-cars all over the world.  Its 26 mm primary venturi gives economical cruising capability and the 34 mm secondary opens in response to manifold vacuum when a big handful of throttle is grabbed for passing or acceleration, automatically returning the mixing chores to the thrifty primary when the throttle is rolled back.

The manifold, HODGSON?s own design, also borrows from automotive technology.  Water from the engine?s cooling system circulates through it, surrounding each inlet runner with hot water, which maximizes fuel vaporization and minimizes warm-up time.  A special plenum ram design smoothes internal airflow and increases torque.  The manifold attaches to the stock HONDA intake spigots.  The only engine modification necessary to install the kit is cutting the thermostat housing to provide coolant flow through the manifold.

The kit comes complete with carb, manifold, air cleaner, and all water hoses.  Depending on how many accessories have to be removed to facilitate installation, your bike should be ready to run in about three (3) hours.  Aside from the housing, everything is a bolt on fit.  Stock throttle and choke cables are retained.

On the road, performance bears out HODGSON?s theory.  Throttle response is better than stock, especially on GL-1000?s.  There is cruising power-a-plenty, as much as, if not slightly more than, the quartet of stock mixers.  The well thought out manifold must be given credit for making the most of the smallish 26 mm primary.  The combination of the two is entirely up to the task of feeding an over one-liter engine.  And fuel economy is impressive too.  A mileage check using a fully equipped GL-1000 and an unfaired GL1100 returned 47 mpg and 51 mpg, respectively.

The CC Products single carb conversion kit sells for $489.80.  It?s a worthwhile investment that will pay for itself in a relatively short time, and go on putting money in your pocket each time you cruise past the regular carb service interval.  Next time you see the boys down at the dealer?s service department, remember their faces.  It may be a long time before you run into them again.

(CC Products, 14431 Winchester Blvd., Los Gatos, California, 95030  (408) 866-6597).

Jerry SMITH
AUGUST 1984

The following article submitted by Ken Chapin on February 25, 1999
Subject:  Carb Accel. Pump Diaphragm Repair
Anyone who has rebuilt carbs realizes the high costs of the replacement components.  The four carbs of the GL1100 each have an air-cut valve and an accelerator pump on the #3 carb.  Replacing the valves and the pump diaphragm can be an expensive proposition.  The expense can be avoided by using silicon or liquid plastic to repair any tears/holes that are discovered in the rebuild process.  Simply hold each valve/diaphragm up to a strong light source and make the necessary repairs with either product.  Ensure that if you choose silicon (which I prefer), to make certain is gasoline resistant.

For owners of "Classic" 'Wings who have valve covers that are unsightly because of corrosion, I've developed an economical alternative to purchasing new covers.  The factory clear-coating on the covers eventually deteriorates which exposes the polished aluminum underneath to the air.  Oxidation of the aluminum takes place which causes the covers to become ugly.  In severe cases, the aluminum is even pitted which requires lots of work to polish out and re-clearcoat.  I removed the covers on my '81 GL 1100 and sanded them thoroughly with 600 grit paper.  I next primed them with a good quality automotive primer.  I finished the covers by painting them with a non-glare black spray paint.  After the paint dried a couple of days, I polished them out and the result was a beautiful set of valve covers with a durable finish.  The non-glare black results in a finish that is not totally flat, but not glossy either.   The photo on the right shows what the covers look like.