Attention: Dallas Tx. area trikers!

Don't know anything about that model of bike, but if you are able to charge the battery and crank it a little, just remove spark plugs and hold your finger over hole. if a piston has a hole in it or broken valve, that should show pretty quick. Bad timing. I will be 15 miles from there next week on business in Desoto.

Before engaging the starter, pull the spark plugs and squirt some Marvel Mystery oil, or ATF, or any light weight oil into the cylinders. You want to free those rings up bumping it over, with no plugs... or it will have problems.

After you get it turning over, it's a simple matter to do a compression check.

Did the lady say why they thought it had a broken piston? I've been into many 1500's, and unless it was cranked dry & broken that way (but you're gonna use the oil, right?) it's/was usually just rings stuck to the cylinder wall.

Good luck.

Good luck with the find Larry ,,but if it has a broken piston you will know it after trying to get it cranked .ThumbUp

Firea100 said:

Hi to all on the site! I'm going to be in the Dallas Tx. area from about July 6th thru about July 24th. I'm going to be attending a school at a company called AMCAT. It's in the John Carpenter- hwy. 114 area?? Anyway. While I'm down there, I'll be taking delivery of a new to me 1988 Goldwing/ Motortrike trike! More details later. What I'm hoping for is to find someone well versed in GL1500 motors. You see, this trike has sat for 7 years because, allegedly, it has a "broken piston" The lady that owns it had a nephew look at it many years ago and supposedly diagnosed it as such. I'll have evenings and weekends off with little to do so I thought if someone would give me a hand with looking at it to see what really happened to it, that would be a little distraction from the books! If anyone could spare a little time to poke around it with me, I'd be very grateful!

If you're interested please P.M. me or e-mail me at: lawrencegill@sbcglobal.net
Thanks,
Larry Gill in East China Mi.

P.S. The bike is located in Mansfield Tx.

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Not saying it aint,but I have never heard of a 1500 breaking a piston. If that is a correct diagnosis I sure would like to know what caused it. Good luck on your search.

Have to agree with Lucky on a "broken rod".
Now if the timming belt broke or slipped it can break a valve then destroy a piston which would take a complete tear down to fix IF there is no internal damage.
If you can get it to turn with plugs out,I would also pull off the valve covers and make sure all the valves are moving.
You also might consider that years the bike has sat plus the age and miles already on the bike,there are going to be a lot of dry rotted vacum hoses,seals and I also would bet the fuel pump to be out as it also will go bad in a dry tank for so long.
That '88 is Honda's first 1500 engine and most dealers won't work on them anymore.
Anything can be done,but it could be a very big and long project to bring that trike back to life.
Good luck to you should you buy it.

You might consider visiting a outdoor power equipment repair shop. Their mechanic most likely will have a leak down tester which should provide some good information about the condition of the cylinders, pistons, and valves.

I believe that the GL1500 motor is an "interference" motor, that is that when a timing belt breaks the "stopped" part interferes with the moving parts. That being said, is it usually the valves that get trashed or possibly the piston taking the brunt of the damage?

Pull the timing cover off.......

Yep as soon as I take possession of it, I'll do just that. I'm not going down there until the 4TH of July weekend. I start school on the 8TH of July. I'm gonna be down there for three weeks. That's why I was asking for a little guidance (pronounced TOOLS) and location. Probably not a good move tearing down the trike in the hotel parking lot!!!ThumbUpThumbUp

In a word, no.

The Valk has the fuel sitting above the carbs, so if the vacuum petcock fails, and you may have a needle/seat leaking a little, you'll get fuel into the cylinder, which might hydro-lock it.

The 'Wing's fuel tank is low in the frame, requiring a pump to get the fuel to the carbs. Key off, no pump, no fuel.

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Re: your question on the timing belts & failure of same.

I've seen the results of two such happenings. Both times were during "show off" time (LOL). In both instances, valves were bent and a head had to be replaced. I don't know what kept a piston from breaking, IMO, just luck in each case.

$50 for a set of belts at NAPA is good insurance on any 1100, 1200, 1500 that I get, if the prior owner can't tell me if they have been replaced, or when.

But in all honesty, I've got several used sets of 1500 belts that I changed, and all look good. One set had 144k miles on it.