Gone2Three
I have a knife addiction..
Congratulations on your Bumblebee Larry! :clapping:
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Congratulations! Are you bringing the big bee to Kerrville this April?
Congratulations on your Bumblebee Larry! :clapping:
Thanks Randall...it will be spectacular (well in my eyes at least) when I'm done "making it mine" as they say...I'll be in Kerrville for the April meet...you joining us?
Larry
I'm hopeful, but still too early to tell. Because of the timing of the meet this time around, if it did happen it would be only me coming....And as Bill would tell you, I'm absolutely no fun without my beautiful wife by my side.
We'll see what happens :wave4:
I'm hopeful, but still too early to tell. Because of the timing of the meet this time around, if it did happen it would be only me coming....And as Bill would tell you, I'm absolutely no fun without my beautiful wife by my side.
We'll see what happens :wave4:
Congrats on the new 2 U trike. Keeping with the 'Bee' theme and appropriate decal. :clapping: You have an SE model GL1500.
25th :Shrug:Ooooh!...I can see the little bee guy in black and silver on the trunk lid somewhere...Thanks!
I know it has 50th Anniversary badges, but what does the SE stand for other than "Special edition"?
:dance:
25th :Shrug:
Maybe 15 - 16 years ago I researched and made notes and came up with my 1500 history list. I missed some of it, like when the lower turn assist lights or fader were added but here's a copy of what I wrote on the subject. I think it likely I did it in late 2004 as I was learning about my our "new to us" trike? There could be an error or two and I'm sure they will be pointed out?13 years of GL1500 Gold Wing Motorcycles … :Coffee:… 1988-2000
The GL1500 was introduced for the 1988 model year. In 1989, the "1500/6" badge on the right saddlebag was removed. The GL1500SE came out in 1990 . In 1991 the Interstate (basic model) started and had no reverse. The Aspencade became the step up I think. The SE had two-tone paint, trunk spoiler/light, windscreen vent, lighted handlebar switches, adjustable passenger footboards and foot warmer vents & the CB radio came on in 1993 … and the cruise control got it's signal directly from the camshaft. 1995 was a 20th year deal, it got slimmer side panels and the seat was slightly changed for the better and the suspension was lowered and stiffened up a hair ... good too. 1996 the Interstate was dropped so it then became a choice of Aspencade or SE. 1997 was when the SE's lower panels were color matched to the main bike color. Got symbols instead of text on the handlebar switches, a stronger clutch was added and some parts from the Valkyrie like main bearings, piston & ring sets, con-rod bolts, valve springs. The Valkyrie final drive was used on the Goldwing too and so was a lot of the transmission, shift forks, maybe U-joint too soon. 1998 was the year the SE got white face gauges, rectangle tipped / louder mufflers, the smooth clear plastic headlight lense, smaller engine guards, and some other stuff I forget. 2000 was a 25th year model, maybe different rocker covers, some badges, and I think the white speedo faces went back to black.
I lost track of when the two lower turn assist / illumination lights or rear speakers & fader were added but our '97 SE has them OEM. 2001 was the first year for the GL1800. 1997 was a big year mechanically, 1998 was a big step cosmetically (my opinion), & I was glad they went back to black face speedo in 2000.
My research told me the black faced speedo etc was back in 2000, maybe after a few early ones or maybe someone swapped it in the past. It's got the white lense signals, so that puts it past '97 anyway. I have a spare '97 glass headlight as a buddy bought a new '98 up style smooth plastic lense headlight to update his, he just liked the looks that much. The wood grain dash & stuff was offered in kit form, I almost bought them myself. The passenger floorboards, your co-rider will push down on them after pulling the lever to lower, just lift her feet and pull the lever to raise them, "Wife Unit" loves them. Later on, you may even want to moved the top trunk back a couple inches, not hard at all and gives a co-rider back what they lost to a driver backrest.Great information!...The 50th Anniversary for 1999 was Honda's 50 years of doing business in the US according to Wikipedia. This one has white faced gauges and wood grained dash and console...Can't see if there are gold badges on the engine covers from the pictures I have...but for sure has the foot warmer knobs, adjustable windshield vent, and height adjustable passenger floorboards
Larry
My research told me the black faced speedo etc was back in 2000, maybe after a few early ones or maybe someone swapped it in the past. It's got the white lense signals, so that puts it past '97 anyway. I have a spare '97 glass headlight as a buddy bought a new '98 up style smooth plastic lense headlight to update his, he just liked the looks that much. The wood grain dash & stuff was offered in kit form, I almost bought them myself. The passenger floorboards, your co-rider will push down on them after pulling the lever to lower, just lift her feet and pull the lever to raise them, "Wife Unit" loves them. Later on, you may even want to moved the top trunk back a couple inches, not hard at all and gives a co-rider back what they lost to a driver backrest. Let me know if you decide to set that trunk back a little bit.
Thanks Les...I probably will move the trunk back as it looks pretty small back there...The fair haired one is not a large woman by any stretch of the imagination, but I think a couple of more inches would be more comfortable. …..
Nice!Got a few more pictures of the soon to be new to me trike...
in a old message to me said:
Moving trunk on 1500
There is no bracket or kit to move the trunk back. The first one I did took me about 6 hrs to figure out with help from a motorcycle internet bulletin board. I disconnected and removed trunk and saddlebags completely. It now takes me about 2 hrs. without removing them.
You will need to remove the seat and the trunk bottom cover. Then have someone hold the trunk tilted while you cut off the plastic ribs underneath. You also have to make a couple mods to bike, but they are not noticeable afterwards. I learned on the GWRRA BB that it was possible to move the trunk either 2 ¼" or 1 ½" back. I thought that 2 ¼" was stretching the cables too far, so IMHO, 1 ½" was the way to go.
You need to either make 2 long or 4 short pieces for brackets. I used 4 pieces of ¼" thick aluminum (1 ¾"X 2 ½") and drilled two holes in ea, 1 ½" apart and 9/16" from one side. One I tapped 6mm X 1.0 for factory bolt to thread into and the next was ¼" to allow new longer 6mm bolt to go through to attach piece to framework. By using the 4 pieces, I did not have to worry about aligning the holes in the brackets perfectly (while doing this by myself).You have to cut away the ribs that are used for aligning the frt mounting holes of the trunk at the factory to allow the aluminum plates to lay flat. I removed the 3 shortest ribs.
Also, you need to cut the sides of the bottom cover at the access hole for the release levers, where they hit a bar under the trunk, (now that it is moved back). You will see where when you go to bolt up the bottom cover. I used a couple washers between the trunk and brackets to make up for the space difference the heads of the bolts made 'cause I did not want to countersink the bolt heads into the aluminum. I also put a couple small washers behind the opening levers bracket to move it a little so you could use the levers w/o hitting your fingertips on the bar.
The helmet locks also have to be moved back 1 ½". (note: NO helmet locks remain on my Lehman Trike) You will need to make brackets for them, too. I used thinner aluminum that was 4" X 1 ¾" with a corner cut off to be able to bolt up next to the angled frame. I drilled two holes 1 1/2" apart, the frt one was ¼" (to use the original bolt to attach it) and the rr one was 7/32". After filing off the small alignment tab, I then attached the locks to these brackets. Some guys don’t use the helmet locks, so they just remove them. The plus for all this is that you can now remove the saddlebags w/o removing the cover under the trunk, since the trunk is now ¼" higher and no more of the complaining about the backrest intruding into Her space!! I have only done 6 set-backs so far, any questions, e-mail me at (wingdr@aol.com … note, this was like 2005) . The usual disclaimers apply, so do this only if you are qualified and have someone to help you. Also, it does not seem to affect the bike handling in any way.
Thank You!:wave4:Les, your trike looks very nice.
OK, that's better. For some reason I thought you said it was a 2000 SE or 25th Anniversary Edition. I was looking at pics and it just seemed not right for a 2000, but I see … it is a 1999, which had the white face speedo, etc. I was worried someone had an older model with newer speedo, etc, like a scam even … and it wasn't even me buying it. :laugh:… etc … 1999 with 40K and change on it. All … etc …
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