I had to pick the bike up in York PA. The weather was warm, mid to high 80's. The executor, the owners brother, (the owner had passed away last year) and I met at a Tag and Title place in north York to have the title notarized. In PA they issue some sort of "short sheet", it's like a power of attorney for the transfer of title. God, knows if this will be good enough for "Peoples Republic of Maryland" MVA. I also had a MD Bill of Sale, because the price I paid, $300, and the book price are vastly different. After the title was transferred and I paid for the bike in front of the notary we went to the garage to load the bike on my truck.
I've got this procedure down pat. However, I didn't count on a few things. The first was that the bike was sitting kind of in a hole in the dirt floor of the garage. Secondly, I'd brought a battery, to start the bike and run it up the ramps, the battery didn't fit in the very tight battery box, damn.
I put the old battery back in the space and found that one of the bolts was missing, I used one from my battery. I'd brought a "hot shot box" which got the bike started. Now the problem was that the bike wasn't running as smooth as when I looked at it on Saturday. With the help of the guys from the garage across the alley, we pushed the bike into the alley. I connected the hot shot again and someone held it up and went with me as I slipped the clutch and revved the throttle to get the bike up the little hill and behind the truck. The bike conked out again and I drifted it onto the ramp with a little help with the spectators pushing. I strapped the bike down and took off.
All in all this turned out to be a great experience, other than the heat and sweating like I worked in a steel mill. I got to speak with the owners sister-in-law. I found out that he was the first and only owner of the bike, that's 38 years! Actually it's only 37 he died last year. The bikes last inspection was in 2002, in PA they inspect on a yearly basis. I'm the second owner of a 1976 GL1000 Goldwing in Sulfur Yellow! He bought it new at a Honda dealership near Harrisburg. I have two original Honda keys. The one key is attached to a "76" key fob with the dealership name on it. The paint is nearly perfect. There is some rust but it's not as bad as most bikes I see of that age.
When I got the bike home I was hot, tired and hungry. I covered the bike, still in the truck, and went in for lunch. Since it was hot I didn't go back out until just before my wife got home around 6. I was amazed when I pulled the cover off. As I said the paint is nearly perfect. If you squint a little It almost looks like it's on the show room floor.
I wanted my wife Kari hear the bike run so I pulled the plugs to replace them. I'd purchased a set of NGK D8EA plugs for the K that I had tried but didn't use. I gave them a little brushing with a brass brush and put them in the Wing. The old plugs were gunky and rusty. I started the bike up for Kari and it ran like a top, it started to sputter after a minute; I think it's old gas and crud. Actually, it didn't go quite that smoothly. It wouldn't start at first, it would sputter but wouldn't kick over. What the hell? I checked the petcock, it was OK. For some reason I looked down the right side of the bike. I'd forgotten to replace the spark plug wires. Once they were on, the bike started right up.
Kari loves the bike she calls it "Yellow Bird". She wants to keep it and ride it.
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