Graham and his Custom GL1100

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

This Custom GoldWing is unique as well as exceptional in terms of finish and presentation because its owner, Graham Whittaker, designed and constructed it himself to create a radically modified bike; it’s fundamentally still a GL1100 but this is no ordinary GL1100.

As one of the professionals we used as judges at last year’s GoldWing Light Parade said, you can recognise some of the parts as coming from other GoldWing models and some which clearly don’t, but you can’t see the joins. The parts have been assimilated into an impressive whole and the bike looks like it was factory designed and built.  And indeed it was professionally designed and constructed; Graham is after all a very talented and experienced motorcycle mechanic and his knowledge of GoldWings, especially Classic GoldWings, is unmatched.

The actual building of the bike took less than a year but as Graham says, the thinking about how it could be done took more like four.  Its creation and its relatively rapid construction was provoked by his wife’s enthusiasm at a winter social gathering for a European Tour they were invited to join.  Graham’s objections that he didn’t have a suitable bike were swept aside: “You’ve got all this bits in the garage, there’s plenty of time for you to put them together”.  So he did, and the following Summer the bike, already radically modified from it original design, successfully completed a 3,000 mile tour.

Could you identify this bike as a GoldWing from the front?

Graham is a working man himself and he has strong views about a working man’s entitlement to affordable motorcycling – and that by making GoldWing models which are more and more complex and more and more expensive, there is scope for the manufacture of something much simpler and cheaper which can still fit into the GoldWing family of models.

His Custom GL1100 is therefore a concept bike for a new design of GoldWing; Graham would dearly love to see it manufactured in quantity and sold at an affordable price.

His starting point was a GL1100 frame and engine, to which he attached an extended (by 4 inches) rear frame and swinging arm in order to fit the rear wheel, suspension and final drive from a GL1500.  The front forks and wheel from a GL1500 were also used, complete with rotor cover.  A hydraulic clutch was contrived to replace the GL1100′s original cable clutch, using a clever adaptation of a car components to create the necessary slave cylinder.

Clutch slave cylider

So far Graham had been covering familiar ground in that he modified a GL1200 Limited Edition by extending the rear frame and swinging arm to install a GL1500 rear wheel and final drive, likewise GL1500 front forks and wheel and a GL1500 trunk.  But that bike had retained its original front fairing and saddlebags and despite the GL1500 seat it still looked basically like a fairly heavily accessorised GL1200 with an unusual colour scheme and unusual bodywork features.

Fog light housing is hand made GRP moulding

Graham had also gathered experience of modifying the rear of a friend’s GoldWing trike to accommodate some stylish lighting units from a car by remodelling the fibreglass moulding.   Graham had acquired the skills to incorporate more radical and more stylish bodywork changes into his GL1100 project.

The original GL1100 Aspencade front fairing, tank top and cockpit were retained, although substantially refurbished to give a fresh and modern appearance – for example the original round headlight was replaced by a more modern design liberated from a Yamaha Fazer.  The way in which Graham managed to incorporate a radically different shape of headlight into the original fairing and make it look like it really belongs is very impressive.

Clever integration of GL1500 and GL1800 rear lights

A GL1500 trunk replaced the original, boxy-looking equivalent and it was in this form, still with the original GL1100 saddlebags, that the bike did its first Tour.  But  Graham was by no means finished yet.  When he got home from the Tour work continued with the seeming impossible challenge of replacing the saddlebags with a pair from a GL1800.  How on earth could components from such disparate designs, indeed from completely different motorcycling eras, be made to fit together in harmony?

As you can see from the pictures, Graham managed to do this wonderfully.  The GL1800 saddlebags needed considerable modification on the inside, to accommodate the GL1500 suspension, and this was achieved by extensive re-shaping by means of plastic welding.  And in order to make the lights on the GL1800 saddlebags look compatible with the very different style of the GL1500 trunk lights, Graham modified both sets to produce his own unique lighting style – using diffusers from domestic ceiling lights!  Graham also modified the lower part of the front fairing to add stylish lower lights.

GL1800 seat looks like it belongs

The seat is from a GL1800 and this required cutting down the middle and rejoining to reduce its width as well as refashioning of the passenger backrest.  The Cockpit was also completely refurbished and new glovebox lids were made to cover the GL1200 Panasonic radio/tape unit and on the other side a CB radio.

Cockpit is impeccably finished

A power-operated windscreen wiper has been installed (by adapting a Volvo headlamp wiper) which is controlled by a push button on the handlebars.  The exhaust uses silencers from an FJR1300.

Modifed rear lighting

The standard of overall finish which Graham has achieved is remarkable.  The frame, engine and ancillaries are all powder coated in shiny black and the paintwork is a two tone combination in the manner of a GL1500SE.  Perhaps the cleverest and neatest bits of customisation are the panels which Graham has made (from fibreglass) to join the major components – these really look the part.

Powder coated engine

How does it handle?  Graham’s very happy with the bike’s handling and performance generally – and the bike was reliable on its maiden European Tour.  And the new owner of Graham’s Customised GL1200 Ltd is very happy with his bike too.

GL1500 trunk and seat on a GL1200 - Graham's first project

There can be no doubt that Graham’s Customised GL1100 is a great success as a project.  It’s pleasing on the eye and it works as a grand touring bike in the GoldWing style.  And apart from Graham’s stylish one-off glass fibre joining panels, it’s been made from parts which are widely available from broken bikes and are relatively inexpensive to buy.  All you need is Graham’s skills and application (and maybe a very tolerant as well as encouraging wife) and you too could create an Exceptional GoldWing!

Graham  is a Member of GoldWing Misfits, a group which enjoys biking rallies and camping events but prefers to steer clear of club meetings and politics.  He works as a mechanic at Chorley Yamaha, which despite being a Yamaha Dealer also services GoldWings and often has used stock.

Related Articles

Bill Squires’s GL1800