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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Turbo Gold Wing GL1000 – Maybe the First?

By Paul Crowe

Turbo Gold Wing GL1000
Turbo Gold Wing GL1000

In the comments on the post about the 1976 Honda Gold Wing GL1000 Cafe, OMMAG left a note about an early Wing with a turbo back in the 1970s. He sent in a few photos to show us what they did. It’s actually a single unit, not a twin turbo as he first thought, but it’s interesting because no one was modifying Gold Wings back then, or at least, not yet.

His friend at the Honda dealer, took the first Gold Wing they received and fabricated the whole turbo setup, no bolt on kit was available, just some motivated gearheads that thought the Wing was a nice place to start. According to OMMAG, Honda said it was the first turbo Wing they knew of.

The thing is that we were just 20 yrs old at the time this Wing was done. This is the work of a self taught seat of the pants engineer and machinist. Just some good high school shop teachers to be credited with letting him develop that with some guidance.

His friend, Jed, later did a twin turbo CBX. I guess he got the bug.

From the looks of the drag strip photo above, their plan came together quite nicely. You gotta love a Gold Wing with wheelie bars. The photos below show a very clean installation, a great example of answering “What if?” with action. I like it.

More recently, Randakk did a nice supercharger for a GL1000. I like that one, too.

Turbo Gold Wing GL1000
Turbo Gold Wing GL1000
Turbo Gold Wing GL1000
Turbo Gold Wing GL1000

Posted on April 1, 2010 Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders, Vintage Motorcycles


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« 1976 Honda Gold Wing GL1000 Cafe
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Comments

  1. Mark Lewellen says

    April 1, 2010 at 9:07 am

    I guess I am showing my age when I still remember the Magnuson supercharger kits from the early 80’s for the gold wing…….

    I never really got the reasoning……..
    Mark

  2. Phoebe says

    April 1, 2010 at 9:12 am

    That thing is nuts, and it looks really sharp too.

  3. randy says

    April 1, 2010 at 9:16 am

    Did I miss something – E.T., speed?

  4. Mondo Endo says

    April 1, 2010 at 10:50 am

    I worked for a metal supply company in the late 70s and early 80s and one of our customers was American turbo pak in Santa Ana Ca. In their show room the had all the usual bikes being turboed at the time and a goldwing which I thought was interesting. Its really something when I think how amazing the HP numbers of these bikes seemed at the time and that now production bikes far exceed these number and weigh much less.

  5. hoyt says

    April 1, 2010 at 11:14 am

    very cool.
    Seeing old photos is good (even if they are scanned). Similar to putting a needle to vinyl once in awhile.

  6. PaulN says

    April 1, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    That thing is just insane, but I really like it. I always admire people who can do stuff like this. The word ‘No’ is nothing but static to them, and doesn’t dissuade their motivations in the least.

    For every piece of technology that has become commonplace there is the often long forgotten first-timers. They have the vision and determination to bring things to life instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

    Thanks again for another inspiring edition of The Kneeslider. I’m here every day, looking for that spark.

  7. Boog says

    April 1, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    Nice to see all these old naked ‘wings…when this bike came out, I was working as a service manager for a small southern Honda shop and lawn mower emporium (summer employment). The owner, a good friend of mine, had one of the first gl 1000’s and it sat and sat on the “showroom” floor, if you will…he offered to sell it to me for what he paid for it from Honda, as I remember, it was around $1700 or so. Well, at the time I was putting my wife through school and did not want to take on another note for a motorcycle (I had a K1 750 in Cafe guise with custom paint, seat, bars and etc.), so I had to pass it up. Actually, these were originally intended as a “superbike” (performance machine) and not a tourer…

    Man, I would like to have that bike back now. They were really sharp in their day and look “high-tech” even now.

  8. aichbe says

    April 1, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    WHEN I LEFT ARIZONA BACK IN ’81, A FRIEND WAS JUST FINISHING UP A GMC 4-71 BELT-DRIVE BLOWER INSTALL ON A GL-1000. HE FABBED UP HIS OWN SHEETMETAL INTAKE, WELDED TO THE TOP OF THE CARB TUBES. HE CUT AND RE-ROUTED THE TOP FRAME TUBES AROUND IT, AND DROVE IT OFF AN EXTRA V-BELT PULLEY BOLTED TO ONE OF THE CAM DRIVE PULLEYS, AND HE MADE AN OIL-TIGHT BELT SHROUD WELDED ON THE PULLEY COVER. THERE WAS A HOLLEY 600 CFM CARB AND AIR HORN STICKING UP THRU THE HOLLOWED OUT “TANK”, WITH THE AIRBOX ELIMINATED. YOU COULD JUST SEE THE BOTTOM OF THE MANIFOLD AND BLOWER. EVEN THOUGH HE HADN’T QUITE DIALED IT IN, HE COULD SMOKE THE REAR TIRE AT ANY SPEED, AT ANY TIME. IT DIDN’T COST MUCH, MAYBE $600, AND PROBABLY MADE 150 HP, WHICH WAS A BUNCH BACK THEN. IT WAS A HANDFUL TO RIDE. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO IT, OR TO HIM. HE WAS GOING TO HELP ME WITH STRETCHING THE FRAME AND WELDING UP THE MOTOR MOUNTS AND FABRICTING A BELT-DRIVE PRIMARY OUT OF A HARLEY BELT, ON MY ’72 CB-750 FOR A 2ND ENGINE, MINUS THE FRONT MOTOR’S TRANS, BUT IT NEVER WAS BUILT, AS I LEFT THE STATE AFTER MY DIVORCE, ETC. COULDA, SHOULDA, WOULDA…

  9. Shawn says

    April 2, 2010 at 2:50 am

    Ah, the wonders of youth. I haven’t had a bike put a big smile on my face for a long time. Good work.
    P.S. – there are not enough brown leather jackets in the world.

  10. OMMAG says

    April 2, 2010 at 12:01 pm

    That run was 10.2sec 143 mph.
    I think it was St. Thomas Dragway in Ontario.
    The pilot is Jed who BTW is still going strong but only does bikes as a hobby.

  11. Randall Washington says

    April 2, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Very cool! My supercharged GL1000 is biased more toward handling and daily enjoyment than that drag bike. Even so, at the current level of tune, I’m running “out of gear.” Even with an oversized rear wheel, I can still blow (way) past redline in 5th gear.

    I believe that with a lightweight jockey (and total disregard for breaking parts!), my bike could approach the numbers mentioned above for ET and top speed in a quarter mile run. Knowing how hard it would be to replace my makes that a bit unlikely. But, I have rounded up just about everything I need (including a complete NOS Magnacharger rig) to duplicate my bike entirely. I might build another one for “thrashing” purposes. The ECTA speed trials at Maxton are one possibility.

    P.S I’m working on a blown CBX at the moment.

    Randakk

  12. The Producer says

    April 2, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    Bikes like cars are made for hot roddin. Today most bikes seem much like most new cars take off the emblem and you couldn’t tell them apart from each other. In days gone by the Wing stood out as did many of the other bikes of the day.

    That’s probably why I Like customs so much its hot rodding be it a metric or American doing your part to make it into your own ride is part of the fun that goes into riding and owning a bike. That said what can you do with a new sport bike other than strip it of all the sci fi looking plastics and go back to the frame?

    The Producer

  13. Azzy says

    April 14, 2010 at 5:58 pm

    A turbo CBX?! That has to be a monster too!

  14. Azzy says

    April 14, 2010 at 6:01 pm

    Linky!

    http://www.cbxclub.com/davespage/cyc80a-1.html

  15. Myers says

    May 20, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    If you go to the web site look up turbo people Myers and find the 1978 Gl 1000 on it, this is the Goldwing I bought in 1978 that was build by American Turbo Pack. It will turn 121 in the qt. and was tested on MMI dyno in 1978 when we reset to boost, it pulled 143 hp.I had a lot of fun with it in the late 70’s when the Kawasaki ride try to beat me from the light. I still have it in my correct of supercycles. It is not for sale.
    American Turbo Pack drop this project to form build all Kawasaki Z1-RTC. So this Goldwing was the first to be marketed to the public, but was put on the shelf never to come out.

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