Gold Wing Motorcycle

Before we went to Sturgis, we had a nice ride at our season opener. There was a blog on this event. I lost a side cover from my antique Gold Wing. It just disappeared, I suspect it flew off into the weeds somewhere. This blog is about replacing this item for the Sturgis trip...........

.........this is the cover from the other side for comparison. They are mirror-image............

.....this was the first version. I spent some time on the Internet searching for a used part, but to no avail. This version was good for a laugh, but Wendy did not like the idea of going to Sturgis, the world capital of motorcycle fashion, with a chunk of cardboard plastered on the side of a Honda. Back to the drawing board...

.......this was the second version, a piece of plastic lovingly cut from a plastic storage tub lid and painted black. Wendy grudgingly seemed to accept this compromise for a few days. Then I found her on the Internet searching for the right part. She spent a whole day, but got skunked just like me. These bikes are over 30 years old and side covers must have a habit of flying away at will........

..........then a friend from the Twin Cities told us of a bike junkyard near his house. I called them and they had one in stock. He even picked it up and delivered it here. $27. There was a small problem with the color, and now I had just 3 or 4 days until departure for Sturgis. No time for a body shop paint job............

.....matching the special "limited Edition" color from 1976 was impossible from cans of spray paint at the hardware store or auto parts store. I picked the closest I could find, then over sprayed a light coat of black to darken it.....

....I think I added a little more black after this picture. The other side cover is in the background for matching purposes.........

....if you look at it just so in just the right light,.......it looks like shit. Oh well, it is the closest we could get in the time we had.............

.....from a distance it looks better. Add darkness and it is a perfect match! I will take it to the body shop and we will stat the search for the decals and emblem on the Internet. My Honda dealer in Rice Lake is restoring one of these at this time. He may have some ideas. We did have several people notice the bike and ask questions about it at Sturgis. We saw other vintage bikes there as well...........

.......This beautifully restored 78 Gold Wing was recently bought for $2000. What a sweet ride!

Uncle Hans