naked Goldwing modification

I can finally justify my Dremel. A year or so ago I was doing some work on the front end of my 75 naked Goldwing. I was having trouble getting all the bolts out, which is a common occurrence from what I've read. I thought I was going to have to cut one of the bolts off so I bought a Dremel, a tool for which I had often longed. For years I admired Dremels, and I thought I could use one in a myriad of ways.

Unfortunately, I couldn't even get near the bolt with the Dremel because of where the bolt was located. So my Dremel sat in my workshop for a year, silently mocking me for being so unimaginative as to not know how it could be used.

Until last week. I put a Dynatek DS1-3 electronic ignition in my beloved GL1000 and the Dremel was exactly what I needed. The DS1-3 is appropriate for the GL1000 except for the fact that the slots or notches in the modules aren't long enough to achieve proper timing. If I had a 78 I would have been fine but the 75-77 need a longer slot.

Enter the Dremel. Truthfully I'll have to say I started out with a regular old hacksaw because by extending the notch I was probably "modifying" and thus voiding the warranty on a $133 component. Yikes. I also got out my old defunct DS1-3 to look at the notch in it and to practice cutting on it since it was already shot and I couldn't ruin it any more than it was already ruined.

The manufacturer's instructions seemed fine but they don't show you a picture of how you have to modify their product, so I'm supplying that here.

Also, take a look at the pretty chrome plate behind which you install the thing. I had installed the plate before I noticed a slip of paper, almost as an afterthought from the manufacturer, saying to make sure the little wires (my choice of words) weren't touching the rotor. I removed the plate and sure enough mine were. Good thing I checked.

The tech guy at the place where I bought the Dynatech was good. I called and mentioned that I was wondering whether I should change my stock coils to get better performance. The guy said that if the stock coils were still good I ought to get my money's worth out of them before replacing them. He said new coils wouldn't improve things that much. He also said to clip off the ends of the spark plug wires for better performance because they can erode. I thought that was pretty cool of the guy who could have just said, "Yes, spend lots of money on more of our products."

Now I'm wondering if my shop could use a motorcycle lift. Yes, I think it could. Can I justify a tool like that? Well my old knees are getting pretty bad....