Motorcycle Repair: 1981 goldwing, bill silver, firing on all cylinders

Question
may purchase this bike-32000 miles but will not run-gentleman said he could hearpopping and mettalic knocking on right side-ever heard of common problems such as valves or guides,pistons and rings,etc.thought these bikes were good for 100k plus

Answer
Tom, probably broke a timing belt on that side. Pull the front timing belt covers and check that first. If everything is spinning over then check compression.

If the bike hasn't run in a long time, the carbs are plugged up and some of the rattle is from the primary drive jerking back and forth because it isn't firing on all cylinders.

There are numerous GW sites that will have more detailed info for you.

Bill Silver