1977 GS750B - my long awaited first bike!

[Chuck78]

well after doing one last final ride of the year Sunday November 10th, riding an hour south on the highway to get to Nelsonville Ohio, where I would embark on my 260 miles journey on back roads to get back to the divided highway home. I rode deeper into Southeast Ohio than I have ever gone to ride some of the best twistys and roads with literally endless sweepers (wow, what a blast!) and some great twisties. Just as I got off a short jog on the Triple Nickel rt 555, turning onto a highly recommended 22 mile stretch on 550 from 555 to Athens, 20 miles before the end of my 260 mile scenic route journey before I got to Athens Ohio where I had 70 miles on the interstate to get home...my ride on 2 wheels ended early @ 440pm, 40 minutes before sunset - danger time especially during "rut" or deer mating season...

where my speedometer needle is stuck is about how fast I estimated I was going when I saw a flash of a deer jumping out in the road 10 feet in front of me from a blind downhill as I was climbing up the hill with a steep drop across the other side of the road where the deer came from, jumping up a steep uphill into the road in front of me at a fast sprint! it happened so fast I don't even know if I have the time to shout profanities, or even grab my brakes. I couldn't even tell you if it was a doe or a buck, I just saw a big brown mass sprinting across the road just a split second before I hit it.



fortunately I was not going even 1 MPH slower, as I would have just t-boned the deer and gone over the bars and totaled my bike most likely. It hit me on the front left side at the side of my front wheel, and took out my turn signal headlight speedometer #1 plug resistor cap & spark plug top, & bashed my stator cover so hard that it caused an oil leak, & the deer's body totally slammed my knee (@56-ishmph!) into my gas tank & punctured the side of my knee pretty deeply on the petcock and left a huge "knee dent" LITERALLY in my tank, but I was able to ride away somehow and come to a stop without ever putting the bike down. i am very very lucky to have been able to ride out this high speed impact. My knee is swollen like a grapefruit, but my bike is mostly just cosmetic damage. I'm pretty bummed about the gas tank though.

shopping today for a new set of front Honda turn signals to match my back on the turn signals off of a CB 400 or similar. Also looking at either a really cool looking all chrome gs1000 6.5" H4 replaceable halogen bulb headlight assembly, or a 7" H4 reflector lens and maybe a chrome bucket to use some spare headlight bucket parts that I had from the 7" H5 GS650 reflector that I had installed this year. That was the brightest light I have ever seen on a vintage bike! It was awesome for night riding in the woods when you absolutely had to, road trips etc.

two days later now I am sitting on the highway US33 an hour north from Athens, OH, waiting for over an hour in stopped traffic because people don't know how to drive in the first snow of the year! 2 inches of accumulation and some ice overnight but 50 degrees again this weekend.

[Chuck78]

Headlight gone, bezel/bucket ruined, left turn signal gone, gauges smashed, gas tank dented, #1 plug/wire smashed... luckily that's all the damage done other than the oil leak on the stator cover, and my knee which I am limping around on.

[Govee]

So glad you are ok. The deer in that area get big eating all that corn. My brother lives 20ish miles from where you had the incident and every year one of his family hits a deer (3 drivers). 2 years ago he hit a donkey! I guess you have some more winter projects to look foward to....

[Hone101]

Good to hear you're okay.

[SCQTT]

Oh man, that sucks so bad. I hate those critters. I have an apple orchard and my little bit of land is attached to several hundred acres of old growth and timbered land. It is Whitetail paradise. I do not see them every once in a while, I see deer on my property several times a day. This time a year they are crazy. Think of horny teens and you get the idea.

This time of year deer strikes in Ohio are really bad. IIRC it is over 400 a day average during the month of November.

I'm old enough that I'm not really big on riding at night anyhow and during this time of year I will not do it at all.

[Chuck78]

yeah this was about 40 minutes before nightfall, I was planning on getting back onto 33 around Nelsonville at dusk so that deer and visibility around tight curves would be less of an issue. I don't think I will be doing any riding near dusk this time of year ever again! my knee is still hurting quite a bit and still very swollen and sensitive. Hopefully everything under the kneecap is going to be fine once the swelling goes down.

[Chuck78]

My screenprinting buddy is going to help me screenprint new gauge faces, as I was envisioning in the first page of this thread, based on the edited images of the scans of those GS400X gauges converted to 130mph from 110mph, and 10,000rpm redline and the addition of an oil pressure light on the speedo which was absent from the GS400X tach face indicator lights. The 1/8" or 1/4" smaller diameter individual chrome pod gauges with the brights, turn signal, and neutral lights built into the gauge faces are so much more classic looking than a big spaceship console hunk of plastic or even the larger dual pod gauges with the indicator light console as a separate piece in between the gauges. Apparently I needed to use a vector image file format to get rid of the pixelated style of images, so we're going to convert the image or redo the scans.

In the meantime, I was thinking of either getting some 14G aluminium stock and hand cutting some extra faces to paint and print on with plastisol ink, or have my machinist buddy laser cut or cnc cut me some thinner (stock) aluminum sheet to make several sets of these revised gauge faces since I will have the printing stuff set up.

I tore apart the GS400X gauges immediately to start this project, and they are still sitting in pieces. Now that I have a demolished stock GS750 speedo thanks to a deer, and my screenprinting friend is really busy for the next month, I scored a set of GS400B gauges (no indicator lamps in tach face) off of ebay in better shape than the GS400X guages I had, but still with some speckled and faded faces. I am going to throw these on my bike for the time being, and search for a few more pairs of these. I will plan to add all the indicator lamps in the form of radio shack LED's/lenses into the GS400B gauges to make them like the GS400X gauges plus the oil light in the speedo, and hope to find a few more sets of these smaller chrome or black pod gauges from the smaller 70's bikes (GS250 or GS400/425) so that I can make use of the extra faces we plan to print up. I can only use those models mentioned with 110mph speedos or else the speed won't be to scale with my image file (original incremental spacing).

[Chuck78]

Also tracking down a spare engine to do the 920cc conversion to thanks to another member on here.

Thanks to the local VJMC junkyard, I also have some front Honda turn signals (dual filament sockets so I can have front running lights for better visibility to cars) and new stems to match the rears on my bike and replace the OEM fronts after the deer collision. I also have some EMGO headlight brackets and an H4 halogen 6" lens and chrome bucket from an L model GS, which looks really really awesome! 55W H4 bulb as well, shown in picture next to an H4 halogen 7" setup like what I had. The chrome 6" setup looks really awesome, probably using that. I was at a loss for the assumingly wider projection area on the 7" light vs the assumingly brighter more focused spotlight beam on the 6" L model. The L model bucket is heavier, but worth it in looks, and I will be losing the big gauge console for some smaller gauges and losing the bigger headlight brackets as well. If I'm not happy with the beam projection on the 6" H4 setup, I may try for an aftermarket bucket. This was the sharpest looking of the used and new ones at the Rice Paddy, so I figured I'd give it a shot for $35. the 7" H5 marked lens that I had (looked identical to the left one with the black plastic bucket except the lens was flatter) was the brightest thing I have ever seen on a bike with a 55W bulb, nice side to side visibility for deer spotting on the sides of the road! Hoping the same bulb in the 6" reflector lens will do just as good of a job.



All of these parts are sitting on top of the seat foam you see below with a new padded vinyl upholstery cover that I have not yet stretched out & permanently attached. I think I may shave the seat foam down slightly shorter by 1/2" & smooth it out with some angle ginder action.

[Chuck78]

Also I've done a little work to restore the cracked and rusted original seat pan, and shaved down the foam to have a totally flat seat. I am tracking down an L model rear fender and taillight as well to bobb a little length off of, and deleting the trunk/tail for a more classic look, as well as welding some sheetmetal onto the rear of the seat pan to make the seat extend down to the fender, where the original only came down enough to not see a void below the height of trunk/tail section. I have new upholstery for it as well, and may even try and screenprint Suzuki GS750 on the rear of the seat, or maybe GS900 or 920 even... although GS750 is of much greater notoriety, and will keep it a bit of a sleeper to **** off the modern sport bike riders who wouldn't suspect this already really-fast-stock bike to be even more of a bullet! I love these old 1st gen GS550/750/1000's... So well built for their time, and so easy to mod out the intake/exhaust/jetting, brakes, suspension, and tire/rim choices....

[Chuck78]

Here's a little reminder of how to proceed riding in rural areas during deer mating season (called "rut" - in late fall). Deer fur jammed into the headlight bucket trim, and even into my spark plug wire to boot connection! Darnit I really loved how awesome of projection that 81/82 GS650 "H5" headlight had... Smashed to pieces, deer fur even back where the bulb was...

[Chuck78]

NEW 2ND BIKE - 77/78/79 GS750 pile of parts!

Well I acquired a second bottom end of a 1979 GS750N engine to start building a fresh 920cc engine out of, and then to get some good stator and ignition covers and a good set of GS750 cams, the seller basically threw in a seized engine to the deal for near scrap metal prices, and then further threw in the 78 GS750 frame that the seized engine was still bolted to that has been parked since 1985! The title was notarized & signed over but never transferred, but I've tracked down the titled original owner (several un-legit owners later) and he happens to live a few blocks from my mother-in-law, of all the luck!

Looks like after I get this massive house remodel finished in the next two months, I can now start welding in a few frame braces and repainting my new spare frame on the bench, and build up it's original gearbox/crankcase with my 69mm bored out to 72mm 850 cylinders and 920cc pistons, and a spare cylinder head (scrap engine's rings are rusted to the bores I suspect, valves are all crusty looking from the exhaust ports being open to the air). This is awesome news, because then I can basically have my bike together the whole time while restoring and bracing this 78 frame (matches my birth year and my 1st car - 78 Camaro, hence Chuck78 on Camaro forums). Then I can swap my forks, wheels, swingarm, brakes, etc (all the parts I already replaced or modified or upgraded) all over to the redone frame all at once! I also got the almost perfect gas tank as well that was originally on this 78 since the deer collision dented mine.

Then I will have my 77 frame and the engine in it to repaint, put new gaskets in, and maybe an 80 850 CV head with some GSXR Slingshot carbs for kicks! I can bolt all of my original 77 parts back to that with some upgraded brakes that I have here, and still build a barebones racer out of it with all of my spare parts!
The only major things I am missing would be good new tires and a 4-1 exhaust! Carb jets and o-rings, regulator rectifier, clutch lever, EMGO headlight brackets, battery delete capacitor for kickstarting assistance, front fender, and throttle grip control and left side light switch control. All I'd need now to build a second GS750 from spares... wow. Awesome! My CB750 buddy says "cool, let's build a track bike and race it at all the vintage events!" Well, I think my main ride is practically suited for that already, but I dont want to wreck it OR myself! All in all, good news. No more GS400/425 project plans I guess!

[T8erbug]

Well I acquired a second bottom end of a 1979 GS750N engine to start building a fresh 920cc engine out of, and then to get some good stator and ignition covers and a good set of GS750 cams, the seller basically threw in a seized engine to the deal for near scrap metal prices, and then further threw in the 78 GS750 frame that the seized engine was still bolted to that has been parked since 1985! The title was notarized & signed over but never transferred, but I've tracked down the titled original owner (several un-legit owners later) and he happens to live a few blocks from my mother-in-law, of all the luck!

Looks like after I get this massive house remodel finished in the next two months, I can now start welding in a few frame braces and repainting my new spare frame on the bench, and build up it's original gearbox/crankcase with my 69mm bored out to 72mm 850 cylinders and 920cc pistons, and a spare cylinder head (scrap engine's rings are rusted to the bores I suspect, valves are all crusty looking from the exhaust ports being open to the air). This is awesome news, because then I can basically have my bike together the whole time while restoring and bracing this 78 frame (matches my birth year and my 1st car - 78 Camaro, hence Chuck78 on Camaro forums). Then I can swap my forks, wheels, swingarm, brakes, etc (all the parts I already replaced or modified or upgraded) all over to the redone frame all at once! I also got the almost perfect gas tank as well that was originally on this 78 since the deer collision dented mine.

Then I will have my 77 frame and the engine in it to repaint, put new gaskets in, and maybe an 80 850 CV head with some GSXR Slingshot carbs for kicks! I can bolt all of my original 77 parts back to that with some upgraded brakes that I have here, and still build a barebones racer out of it with all of my spare parts!
The only major things I am missing would be good new tires and a 4-1 exhaust! Carb jets and o-rings, regulator rectifier, clutch lever, EMGO headlight brackets, battery delete capacitor for kickstarting assistance, front fender, and throttle grip control and left side light switch control. All I'd need now to build a second GS750 from spares... wow. Awesome! My CB750 buddy says "cool, let's build a track bike and race it at all the vintage events!" Well, I think my main ride is practically suited for that already, but I dont want to wreck it OR myself! All in all, good news. No more GS400/425 project plans I guess!

I'm actually thinking about building a track-only bike too. It will be sweet if I can get another GS750 because then I can take from one and add to the other if needs be and hopefully in the end they can both benefit from each other.

[Chuck78]

When I told my dad that I had acquired enough parts to build almost an entire spare GS750, and he said "GREAT, I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL YOUR MOTHER YOU FINALLY BUILT A MOTORCYCLE FOR ME!" He had some old Suzuki GT 2-strokes in the 70's and 80's, as well as being a pit mechanic on a motocross team, I think it was a Penton racing team.
I'll build the #1 spare engine with my GS850 pistons and bored out 750 cylinders that I'm running, GS850 CV head, and GSX-600F Katana Slingshot carbs, and GS750 cams. It will get full OSS frame bracing - the critical ones at the mid section, GSXR rearsets, and the 310mm single disc, and be a kickstart only bike. Might even play around with welding some bracing onto the swingarm if I don;t find a deal on a GS1100E swingarm. Chopped springs and stock shocks until I find something budget and good to throw on the rear.

My plan of action first is to tear into the seized '78 engine to rebuild the bottom and use the 850 cylinders/920pistons and a spare GS750 head. Get that built up, and then weld bracing in on the '78 frame, decide what tabs etc will get shaved off that, and drcide if I want GSXR rearsets on both. Then repaint that frame with appliance epoxy, let it cure for a week, and install the 920cc engine innit with reworked vm26's, and then swap all the parts off of the '77 onto it. Then I can redo the '77 frame, freshen up the engine, and basically reinstall all the original parts that I swapped in favor of high performance wheels/brakes/suspension/swingarm/etc.so that frame will end up basically the way it was when I first started riding it, but with cv carbs and a monster single disc brake, and 78+ rear brakes since the monster stocker was just too much. Shinko 230 tires on stock spokes.

[Chuck78]

http://service.foxracingshox.com/powersports/Content/Resources/pdf/Vintage/FOX%20FACTORY%20SHOXforMX.pdf

I also tracked down on a factory service manual for the Fox Factory Shox. This one is geared more towards the MX versions (long travel, taller lengths, mx springs, external remote reservoirs), but the valving and rebuild procedures are the same. It just doesnt list any springs rates or part numbers that work for the road version of the shock that we are interested in.

[Chuck78]

Any1 have vintage Fox Factory Shox setup tips or background info? spring rates?

Now on to the latest for me. I am at a halt now for spending on the GS, as engine and frame work will start in April most likely. I'll get the GS back on the road with the lighting and cosmetic repairs, and get the custom gauges finished (need to print custom stock-styled 130mph faces for the GS400 gauges still, and get the wiring rearranged.

I was considering dropping $500 on some really awesome Hagon Nitro's or YSS Z-362 shocks, but ended up with some real awesome vintage rebuildable Fox Factory Shox. Pretty high tech shocks for a set of 1980's top of the line Vintage racing shocks, they have an external piggyback reservoir with a bladder separating the nitrogen charge from the shock oil and quite a complex valving system that is FULLY ADJUSTABLE for compression and rebound. Fully rebuildable and parts are still available - http://ltthor.home.comcast.net/~ltthor/FFS.html.



They are one of the top 2 or 3 most sought after vintage aftermarket superbike (and MX) shocks, and sell for $600-$700 restored. These came to me in a pretty sad and worn out state, but after a full seal kit, repainting the springs and polishing the bodies, and replacing a pitted shaft, they will be very legit shocks. Pros - awesome looking piggyback setup, great dampening. Cons - not externally adjustable, have to tear them down to change valving shim spring stack setup and/or swap jets. preload is also easily adjustable.

Factory Service Manual -

http://service.foxracingshox.com/powersports/Content/Resources/pdf/Vintage/FOX%20FACTORY%20SHOXforMX.pdf

Also thinking of replacing the eye bushings with spherical stainless steel teflon lined eye bearings: