78 GS 750 Rebuild

[chuck hahn]

If you do anything to the spokes and rim where it isn't painted, just use the paint stripper to get the old clear off. Then steel wool them with 00 or 000 grade an some of your favorite light oil ( I use Marvels Mystery oil). Clean them with dish soap and water. Final wiped down with some Acetone before reclearing.

[Sam 78 GS750]

Good point, Chuck. I started by spraying down the whole rim with aircraft stripper and then scrubbing with steel wool. Since I used a matte clear, I didn't clear coat the polished parts. Just hit them with some wizards power seal, and will reapply every so often. If you use a gloss clear, you can unmask after color and clear coat the whole rim.

[jibledso]

Man, I'd love if my 77' looked as good as yours. I've been hampered with not being able to find the right cleaning products to take all the dirt off the bike before polishing. The best thing I have is 1200 sand paper. They frown more on harsh chemicals here in Sweden, plus not knowing where to go to find the right stuff. Keep up the good work!

[Sam 78 GS750]

Man, I'd love if my 77' looked as good as yours. I've been hampered with not being able to find the right cleaning products to take all the dirt off the bike before polishing. The best thing I have is 1200 sand paper. They frown more on harsh chemicals here in Sweden, plus not knowing where to go to find the right stuff. Keep up the good work!

For cleaning products, Dawn dish soap or similar and a stiff brush works, if you can't get your hands on something stronger. If you're talking about removing paint, that might be tough... sandpaper may be your best bet in the absence of chemicals.

If you're repainting, you don't need to go overboard like I do and completely strip. Just get all the loose paint off, scuff with a scotch brite pad or 320 sandpaper and repaint. If you're removing clear coat to polish, just sand it off and polish. Takes a bit longer than things like aircraft stripper, but will do the job.

If you can get your hands on a soda blaster, that works great too...

[jibledso]

Thanks for the advice, I never thought about dish soap before, it's actually kind of weak here too. I actually used soda water with little results, I'm sure the machine is better.

[DucatiDave]

Sam mentioned spraying clear over both the painted and "raw" parts of the wheel (polished outside edge of spokes and rim). I have read that clear spray paint needs a primer or basecoat of some sort to make it adhere properly. I have not seen any clear primers, so does anyone have experience spraying clear over the bare metal? It was obviously done that way at the factory but not sure how modern clear may differ. I am looking at either VHT or Eastwood 2K clear.
Thanks.

[Sam 78 GS750]

Sam mentioned spraying clear over both the painted and "raw" parts of the wheel (polished outside edge of spokes and rim). I have read that clear spray paint needs a primer or basecoat of some sort to make it adhere properly. I have not seen any clear primers, so does anyone have experience spraying clear over the bare metal? It was obviously done that way at the factory but not sure how modern clear may differ. I am looking at either VHT or Eastwood 2K clear.
Thanks.

Dave, are you talking about the Eastwood 2K in a rattle can, where you pop a seal on the inside of the can to mix the paint and activator? Never used it, but it seems to be an amazing product. If you end up using it, can you let me know how it works out for you?

[Sam 78 GS750]

Thanks for the advice, I never thought about dish soap before, it's actually kind of weak here too. I actually used soda water with little results, I'm sure the machine is better.

Actually talking about baking soda, not soda water. You use it like you would sand, except instead of a sand blaster it's a soda blaster. Something like this-->https://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-...ter-60801.html


Or this --->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZhBQXm4yBY

[1978GS750E]

When I painted my wheels I sped up the masking process by mashing the "spokes" with 1/2" tape and then took an Exacto knife and trimmed away the excess. Much easier than using 1/8" wide tape.

[Sam 78 GS750]

So I'm about half way through my brakes. Made all the lines with stuff from Earls. Rebuilt the rear caliper and master and threw them on the bike. Just waiting on new pistons to come in to do the front...

20180406_181740 by samL9, on Flickr

20180406_181811 by samL9, on Flickr

20180406_181824 by samL9, on Flickr

[Sam 78 GS750]

I'm hoping this routing on the brake line won't be in the way of anything... I mistakenly ordered straight ends for the rear instead of angled, so I just made it work...

20180406_181856 by samL9, on Flickr

[Sam 78 GS750]

No real pics to post, but I've gotten a bunch of little things done.

I managed to get my side stand bracket on finally. I had destroyed the first few threads on one of the bolt holes trying to muscle the bolt though the powder coat that was in the way... Cross threads are definitely not better than no threads. I got my first tap and die set, and I can't believe how easy it was! I think back to all the cursing and frustration in so many situations, and I can't believe I didn't get a set years ago... Live and learn. The right tool for the right job and all.

Now I just need to find the bolt and nut to put the stand on the bracket. I meticulously sorted and labeled everything in ziploc bags, and in some cases even drew diagrams on little slips of paper that I put in the bags so I would know where everything went. Still, there have been a handful of things that I've had to dig around for. This is one of them.

Makes it so my new favorite thing is throwing away ziploc bags though.

Still waiting on the correct pistons for the front calipers, so for now the brake lines are just dangling. Oh yeah, I got the front MC rebuilt and mounted, and the brake lines all routed up. OK, maybe I will take a few pics and post them later.

I took the carbs out of the box I had them in. They were the first thing I tackled on this project. Looked at them compared to the rest of the bike, and I decided to tidy a few things up. I just reused the same rusty hardware, paint on the bracket was chipped, etc. Not gonna paint the carbs (might do that next time they need to be cleaned), but I stripped the bracket, and am gonna polish it and the caps and float bowls. Zinc plate some of the hardware, and just replace some.

I painted my breather cover, but the leftover engine paint was cr@p from sitting. One can sprayed super dry, and the other wouldn't mix no matter how much I shook it up. It came out nasty, so I stripped it back and am just gonna polish it.

I was looking at the bike, and then looked around at the empty shelves in my garage, and I was feeling all good like "man I'm almost done!" Then I opened up the boxed labeled 'electrics' and I was like "man, I've got sooo much left to do!"

The case for the gauges is all cracked in a bunch of spots. I'm going to attempt my first plastic repair. Should be good practice for the side covers.

[Sam 78 GS750]

So this is what I've been up to the last couple of days.
20180512_204000 by samL9, on Flickr


This was after a good wipe down, but before I got to really cutting things up. I now have 80% of my wiring done. Still need to clean up all the switches, etc. And plug it all up to test before I wrap it back up. Posplayer's been a huge help during this part over pm. He's been super patient with my 1001 questions.

[Sam 78 GS750]

Just about have my wiring sorted out! I actually found the source of the intermittent power loss issues I had at the end of my cross country trip a few years back. The trip that actually parked the bike, and prompted this rebuild because of this and other issues. There was a short on one of the coil wires right by the coil where the insulation had cracked a bit. Also another one at the connector for the main fuse.

Got the coil and horn relays wired in.
20180522_070237 by samL9, on Flickr


found this handy mod while searching threads on the horn relay mod. A couple of diodes going from the hot on the horn into the turn signal wires that will flash the the turn signals as I honk my horn. another brilliant idea from the pages of TGSR!
20180522_070343 by samL9, on Flickr

test fitting the coils again to route up the wiring as I was putting the harness on and off the bike to run wires & check that everything was lining up.
20180522_070518 by samL9, on Flickr


oh, and polished this guy up and got it on finally.
20180522_070552 by samL9, on Flickr

[Sam 78 GS750]

Got a new headlight, because the old plastic bucket was all cracked up.
20180522_070454 by samL9, on Flickr

20180522_070501 by samL9, on Flickr


Got the front MC all sorted, and brakes installed and bled. Oddly, the new boot didn't fit. I wasn't about to take the line off and re-bleed just to put the old boot on. May sort this out, but for now, I'm calling it done.
20180522_070436 by samL9, on Flickr

20180522_070421 by samL9, on Flickr


Got the starter cleaned up and back in... Can anyone tell me what wire goes in through the grommet? Can't remember, and it's hard to tell, even with the labeling I've done. Hot is huge and comes from the back. Grounds through the mount to the engine... Hmmm?
20180522_070612 by samL9, on Flickr