1981 gs750 (gs750e) Retro Racer project

[slayer61]

That's the way I HAVE to look at it sometimes... I didn't buy a part. I bought a pattern!

[LarsKroghStea]

The new footbrackets have arrived, and for some reason the mounting points are different from the ones I have. The rear holes doesn't allign, and is positioned 4-5mm forward and forward/up on the other one.



And the metal tabs on the frame must be flush to frame on '82 and protruding about 15mm on my '81:



There is plenty of metal that can be removed on the inside of the bracket, but it might be necessary to also alter the metal tabs on the frame.. This turned out to be more work than I expected, and I'll save this job for later. I don't regret buying the brackets though, as they are a very nice starting point for making new, nice looking brackets

[LarsKroghStea]

So, the fendermounts came the other day. They were thicker than I expected, and I also expected them to have a shim welded to the bottom so they would hide the bolts.
A little like this:

https://blackdiamond-motorcycles.ch/en/product/fender-mudguard-front-bmw-r80-r100-cafe-racer-bobber-conversion/

The ones i recived looked like this:






They were also way too long, but that's of course better than the alternative;



I've not descided on wether I'll shorten and bend them, grind them flat and drill/tap and put them on the underside, or bend them and weld them together as a loop.

I'm leaning towards this look:

https://www.caferacerwebshop.com/en/front-fender-scrambler-with-brackets.html

[LarsKroghStea]

I blazed through your thread and that thing looks insane. Really bad ass.
Overall I'm a little tired of seeing bikes getting chopped up for "caferacer/scrambler conversions" or whatever... but this thing is none of that.
Very well executed. Absolutely brilliant work my friend

Thank you very much for the kind words

[Diirk]

I blazed through your thread and that thing looks insane. Really bad ass.
Overall I'm a little tired of seeing bikes getting chopped up for "caferacer/scrambler conversions" or whatever... but this thing is none of that.
Very well executed. Absolutely brilliant work my friend

[Suzukian]

Nice not to have all the sand and particulates scratching up the rear end either.

[LarsKroghStea]

So many goodies in such a short time. As far as the rear fender, the water usually is thrown tangent to the revolving object, which means the fender would have to be longer, but the bottom end could be a bit shorter. It just has to sit a little higher up on the wheel to keep the splash off the bike and your back. .

Yes, I ordered the longest fender I could find on ebay. I won't be doing long trips on this bike, so it will see minimal rain, but I like the idea of not having alle the dirt making a buildup on the swingarm, leading to moist and rust. But I will try to balance that with the looks

[Suzukian]

So many goodies in such a short time. As far as the rear fender, the water usually is thrown tangent to the revolving object, which means the fender would have to be longer, but the bottom end could be a bit shorter. It just has to sit a little higher up on the wheel to keep the splash off the bike and your back. .

[LarsKroghStea]

The brake lines arrived today, and while they look awesome, I immediately realized I've made a mistake. I totally forgot to take into account that I've converted my front wheel from the original 17" to 19". I was afraid the "over the fender"-wire would be too short. I mounted them, and they have a natural bend towards the rear. The aluminum fender is made out of a pretty thin material, and it seems like there would be atleast 15mm of air between fender and tyre. Can't see why that would not be sufficient.





As a surprise bonus, the lines had exactly the bushings I was looking for I'll remove two of these amd install them on the rear instead.

[LarsKroghStea]

And I made a little video of the updated gear indicator:

[LarsKroghStea]

Well.. I haven't looked at these for years. These are the original footpeg-brackets, with bolts in them to show how the tabs I use for my pegs are placed. I've bent the pegs a little, but thats just a temporary solution. The brackets are also much more angled outwards at the rear than I could remember:





I bought these (actually another set, but similar) on ebay, although the shippong is as much as the parts.













































When I get them I will cut them behind the middle hole, and drill and tap new holes for the rearsets. Maybe it's best to fill in the backside with "liquid metal" (don't know what you call it in the US. It's a 2K non shrink, highly adhesive, filler we use to fix boat propellers if we run them against something so they chip). I want the rearsets a little bit lower and more forward than they are now.

[LarsKroghStea]

Don't know if you can see it on this picture, but the tabs that I've used to mount the rearset, are not at the correct angle.



This means the footpegs are not perpendicular to the frame. My bike (1981 model) came with pressed metal brackets for the rear footpegs, and they are not suited for modification. I don't know if there were different trim levels, or if it relates to difference between years, but most 1982 GSX750E's I've seen has cast aluminum brackets. If I can get a cheap pair of those (they are cheap, I just need to find some locally as it costs too much to ship them from the US), I will use them as a base for new brackets for the rearsets. That will make it easier to get the alignment and angle right.

[LarsKroghStea]

Not sure where I put the parts for the left pushrod, but I found this turnbuckle. It's for a sailboat, and will not corrode. I think it looks cool too
Just need to cut, straighten and drill a hole in the old gear lever.



I will also need to tap the holes for adjusting the rearset: As you can see on the next picture, the gear pedal has 12 holes with 30 degress separation, and the short transfer lever has 8 holes with 45 degrees of separation. They are connected with four bolts at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock position, and by alternating whitch holes are used one can adjust the angle in 15 degree increments.

[LarsKroghStea]

The rear master cylinder I mounted, cluttered up the space under the seat:



I decided to alter the angle of the inlet from vertical to horizontal, like it is on the original:





Much better:



I'll make a bracket later, to correct the angle/position of the new master.

[Suzukian]

Great place for signal lights.