78 GS750 Yoshimura Resto-mod

[SpecialK]

Do you have any pictures with the red bodywork back on the bike????
Current shots, please...I'm getting really amped up for riding season about now... and a GS1100E that I've never seen just passed me on the highway...

Not yet chuck! Trust me I am just as eager to see it as you. Just getting into exam season right now and the weather in my area hasn't been good enough to warrant the change over. I don't want to get the new paint full of grime right off the bat.

[pete]

I somehow missed this thread but am tuning in now... great job on the paint and I'm lovin' those Yoshi pipes too!

[Chuck78]

Do you have any pictures with the red bodywork back on the bike????
Current shots, please...I'm getting really amped up for riding season about now... and a GS1100E that I've never seen just passed me on the highway...

[SpecialK]

Yup! Two part automotive paint, Dodge Viper Red. More economical than spray cans and the finish is more durable

[steve murdoch]

Very nice.
Did you do the paintwork yourself?

[SpecialK]

20180218_160424.jpg
Another view

[SpecialK]

20180218_160416.jpg
Finished polishing the clear coat today and applied the Yoshi Decals, overall pretty happy with the results!

[SpecialK]

Appreciate the kind words guys! And thanks for adding the photos Chuck, I need to apologize for the lack of depth on my posts. In my 3rd year of Mech. Engg and time is not on my side at the moment. Would just like to say that without the help of this board, building the bike of my dreams at this age would not have been possible, so thank you all for your expertise and encouragement. Plenty of tasteful mods (specifically suspension related) to come.

[thebrandonbeezy]

i love this bike!

[Chuck78]

Looks GREAT!

[SpecialK]

Got the clear coat on the panels, going to let it cure for quite a while then I'll sand and buff it and add the decals.

Chuck with regards to shocks, these SW shocks are just temporary to replace the stock ones until I find something better.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jWqwUM59O6zutcFl1

[Chuck78]

I've heard mentions of SW shocks on dirt bikes from vintage bike forums in recent times, but I have not seen or heard much of them for street bikes.

EDIT - I dont believe any SW shocks were ever rebuildable

Running a shock with a rust pitted shaft means it will soon chew up the wiper seal and o-ring in the seal head, and then start spewing out all of its oil. So you will soon lose all damping if that is the case, and also lose all lubrication for the piston, which will then in turn destroy the internals of the shock... So a rust pitted shaft or leaking oil means rebuilding or throwing them in the scrap heap is the next step.

If you have a way to remove the spring, such as a DIY ratchet strap bench vise method to compress the spring to remove the lower perch, you can check and see if it has all of its damping still. You might be able to just compress it on the ground with it sitting on a floor mat or a 2 x 4 and feel the damping, but the spring maybe stiff enough that you don't have enough force.

YSS makes a pretty impressive budget line of shocks in the E-302 emulsion shock ($280?) and the C-302 piggyback ($460?)
A rebuilt vintage set of Koni Dial-A-Ride shocks or Fox Street Shox would be a good period correct shock that would do real good if the time comes to replace those SW's.


Gotta get off here, lunchbreak on my day off, finally get to do some work to straighten up my shop and make some shop space improvements!

[SpecialK]

Oh yeah, also, how big are the intake ports opened up to on the head? I was under the assumption that may have had bigger boots and RS34's on it already, but perhaps you meant that it just had Mikuni VM 29 smoothbores on it previously?

More porting work would need to be done to open it up to benefit from RS34 carbs. VM29, CR 29, or CR 31 smoothbores ate the ticket otherwise.

If I ever part with the yosh exhaust you'll definitely have first choice! The S&W shocks did have some rust on the shafts, most of it was surface and came off with some minor wetsanding. I painted the bodies of them and have some NOS springs coming in the mail.

Never got around to measuring the port sizes but they were noticeably larger than stock. The guy a bought it from is now a good friend of mine and did confirm that the race bike that this engine was in when he bought it was running RS 34's, which was way he had bought it in the first place not knowing it had internal engine work.

[Chuck78]

Oh yeah, also, how big are the intake ports opened up to on the head? I was under the assumption that may have had bigger boots and RS34's on it already, but perhaps you meant that it just had Mikuni VM 29 smoothbores on it previously?

More porting work would need to be done to open it up to benefit from RS34 carbs. VM29, CR 29, or CR 31 smoothbores are the ticket otherwise.

[Chuck78]

If you EVER want to sell that Yoshimura GS750 pipe, or if you EVER see another one for sale, GS550 also, PLEASE get in touch with me IMMEDIATELY!!!

On the picture of those SW Stroker shocks, it looks like one has a big rusty spot on the shaft. Do you know if parts are available for those? I know of a few sources to get shafts custom made. Are those things rebuildable?