'77 gs750 : Dual Disk Upgrade and Front End Rebuild

[BigDaddyD]

We're going on a journey here folks!
Over the last few years I've been asking alot of questions and everyone has on this site has been great with helping me out with my GS troubles. So now its time to give back.

Over the next few weeks or so I'll be rebuilding my brakes and upgrading my single-disk front end to a dual-disk setup.

I'm also going to give my steering and suspension a once-over while I have everything apart.

So hopefully, this entire process will include:
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Front and Rear Caliper Rebuilds
Front and Rear Master Cylinder Rebuilds
Fork Rebuild
Powder-coating for most parts

New stuff I've ordered/gathered for this venture include:
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Dual Disk Forks from a '78 GS750 (ebay)
L+R Front Calipers from a '78-79 GS750 (ebay)
L+R Front Disks from a GS550 - I think (courtesy of Salty_Monk)
New Fork Seals (dealer)
F+R Caliper Rebuild Kits (dealer)
Rear M/C Rebuild Kit (dealer)

Stuff I still need:
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New Caliper Pistons for both front and rear
New Front Master Cylinder to handle the dual disk setup
Brake line.
.... and anything else....
;-)

(as you can see in this photo I have already removed the rear caliper M/C and taken apart all the calipers to get powder-coated... don't ask why I have extra front calipers... I don't know...)

So what started this grand movement, was my rear brakes up and stopped working the other day. I checked the fluid and it was low but there was no sign of leakage. So I filled the reservoir back up, pumped the pedal and was getting nothing. I then tried to bleed the caliper but the inside bleeder nipple broke off. So I took them apart for a rebuild and found that the inside caliper piston was frozen due to pitting.

I had also noticed that the fluid in the reservoir was getting dirty from the Master Cylinder when I was pumping, so I removed it as well and found that the rod that connects to the pedal and pushes the piston was horribly rusted and was getting inside the M/C.

And so begins my adventure.....

 

[chuck hahn]

maybe i didnt see it in the pics, but do you have the 78 splitter that goes under the tree for the dual brake lines to the front??

 

[BigDaddyD]

maybe i didnt see it in the pics, but do you have the 78 splitter that goes under the tree for the dual brake lines to the front??

No... I was planning on using a dual-banjo fitting to split the line.

 

[BigDaddyD]

Update: 3-20-10

Update: 3-20-10

My caliper's were in pretty bad shape when I took them apart:

Nothing a little time with the Dremel Tool and the wire-brush attachment wouldn't fix!

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So I decided to tear into the forks today and let me tell ya...
Getting the fork seals out was a B**ch!!
Whoever said they just pop out is either He-Man... or I was doing something wrong.

In either case... I got them out and noticed a strange thing about these forks. They have upper Anti-Friction "DU" rings in them but not lower (at least as far as I can tell). From what I can tell they're not TSCC forks, and they're not leading axle forks. They also used more of a rounded Clip-type retaining ring on the seals instead of the flat Snap-Ring type pictured in my '77 GS750 service manual. I've been trying to find a '78 GS750 service manual to see if these are just differences due to years, but haven't been able to hunt one down online.

At any rate... they're apart and ready to be sent out to the powder-coaters.

Before I take all my suspension and brake parts there, I'm also going to take apart my Steering head, and grab a few other parts off the bike to get powder-coated.

I've included a few before and after pics of what look I'm eventually going for with my bike.
Blacked out motor and rims, cafe style painted front fender, re-formed rear seat, and maybe some new badges....

Here's the original:

And here's the edited:

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And BTW... I do graphic design, so if anyone would like see how they're styling changes might look on their bikes, I'll edit your pics like I did mine above for about $30-$50/per pic (depending on how many changes you want).
Feel free to PM me if you're interested.

So next up is taking apart the steering head and gathering the rest of parts to get painted.