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78 750 single front disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter MR.G
  • Start date Start date
tkent02 said:
More rigid, in GS days it was the heavier bikes which got the bigger stronger fork tubes. You wouldn't really notice unless you were riding very hard, or on rough broken surfaces. All of the newer bikes have gone to much thicker fork tubes, just as they have gone to more rigid frames. Same idea, better handling is the end result.
Click to expand...

Indeed. But there comes a point where "more stiffness" is actually a hinderance.
One of the things I noticed right off the bat when I went from my GSes to the ZRX was how much more stiff not only the fork was, but the frame as well.
Riding a GS, or any older bike, really hard for a good while, (especially when you're not 150 pounds and 5'10) one of the "quirks" you learn to anticipate and deal with is the flex in the frame and fork. It actually becomes part of the suspension. For example, in a long, high speed sweeper with a road surface like we have around here (full of frost heaves and surface pocks from the freeze-refreeze cycles) you can actually feel the frame/swingarm wallow a bit. You just learn to accept it, and ride with it. The ZRX, while still a tube steel frame, has substantially larger frame tubing and looks like a road racing frame with all the gusseting it has around the head stock, and around the "B" and "C" down tubes and such. It is remarkably stiff. I wasn't really familiar with the bike yet and took it out on one of my little "suspension tuning" routes. Full of chunked and heaved asphalt and many high and low speed corners and multiple "S" curves where you have to get the bike over, up and over the other side quickly and smoothly to be fast.

I hadn't set up the suspension yet as I was trying to get a feel for what needed to be done (aside from setting the sag, the Rex has a full cartridge fork and both compression and rebound damping adjustment front and rear. Something I was still learning about and I wasn't about to just start spinning knobs and clicking adjusters)
The bike literally scared me. I expected it to be a bit soft and wallow a bit in the esses on transition, and leaned over on the undulating road surface. It didn't. The back end chopped and hopped, the bike had a figure eight feedback through the bars as it wanted to stand up and then lay back down. The front end plowed and then pushed through the corners. I nearly tucked the wheel as I tried to trailers front brakes to shave off some of the speed as I certainly didn't feel as comfortable as I did on my beloved but now gone 1100ES that I had spent so much time on making it handle as well as I could.

Back to the "Suspension tuning bible" I went after I got the colour back in my knuckles and my hands to quit shaking lol.

Once you reach a certain point with stiffness, it becomes a fault. The suspension doesn't work as well when heeled over in the corners as the forks and shocks are designed to move up and down. Laid over obviously, bumps go from vertical input to the suspension to almost lateral input. Some of that input is transferred to the frame. On my GS it would soak that input up some. It felt a little loose, but you could actually FEEL what was happening under you. On the Rex, that input that was transferred to the frame became jarring shock. The frame not only didn't absorb it, it almost seem to amplify it, and then smack you in the face with it. Hahaha. Once I got the suspension set up sorted out, it became very very good. And once I got used to this new feeling and feedback, I got quite a bit quicker on my little test route and my little "Germantown TT" course.

Of course, many companies have tried different suspension designs to attempt to eliminate these issues of transfer to the frame. BMWs Telelever design has some pretty good praise for this and it's ability to prevent fork dive under braking.
One of the major reasons Ducati has struggled with their GP effort is one of this very thing.
Both Rossi and Hayden complained of a severe lack of "feel" with their Desmo GP12. The feedback of the front end when cornering on the edge, which these guys rely heavily on to tell them when they go from being on the edge to being on the brink of going down, was not there. They couldn't feel when they crossed the point of amazing lean angle in a corner to washing out the front end and losing it.

Of course, I am not even in the same galaxy as those guys, but after that first real day on the ZRX I completely understood what they were talking about. Lol
 
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Thanks Josh. I definitely have much to learn about the feel then as I haven't ridden enough different bikes yet. I need to go do some more riding once everything is running well again.

Again, sorry for the hijack
 
Yeah, the right fork lower does not have the mounting bosses for a caliper. Kind of a moot point, if what was said is true about stopping power between dual and single, above.
 
Ive never seen a single brake work anywhere near as well as a dual on the bigger bikes.
Adequate, maybe but not as good.
 
My 79 750 and my 81 750L both has single stoppers. The 750L was sketchy at best when applying the single brake... About as good as applying the rear ... First upgrade on my 81 was a complete GS1100E front brake setup...

My 2 cents. Every bike I get my hands on; have or receive a twin disc setup.
 
Last edited:
TheCafeKid said:
Indeed. But there comes a point where "more stiffness" is actually a hinderance.
One of the things I noticed right off the bat when I went from my GSes to the ZRX was how much more stiff not only the fork was, but the frame as well.
Riding a GS, or any older bike, really hard for a good while, (especially when you're not 150 pounds and 5'10) one of the "quirks" you learn to anticipate and deal with is the flex in the frame and fork. It actually becomes part of the suspension. For example, in a long, high speed sweeper with a road surface like we have around here (full of frost heaves and surface pocks from the freeze-refreeze cycles) you can actually feel the frame/swingarm wallow a bit. You just learn to accept it, and ride with it. The ZRX, while still a tube steel frame, has substantially larger frame tubing and looks like a road racing frame with all the gusseting it has around the head stock, and around the "B" and "C" down tubes and such. It is remarkably stiff. I wasn't really familiar with the bike yet and took it out on one of my little "suspension tuning" routes. Full of chunked and heaved asphalt and many high and low speed corners and multiple "S" curves where you have to get the bike over, up and over the other side quickly and smoothly to be fast.

I hadn't set up the suspension yet as I was trying to get a feel for what needed to be done (aside from setting the sag, the Rex has a full cartridge fork and both compression and rebound damping adjustment front and rear. Something I was still learning about and I wasn't about to just start spinning knobs and clicking adjusters)
The bike literally scared me. I expected it to be a bit soft and wallow a bit in the esses on transition, and leaned over on the undulating road surface. It didn't. The back end chopped and hopped, the bike had a figure eight feedback through the bars as it wanted to stand up and then lay back down. The front end plowed and then pushed through the corners. I nearly tucked the wheel as I tried to trailers front brakes to shave off some of the speed as I certainly didn't feel as comfortable as I did on my beloved but now gone 1100ES that I had spent so much time on making it handle as well as I could.

Back to the "Suspension tuning bible" I went after I got the colour back in my knuckles and my hands to quit shaking lol.

Once you reach a certain point with stiffness, it becomes a fault. The suspension doesn't work as well when heeled over in the corners as the forks and shocks are designed to move up and down. Laid over obviously, bumps go from vertical input to the suspension to almost lateral input. Some of that input is transferred to the frame. On my GS it would soak that input up some. It felt a little loose, but you could actually FEEL what was happening under you. On the Rex, that input that was transferred to the frame became jarring shock. The frame not only didn't absorb it, it almost seem to amplify it, and then smack you in the face with it. Hahaha. Once I got the suspension set up sorted out, it became very very good. And once I got used to this new feeling and feedback, I got quite a bit quicker on my little test route and my little "Germantown TT" course.

Of course, many companies have tried different suspension designs to attempt to eliminate these issues of transfer to the frame. BMWs Telelever design has some pretty good praise for this and it's ability to prevent fork dive under braking.
One of the major reasons Ducati has struggled with their GP effort is one of this very thing.
Both Rossi and Hayden complained of a severe lack of "feel" with their Desmo GP12. The feedback of the front end when cornering on the edge, which these guys rely heavily on to tell them when they go from being on the edge to being on the brink of going down, was not there. They couldn't feel when they crossed the point of amazing lean angle in a corner to washing out the front end and losing it.

Of course, I am not even in the same galaxy as those guys, but after that first real day on the ZRX I completely understood what they were talking about. Lol
Click to expand...
A very good description, but I'll add just a little. If you can't do it yourself and want to get your suspension sorted properly it is well worth the money to get the suspension experts to sort your bike for you . They can set the bike up for your weight and check the geometry for your bike . I have used GMD computrac out of Boston . I had them do my SV race bike and the difference was night and day, I picked up 3 seconds at Loudon almost immediatly . Best money I have ever spent on a bike except for brakes, thats another story.:D
 
Big T said:
You can use a one piece but be careful about mounting it

The up and down motion of the fork can make it saw into your triple clamp
Click to expand...


thanks to all that replied. Sorry for getting back so late. Anyway, seems like the original post took a left turn somewhere.

I would like your thoughts on the following. I am not going to a single line, I will stay with the original 3 piece set up. Question - does anyone know of an upper front brake line that will fit a 78 gs750 single disk wire wheel, from another gs but about 15" in length vs the original being about 19". As mentioned in the original post I have lower bars on it and do not want to use the original length that was used for the original higher bars. Thinking I could order a line from another model.

Thanks again Guys, always appreciate your help.
 
Your best bet is to have lines made. They can make them in any length. You will just need to provide the length and what type of ends you need. As previously mentioned, check BassCliff's site for a possible list of vendors. Otherwise there are many on ebay and I'm sure a google search will provide many more. You may even have a local business in your town that can do them.
 
Oh and not to hijack your thread again as it already got off track once.....


......can anyone tell me what years/models spoke wheels will accept dual discs? Anyone know the spoke count for the suzukis?
 
Last edited:
78 GS750 has a dual front disc set-up on a wire wheel and 79 has it on a mag wheel
 
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