Buying a 1977Gs750 for restoration

[Guest]

Hi Guys,
I’m from australia and want some advice.
i have bought (just picked up) a 1977 GS750 from one of my very good friends.
he bought the bike 10 years back to turn it i to a cafe racer , did a couple of things but then lost interest and parked it in his shed and it has been there since .
bike is dry and no rust outside, he told me he rode it in when he parked it but hasn’t been started in the past 10 years and now all the electricals etc. are all over the place as he started doing some restorations 10 years back.
my question is that should i start putting my time ams money in the bike seeing I can’t start the engine before i clean the carbs and put the essential wiring together.
moreover, all the three brake calipers and brake lines, clutch cable, accelerator wire are a throw away and my friend can’t remember how many k’s were on the nike when he bought .

any suggestions , recommendations and tricks will be really helpful and appreciated.
i can retun yhe bike any time as it is my mate’s.

cheers
abs

 

[Big T]

Remove the ignition cover and use a spanner on the big nut to see if the engine turns over.
many parts are available from Suzuki But, expect to spend $1,500 AU or more on rubber bits, tires, brake lines, etc

 

[Guest]

Remove the ignition cover and use a spanner on the big nut to see if the engine turns over.
many parts are available from Suzuki But, expect to spend $1,500 AU or more on rubber bits, tires, brake lines, etc

Thanks mate,
so, just check at the ignition moving the points and not having to start it up?
i bought it for $1500 and have some budget to turn this thing around .
happy to spend unless i am looking at a full engine rebuild.
any tricks to know how bad or good the engine is ?

 

[Grimly]

Once you've got the engine turning over with a spanner, lob some oil down the bores, turn it over again and leave it for a day or two. Come back to it and assemble enough wiring to work the starter (or if it's got a kickstart, use that) to get some idea of the compressions. They'll probably be low, but that's fairly normal on one that's been idle for a long time. They generally start to recover when in use, but especially if you throw some ATF+acetone down the bores to free off the ring packs.
The time the brew takes to work its magic is well spent by checking the valve clearances anyway, and you can get on with some of the other stuff.

 

[allojohn]

Those engines are pretty much bullet proof, post some photos - let's have a look at it.

 

[Guest]

Once you've got the engine turning over with a spanner, lob some oil down the bores, turn it over again and leave it for a day or two. Come back to it and assemble enough wiring to work the starter (or if it's got a kickstart, use that) to get some idea of the compressions. They'll probably be low, but that's fairly normal on one that's been idle for a long time. They generally start to recover when in use, but especially if you throw some ATF+acetone down the bores to free off the ring packs.
The time the brew takes to work its magic is well spent by checking the valve clearances anyway, and you can get on with some of the other stuff.

Thanks for the reply mate.
you mean put some oil down from where the spark plugs are connected ?
also what is ATF ? Might be different in australia and what ratio of acetone and ATF ?

 

[Guest]

Once you've got the engine turning over with a spanner, lob some oil down the bores, turn it over again and leave it for a day or two. Come back to it and assemble enough wiring to work the starter (or if it's got a kickstart, use that) to get some idea of the compressions. They'll probably be low, but that's fairly normal on one that's been idle for a long time. They generally start to recover when in use, but especially if you throw some ATF+acetone down the bores to free off the ring packs.
The time the brew takes to work its magic is well spent by checking the valve clearances anyway, and you can get on with some of the other stuff.

Also,
i used the kick started to check the compression and it looks like it does have compression just need to check how much .
is that a good sign if the engine turned over using the kick starter or check has to be done via the big nut on the ignition ?

 

[Grimly]

Thanks for the reply mate.
you mean put some oil down from where the spark plugs are connected ?
also what is ATF ? Might be different in australia and what ratio of acetone and ATF ?

Yep, down the plugholes. ATF is auto transmission fluid, most common / cheapest type around is Dexron 3, but any type will do, mix it 50/50 with acetone.
If it's kicking over, fine. It would be better to have lubed the bores first.

 

[Rob S.]

Isn't $1500 a bit steep for a non-runner (from a friend)? I know it was 9 years ago, but my 11E was $1500 and it ran very well. And had a new paint job and seat cover.

 

[Guest]

Isn't $1500 a bit steep for a non-runner (from a friend)? I know it was 9 years ago, but my 11E was $1500 and it ran very well. And had a new paint job and seat cover.

I know mate but, there is nothing available here in Australia. US has a massive inventory of these bikes.

 

[Guest]

Yep, down the plugholes. ATF is auto transmission fluid, most common / cheapest type around is Dexron 3, but any type will do, mix it 50/50 with acetone.
If it's kicking over, fine. It would be better to have lubed the bores first.

Awesome,
Will do it today.

Another question - I checked the engine oil and it is empty as the bike just sat and leaked i guess, no rust or anything .
Should i flush the engine using some engine flush or, just fill it up, change the filter and try running and keep that oil in it ?
Will be changing filter , the pan gasket , sump plug and washer etc.

 

[Grimly]

Awesome,
Will do it today.

Another question - I checked the engine oil and it is empty as the bike just sat and leaked i guess, no rust or anything .
Should i flush the engine using some engine flush or, just fill it up, change the filter and try running and keep that oil in it ?
Will be changing filter , the pan gasket , sump plug and washer etc.

With the filter changed and the sump pan cleaned out, you'll have a lot of stuff out that accumulated over the years, so that's a major step anyway. I don't bother with flushes, except for a first fill of cheap oil and change that in a thousand miles or less, maybe 500. Over the next few thousand running miles, a decent modern oil will clean the insides almost to factory fresh.

 

[Nessism]

Those engines are pretty much bullet proof, post some photos - let's have a look at it.

Agree. Adjust the valves, rebuild the carbs PROPERLY, not a shortcut job, make sure you have spark, and a clean fuel tank, and it will run!

 

[Guest]

Those engines are pretty much bullet proof, post some photos - let's have a look at it.

Here is the bike .
pretty dusty but looks ok overall.
also, it has an anti drive system that the previous ownr has disabled using a bolt, not sure if it is the right way.
i would like to put it back together, any tips , pros and cons on that.
Moreover , it has adjustable forks , never seen that before on a GS.
Can’t seem to upload any photos from my phone here !!!!

 

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[rphillips]

No telling what you may find about this project. Suzuki never had, I don't think, a 2 valve 750 with anti-dive. May be older bike with newer front end or possibly a newer bike with an older eng. installed. That being said I don't think the anti-dive was good nor bad, more of advertising ploy than functioning improvement. My "83" still has it, no clue if it's working or not, but it's still there & everything still hooked up.

 

[Rob S.]

Did they catch the guy who assaulted it with a Sawzall?