Cost to Coast ... to Coast on 1977 GS750 and GS550

[Burque73]

What a great thread.

Are you writing this from memory at this point or did you log the trip somehow?

 

[sam000lee]

At the time I wrote down where we ended up at the end of each day and pretty regularly have my odometer readings, too, as well as some random notes, postcards, trinkets, etc. I have quite a lot of pictures documenting things pretty well but there are a few gaps in the timeline from just looking at those.

 

[GabrielGoes]

nice thread. Can you list what work you had to do on your bike on the trip and what exactly "broke down" along the way? would be cool to know!

p.s. i assume you have electronic ignition?

 

[sam000lee]

Thanks!

On my GS750 I had to replace:

- Rear tire when we got to Oregon (~5-6,000 miles)
- Several oil changes
- Chain in Washington state (~6,000 miles) along with front and rear sprockets. The chain and rear sprocket were both toast.
- A few sets of spark plugs. We were riding through the mountains a fair amount and were subsequently running rich.

I think I might be forgetting something but honestly that's about it which is pretty amazing

The GS550 we had to replace:

- The Condensers in CO. Our bikes both had the same points system and we subbed in my condensers into the GS550 to troubleshoot it.
- Oil changes
- Rear tire also in Oregon
- Got a flat in Wyoming and had to replace a tube in a parking lot
- Chain was replaced in South Dakota after it became completely un-rideable on

I'll post the picture later tonight but we changed both rear tubes/tires at a gas station in Portland, OR to use the air. I also managed to fit in an oil/filter change, spark plug change and points adjustment. A pretty good tune up at a busy intersection haha. We "broke down" quite a few times in varying severity. The busted condenser stranded us for a couple of days as did looking for a new 530 chain in South Dakota. I had a slime pump so we were able to nurse the leaking tube for a day until we could find a shop with a tube (not easy when you don't have smartphones/internet access). Other reasons were running out of gas, bolts falling out of our luggage racks, things being loose/falling off, my luggage rack mounting points both snapped - stuff like that.

We both were running the original points for the trip. I've since installed a Dyna ignition and coils and we have the same for the GS550 we'll be putting in soon.

 

[GabrielGoes]

haha NICE! thats it? goes to show you how reliable these bikes are... and i bet you are running on stock motor that is over 40 years old with no refresh at all? I think that says a lot

I that dyna ignition is probably like a dream come true! now the spark plugs were totally fouled out? sometimes you can just hit em on a wire wheel with some brake clean after and they come right back to life. iridium's (cant do the wire wheel trick) should last you a lifetime.

6k miles for a chain and sprockets seems kind of short honestly, are you leaving enough slack?

Thanks!

On my GS750 I had to replace:

- Rear tire when we got to Oregon (~5-6,000 miles)
- Several oil changes
- Chain in Washington state (~6,000 miles) along with front and rear sprockets. The chain and rear sprocket were both toast.
- A few sets of spark plugs. We were riding through the mountains a fair amount and were subsequently running rich.

I think I might be forgetting something but honestly that's about it which is pretty amazing

The GS550 we had to replace:

- The Condensers in CO. Our bikes both had the same points system and we subbed in my condensers into the GS550 to troubleshoot it.
- Oil changes
- Rear tire also in Oregon
- Got a flat in Wyoming and had to replace a tube in a parking lot
- Chain was replaced in South Dakota after it became completely un-rideable on

I'll post the picture later tonight but we changed both rear tubes/tires at a gas station in Portland, OR to use the air. I also managed to fit in an oil/filter change, spark plug change and points adjustment. A pretty good tune up at a busy intersection haha. We "broke down" quite a few times in varying severity. The busted condenser stranded us for a couple of days as did looking for a new 530 chain in South Dakota. I had a slime pump so we were able to nurse the leaking tube for a day until we could find a shop with a tube (not easy when you don't have smartphones/internet access). Other reasons were running out of gas, bolts falling out of our luggage racks, things being loose/falling off, my luggage rack mounting points both snapped - stuff like that.

We both were running the original points for the trip. I've since installed a Dyna ignition and coils and we have the same for the GS550 we'll be putting in soon.

 

[sam000lee]

haha NICE! thats it? goes to show you how reliable these bikes are... and i bet you are running on stock motor that is over 40 years old with no refresh at all? I think that says a lot

I that dyna ignition is probably like a dream come true! now the spark plugs were totally fouled out? sometimes you can just hit em on a wire wheel with some brake clean after and they come right back to life. iridium's (cant do the wire wheel trick) should last you a lifetime.

6k miles for a chain and sprockets seems kind of short honestly, are you leaving enough slack?

Yup stock engines. The spark plugs were never totally fouled from the altitude alone and I was happy to just replace them for ~$10 as we obviously didn't have constant access to other tools. 6k for chain/sprockets is definitely a short lifespan - we had bought cheap-o chains and also have since replaced them with much better X-ring chains and swapped out the sprockets again.

 

[GabrielGoes]

Yup stock engines. The spark plugs were never totally fouled from the altitude alone and I was happy to just replace them for ~$10 as we obviously didn't have constant access to other tools. 6k for chain/sprockets is definitely a short lifespan - we had bought cheap-o chains and also have since replaced them with much better X-ring chains and swapped out the sprockets again.

Thanks for the replies,

Now what is the one (or more) thing(s) that you absolutely WISH you would have brought and packed along to make your life easier?

 

[sam000lee]

No worries!

I wish I had brought more film! And maybe an extra tube...

A warming sleeping bag would have been nice, too - but that takes up more space so nevermind.

 

[limeex2]

Well written and documented thread!!! Reminded me of a trip I took to Tennessee on a 82 Katana with my girlfriend who was on her GS550. I dressed the same( kinda 80's punk/new wave) and was a unforgettable trip. The rock star coat is gone, The Katana was run over by a neighbor and I married my GF. All are gone but not forgotten. Like the gentleman said on your trip...Making memories.

 

[Big T]

Sam are you going to finish your travelogue?
I could have given you a number of better roads in OR, on the warm side