Gs 750 for 100.00 bucks. (plus a motorcycle jack) into....a cafe racer

[LunArBasalt]

Alright so heres the story, i found a 1982 GS750T on kijiji, back on Dec 20th listed for 500 bucks, not running. I didn't have 500 bucks at the time but had been looking for a bike for some time to work on during the weekends. Turned out the guy was moving on Christmas and simply needed the bike gone. soo i told him i had not alot of money but if he needed gone, to call me before he moved and id come give him what i had, which was 100 bucks. Im a broke ass geology student in his final year and cash is null before everyone accuses me of theft. Anyway, he was taking only his car and had no need for the almost new stand and tossed it in.

I have been working on this bike now on the weekend since then, and have used this site almost daily to guide me along. Here is me giving back to the community with my story. I'd encourage criticism, but iv been on here long enough to know that nobody needs encouragement.


This is how she looked when i picked her up.


First obstacle was chopped at the triple trees electrical harness


After soldering the wires together and shrink wrapping them with the guide of a wiring diagram i found on here!!! it was on to the carbs, which i also found a guide on cliffs web site.

 

[LunArBasalt]

Next order of business was the rusty tank. It was not the worst, but it had rust. i first took it to the car was for a blast, then sat it in vinegar over night, neutralized it with baking soda, but still seen rust. hahaha sooo i filled it with rocks wrapped it with jackets and blankets and tumbled it in the dryer for a few hours.... SPOTLESS! a few rinses and shes looking nice!!!.




not the greatest picture, hard to get the phone in there. But there are the rocks. ill have to get a shot of it now (clean).



Hand he is a shot of her as i started to strip parts off i will not be using.



Next was to loose the loser bars and toss some motocross bars on it off the RM250 (stock renthals) upside down of course.

 

[LunArBasalt]

Finally got to loose some extra frame! and it is starting to take on the first signs of a CAFE.



with the bike LOOKING cafe, it was time to start working on it running like one, had not heard it run at this point yet, so valves where the next line of business.

A few tight valves but all within spec. now shes all the some, right in the middle of the tolerance. Thanks again to Cliffs website.







After the valves were set we dumped the oil......i mean gas... gas in the oil, actually mostly just gas..... yeaaaa. anyways after that with fresh oil, she fired to life and sounded amazingly good! not bad for the gauges showing 56000 km.


With the engine running, valves set, and carbs spotless, i figured i could do a few more looks type things, and busted out my friends top secret plastic renew formula to try on this tired headlight bucket. worked really well!!!!

 

[LunArBasalt]

Before and after a few hours of grinding with the wire wheel. i worked for this one.











And a Kz1000 also showed up to play.

 

[LunArBasalt]

My triple trees where looking like they were from 1982, sooo i gave them a good cleaning a little scuff, 3 coats of high gloss, and a few coats of clear, and those forks....yea they went black too...














and those brackets, got drilled out and welded on as low as i could go... and painted black... really happy with how they turned out... everything got primer paint and clear.

 

[LunArBasalt]

Paint dried, and signals showed up.... time to zip the front end together and start thinking about the rear end. this pretty well brings us up to were i am now with the bike










i ordered a mini speed which is all i plan on running... things sure cleaned up.





and a few close but not perfect attempts at a rear hoop. one a welder sand bent ( kinked) and the other an engineer machinist from school bent with a mandrel. but for an engineer its dimensions are off enough i havn't welded it on yet.... yet.... im not sure im gonna get 100% perfect...







Hope you all enjoy, comment and wait to see how she comes along.

 

[Guest]

Looking good so far, look forward to seeing it finished.

 

[steve murdoch]

Nicely documented build, LunAr.
Love the paint booth.
Lots of room, a beer fridge and a card table...not your everyday workshop.

 

[Jedz123]

Very nice!!! I loved my 750... Wish I had another one. Oh well, enjoy it! keep up the good stuff!
-Jedz

Oh and Welcome to GSR!

 

[Guest]

Thief...(jk)

Great deal, beats my GS450T for $150, did it come with a title?

Curious, what type of rocks are preferable to a geology student for proper tank tumbling, igneous? And I love the tank-in-the-drier tumbling method, classic...

 

[Mista M]

Great work. I would run a tach also personally. There are cheap ones on ebay that are a speedo and tach

 

[LunArBasalt]

Nicely documented build, LunAr.
Love the paint booth.
Lots of room, a beer fridge and a card table...not your everyday workshop.

im pretty lucky in that department, one of my best friends is hooking it up forsure. All i gotta do is bring beer!

 

[LunArBasalt]

Great work. I would run a tach also personally. There are cheap ones on ebay that are a speedo and tach

Its crossed my mind, but iv never owned a dirtbke with a tach, and the only reason i could see running one is for tuning. But iv never tuned a dirtbike with a tach. And plus for initial jetting i could just run the stock one till shes dialed in. I really would rather run nothing. But i like to go fast sooooo its probably good to atleast know to what degree im breaking the law.

 

[LunArBasalt]

Thief...(jk)

Great deal, beats my GS450T for $150, did it come with a title?

Curious, what type of rocks are preferable to a geology student for proper tank tumbling, igneous? And I love the tank-in-the-drier tumbling method, classic...

Im not gonna lie, it felt like thieft till you told me you got yours for 150. Hahaha
title search revealed shes active, and has not been on the road since 2001.

As for the rocks, i just used some decorative river rock. I guess quartz would be the most ideal. Alot of those rocks did turn into sand. Hahaha which took some time to rattle out.

Hahaha did someone sense i like igneous rocks!?! Was it a dead giveaway BASALT?

 

[Guest]

Yeah, you kinda tipped your hand there...

Good job on the bike so far.

 

[growler]

digging the build. love the idea of lowering the headlight bracket. i may do that on mine as well. i'll be following along!

 

[LunArBasalt]

Alright had an unexpected trip to the shop last night and managed to cut a bit more frame off and mock up my hoop. I pounded in one size smaller tubing inside the frame and slid the hoop in, leaving a gap to fill in with the welder. next thing ya know my friend with the Kz starts making a template for his seat pan, and then out came the old patio cushions that we saved from the trash, and next thing ya know, we got some improvised seats to get a feel for what we want.

Also made a card board template for the electrical pan that is gonna sit under the seat. not a bad chunk of work for a few hours on a wednesday.

 

[SouthsideWJK]

This is a fun build to watch, can't wait to see how is finishes up!

 

[LunArBasalt]

Alright, got some more work done over the past few days. My Kz1000 buddy has been making a ton of progress and im trying to keep up. He also brought over his little nematic grinder,a sheet of puck-board (seat pan), and a sheet of tin (electrical tray). So i got the tabs all cut off and buffed, with a few of the hard to reach places filed down, got the seat shaped up, and made my self an electrical tray.


We traced out the frame where seat pan is going to sit onto a piece of card board, transferred that to the puck board, then c-clapped that to the bike and went around it with a "rasppy aggressive file" and matched it to the frame. Was not to worried about a bit of scuffs from the file since i just detapped the bike and have to paint the frame. The puck-board should be easy to staple on the seat cover and is pretty good stuff to work with.



I built a template from card board, then folded it up checked and adjusted the dimensions in the bike. Then drew it out onto the tin and cut it out. We then fit it in the bike, made a few trims here and there, yanked it out and my friend welded it up.

 

[LunArBasalt]

Alright, the last little bit of time working on the project has been a mix of frustration and learning.

The orignal electrical tray i made had a weld up the side, and i just couldn't get it to blend nicely, ended up taking to much material off with thw 8 grit flapper, so i made a new one, which i tired welding up my self, and blew through the 22 gauge metal and made a complete mess... the one i made today, i took my time, practiced on scraps and got it dialed in pretty good. i then moved to the bench grinder getting the welds close to flat, and cleaned em up with a dremel. I still need to buff it the same as the tank and clear coat it. but im happy with this one finally., im a bit of an OCD anal kinda guy when it comes to bikes.



Now im sure you all noticed a big hole where my seat sits ( cough cough was gonna sit). Yea so after looking at 358 pictures of similar set seats, i figured clearance wouldn't be and issue. WRONG, took a shock off one side, and ratchet strapped it down. yea sticks up a few inches into my old seat pan.:-s

Option 1. Weld the rear fender up and in that hole, which i didn't take my time with or make a cardboard model first. soo something like that with a new pan...

Option 2. make a inner fender that only sticks up and in and don't use the rear fender.

Option 3. make something form fitted with fibber glass

In the end it's not that big of a set back... and it does not hit the hoop on a positive note. And a lesson as well input or past experience stories welcome.





Also ordered up a Dynojet kit and have been reading up on how those cv carbs work.... These bad boys showed up today and cannot wait to hear her scream again... i like the stock exhaust.. but would like to let her exhale better.. anyone drill out the back end of the pipes before?? will that help her breath a bit??



About the only thing that does not have me scatchen my head is my new speedo... Carbs forward. she's looking good... Carbs back has me thinking....



What yall think??