GS750: White Orphan Baby build

[DannyMotor]

You'll have to excuse the lack of pictures and such, but I'm initiating this build thread via phone. Long story short, picked up a free 78 gs750, with extra wheels, suspension, exhaust, forks, and carbs.. Ok, cool. So, it "clicks" when you hit the starter, and nothing else. Asked the PO what he thinks the problem is... "battery and carbs". Of course... *rolls eyes*

Well got it home and started tearing into it... Heres a short list of WTF moments I've already had...

- shorty downtube exhaust
- missing a handlebar clamp
- odometer says 18k, title says 58k
- left fork tube on backwards
- cracked top triple clamp
- some never-before-seen type of fork caps
- rear brake locked up
- no oil in it
- HID headlight and balast installed (really)
- every bolt has a chisle mark on it
- carb on cyl. 1 missing o-ring on main jet and a/f jet
- horsehair brush paint
- rats nest of a wiring job

Positives...

- intake valves look immaculate
- new starter
- exhaust valves look good, even char on all...
- new starter solenoid
- new coils
- good compression, but i will test it just the same

Everything else looks sound. Honestly the bike may only have 20-30k on it. Its not super rough, just cared for by idiots.

 

[DannyMotor]

New WTF: the title has a different vin than the registration, the registration matches the frame, and documentation suggests the odometer is correct at 18k, going by the dates of sale and registration.

My guess is the title goes to the parts bike all the goodies came from. Now I just have to check the motor vin to make sure it matches the frame...

 

[cowboyup3371]

Your motor vin will probably not match the frame as most haven't. Looking forward to some pictures and your repair thread though.

 

[DannyMotor]

Holy Jesus... here are the pics:

So... not all bad... 99% there as far as "parts"... but let's dig a little deeper....

Huh, weird... not connected... and the front end is wobbly... why is that???

Hmm... well it's missing a bolt on the bottom tree... and it threw up some wiring...

Car horn... cool?

"J" pipes!!!.... NOT cool...

Ok... so he must've had size 14's... cuz I can't see how he used the brake with those pegs...

New starter...

Well that's not going to protect ANYTHING like that!!!

 

[DannyMotor]

Where is your friend dear handlebar clamp?

Uh... goosed.

WTF are you!?!?!

New coils... and the friggen balast for the friggen HID bulb.

New solenoid...

Carbs... look OK.

Wow... the look really clean for not running...

Where are your o-rings???

Oh look... broken... splendid.

Welp, since none of the clamps work on that side... and that nut wouldn't allow the slide-down of the forks... I had to get drastic to remove the nut.

 

[DannyMotor]

Stripped down to not much else but a motor and rear wheel.

TO E-BAY!!!!


So, long-story-short... BASKET CASE.

So, thinking of using the dual-front disc forks... turns out the ones that came with the bike are 2mm wider than the ones on the bike. So they won't fit up int he trees. So I'm sticking with the stock ones, just looks like I'm going to have to find stock top-bolts for the forks to avoid having to use those awful nuts again.


Other than that, most things seem to be in good nick... Going to tinker with the wiring and see if I can't at least get it to turn over under it's own power.

If not, this may end up being a pile of e-bay special.

 

[DannyMotor]

So the ones on the left are the spares, the one on the right is stock...

Anyone have any idea what make/model the ones on the left came off of? GS1000 or something?

 

[7981GS]

I probably have a set of TT's to fit your 37mm forks if you are interested.
And a handlebar clamp/bolts.

Daniel

 

[DannyMotor]

PM is coming your way!

 

[DannyMotor]

Welp, hard-wired the solenoid to the battery, attached the engine ground to the negative, threw the positive to the starter on the battery, and used a jumper wire to hit the solenoid to the positive....

IT SPINS!!!! Pulled all the plugs out, looks like they were gapped to .24 inches!!! (almost quarter of an inch) So that's a little odd. They're all black, so it ran rich when it did run...

I got the carbs squared as much as I can before paint/reassembly (figured I'd paint them and polish them up while they're off)... and fitted new o-rings to the missing jets.

So things are looking up! Pics tomorrow!

 

[Allie]

WOW... wow.

 

[7981GS]

I bet that it runs a whole lot better with some sparks.
WTG!!!!

Daniel

 

[DannyMotor]

WOW... wow.

Yeah.. she's a rough one. Felt the need to save her from the scrap heap. My personal favorites are those footpegs (wtf) , and the brand new seat.

I bet that it runs a whole lot better with some sparks.
WTG!!!!

Daniel

Definitely! Shined a light down in the cylinders and the two center cylinders look perfect, the two outer ones are a bit black, but not awful. Now that I got it spinning I can at least do a compression test before I move forward with any engine refurbishing.

If the compression is within spec, then I'll get the carbs done up and see what happens when I'm done with the wiring harness. If not, then I'll have to give her the beans and see about new rings.

 

[DannyMotor]

Just did a compression test (cold, no oil, 5-10 cranks, no carbs) and they were 85, 75, 70, 80. I know, I know... stupid. But at least they're all close. Moving forward with beautification.

Going to dump a little sea-foam in the cylinders and throw the plugs back in during cleanup... hopefully by the end of it the rings will loosen up and I can put some oil in it and do another cold test to see if anything improved.

 

[allojohn]

An entertaining read there Danny. We've seen worse on here but you certainly have your work cut out! Also, you appear to be confident and capable of bringing her back from the brink. Good luck, I'll be following along and welcome to the GSR mate!

 

[DannyMotor]

Pulled out the starter.. it is, in fact, brandy new. So that's a nice little plus.

Lots of junk under it though... lots of cleaning to do .

Mounted up the alloy wheel in the 37mm forks, for some reason the speedo gear is in an odd place and hits the forks, may have to figure out a different spacer or maybe go back to the spoke wheels? I don't know what exactly is causing it to be off.

Started polishing... got a mirror finish on one of the tops of the carbs with a drill-press mounted buffing wheel with white compound. Took about a half-hour on this one alone.


Also, filled the cylinders with a bit of Marvel Mystery Oil and seafoam (50/50 mix) threw the plugs back in and plugged up the cylinders as best as possible.

Tomorrow, breaking down the rear end, figuring out if the cush-drive from the spoke wheel will fit the cast, and getting the motor OUT of the frame!!

So far... spent $0... and proving to get little sparks of inspiration every time I undo a stuck bolt or get something a tad better than how it was previous... Keeping the motivation up is going to be key on this bike!!!

 

[DannyMotor]

Welp, got the rear tire fitted last night. All went smoothly! Same cush drive and everything. So now tgat thats square, i can start selling parts im not going to use and cleaning up the garage a bit.

This week... A lot of cleaning, polishing, and painting.

 

[Redneck]

Great work so far and as stated earlier you seem to know your way around a bike. Just a tad bit, if you have done any reading on this forum you will realize that you probably need to check your R/R if its stock, the suggestion is to replace it so that you can prevent some electrical issues later. Other than that seems like you have this well in hand. BTW where you from don't see your location anywhere?

Paul

 

[DannyMotor]

Oh! Lemme fix that in user cp. Im from Mass. Athol to be exact.

There are some electrical things im looking into, because a lot of the wires and connectors are scorched. Could definitely be the r/r.

 

[DannyMotor]

Welp... got the carbs done as far as paint and assembly. Just waiting on o-rings and gaskets to call them done... then bench-balance. So it's coming along. Haven't had enough time to REALLY tackle pulling the engine... but I have had some headway with design and direction. OH, and I boiled the carb bodies in Lemon juice and water (about 60/40) for about 20 minutes each. It worked AMAZINGLY... and the nice 'etched' finish was perfect to accept the high-temp paint. Then I baked them in the toaster over at 450 for about 15 minutes a piece. The polished caps have a light coating of clear lacquer on them as well.

I definitely want to keep the stock seat, and tail. I'm probably going to run pod filters, and keep the side covers to hide the battery and all that jazz. SO... colors...

Frame- Gunmetal
Motor- Aluminum, Polish cases, Wrinkle cam cover, clutch cover, and sprocket cover, flat-black cylinders and clutch-lever cover.
Tins- Toss up... either DEEP blue metallic, or a nice, non-metallic maroon.
Wheels- Gold w/polished edges
Fork legs- Flat black

HUGE undertaking... but I'm in no rush!

SO, carbs, right... getting back to those...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I think they came out pretty good! The bracket in the back is GLOSS black, I figured it'd be nice to have a little contrast... even if you can only see the little edge of it when the carbs are mounted.