My '84 GS750EF - Pics at last!

[oldschoolGS]

Nice job, Mac. Your time was very well spent.

I am going to have to give Sargent a ring when I am ready for a new seat cover.

Ride On, Ed.
1983 GS750ED
2005 GSF1200SZ

 

[Macmatic]

Just wanted to add some info about the paint I used.

My plan was to respray the whole bike in a slightly deeper red and then add the black/grey like I have it now but I was running out of time for the project so instead I went to my local autopaint supply house with a side panel and had them make custom mixed rattle cans in both colors.

They had a choice of several finish options but since I was planning to paint some whole panels and spot fix others I went with the base coat/clear coat type. The paint was put in SEM rattle cans and I used U-POL #1 clearcoat. I'm not sure of the exact paint they used but I'll try and get than info, I think they said it was similar to PPG but less expensive and fine for anything other than real high end paintshop work. The cans were $11.95 each, no charge to match the color and I'd say each can had about 50% more paint than a normal rattle can. I still have a little of each left.

I used some left over Ditzler wax and grease remover before painting and I sprayed using one of those rattle can trigger setups. Those things are worth their weight in Lox at least!

The color match on the red is EXACT! On the tail section a good part of both sides is the paint the bike came to me with (around the lettering) and the rest is all matched, the only place you can tell it isn't all one coat is where I didn't knock down an masking edge on the red coat quite enough and you can see it under the clear but the color is dead on.

/\/\ac

 

[Cracker]

That sure is nice! It's got to be such a gratifying feeling to accomplish that by yourself. Very nice!

 

[Jethro]

Bump for this freakin' beauty. I had seen it before, but drooled over it again today.

Sweet.

 

[jimcor]

Mac, I wouldn't tell anybody that's your first resto...they'd never believe you! Beautiful job.

 

[waynema]

Your '84 GS750EF

Your '84 GS750EF

Seldom have I seen a more elegant bike. The paint scheme alone is a big jump up from the stock bike. How's it going these days? Best wishes, Wayne

 

[jwhelan65]

Very tastefully done! Nice pipe set up!

 

[Bad Kaw]

Great bike Mac!!! Fine work.
-KR

 

[Jagir]

this is my second favorite bike. It would be my favorite if it was mine.

 

[lord1234]

beautiful bike. Do you still ahve it?

 

[Macmatic]

beautiful bike. Do you still ahve it?

Thank you lord1234, and everyone else! I hadn't seen this thread lately and I can't tell you how happy it makes me to still be getting comments five years later.

Yes I still have this bike and I always will have this one. I've had half a dozen others pass through my hands in the last few years in NY and GA but this bike is the Permanent Collection.

Right now I'm getting set to do valve stem seals and hoping that will get me through the rest of the year without needing to re-ring. The engine has good and even compression and a dry breather box and airbox but still smokes and uses way too much oil. (Dry outside also)

For the future I plan to do some upgrades and modifications. Not all of these may end up on the finished product but here is what I have in mind:

Mechanical
- Install rebuilt GS750, maybe with GS700 pistons and valve springs. (Winter '10/11)
- Add Racetech emulators to the forks, switch to "screw in cap" fork tubes and maybe change from Progressive to Racetech springs. ('10/11)
- Replace the rear shock, possibly in conjunction with a '93 Kat swingarm. (10/11)
- Replace the wheels with Katana or GSXR parts to run radial tires. I have '93 Kat rims and '86 GSXR rims which are the same style as OE but wider. I'm not sure about modern rubber for the 18" front GSXR wheel though. (10/11)
- Twinpot brake upgrade. (With wheel swap)

I'm also going to trial fit a 1st gen Bandit 1200 4-1 header at some point. I like my custom setup but sometimes its almost TOO quiet, like the tank should say Singer. (Until around 6,500prm.)

Appearance

- Install Pichler fairing mated up with spare EF lowers. The Pichler is actually very similar to the OE fairing with the lower winglets installed but slightly wider and with a taller/wider screen. I think this will give better wind protection overall.
- Install '93 Katana headlight in Pichler fairing.
- Repaint the darker red I wanted originally. It looks good now but the paint has a little too much orange for me. This was also my first paint job and done using rattle cans. I may Can it again but I know more about prep and finishing now.
There are five years of motorcycle camping scars on the paint now and somehow my tank ended up sitting upside down in a puddle of gas overnight in the garage when I was in GA. I thought it was ruined at the time but the paint actually laid down pretty well after a few days, still it needs to be refinished.

My master plan is to have my next project FrankenBike? done and on the road by the time these new tires (Avon Roadriders) need to be replaced so I have something to ride while I work on this one.


Thanks again for all the great comments over the last few years!

/\/\ac (aka Dan)

 

[knight_rider]

So, whenever you, ah, want to get ride of that bike, just um, let me know!!! haha! Beautiful bike you got there Dan!!

 

[Kimmylion66]

mirrors

mirrors

The link for the mirrors doesn't work anymore. Any idea where I can get some of those? Mine are UGGGG-LY!!

 

[Guest]

The link for the mirrors doesn't work anymore. Any idea where I can get some of those? Mine are UGGGG-LY!!

Restore em!

 

[Kimmylion66]

Restore em!

Do you have a link I can look at? a thread? Ideas? LOL I'm scared. LOL

Kim

 

[Macmatic]

Do you have a link I can look at? a thread? Ideas? LOL I'm scared. LOL

Kim

Ha! I bet you forgot about this post... Mirror info at the bottom.

Hi all, I've been away from the board for a long time other than the occasional login to keep my name alive. A few years ago I moved back to NY from GA and got busy with a new job and projects around the house and the last two years I've been pretty consumed with managing care and finances for an elder relative with ever increasing dementia...so that's been my life more or less. This year I don't think I've gotten in even a thousand miles on the bike which just SUCKS but it is what it is. I am riding to Georgia and back at the end of September though so I'll get some miles in.

I logged in today to post a few pics of a project I did this weekend. It had been way too long since I've done anything to the bike (maint this year was a chain and sprocket change and that's it!) so the other day I bought a sheet of Lexan on the spur of the moment to take a crack at an idea I've had simmering on the back burner for a couple of years....

It came out about the way I wanted but I haven't had a chance to ride behind it yet. When I finished I found my battery low (new AGM last year), jumped it and found the charging system not charging. Problem with my Honda R/R? Dunno yet, that'll have to wait until I'm in town again Wednesday.

Anyway the windscreen was easy enough to make but took some time. I used an 18x24 Lexan sheet but I forgot to source the mar resistant kind... spur of the moment projects.... I attached it with two spacers to the bottom of the OE windscreen then used a heat gun and non-contact thermometer to get the bend area on each side up to around 300F. I had to do one side at a time because it was losing heat too fast to do both.

I heated one side and bent it back by hand, drilled a hole over the rear side fastener and bolted it down to the fairing with about a 1/4in rubber spacer between the OE screen and this one then repeated the process on the other side. Once I had both sides bolted to the fairing I used a bar clamp to put more of a bow in the lexan and then heated the entire thing to 300-310F to relieve stress. First I heated the two side bends and then I worked my way down from the top in roughly 3in passes. If you watch reflections in the surface you can see it relax, good thing to know. Now it basically holds it's shape when free of the bike so I don't think I'll get any stress cracks in it, well see how good it does once I'm on the road again.

Before I started bending I took two wedges off the upper side and and about 2.5in off the top. I trimmed and rounded the rest after I had the bends right and didn't melt a hole in it. I can mount or unmount it in a few minutes and I'm hoping it'll make long trips much more comfortable. Also, I mounted this over and spaced away from an OE windscreen that had been painted (with a brush!) which I sanded down and covered with some fake carbon fiber. Looks a'ight and I'll probably keep that on with or without the Goldwing screen I made.

Overall the bike has been doing well by me but I plan to take it down to the frame again, maybe even this winter but probably next. This was my first shot at building/working on a bike and my first real ride so it has a little bit of rash now and a list of things I'd like to do differently/better next time around. In these pics the fairing lowers are off due to the Bandit header and the side cover is off to see where my electrics went wrong. I'm hoping to take a cross country trip in the summer of 2013 or 2014 for a 30th Anniversary ride. ('83, '84', '85 depending on where you look at her..)


As for those mirrors, they're Bikemaster Supersport mirrors. Here's one vendor http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/4/68/45467/ITEM/BikeMaster-Supersport-Mirror.aspx They've been fine and I'd use them again.

Here's a crazy Greek to tell you how to fix your old plastic mirrors. I've spruced up some real dogs off a GS450 that looked way worse than his example and while they won't win any awards they look great from a few feet away.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S59fh-6Saaw

One way or another things need to lighten up this winter so I hope I'll be back on more often and out in the shop even more...you would not believe the pile of projects I've got stashed out there...

Keep the rubber down and your head up, folks.
-Mac (aka Dan)

Other projects simmering away:
Reproduction Lockhart lowers (fit with my header but saving them for mold making) and OE fairing lowers.
Reproduction windscreens (been playing a little with vacuum forming)
Making a centerstand that works with a 4:1 header.
Wheel swap to run radials, brake swap at the same time based on the wheel choice. I've got 86 GSXR and '92ish kat 600 rims now. Been a minute since I've looked but I think the Kat rims will fit radial rubber. Far less of a priority with my Avon's on there.
"touring tank". I think I can mod my spare tank to get a bit more range
Paint. Baby needs a new look when it's rebuild time.

 

[SVSooke]

WOW the ghost is come alive.Good to see you back man,been to long.

 

[Mista M]

great looking bike, what 4-1 header is that, bandit?

 

[Macmatic]

WOW the ghost is come alive.Good to see you back man,been to long.

Way too long! Way, way too long!

Mista M - yeah, that's a Bandit 1200 pipe off an "early" bandit. Can't find my notes with the details on the year right now. It fits pretty good, a little low and sticks out a bit more than it could in front of the oil filter but it's alright. I'm swapping back to my 'busa hybrid system next week and keeping it on until I work out the centerstand and fairing issues.


I haven't had a chance to look at the charging system but I took the bike out for a quick hop on the batter this morning. The new shield is..okay. Needs some tweaking and maybe some reworking to be optimal. I'm definitely getting less wind blast and buffeting but now it seems like I'm getting some new lift on the helmet.

Right now the new screen is almost touching at the top of the OE screen, without the gap I intended. I think the spare OE screen I used has a slightly different shape to it so I've got to work on the mounting a little there and try again. I'll probably also try and reheat and partially"unbend" the center section to increase the width without weakening it too much. Right now it's very stable up to 80 which is as fast as I tried it today.

All in all I think it'll be worthwhile if not perfect. I don't really know what a more modern faired bike feels like for comparison.

-Mac

 

[Mista M]

thanks, do you have a picture of the right side. Curious as to how far it sticks out. Did you go up a jet size?