My new project thread: 78' GS750

[cowboyup3371]

Looking good so far. Trust yourself, you'll get it together in no time and then you'll be amazed at what little time it really took.

 

[Charlie G]

Do you realize that with all that polishing and cleaning many of us would say your bike looks spiffy? An impact driver is a must.

cg

 

[TheCafeKid]

It's odd that you have CV carbs. Does that bike have an 850 top end in it??

Also, at least over here, that gas cap cover was painted black most of the time. Duplicolor Low Gloss Black is a very very close to correct match for the black
Zook used on the triples and such.

 

[Spiff]

It does, both the cylinder block and top end have been swapped at some point. Or maybe the entire engine. But I think 850's are shaft driven? Mine is chain.
Yeah I was trying to find a chrome gas cap cover but all I find are black. So I learned something there.
Personally I think the chrome looks better.

Charlie G: I'd say it's pretty spiffy

I've decided I want the bike to be red again. So armed with a bunch of suzuki red paint codes it's of to the shop tomorrow and find a good one!
I've also ordered new repro decals

 

[Charlie G]

Yours is the first chrome gas lid I've seen. I assumed someone had it done. I never liked the plain black they came with.
cg

 

[Spiff]

More cleaning today, also wetsanded the fork and top/bottom of the carb.
"Only" 3 carbs and one fork left.....

But I don't think i'll put as much work into the the two middle carbs as with the outer ones, my fingertips are hurting bad enough as they are...

 

[Spiff]

More stuff done today
Got some chemicals in the mail. Along with some new parts for the bike.

Tank cleaning and sealing kit. And a bottle of aluminium cleaner, more on this later.

First I started to change the headlight bucket and inner rings:

I gave the headlight a good clean with a citrus cleaner to remove some stickers and 10 year old dead bugs... Came out like new. So now I was ready to mount it all together but to it seems I have gotten the wrong outer trim ring... I have the headlight adjuster on the right side, while the ring I got had the hole on the left side! Bummer...

So after some cursing and swearing I moved along to cleaning another carb, then went crazy on the forks with 1200 grit wet sand and finished of with metal polish! Looking good!

I love it when a shine comes together

A quick mock up, as you can see I have a new "DOHC" emblem
Tomorrow I'll take on the valve cover!

Then I went on to tackle the wheel, so I could assemble the frontend again. I used the aliclean and all I can say is WOW!

I forgot to take a before pic but it was all black i suppose you could say....
I couldn't figure out how to remove the disc on the other side but I had some brushes so I could get in between.

I then assembled the front end and called it a night. Just hope I have done it right!

 

[Spiff]

valve cover. 4 hours and still not satisfied.... but f... it, i'm gonna let it be and then I'll get it glassblasted come winter...

 

[Guest]

Very nice so far.

 

[Spiff]

Finally starting to see some results!
Two pics, one with flash, one without...

Don't be fooled though! It's amazing how much detail gets lost with the cellphone camera, so it actually looks nicer on pictures than in real life
The bottom end and cylinder block that is... They need a chemical bath and a respray :lol:

 

[Charlie G]

Looks nice. It's tough to take good photos of a bike.

cg

 

[Spiff]

Here's a new trick I learned, cleaning chrome with tinfoil and water:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TIubEbI8Fc

Too good to be true? I had to try... What better to test on than my dirty old exhaust!

Here's a couple before shots:

After a round with the tinfoil:

On to another, more serious problem!
I changed my fuel hose to try and remedy my fuel leak issue, upon starting the bike sparks started to fly out from the battery area! NOT GOOD!
Several tries resulted in more sparks and also a bit of smoke from the started relay connection! This is the sorry sight that greeted me:

Note that there is also another wire underneath the wire coming from the battery! That was the cable that was smoking! I tried to remove the wiring but ended up braking the bolt... But the black wire going out from the starter relay had me puzzled since it wasn't suppose to be there according to the wiring scheme, and I didn't have power when it was not connected.
Here is the whole wiring chaos:

Notice how there is no fuse! And that the black wire is "t'ed" on the the red cable going to the rectifier! This means that someone has bypassed the fuse at some point!! NOT GOOD!
I will need to research further and make sure the wiring is safe...
Also notice the yellow wire unplugged at the bottom, thats for the regulator, but it's not connected, according to the wiring scheme it should connect to the other yellow wire coming from the rectifier... But could the rectifier have been swapped at some point to a R/R unit? The bike runs fine without it...

I know some wiring in the headlight area have been replaced due to a near fire! Now we know why....

 

[cowboyup3371]

Is that black wire from the solenoid going to the starter like it is supposed to? You should (based on mine) have two reds on one post (one going to battery and the other to your fuse block) and the black going to the starter.

 

[DannyMotor]

Is that black wire from the solenoid going to the starter like it is supposed to? You should (based on mine) have two reds on one post (one going to battery and the other to your fuse block) and the black going to the starter.

His is a 78, which didn't have a fuse block. The red from the battery should be split, with 2 gauges of wire, one thick, one about 14 gauge. The 14 gauge thin wire has a female cup on it, this should go to the male end of the 15A fuse... The larger gauge wire goes directly to the solenoid.

I'm pretty sure it's OK if you swap it around... It's going to do the same job.

 

[Spiff]

Is that black wire from the solenoid going to the starter like it is supposed to? You should (based on mine) have two reds on one post (one going to battery and the other to your fuse block) and the black going to the starter.

Exactly-minus the fuse block(I only have ONE like DannyMotor said), but on my starter solenoid there is an additional black wire going from the "red" post which is then connected to the red wire that goes to the rectifier(fused). Effectively bypassing the only fuse that's on this bike!
You see it in the last pic, dead center under the fuse holder, it's a black wire that's been taped to the red wire
In theory, my bike should run once I install a new fuse. Without connecting the black wire!
We'll see! I'm sure there's a reason why they've done this, to bad I'M the one that has to correct it!:-s

 

[Spiff]

fixed it

I know it's not a proper fuse holder but it'll have to make do until I get a proper one

Fired it up, everything looks good, charging looks good, no fuel leaks, nothing exploded or burned up... So I drove it outside to test the clutch adjustment. I thought it was slipping but I think I just spun the rear wheel on some sand...

Video:

 

[Charlie G]

She has a little bark to her!

cg

 

[DannyMotor]

Sounds awesome! Glad you got it sorted! Most auto-parts stores sell fuse-holders for about $5 (us)... Get one that's "HEAVY DUTY" it's made of 18 gauge wire.

 

[7981GS]

Lovely tone to that exhaust.
And she sounds happy to be alive!!!

Eric

 

[Spiff]

New tires, seat is off to be reupholstered, next week I'll start the respray!
It's starting to come together now....
But one thing I have been thinking off is marking the text on the tires in white... I think it might look cool, but has anyone else done it? pictures??