S
Scobiwan
Guest
Hey I'm Nick, I've been riding for 6 ish years, I've got 40k miles under my belt on a Yamaha FZ-07 (which I love!) and on June 2nd I brought home an '81 GS750 L with a little over 8k miles on it.
The bike was a friend of mines who got it from a guy who got from a guy who was gonna go cafe racer on it, only as evidenced by the style of handlebars and the some slight mods here and there. As I mentioned this isn't my first bike but it's definitely my first carburated bike. I've pulled my Yamaha apart down to the frame after a crash in 2017 so I'm not unfamiliar with the inner and outer workings of a motorcycle but this bike is a mystery to me. There are dents and scrapes that aren't necessarily consistent with a specific kind of high speed crash...more like drops at low speed or or while working in the garage. From best I can tell it's 95% or so original parts. Frame and engine seem to match up as far as years, as well as paint scheme on the gas tank. It hasn't been started since 2017 at which time it was said it revved to redline off the bat. Fluids haven't been changed since before 2017 so that is in the works, came with a dead battery, a new battery will crank the starter but no life beyond that.
I got a project bike because I'm confident in my current bike to see me through my daily commute.
Given the age of the bike I'm a little lost as to where to start though. Obviously fluids, but are gasket replacements a given? The carburetors at its age will surely needed love but then what? The stage I'm at is what I call exploratory surgery, pulling it apart to see what's in tact and what's not.
I have been pulling my hair out since before I got the bike looking for the owners manual and service manual in PDF form; lots and lots of dead links and missing pages. I know these GS bikes share a lot of common heritage with each other up and down the models and across years but there are pieces and parts I haven't seen mention in manuals for the 850 or 700 or 1000 lines. I've been lurking here in the forum for a generation and engine specific owners manual since the 4th of July and feel a bit ashamed I havent found yet. There is SO MUCH variety here on the forum that it's a lot to Wade through.
Anyways glad after a few weeks I found you all and am looking forward to sharing the progress of the project and learning from your collective wisdom and experience!
81 GS750 L https://imgur.com/gallery/37XVYqm
The bike was a friend of mines who got it from a guy who got from a guy who was gonna go cafe racer on it, only as evidenced by the style of handlebars and the some slight mods here and there. As I mentioned this isn't my first bike but it's definitely my first carburated bike. I've pulled my Yamaha apart down to the frame after a crash in 2017 so I'm not unfamiliar with the inner and outer workings of a motorcycle but this bike is a mystery to me. There are dents and scrapes that aren't necessarily consistent with a specific kind of high speed crash...more like drops at low speed or or while working in the garage. From best I can tell it's 95% or so original parts. Frame and engine seem to match up as far as years, as well as paint scheme on the gas tank. It hasn't been started since 2017 at which time it was said it revved to redline off the bat. Fluids haven't been changed since before 2017 so that is in the works, came with a dead battery, a new battery will crank the starter but no life beyond that.
I got a project bike because I'm confident in my current bike to see me through my daily commute.
Given the age of the bike I'm a little lost as to where to start though. Obviously fluids, but are gasket replacements a given? The carburetors at its age will surely needed love but then what? The stage I'm at is what I call exploratory surgery, pulling it apart to see what's in tact and what's not.
I have been pulling my hair out since before I got the bike looking for the owners manual and service manual in PDF form; lots and lots of dead links and missing pages. I know these GS bikes share a lot of common heritage with each other up and down the models and across years but there are pieces and parts I haven't seen mention in manuals for the 850 or 700 or 1000 lines. I've been lurking here in the forum for a generation and engine specific owners manual since the 4th of July and feel a bit ashamed I havent found yet. There is SO MUCH variety here on the forum that it's a lot to Wade through.
Anyways glad after a few weeks I found you all and am looking forward to sharing the progress of the project and learning from your collective wisdom and experience!
81 GS750 L https://imgur.com/gallery/37XVYqm
