New Member From Los Angeles, GS750 Restoration

[acr88_]

Hello!,

It's been about 20 years since I've joined a forum (more of a lurker) but I would appreciate the knowledge and help for my current project, a 1981 GS750E with many years of neglect. It's special to me because it belonged to my brother, who moved away and had plans to convert it to a cafe racer, but never had the time (he's in the med field). I get much catharsis working on and fixing things. The 750 has been therapeutic for me in the last 2 months I've been working on it. I'd would consider my skill level somewhere between beginner and intermediate. I love learning how things work and why. If there are any existing forums for some of the below listed, I'd greatly appreciate any advice or help offered! Thank you for having me.

A little history:
Bought off of Craigslist locally. It ran and was ridden for a couple weeks then sat in the garage of my brothers home for over a year. Took to our mechanic we trust to get it going, it had a lot of work to be done. Other than the typical (cards cleaned and etc.) it had some engine work done because compression was low in 2 of the cylinders, this was addressed and I then bought the bike off my brother to convert it how he originally planned, for myself now (he's been cheering me on). As far as I'm aware, the bike engine is in decent to great health with minimal miles (I'd say it's just under 10K still)

The work I've done so far. Rebuilt:
Charge system (Stator, Reg/Rec, Solenoid)
Clutch (Friction plates, Springs) *Steel plates were good still.
Carbs (Fully cleaned + K&L parts installed) *Pods installed, omitted airbox system.

Pending Installs/Seeking advice:
New minimalist wiring harness (from Spark Moto, not fully installed yet, only routed)
Minimalist speedo gauge

Apologies if this post was excessive. Looking forward to hearing from this community Feel free to ask any questions or voice concerns.


*I can't figure out how to add pics at high resolution, apologies.

 

[Nessism]

Welcome.

For high resolution photos, you need an external photo hosting site that allows IMG links. I use flickr, but there are others.

Just a little FYI, the bike won't run right with pods and stock jetting. If you want trouble free, install the airbox. Otherwise, get quality pods like K&N's, and a Dynojet kit.

There are a few of us in the LA area, which will help you. Good luck with your project.

 

[Rob S.]

APE pods are half the price of K&N, look and perform just as well.

 

[Suzukian]

If the stock air box is on and working well, I would not go with pods. They don't filter as well, and unless you've done some cam work, and changed the pistons, ported and polished the heads, etc, pod will let in more particulates than the stock set up and eat up your rings quicker. People put on pod, they don't add more power, they just change where the power is at. This usually means you have to rev the engine higher.

I use a program called "XVViewMP". It is free, removes all metadata, and will allow you to put some pretty big pics on this forum, as the pics are large, but the data size isn't. If you look at some of my posts, you will see pictures that are a decent size, and I uploaded them from my computer. The site would have accepted even larger, but the size I put them at was adequate.

Making a Cafe Racer out of a "Special", or "L" model of your bike will involve lowering the front end, or getting the standard GS750 front forks, and changing the handlebars either to flat, or something to a slight rise. To get the look, you'd have to either re-cushion the seat, or make one so suit the idea you have for this.

Here's the link for XNViewMP, I recommend getting it with the installer, scroll down for the personal version, which is free and has no spam. I've used this program for 10 years or more, it is one of the best photo manipulation and management programs in existence:

Link = https://www.xnview.com/en/xnviewmp/

Not everyone removes the air box. Running a bike without a fork brace does not make it handle better, kind of dumb really, which the bike in this 1978 Suzuki is missing. You wouldn't want to get caught in the rain without at least some mini fenders, front and rear, which also keep small rocks from scratching up your bike. I posted this pic, because the air box does not distract from the bike's overall look, and this bike has captured the Cafe look many seek. Clip On handlebars on a bike this size, well, you better have a good back.

 

[acr88_]

Welcome.

There are a few of use in the LA area, which will help you. Good luck with your project.

Thank you! Is there a forum specifically for networking with local members for help possibly?

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Nesssim probably knows all the GS guys worth knowing in your neighborhood. Hit him up.

 

[salty_monk]

Yes there are a few of us around but Nessism is a real resource of knowledge for all of us....