New member, Hello from Indiana!

[LeonAlistar]

Hello all!

After taking an MSF course and keeping an eye out for a bike for a couple of years now, I am now the proud owner of my first bike, a 1979 GS750 that seems to be a solid survivor! Original owner put about 11k on it until the early 90's, where it mostly sat garaged and only got another 300 or so miles on it from them until now. Comes with a fairing and trunk from the era - never liked the looks of fairings much but I think this one's got some sort of charm to it. Fires right up, but may very well have some air leaks or other issues as it idles high under choke but dies without it. Bought new IRC Grand High Speed tires (the current ones are not from this millennium ), tubes, rim strips, a new petcock (gambling on an eBay repro), and a carb o-ring set (thanks Nessism!) for the carb rebuild that's sure to be in my future. Hoping to work through some of the recommended maintenance items to get 'er into fighting shape - definitely open to any suggestions from the form members here. Very much looking forward to the journey ahead, both in the garage and on the road!


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[rphillips]

Welcome leon, Them old 750's were the start of the GS's and about as solid as you can get. My 1st st. bike was a "77" GS750. A buddy, down the rd. still has his old "79" GS750, the blue one, that he bought new in "79". I was with him when he bought it... Gosh, that was 44 yrs. ago... Waiting for your picture to get blown up, but from what I see, pretty nice looking old bike. Congrats.

 

[steve murdoch]

Great to hear you started with a MSF course.
Smart and may save you a few bucks on your insurance.
Welcome to the site.

 

[Rob S.]

Unless I'm mistaken, that's a Windjammer 'SS' (your pic is very small). I would remove it and the bags and the backrest. Aren't summers warm enough in Indy?

Less weight and wind resistance for a beginner to deal with.

Welcome to the asylum!

 

[bwringer]

Welcome! There's a significant "nest" of GS-ers in Indiana.

 

[Who Dat?]

You going to join the group in Bedford next month? Many of those "nestlings" will be there.

 

[JMHJ]

Unless I'm mistaken, that's a Windjammer 'SS' (your pic is very small). I would remove it and the bags and the backrest. Aren't summers warm enough in Indy?

Less weight and wind resistance for a beginner to deal with.

Welcome to the asylum!

I put a backrest and small rack on my 850. I liked the look of the stock grab bar much better, but the backrest was handy for tying stuff to more securely than w/o it.

I never had a GS that needed ignition (timing adjustment?). Pre-'80 to best of my memory. Surely not too difficult...

 

[Grimly]

Unless I'm mistaken, that's a Windjammer 'SS' (your pic is very small). I would remove it and the bags and the backrest. Aren't summers warm enough in Indy?

Less weight and wind resistance for a beginner to deal with.

Welcome to the asylum!

Ignore the heretic. Windjammers are amongst mankind's finest creations.

 

[LAB3]

Ignore the heretic. Windjammers are amongst mankind's finest creations.

Agreed! This sticker is proudly displayed on MY windjammer.

 

[rphillips]

That's funny, No doubt, Windjammers are great for the folks that like fairings, even greater for folks that like Windjammer fairings... Thinking feelings may be different from those who may not like fairings.

 

[Rob S.]

Oh, man! When I told an 'outlaw' biker type his Harley was pretty, he flipped. Actually, I said something like, 'It's very pretty, too bad it won't go so fast.'

He challenged me to a race, and I immediately grabbed my helmet and asked him, "Quarter mile? Half mile?"

He said, "A state. Two states."

I had to be at work Monday morning, so I let him off the hook. (I was on my Kaw 900.)

I'll bet he had a cute dick. Cute and soft.

 

[ptegsotic]

Oh, man! ...

you ever written comedy? you've got a knack for it

 

[Redman]

Hello all!

After taking an MSF course and keeping an eye out for a bike for a couple of years now, I am now the proud owner of my first bike, a 1979 GS750 that seems to be a solid survivor! Original owner put about 11k on it until the early 90's, where it mostly sat garaged and only got another 300 or so miles on it from them until now. Comes with a fairing and trunk from the era - never liked the looks of fairings much but I think this one's got some sort of charm to it. Fires right up, but may very well have some air leaks or other issues as it idles high under choke but dies without it. Bought new IRC Grand High Speed tires (the current ones are not from this millennium ), tubes, rim strips, a new petcock (gambling on an eBay repro), and a carb o-ring set (thanks Nessism!) for the carb rebuild that's sure to be in my future. Hoping to work through some of the recommended maintenance items to get 'er into fighting shape - definitely open to any suggestions from the form members here. Very much looking forward to the journey ahead, both in the garage and on the road!


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Welcome.

Do look into the "Brown County" Rally. Is in about 4 weeks, In Bedford Indinai (we know, not Brown County).

Cant tell by pic (is small), but if that is WindJammer IV, I got a copy of the install manaul for that (is what I had on 1980 850G), that I could send to you. (drop message to me).
Fairing will allow you to ride further, and in lot colder weather... so concider that if you like riding (more than just being seen with a bike).

 

[Redman]

"NW Indiana" you say.

Are some forum members in Valpo and Cedar Lake area.......

 

[LeonAlistar]

Unless I'm mistaken, that's a Windjammer 'SS' (your pic is very small). I would remove it and the bags and the backrest. Aren't summers warm enough in Indy?

Less weight and wind resistance for a beginner to deal with.

Welcome to the asylum!

Hi Rob

I plan to remove the trunk, backrest and (you are correct!) Windjammer SS until I get more comfortable with the bike, at which point I may put them back on for longer rides. One issue I'm running into as that the original headlight is gone - just the mounting ears remain. Would you happen to have any recommendations on where I could get a new (or gently used) one? Thanks, and thanks for the welcome!

 

[LeonAlistar]

You going to join the group in Bedford next month? Many of those "nestlings" will be there.

Thanks for the heads up - unfortunately I'll likely miss this one, but would be interested to hear about other meet-ups in the future!

 

[LeonAlistar]

Ignore the heretic. Windjammers are amongst mankind's finest creations.

I'm excited to see how it feels with vs without it! I've never been a huge fan of fairings, but this one has a unique charm to it. Definitely plan to hold onto it.

 

[LeonAlistar]

Welcome.

Do look into the "Brown County" Rally. Is in about 4 weeks, In Bedford Indinai (we know, not Brown County).

Cant tell by pic (is small), but if that is WindJammer IV, I got a copy of the install manaul for that (is what I had on 1980 850G), that I could send to you. (drop message to me).
Fairing will allow you to ride further, and in lot colder weather... so concider that if you like riding (more than just being seen with a bike).

Thanks for the info about the meet up - unfortunately I think I'll miss this one.

For whatever reason I'm having difficulty uploading the right size pictures... I'll see if I can fix that later.

It is a Windjammer, but I'm unsure if it's a model IV. Will reach out regarding the manual, thanks! I'm going to start riding without the accessories to improve visibility around the bike, but once I'm comfortable I plan to put them back on.

 

[LeonAlistar]

"NW Indiana" you say.

Are some forum members in Valpo and Cedar Lake area.......

Ah, that's very close! Could be fun to do some group rides once I'm running & settled in.

 

[salty_monk]

Oh you definitely don't want to hang around with that lot up there in and around Indiana. They never do anything fun! They definitely don't have the best series of rallies on the forum every year and they are just generally a really unfriendly and totally unhelpful bunch....