Resto-Mod 1979 GS750L

[breckenedge]

I also have a 1979 GS750L that I've been restoring for a few months. Sticking with parts as close to stock has been very challenging.

Which Z1 petcock did you get? I realized today that mine is missing the filter part, so I'm shopping around for replacements, and cannot find the original part number for the 1979 GS750L. I've considered getting the one made for the 750E just to see if it fits... they're both 44mm I believe.

Which jet sizes did you go with in order to make the pod filters work?

 

[Starboard M]

I also have a 1979 GS750L that I've been restoring for a few months. Sticking with parts as close to stock has been very challenging.

Which Z1 petcock did you get? I realized today that mine is missing the filter part, so I'm shopping around for replacements, and cannot find the original part number for the 1979 GS750L. I've considered getting the one made for the 750E just to see if it fits... they're both 44mm I believe.

Which jet sizes did you go with in order to make the pod filters work?

I got the new petcock. It wasnt quite a bolt on, but I got it to work and no leaks so far.

Nice piece, quite expensive, but I feel it was money well spent.

 

[Starboard M]

Been a while since Ive updated this thread. Between work, waiting on parts, and life getting in the way, I have not been able to do much.



Got the carbs back together, installed them and took the bike for a ride. Battery crapped out on me and died a mile from my house, so I shelved the bike for awhile.


Got re motivated and bought a bar end mirror, turn signal, tail light and license plate relocator bracket.

Before, mirrors gave me a nice view of my shoulder

Also stock rear fender, tail light and turns were not quite the look I was going for

Got it all done

It looks a little ghetto, but it works pretty well. One issue I ran into is that when you turn the turn signals on, the tail light flashes.
I also have a valve cover gasket on order, and Ill be ordering valve shims, tool and "half moons", as well as a new tach cable sometime next week. Also need to get new tires, and brake odds and ends.


Also need some help tuning the carbs, its pretty obvious that they are not synchronized.

 

[breckenedge]

Nah doesn't look ghetto at all. Where did you order them from?

I ended up finding the top half of my petcock while removing a failed paint coat from inside the tank. It's definitely a '79 GS750E petcock with the two-cylinder shaped fuel filter, but it appears to fit well.

 

[cal_look_zero]

Been a while since Ive updated this thread. Between work, waiting on parts, and life getting in the way, I have not been able to do much.



Got the carbs back together, installed them and took the bike for a ride. Battery crapped out on me and died a mile from my house, so I shelved the bike for awhile.


Got re motivated and bought a bar end mirror, turn signal, tail light and license plate relocator bracket.

Before, mirrors gave me a nice view of my shoulder

Also stock rear fender, tail light and turns were not quite the look I was going for

Got it all done

It looks a little ghetto, but it works pretty well. One issue I ran into is that when you turn the turn signals on, the tail light flashes.
I also have a valve cover gasket on order, and Ill be ordering valve shims, tool and "half moons", as well as a new tach cable sometime next week. Also need to get new tires, and brake odds and ends.


Also need some help tuning the carbs, its pretty obvious that they are not synchronized.

If you're bridging a ground between the tail and signals, give everything it's own individual ground. Could be enough of a backfeed to light up the LEDs. Heard of it before on cheap ITs on newer sportbikes.

 

[ride_002000]

What tail light is that? Im doing a cafe style build on my 78 GS750 and need to start thinking about the tail.

 

[loud et]

sweet!

sweet!

hey man, the back end of that thing looks great. my gs (80 1100e) has a larger rear cowl , tailpiece. I am probably am gonna use it as is, but might do a whole rear end restructure like you did. wait and see I guess. regardless, diggin the clean look you acheived. two thumbs up.

 

[Starboard M]

If you're bridging a ground between the tail and signals, give everything it's own individual ground. Could be enough of a backfeed to light up the LEDs. Heard of it before on cheap ITs on newer sportbikes.

You know, now that I actually think about it, I had this same problem when I installed LED tail lights on my Jeep. Ended up using a LED box thing intended for trailer light LEDs to get them to work right.

I used the stock ground junction, so Ill try using individual grounds to see if that helps.

What tail light is that? Im doing a cafe style build on my 78 GS750 and need to start thinking about the tail.

Tail light:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0173595275&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Bar end mirrors:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0716984988&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Plate relocator:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0442778806&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The light isnt as bright as I thought it would be. Its bright, but Im thinking a "OMG my eyes!" kind of light would be better. When I make my own tail Im going to use a LED light similar to what I used on my Jeep:

hey man, the back end of that thing looks great. my gs (80 1100e) has a larger rear cowl , tailpiece. I am probably am gonna use it as is, but might do a whole rear end restructure like you did. wait and see I guess. regardless, diggin the clean look you acheived. two thumbs up.

Thank you sir. It looks pretty good for a hobbled together thing, but not the end look I want.




Went for a 15 mile ride today, and man, bikes are fun!

Couple impressions though:
-My brakes SUCK
-Bike needs to be tuned bad. My tach cable is broken (seen earlier in this thread), and I have one on order. Once thats in, Ill get the bike tuned.
-Neutral light comes on with 1st gear, and first gear stays on when its in nuetral for the first 10 miles I rode today. Makes getting to N a bit interesting. Ill take the cluster apart and see if that fixes it.
-My butt gets hot really fast while sitting on a bike. Thinking how I can get some air flow to it for my future seat so I dont sweat through my pants, which I came close to doing today.
-I need to do something about the suspension. Expansion joints are killer, and it feels like Im riding a wave. Trying to figure out if I want to keep the L front forks, or if I should start to look for a regular set to build.
-I need to reinstall my front fender. Turns out you still get sprayed when you hit water even with all the junk in front of you.

-Did I mention my brakes suck????

Tomorrow I think Im going to try and order some tires, brake switch, valve tool, and other random stuff. Still doing some research into what brake stuff I want to do, but Im thinking the CBR rotors and Kawi calipers that are popular is the way to go.

 

[linuxrick]

Wow bike is looking great!! Long time jeeper here...bikes are so much more fun to work on than jeeps!

 

[Datafive0]

GS > XJ > Foxbody 5.0

 

[Starboard M]

Wow bike is looking great!! Long time jeeper here...bikes are so much more fun to work on than jeeps!

Easier and cheaper, thats for sure.

That Jeep is currently tucked away in my parents garage 1200 miles away in California waiting for me to live somewhere with a garage and money to work on it.

Ill be "parting it out" once I get the chance, and its getting a D60 front, 14 bolt rear, 231/300, chop topped, 4 linked rear, 3 linked front, dovenosed front end, and 40'' tires.
All I need are time and money.

If you guys are interested, heres a semi build thread of that Jeep.
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=998114

 

[Starboard M]

Worked on the bike a bit today. Minus the heat, I think I got a lot done and had a bit of fun.

Stripped the stock padding and cover off the stock seat pan. There was ~1 lbs of rust nuggets hanging out between the foam and the pan. Put the pan on to see if I could use it, and realized it was way to big and bulky.

Ive been wondering how I was going to mount a seat to the bike, and had a stoke of genius while looking at it today. Use the stock mount hooks!
Step one. Cut out cardboard.

Place over stock hook

Slide into place

Where the battery will eventually go. Im worried about the rear tire hitting the seat pan, so Im going to take the shocks off and cycle the rear to see how it works.

Wanted to get rid of the stock electrical mount which was hidden behind the side covers. People either make an electrical tray, or tuck them up into the seat. I made a tray out of some aluminum.
Mock up with cardboard

Side view. Can barely see it from the side!

Sides are bent up to limit what you can see from the side, and an attempt to protect the electrical from splash from the rear tire. Back is bent up for the same reason.

Tomorrow Im going to be shaping the stock foam into something I can work with. Also going to be remounting the front headlight, finishing the electrical tray and odds and ends.

 

[Starboard M]

Drew up a quick sketch of what the seat pan will look like. Measurements are guesstimations, so the proportions are off, but you get the general idea.

Holes are dimpled. Far side you can see my seat catch "catches" that reuse the stock mounts. The "handle" is the structure for the tail fiberglass, as well as the opening for the battery to slide into place.

Seat will be held on with Velcro, so you can pull it off if you need to get to the battery.


Sketch Up was not co operating with me (user error Im sure), so its not a full structure, but the shape Im kind of going for. Rough, and not exact, but again, just getting an idea.

 

[Starboard M]

Had a slight change of plans, and ended up going for the bobber type of look. I think it works better with the "L" tank.

Had some help dimpling my seat pan. Turned out awesome. :clap:

Flat blacked the headlight. Still need to rewire the turn signals which is why the wiring is still hanging out.

I would like to eventually run another headlight. I was considering running a Hella 500 driving light, but Im a bit nervous about the legality of it, and if my bike can handle the electrical requirement of such a light.

And purchased some Avon Roadriders in the 100/90-19 and 130/70-17 varieties. Got the front wheel painted black, and the tire mounted.

Rear wheel is on my deck currently getting painted. Hopefully tomorrow Ill get the new tire mounted and back on the bike. Have brake line parts coming in the mail, which will be installed this weekend. Also have a part to get my tach fixed, and a carb sync tool coming this weekend as well. Then I think it will be rideable?

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

HA! finally found your build thread after seeing the link in your "parts for sale" post. See's coming along, got any recent updates?

 

[Starboard M]

HA! finally found your build thread after seeing the link in your "parts for sale" post. See's coming along, got any recent updates?

Slowly but surely Im getting it done.

-Got my front and rear SS brake lines made, installed and bleed. Front was a PITA to bleed, but seems to be fine now.
-Got everything put back together, wiring tucked back into the headlight bucket
-Tried to get the bike started, but couldnt. Spent an hour taking things apart, and putting things back on to see if I could get it started. I thought some electrical components were inter related or some such thing (meaning you needed the gauge cluster for the bike to run). Finally gave up, tried to kickstart the bike. Failed. Then used the starter button, and it fired right up.

Semi recent picture

Anyway, bike now runs. I have a carb sync tool ready to be used, but its hot as heck out right now. Im dreading taking the tank on and off, and farting around with a hot engine on such a hot day.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Looks like you got quite a bit done to me. Congrats on getting her fired up!

 

[Starboard M]

Looks like you got quite a bit done to me. Congrats on getting her fired up!

I didnt realize you had a thread on here was well. Ive been following your build on the Ton.

Got to take the bike for a ride today. Went for a ~30 mile ride around town, took about an hour. Bike feels so much better with new tires and brake lines.

I still have a slight issue with the bike idling slightly odd. I got my carb sync on and the carbs were within 1/2 a line of eachother which from what I read was fine.


Also need to do some research on adjusting the clutch. It only engages on the first part of the pull, and first grinds when going from neutral to 1st.

Final issue is when I got onto the highway I had a huge problem with the grooving they do to the highways around here. Felt like the rear tire was going to fall off. Got up to ~60 mph not on the freeway, and it seemed fine. Got to 50 on the highway and bad news. Is this normal?

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Felt like the rear tire was going to fall off.

You means as in a vibration? I'd be checking the ballance.... maybe dyna-beads?
If you mean wandering, as in following that groove. Some tires are worse for that than others. Make sure your shock bolts, chain adjusters (axle is equal side to side in the adjustment) axle nut, and swingarm are not loose.

 

[Starboard M]

You means as in a vibration? I'd be checking the ballance.... maybe dyna-beads?
If you mean wandering, as in following that groove. Some tires are worse for that than others. Make sure your shock bolts, chain adjusters (axle is equal side to side in the adjustment) axle nut, and swingarm are not loose.

Wandering.

I just found it odd, and disconcerting, that it was happening on the freeway. I had been up to higher speeds, so I dont think its speed related. I would just avoid the highways with that grooving, but just about everywhere has it.

Ill check everything out again. Everything seemed tight, but I might have missed something. Seems like a loose axle would be the most likely cause. Swing arm is double sheered, and with two shocks to support it. However, the axle is as well.