$100 Project

[TalonStrife]

I just picked up a late 70's GS750 for a single benjamin from a friend of my girlfriend. I knew nothing about the GS's beforehand, I've never owned a Suzuki, but I figured for a hundred bucks I had nothing to lose. I was originally planning on just trying to get it running and flipping it for a profit(because I'm poor as hell and I do any little thing I can for some extra cash), but after a little bit of research my original plan began to fade. One glowing review after another for this bike slowly convinced me that I should keep it for myself. So since the prospective owner of this motorcycle is now me, I feel that my client will require a higher standard of work so I have to do this right. I'm planning to figure it out as I go along. I am fairly mechanically inlclined, but I am by no means a mechanic and I have little experience with motorcycles so any tips as I go along will be welcomed.


I agreed to buy the bike knowing almost nothing about it. The bike is completely disassembled right now. Apparently, it ran fine and was taken apart to powder coat the frame and never put back together. The bad part is, that was 8 years ago. The 8 years almost scared me off entirely, but after a cursory examination of the engine, I found that the carburetors still move freely and I was able to turn the engine by hand with the kickstarter so that made me feel a little bit better about it.


First things first, I'd like to clean up the engine while it's out. It's very oxidized(much worse than it looks in the pictures). I have cleaned polish aluminum before, but I really don't know where to start with the fins. Does anyone have any tips? Is there any way to clean and polish the jugs short of buying a soda blaster? Also, Is there anything else I should get done to the engine before I put it back together?


I'll try to keep this thread updated as I go along. Stay tuned.

 

[TalonStrife]

 

[TalonStrife]

 

[TalonStrife]

 

[TalonStrife]

 

[TalonStrife]

 

[posplayr]

It already has "inverted forks", good deal. Not sure what is going on with those pipes; are they reversed (outsides on the inside)?

 

[Guest]

You can soda blast it for the cost of a few boxes of laundry soda and a gravity gun. These type usually go for $20 or less.

The laundry soda works well on harder things like the engines but for the soft items such as carb bodies use Baking soda. Congrats on a good deal

 

[BADJACKSON]

Posplayr, could you explain 'inverted forks' & why they are desirable? How can I tell if mine are inverted?

 

[Guest]

Posplayr, could you explain 'inverted forks' & why they are desirable? How can I tell if mine are inverted?

ha,ha,ha,ha,ha............that's too funny

 

[Guest]

Talonstrife, paying only $100 for that, you're already ahead of the game. If you're on a limited budget (tell me about it) I suggest you start by putting money into rubber parts like seals, carb rubbers (in and out) o rings etc. They are likely to be 30+ year old parts and after 8 years standing I'm pretty sure they will all need replacing. I'll bet the tyres are hardened too.

Was the frame coated or is that still to be done. Now would be a good time to get it done, then bolt everything together using whatever else you've got as it is. Clean and polish all the parts you put on. Not much outlay for this stage just lots of effort. All the other parts can be removed and get coated or painted later.

That's the way I would tackle it. Good luck.

 

[TalonStrife]

Great. Thanks for the advice so far. It looks like I'm going to have to suck it up and buy a soda blaster(I heard they're also good for teeth whitening). I'll check out all of the rubber. The frame was coated, so right now that's the nicest part of the bike. The pipes, I just stuck in there to plug the holes and keep debris out. But speaking of the exhaust, the one thing the bike did not come with was mufflers. I looked up mufflers on ebay and they are way out of my budget right now. Does anyone know an inexpensive solution to that problem? If it was a twin, I could just throw some glasspacks on, but since the Y's seem to be attached to the mufflers on these bikes it makes it kind of complicated. If I had the money, I'd buy a set of the cool 4 into 1 pipes or something since I think I may be leaning towards a cafe-ish build and I think those stock horns that came on it are a bit ugly. What are my back pressure needs?