1977 GS 750 project

[shryke300]

Hey ALL! Just got this bike about a month or so ago. Been doing little bits and pieces along the way. This is definitely a learning experience for me, but that is what I wanted with this bike. The best way to learn is to do it, mess up and fix it! I especialy love it when you order a part for your year and its wrong! So ill start this project off with a few pics and a couple questions.

1. Under my fork seal was a little rubber and plastic disc that did not seam to be in the parts diagram in my haynes book. What is it? if I have new fork seals, does it need to be there?

2. My front wheel rolls just fine with no grittiness but when the wheel is off it wobbles a little on the axle. new wheel bearings in order?

3. I may have put the cart before the horse and ordered the shinko 230's. However, today I found that I have a tube under my old tire!!! What do I do?

What do you think? Thanks for any and all help!

 

[tkent02]

Spoke wheels need tubes, air leaks out the spoke holes. The tires will be fine. Get new bearings, might as well do them all at the same time. Don't know about the fork seal question.
Spare carburetors, a beautiful thing.
Looks like the bike is mostly all there, my what a hideous seat!
You can probably sell it to an L guy, they like stuff like that.

 

[shryke300]

Fork oil!!!

Fork oil!!!

Ok! I have the forks apart o replace the oil and seals. I have the seals, and the oil. Problem: The factory manual says 180cc oil. the Haines says 170cc oil. I'm thinking the factory one is right. Big question... What oil HEIGHT is that? HELP!!!!

 

[shryke300]

progress

progress

Starting today...

Ok... i couldnt find the correct height to fill my forks, so i just did volume. It should be right...

THen, I replaced the tubes and tires...

Now its all back on the bike!

Tommorrow we get the rear brakes bled, the rear tire and tube changed, and the airbox boots situated...

 

[7981GS]

Do you, for some strange reason, not have the ability to rotate your pictures so they are level?
Spelling checker turned off?


Something like this perhaps???

Eric

 

[shryke300]

I do, and it is not. I just didn't need the pictures right side up to understand what I was looking at. Also, aside from punctuation and grammatical errors, the only misspelled word was tomorrow. I assumed I had been able to effectively communicate what was going on, but I will try and watch out for those oversights in the future.

 

[shryke300]

Managed to do a little work today. I changed the rear tire, kinda fixed the airbox, ran some tubing (vents and all) from the carbs, changed the oil, got the rear brakes working, ran the fuel line with an inline filter and, finally, put the tank and the seat back on to try and get it to run. It actually did, but there are several problems to work out now: something is wrong with the throttle cable, the petcock is not working right as it lets fuel freely run on any setting, i think the rear wheel is a little canted and needs to be set straight, something may be wrong with the chain, right blinker, brakes, headlight, tachometer, and maybe the speedo don't work, and last, but not least, the bike shutoff on me while i was riding it. That troubles me a little as it still had fuel.

 

[GateKeeper]

It seems you never got your Mega Welcome package, so here it is.....

and if you did sorry about the double post, but you will find a huge amount of valuable info

Hi Mr. shryke300,

Let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[shryke300]

Thank You!

 

[GateKeeper]

no problem....

this will get you lots, everything from manuals to noob mistakes, to tips and tricks, even how to post pics, but that one you got figured out...

lots of reading and lots of links, but all will come in handy......


and when I put oil into my forks, I went got the wifes measuring cup, got the right amount and poured it in.....simple

then I made sure I cleaned it really well, washed it, dried it and put it away, before she found out....

.

 

[cowboyup3371]

You don't need that inline fuel filter and depending on what kind you purchased, it is probably the reason why your bike shut off. The petcock already has a filter attached to it inside the bike and does everything you need. If yours is stock, it uses the vacuum from the carbs to pull fuel down but it won't be as fast as a car's. Most of the fuel filters out there will restrict it to the point that fuel can't flow past it.

If you must use one though, get a gravity fed filter like what you'll see on lawnmowers.

Edit: I just reread that your petcock is allowing fuel to flow in any setting - if it does while off the bike then replace it soon or you'll have a crankcase full of gas and that won't be good. Fuel should flow freely in the PRI setting (prime) and only flow when vacuum is applied (i.e. when the bike is running) in ON and Reserve.

 

[shryke300]

I have heard that that will cause the crankcase to fill with gas, and I know it does (I left it on prime when I first got the bike and the gas disappeared! Luckily I read about this on the forum and smelled the oil to verify before I tried to run it again!) How does this happen? I don't remember anything running from the carbs to the crankcase... Why won't the overflow tubes take care of that problem?

 

[shryke300]

OH! one thing I forgot to mention is my goal with this bike! My end goal is to make a nice daily rider and 2up bike. To that end, right now I'm only worried about getting it to run well with what i have. After it runs well, I will worry about upgrades, personalization and, eventually, stripping it down and painting everything nice an pretty!

 

[Allie]

Wow, that's going to be a nice bike! You have elbow grease to spare apparently, and good thing too! Nice pics and the posts read just fine thank you.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Have you read through the top ten newbie mistakes and Basscliff's comments on the stuff needed to get it done right? If not, go read and then start on fixing things correctly.

Clean up the carbs properly, adjust the valves, replace that petcock, clean out the brakes and master cylinders properly, replace the brake lines, etc. Not doing this will cause you continued grief.

Go slow and methodical at it (something I haven't done correctly) and don't ride it again until the major issues are fixed - otherwise, you'll be sitting in the hospital or worse.

 

[shryke300]

I have read through most of it. I was a little late before I posted pics on this project. I have already dipped, soaked, sprayed and brushed the carbs down and rebuilt with new o rings and gaskets (I used the vm rebuild guide on Basscliff's site), the rear master cylinder has been rebuilt, and all the rubber and pads in the rear caliper have been replaced. I have some of the parts for the front brakes, but am working on finding them all. I am working on sealing the airbox with LOTS of silicone, lol. One thing I didn't do was follow the petcock rebuild tutorial, as I thought it couldn't be THAT difficult (Still not sure how I screwed it up, but Ill find out the next time I mess with it.)

Don't worry about the riding part of it. When I rode it I was in first gear around the back yard I wont be taking this on the road until I'm sure its ready.

I didn't see anything about how the gas gets INTO the crankcase, though.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Did you read this article about overflowing carbs on his site:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/carb_sync_notes.html#A03

 

[shryke300]

I think I missed that one. There is SO much information on that site! It did say, however, that my pre-1979 (1977) VM carbs should not let fuel into the crankcase PROVIDING that my (new) vent lines are venting. *whew* (i think) They may not have been working well from the PO, as there was gas in the oil when I got it. OH well. Thanks for providing that link! (and your patience)

 

[shryke300]

WOOT!!!!!! I got the petcock to work! I overlooked a hole in the diaphram and its spacer AND in the outside shell. Once I lined those up, it was all gravy! Just did a little today. I realized I need to de-rust the tank, so that will be coming in the future. I need a new master cylinder rebuild kit and some rubber for the front brakes. I also worked on sealing up the airbox. I know that I will eventually need new boots, but for now I am using plenty of silicone gasket goo to seal them up :lol:

I also used some jb weld on a hole(s) at the end of the left hand muffler to seal it up.

 

[shryke300]

Soooo many issues... But what's a project without them! It frustrates me, but I also like the opportunity to learn. As it is now, i need to do major adjustments to the motor and carbs (tuning, valves, etc). The front wheel is also either out for round, or not fully seated. The electrical system also just crapped out while it was running. So much FUN! stay tuned...