77 GS 750-Cafe/Fighter

[z33kyle]

Hey everybody, new to the site. Ive never had a reason to post until now. I have been wanting a bike for a long time now. I was looking for a mid nineties street bike to build a fighter, but I have also had a fondness for the Cafe style. I managed to stumble upon a hell of a deal.

1977 Suzuki GS750



She doesn't look like much, but she was only $75.



There are a few missing parts: Instrument cluster, tank, carbs, stator cover, headlight, and some misc bolts and small pieces.





My plan is for a blend of cafe looks, and street fighter mods.

 

[z33kyle]

This is the status of the bike as of right now. I threw my lawnmower battery in her and most of the electrics work. I don't have all the signals and lights on it, but what I do have work. It turns out the starter was bad, so I haven't been able to do a compression check. The one good thing though, when you cycle the kick starter the motor turns freely and if you put your finger over a spark plug hole it will blow your finger off the hole.

A starter was ordered off Ebay. $51 and when I broke it down it was practically brand new inside. Also a set of carbs and an instrument cluster was sourced from a member here. They should be here soon thanks to tas850g.

I ran into one more issue yesterday. I hooked the starter up and cycled it a few times. I noticed that the starter was making contact with anything, just spinning freely. I took the left cover off and it turned out that the starter idle gear was missing. So another trip to ebay snagged me one for $20.

 

[z33kyle]

Future plans for the bike to explain my cafe/fighter look.

My buddy has a '05 ZX6R rear swingarm with brake rotor and rear master cylinder, all I need for it is a brake caliper for $50. Not sure what kind of front forks I am going to go with yet. Of course a set of rearsets and clipons up front.

My big issue right now is a tank. I don't really care for the factory tank, plus I don't have one. I really like the look of the Kawi H1 or it may be a H2 tank. I just don't know about the mounting of a different kind of tank like that. The goal is a traditional square cafe style with nice knee dents. I plan on hand making the tail in the same cafe style. Single seat of course. I have been honing my carbon fiber skills and this seems to be a good project to start with.

 

[twinapache]

Looks like that bike is basically beyond economical repair. With the problems you mentioned, and all the missing parts. I'd suggest parting it out one ebay, and taking the money you make to buy something more complete. Just my opinion though.

 

[TheCafeKid]

eeesh, Youre gonna have a tough time squeezing a 05 swinger into that frame..

If you're gonna mod it, you're better off finding an 1100E swinger, as that will take up to a 4.5-5 inch wide wheel... And, get all the parts you use for the front end from the same bike...makes it much easier.

And if you decide to sell that stock seat, let me know..

 

[z33kyle]

eeesh, Youre gonna have a tough time squeezing a 05 swinger into that frame..

If you're gonna mod it, you're better off finding an 1100E swinger, as that will take up to a 4.5-5 inch wide wheel... And, get all the parts you use for the front end from the same bike...makes it much easier.

And if you decide to sell that stock seat, let me know..

Yeah, I figured more than likely it might not be worth the effort, but I am going to make some measurements just to check. I haven't bought the parts from my buddy yet. I just thought for fifty bucks if it wouldn't take too much effort I would try it out.

 

[z33kyle]

Looks like that bike is basically beyond economical repair. With the problems you mentioned, and all the missing parts. I'd suggest parting it out one ebay, and taking the money you make to buy something more complete. Just my opinion though.

All in all I have $216 into it. If I can't get the motor to run with the parts that I have I might consider parting it out, but Its just a project I did't plan on putting more than $800 into it.

 

[z33kyle]

Here are some more close up pics.

 

[Colorado85gs550]

I thought I started with a basket case!! WOW....you have your work cut out for you

Welcome.........

 

[z33kyle]

So I have made some progress on my 750. I now have a set of carbs, and an instrument cluster. Thanks to another member on here.

The carbs are in great shape. They will eventually get a rebuild, but for now I am at least going to try and get the motor running in their present condition.

The bike as she sets.

I performed a compression check on her tonight. My first readings, which were done dry were 105-110 across all four cylinders. I poured a little oil into cylinder four and tried the check again. The pressure kept climbing and climbing almost to 250 psi. This is the first time I have done this and something didn't seem right. I removed the gauge and cycled the motor over a few times. The pressure eventually evened out to about 150 psi. I must have put too much oil into the cylinder or something. My battery started to die so I didn't try the other cylinders with oil, but to me this seems to be a good sign having even pressure across all cylinders and getting pretty good pressure with a little oil added.

I am in talks with another member of this site about a tank, keys and ignition cylinder. So hopefully soon I will have that stuff together.

 

[apogeecustom]

Did you have the throttle full open during the test?

 

[z33kyle]

The carbs aren't mounted so I would assume that would serve the same purpose as having the throttle full open. I thought maybe there was a valve sticking, but some of the oil I poured in the cylinder dripped out the exhaust pipe.

 

[z33kyle]

So I have made more progress since my last post. I have a tank now and have done some minor maintenance and also I have an ignition switch now.

Here are some pics

I got the tank and ignition switch from a good member on here. My next step is to de-rust the tank and coat the inside and order a petcock and tank mounts.

I tried to get the bike started again today but I noticed that the starter relay kept clicking. I tore it down and noticed the broken contact in the above picture.

I am finishing off school this week so I am going to start hitting it hard trying to get this thing running. Once I get her running the next big task is making a tail section out of fiberglass and a single seat.

 

[Chris]

Looks like very good progress indeed. Good for you and good luck bringing the old girl back from the dead.

 

[DustoffDave]

Good progress man! I love seeing a basketcase come back from the brink -- keep it up and keep us posted.

 

[z33kyle]

Thanks for the support guys. I have completed some more work. Pictures will come soon. I have run into some more problems however. The bike started up a couple times. The first time it started up, ran a few seconds then died. I tried to start it back up and the starter would just click. I already documented that the starter relay was bad, but it turns out that the starter blew up also. When I disassembled the starter it had completely exploded inside itself. So I bought a new starter. Which was ridiculously expensive. I installed it and noticed that the starter was turning but it was not turning the motor over. I determined that it was the starter clutch. Upon disassembling the left side of the motor I noticed that the two bearings inside the clutch were toast. So I ordered some replacement parts off of Bikebandit. The parts came in and I reassembled everything. Went to start the bike and it fired up fine, then there was some screeching of gears and it died. Then the starter would not turn over again. I said some curse words then gave up for the day. I am pretty sure I ruined my new starter. It seemed like the starter clutch did not disengage this time. I did not remove the starter to verify but I am pretty sure its toast.

My question is, do any of you guys have any experience with this issue?

 

[TheCafeKid]

How did you get the starter clutch off the crank? Did you use a rotor puller?? Have you tried turning the motor over by hand with the bolt on the ignition points side of the crank? Bearings may have been bad but what usually goes bad on the starter clutches is the clutch itself... Id like to see some pics of what you've got going on there.. Those 750 motors are bulletproof, and Ive seem some that I swore would never run again actually come back and run strong.. but I suppose with no prior knowlege of the history of the bike, years and years of neglect... Hrmm..

 

[z33kyle]

It pulled right off. No puller or anything. Ill take some pics in the morning. I have turned it over like you said with a wrench and it turns over smooth. Whoever owned it previously was using the kick starter, because the idler gear was removed between the starter and the starter gear.

 

[z33kyle]

I think I have it figured out. I believe I put too tight of a torque on on the bolt securing the starter clutch. I corrected it to the proper torque spec, and the clutch seems to work properly now. Still didn't pull the starter to see if its fried though.

 

[z33kyle]

The starter was destroyed. I sent it back and the manufacturer sent me a new one. I'm not going to use the new one until I have an expert set of eyes double check my work on the starter clutch.

I am almost done with the tail section also. Just a little more reinforcing of the seat pan and some metal bracing underneath.

My carbs are being rebuilt this saturday so hopefully have an engine that will keep running next week.