New in New Jersey - 1981 GS750E

[180gramvinyl]

Hey Guys -

Lots of great info here - thanks for being so thorough. I recently picked up an 81 GS750E - quite the upgrade from my previous 72 CB350. (Amazed at the tech upgrades in that time frame - doesnt seem quite as straightforward as the CB350) I've attached a pic of her.

Trying to work out some of the quirks on this beast - I've only put a few hundred miles on it so far. The bike needs full choke (pulling the knob hard) to start and quite the lengthy warmup before it will idle without choke. It also would occasionally bogs down/stumbles/sometimes stalls around the 1/4-1/2 throttle range (around 1.5K-3K) if I roll it on quick. Not as noticeable if I ease into it.

I'm assuming some of this has to do with the fact that the previous owner pulled the air filter box and just had an Emgo/Hiflow filter under the seat. Exhaust is a Vance & Hines 4into1. I picked up a stock air filter box with cover on ebay and I have a stock air filter arriving this week. Hope those help a bit - I have no idea what the current jetting situation is.

Over the weekend, I've been unable to get the bike started. Seems like the battery charge is low - I have it on the tender today. Hoping I can get it back started tonight. Filled up some low cells last night.

Does anyone have any recommendations for repair shops (or anyone that does some side work) in the central New Jersey area? I'm looking to find someone to give this thing a once over before I take over full time maintenance duties myself. I'm lacking the work space needed to really dive into things properly at the moment.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations and I greatly appreciate the wealth of info here.

 

[AX2007]

Hey buddy! Where in NJ are you? Im up in the Montclair area.

 

[dorkburger]

Sounds like the carbs need some love/verification of settings. Search the site for, or simply google Basscliffs welcome, and you'll find a boatload of must do's for your cycle...
Welcome to the site....Where in NJ are you? I dont know of any shops that cater to our old bikes, but this site is tremendously helpful.

 

[AX2007]

Sounds like the carbs need some love/verification of settings. Search the site for, or simply google Basscliffs welcome, and you'll find a boatload of must do's for your cycle...
Welcome to the site....Where in NJ are you? I dont know of any shops that cater to our old bikes, but this site is tremendously helpful.

There is a place in Roselle Park, JDS Cycle that does. I've never been, but I've heard they are good. Circle Cycle is another place that works on old bikes. The owners is a nice guy, I've talked to him a few times, but I've not had work done there. Then there is a place in Old Tappan, in North Jersey, not sure I remember the name, but he worked on my bike. Nice enough guy, ood work, but a little expensive.

 

[180gramvinyl]

Thanks guys - I really appreciate the recommendations. I'm out in South Brunswick so I'll definitely check out some of these places.

Came home after leaving the Battery Tender connected all day - starter was cranking way faster and it started right up. I popped the air filter box in with the old Uni filter it came with (I got impatient - new filter is coming this week) and it seemed to make quite the difference. Still needs a decent amount of choke until it really gets up to operating temperature. Way more power and pull through 1/4-1/2 throttle.

Carbs will probably be the next thing on my agenda. I think ditching the fairing and swapping with a normal headlight will also happen. I found that post about the things to do first - looks like my work is cut out for me.

 

[dorkburger]

Wow, A friend of mine grew up in the Dayton section of S. Brunswick, and i spent a lot of time over there. Im just over in Freehold. Regarding your carbs... even though youre re installing the stock airbox, some jetting tweaks may still be required if you're keeping the 4-1 exhaust. Your best bet would probably be to verify the carbs and intake boots are 100%, then look into jetting. Member GSXR7ED just did this on a very similar bike, and documented it well. Im by no means an expert in this, but some here are......

 

[GSXR7ED]

Maintenance

Maintenance

Hey Guys -

Lots of great info here - thanks for being so thorough. I recently picked up an 81 GS750E - quite the upgrade from my previous 72 CB350. (Amazed at the tech upgrades in that time frame - doesnt seem quite as straightforward as the CB350) I've attached a pic of her.

Trying to work out some of the quirks on this beast - I've only put a few hundred miles on it so far. The bike needs full choke (pulling the knob hard) to start and quite the lengthy warmup before it will idle without choke. It also would occasionally bogs down/stumbles/sometimes stalls around the 1/4-1/2 throttle range (around 1.5K-3K) if I roll it on quick. Not as noticeable if I ease into it.

I'm assuming some of this has to do with the fact that the previous owner pulled the air filter box and just had an Emgo/Hiflow filter under the seat. Exhaust is a Vance & Hines 4into1. I picked up a stock air filter box with cover on ebay and I have a stock air filter arriving this week. Hope those help a bit - I have no idea what the current jetting situation is.

Over the weekend, I've been unable to get the bike started. Seems like the battery charge is low - I have it on the tender today. Hoping I can get it back started tonight. Filled up some low cells last night.

Does anyone have any recommendations for repair shops (or anyone that does some side work) in the central New Jersey area? I'm looking to find someone to give this thing a once over before I take over full time maintenance duties myself. I'm lacking the work space needed to really dive into things properly at the moment.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations and I greatly appreciate the wealth of info here.

Welcome, I know how you feel about taking your bike to a shop for a quick check. I've also learned, most of what you need to fix you'll learn on your own by browsing the Maintenance areas and BassCliff's site: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

The shop I took my bike to in Dover did a compression test after installing the carbs...bench checked good. They also helped me figure out why the R/R wasn't regulating properly...I asked a question about grounding and the mechanic quickly knew which wire to relocate and bam, problem fixed.

That was back in Jan 2013 and I've been riding my bike since....with minimal problems until an oil leak got worse.

Here's the documented thread that's got me to my current status: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=216696

I've got a chrome V&H 4-1 and all I had to do was change the MAIN Jets (With the Help of MrBill) from stock 112.5 to 117.5. It was recommended I go to 120 Main Jets but I am happy with the performance I'm getting with my current set-up.

Good luck with your rebuild...sounds like you'll have to air-check the stock airbox and rebuild your carbs. (There are members here who will do it for a decent price too)

Wow, A friend of mine grew up in the Dayton section of S. Brunswick, and i spent a lot of time over there. Im just over in Freehold. Regarding your carbs... even though youre re installing the stock airbox, some jetting tweaks may still be required if you're keeping the 4-1 exhaust. Your best bet would probably be to verify the carbs and intake boots are 100%, then look into jetting. Member GSXR7ED just did this on a very similar bike, and documented it well. Im by no means an expert in this, but some here are......

Thanks for mentioning me DB.



Ed

 

[srg]

Cool bike! And welcome to our little community. I'm just over the bridge from you. I have some tools and extra shims if you ever need them.

 

[180gramvinyl]

Thanks for all the info, guys.

Dorkburger, I'm in Kendall Park (basically the other side of Route 1 from Dayton) - definitely more open space on the Dayton side for things - some nice farmland cruising once you get out there. I took my CB350 down to the shore a few weeks ago and went through your area - will def have to take a trip back out. Saw this place ( when I was riding back on 526 - http://www.foreveryoungmotorcycles.com/ - had a few vintage bikes on the site so maybe some potential there.

GSXR7ED - I've been going over your build thread - tons of great info and it's helping me make a bit of a to-do list. Really great to have a bit of a walk through. Thanks!

SRG - Still need to make it to philly via bike. I've only crossed the PA border for New Hope and cruising along the Delaware but it needs to happen. And i love that Revzilla showroom.

Going to do a bit of an extended shakedown run this weekend this weekend after replacing the air filter. A friend of mine just got his first bike (jumped right into a HD SPortster 1200 - eeeps) so I'm heading up to the Poconos to do some riding. Need to remember to bring my multimeter so I can see how this battery holds up. PO said it was new but who knows. Reading up a bit on the batteries, the fact that some of the cells were so low has me a bit concerned. I'll pick up a new one if necessary when I get up there. Testing the charging system (though my electrical skills are a bit weak) and addressing the carbs are up first. No idea what sort of jetting is going on in there right now. Might send these out to one of the forum experts for a first crack at them.

The PO did mention that the air forks bleed off a bit - assuming that means I need fork seals. That said, I was checking my Clymer and trying to find a post on adding air but I'm not having much luck. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a post or let me know when the inlet is located?

Also noticed that there are a few disconnected wires under the seat (not sure if this is deliberate or they wiggled loose) - will post a pic when I get to the office. Tried to compare to the wiring diagram but I wasn't having much luck finding what was missing.

 

[dorkburger]

Kendall park is a nice starting point for a ride...Kingston, Hillsborough, not too far from the Skylands area of the state.....Nice. I rode to Philly one night years ago to see a show. I was sure I was going to get ran over on I 95.. and that was doing 80-85 mph just to keep up. Then I swear I was gouged for gas. I wasnt empty and the gas pump registered over 6 gallons! Good luck this weekend. Enjoy.

 

[180gramvinyl]

These are the random detached wires I found when I took off the seat - close to the tail of the bike They all looked black (garage wasn't super light at the time so I could be wrong). Wasn't sure as I see 2 males/1 female - the dreaded bad college party ratio.

 

[GSXR7ED]

No Go Party Mix

No Go Party Mix

These are the random detached wires I found when I took off the seat - close to the tail of the bike They all looked black (garage wasn't super light at the time so I could be wrong). Wasn't sure as I see 2 males/1 female - the dreaded bad college party ratio.

That is TOO Funny!

Does your fuel gauge work? Curious because it looks like the two connections for the fuel gauge. But then...where's the female gonna go?



Ed

EDIT: That's a little too far back for the fuel gauge wires...just a thought.

 

[srg]

Just follow the wires to wherever they go. You can use a voltmeter to check for continuity, and you might have to cut open some wire ties/wrapping/bunching. It depends on how bad you wanna figure it out

 

[180gramvinyl]

Ha, the PO said the same thing regarding the fuel gauge when I asked him. It does work though and, seemingly, so does everything else. Going to try to dive into it next week. I really need a work light as it's too dark in the garage to see anything clearly without going blind.

 

[1_v8_merc]

I'm in the Somerset area. If you ever need help, my garage is practically rigged for GS work. I frequently ride a long the delaware, just gotta watch out for pot holes and fallen rocks!

 

[Crankthat]

Welcome to the forum!
Just a little tip for before the carbs are removed.

The boots from the head to the carbs.
If you take a look you will see that the have angles.
They can be very difficult to get back in the correct placement.

This is just from people forgetting how they were on in the first place.
As the inner two are twisting in a different position then the outer two it can make it a pain in the butt to reposition them for correct carb alignment to airbox.

I marked mine and life is so much easier.
Cleaned them with alcohol.
Took a paint marker and drew a line indicating top center on each one as they appear on bike.
Put a number on each one indicating cylinder order.
Take a few good photos while you are at it.
Cheers Andy

 

[dorkburger]

I'm in the Somerset area. If you ever need help, my garage is practically rigged for GS work. I frequently ride a long the delaware, just gotta watch out for pot holes and fallen rocks!

I always wondered if the CNJ for yor location was New Jersey...

 

[180gramvinyl]

I def appreciate all the tips, guys.

1_v8_merc - I might have to take you up on that, we are pretty much neighbors.

So I had my shakedown ride this weekend - was about 100 miles to get up to my friend's place in the Poconos. Decided to take the backroads rather than the highway and that was totally the way to go. There were some sweet scenic pull off's near around the Delaware Water Gap - usually I'm blasting by via highway so it was cool to take a moment to breathe it all in. I was amused to see a pack of 10 Vespas blasting down that monster hill, ha. The amount of burger/dog shacks along the way was also sweet.

 

[180gramvinyl]

As far as bike performance, seems like there are a few things going on. Carb cleaning is still on the to do list as the bike has a bit of off-idle stumble. Once past that point, seems to pull through pretty strong.

So I've put in the stock airbox and stock filter - that fixed most of the other power issues I was having. When I clean the carbs I'm going to try and take into account proper jetting for the V&H 4into1. Is it worthwhile to upgrade to a K&N filter (with appropriate jetting) or are the gains not that big?

Also, it seems like the bike MAY be running on only 3 cylinders - haven't pulled the plugs to check them all but header #3 was staying cool when the others heated up real quick.

Also trying to figure out what is going on with my battery/charging system. In reading some posts on this forum, they were referring to a baseline battery reading of around 13V for a "good" battery. When fully charged, mine was only reading 12.68-12.7V. Is that close enough or would that be considered bad? (I use the same Battery Tender on my CB350 and that reads the same when fully charged). Bike cranks well and starts right up.

When I turn on the ignition, the charge just starts counting down at a good clip .01 at a time. Didn't notice much difference when turning the light on. Charges a bit at idle - up into the 13-14Vish range at 2.5K rpms but then it dives back down when hitting 4K. Seems like my first step is clean the R/R connections before diving into these legendary Stator Papers.

Fork seals need to happen too. I added air to the forks but the right side bled off almost overnight.

 

[180gramvinyl]

OK - been away for a while but a bit of an update. Brought the bike to a shop with the hopes of a new front tire and fork seals. Left with the tire and a few cables after quoting $1500 for fork work. (In addition to $1500 for other miscellaneous). So I still need to think about these forks but will probably figure out a way to attack them myself.

Pulled the carbs to clean and sync myself, avoiding the $600+ I was quoted for those. Definitely a learning experience and a bit more complicated than the Keihin 722a's on my CB350 but totally managable - just way more parts to keep track off. Turns out a few of the pilot jets had stripped slots. Was able to remove them with the small torx trick and some WD-40 - swapped all for with new ones.

GSXR7ED - thanks for the jetting suggestion. The bike had 120s from the PO but it really seemed like it was minimal power in the low rev range. I swapped in a set of 117.5's and man, this thing is total beast mode now. It really rips through the full rev range. Seems like a completely different bike. (Earlier in the day I was ready to kick it to the curb - poor idle mix setting and not priming the carbs made me think I'd killed it, ha).

Went for the oil change last night two - Rotella 15w40 and a FRAM filter. After reading today, I see that those have mixed reviews but I will probably do another change soon to let some of the remnants of prior evils circulate first.