anyone go for a ride today? Pics?

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Last weekend put over 200 miles on the bike but I try to stay within a range that my buddy with a truck/trailer wouldn’t be too put out if I had to call him to pick my sorry azz up. Luckily, The 2 times this happened I was only about 5 miles from home. We’re still friends.

The longer I own the bike, the longer I read on the forum, the more PM I perform on the bike, the more confidence I have.

[Big Block]

Just a short 100KM test ride after getting it back together. Split the cases to change the output shaft, then I discovered a cracked clutch hub and waited for that to come in, Then I decided to order new carb boots and waited for those to come in. I can't get over how well this bike rides though. I've been putting lots of KM on my 08 Bandit this year but the old 1150 handles nicer, is more comfortable, less wind buffeting etc.

[gtem]

Had time to take a short ride today and meet up with member Grishagtem (center), and his brother Vanya (left), who treated me to lunch at a great Middle-Easter/Armenian/Russian restaurant called Kavkaz. Good thing they speak fluent Russian. I wouldn’t have known what to order. Still not exactly sure what I ate, but it was delicious. Next time, my treat. I’ll definitely bring my wife here sometime for dinner. A lone Harley rider on his way from Scranton to Upper Minnesota stopped and joined us. We were the only customers. We had a nice short ride after lunch over a twisty mountain road before parting ways. Till next time, gents. Pleasure meeting you both.

It was a pleasure meeting your Rich! We'll definitely try to arrange next year's Central/Northern PA tour to have you join us! As for the meal at Kavkaz, you had "borscht" a very classic Russian beet and potato soup based on a beef stock, and a "samsa" which is a small meat-filled pastry/pie. The green colored tarragon flavored soda was "Tarhoon." It was very cool to randomly meet up with David the guy from MN burning miles on his Harley. It's one of the many things that I love about motorcycling: the ice-breaker effect and the camaraderie with total strangers.

[gtem]

An XS750, same colour as my old one. Actually, I think wine red was the most common colour they came in.
That was my introduction to heavyweight Japanese shafties, about two bikes before my first GS.
I had the last model of the the 750, where all the problems had been ironed out, but the reputational damage had been done.

This one is a '79 that we bought last spring as a 5k mile barn find. Untouched with original 1979 tires and brake fluid when purchased, unfortunately the guy we bought it off of went monkeying with the carbs and installed some kind of cheap generic carb/jet kit that took some time to undo and track down the correct OE jets. I think he has 7500 miles on it now, been a really nice ride for him. More of a touring bike than my GS750E or 1100E, the front end is rather soft with a lot of brake dive, like an old BMW. The triple makes some cool sounds and lower frequency vibrations, it definitely has a more charismatic/vintage vibe than the GSes, but overall seems less "sporty." I will say, the Yamaha electrics seem much better sorted than Suzuki of this era. Between the 57k miles on my 76 XS500, my brother's 30k mile '81 Seca 750, we've never had a hiccup or had to touch a thing on the charging system, ignition, etc. At worst the old glass type fuse holders fall apart and you replace with a blade type box.

[gtem]

I'm writing up a ride report for the two day ride in Central PA that I just completed on my 1100E with my brother (where we met up with Rich) over on ADVrider, I may recreate the thread/report over here as well later, but in the mean time here is a link:

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/central-pa-ujm-2-day-tour-50-cross-country-bros-ride-again.1577723/

[Grimly]

This one is a '79 that we bought last spring as a 5k mile barn find. Untouched with original 1979 tires and brake fluid when purchased, unfortunately the guy we bought it off of went monkeying with the carbs and installed some kind of cheap generic carb/jet kit that took some time to undo and track down the correct OE jets. I think he has 7500 miles on it now, been a really nice ride for him. More of a touring bike than my GS750E or 1100E, the front end is rather soft with a lot of brake dive, like an old BMW. The triple makes some cool sounds and lower frequency vibrations, it definitely has a more charismatic/vintage vibe than the GSes, but overall seems less "sporty." I will say, the Yamaha electrics seem much better sorted than Suzuki of this era. Between the 57k miles on my 76 XS500, my brother's 30k mile '81 Seca 750, we've never had a hiccup or had to touch a thing on the charging system, ignition, etc. At worst the old glass type fuse holders fall apart and you replace with a blade type box.

Yep, the 'F' model was the first good 750, with the gearbox, valve train and other things sorted. Problem was, the preceding models had seriously damaged the image of the triple and it didn't sell well. Pity, as it was a well-sorted bike by then. In an attempt to revive it, the 'G' model 850 came along, but it wasn't enough.

[gtem]

Yep, the 'F' model was the first good 750, with the gearbox, valve train and other things sorted. Problem was, the preceding models had seriously damaged the image of the triple and it didn't sell well. Pity, as it was a well-sorted bike by then. In an attempt to revive it, the 'G' model 850 came along, but it wasn't enough.

Per my understanding, not only did they fix the first year issues but for 1978 "E" they had to "hotrod" the bike a good bit to get the straightline performance in line with the then-new Suzuki GS750 and it's 12.83 second quarter mile. The XS750E introduced transistorized ignition (GS750 kept points until 1980 iirc), which allowed them to raise the redline 1000rpm, they put in some hotter cams, shortened up the gearing to help acceleration as well. It's a shame I had already sold my '79 GS750E this spring, it would have been a more apples-to-apples comparison on this tour. I suspect the Yamaha has a stronger midrange pull coming off a corner, rolling on in top gear, etc. The GS is a sportier bike with really nicely dialed in handling, strong top-end pull. Oh well I enjoyed blowing the proverbial doors off the XS750 with my 1100E and its 30hp+ advantage

[Redman]

I'm writing up a ride report for the two day ride in Central PA that I just completed on my 1100E with my brother (where we met up with Rich) over on ADVrider, I may recreate the thread/report over here as well later, but in the mean time here is a link:

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/central-pa-ujm-2-day-tour-50-cross-country-bros-ride-again.1577723/

THat picture looks like some pics that Rich post.

One option you might concider is once you make a posting on one forum, you could copy-paste into other forum.



I'll preface the ride report with just a bit of back story, for those that want to hop right into the report it will follow in the next few posts. I just wanted to set the stage.

It's been a good long while but as of last year my brother and I have both gotten back in the saddle and into some riding on a consistent basis. Since the big cross country ride in 2008 (https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/c...d-back.366117/), we did some smaller rides while I was still in school and nearby in NY. After that, life got a bit in the way and we both drifted away from riding. I moved to Indianapolis for work, started a family. My bro was busy growing his automotive diagnostics business in State College PA. We still owned motorcycles mind you, it was just never a priority and we hadn't done any sort of touring in years. Last March something snapped and we were back on the motorcycle brainwave.

I just happened to be perusing Facebook Marketplace looking at motorcycles, when I spotted a low mileage XS750F that had sat for the better part of 4 decades. My brother and I are both old Yamaha nuts, somehow this XS750 really just lit the spark for him and next thing I know I'm trailering it home from Northeastern IL.

Within two weeks after that , I'M hauling a pair of old GS Suzukis home to Indianapolis.

By early May my brother had the XS750 home in PA and sorted, ready to ride. I borrowed his cross-country vet '81 Seca 750 and we did a nice two day tour on similar rides to this year's ride on the pair of 750 Yamaha shafties.


Distracted with other (car) projects and family obligations, it took me until this summer to get my two Suzukis sorted out. I ended up selling the '79 750E, the '81 1100E is the keeper.



So for this ride, I was working feverishly go get the final details sorted out on the 1100E: had my friend Brian, who is perhaps THE guru of the GSResources forum, and conveniently happens to live 15 minutes from my house, go through my electrical/charging system, a notorious weak spot on the otherwise very robust GS bikes. I had also replaced fork seals and the 20 year old tires that were on it, fitted the KG luggage rack, and tried to put some last minute shake-down miles on the bike before trailering out to PA.

So finally, I had my bike sorted out, trailered out to my bro's outside of State College PA, and we loaded up saddle bags and camping gear.



To be continued...

[gtem]

THat picture looks like some pics that Rich post.

One option you might concider is once you make a posting on one forum, you could copy-paste into other forum.

Haha my brother and I were definitely glad to hear that Rich is all about the dirt road riding. My only qualm with it is it got my sparkly clean GS1100E looking like I had ridden the Paris Dakar with all the crazy powdery red dust that my brother was kicking up riding in front.

I didn't realize it was so easy to copy and paste and even the pics (already hosted on advrider) come right over too. Trivial!

[gtem]

continuation of my PA ride report:

The morning of the first day greeted us with some very nice, cool and overcast weather. We finished packing the bikes up and hit the road around 8:30 or so, riding along gorgeous Central PA back roads that alternate between following along creeks, up and down hills, and cutting through farm country in the valley. We only had about 200 miles to cover for the day so we took a nice coffee break at a Sheetz gas station when we stopped to fill up. I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of gas station coffee, and Sheetz makes a solid brew. From there we proceeded North through some small mining towns with names like “Coalport,” many had seen better days. Crossed I80 near Clearfield and hit route 879, a very nice flowing road where we could open the bikes up a bit.



With every passing mile I was appreciating my GS1100E more and more: it’s a nice all-rounder even in the modern day with a strong torquey linear engine, comfortable suspension that feels totally secure and adequate for our “semi-mostly-legal” pace of riding, and a very nice cushy seat and standard seating position, the type of seating that modern ADV bikes give you, but with a softer seat and notably lower seat height. Throw on a period aftermarket luggage rack and some soft saddle bags and tank bags and you’re all set. As we’ll see, it can even handle some gravel roads without any issue. And feel free to grab a passenger, the accommodations are roomy and cushy. “Universal Japanese Motorcycle” indeed. The XS750 is also a really underappreciated gem of a motorcycle. Certainly down on power compared to the 1100, but it’s no slouch, and rewards you with a much more charismatic engine note and lower frequency vibration. It has a fair amount of brake dive but a really cushy ride. Yamaha’s take on a 70s R-series BMW with a cool inline triple engine.

We gobble up more beautiful barely populated twisty roads through the state Forests and end up stopping for lunch at the Wharton Tavern, an already known-to-us solid place to stop for a burger and a beer (gotta have the North Central PA staple “Straub”). We end up parking next to a stretched and lowered ZX-6R that we had seen earlier, and spent some time at the bar chatting with its owner and his gf, along with some folks that were trailering a Harley. Turns out our Ninja riding friend and his gf had just finished third shift at a factory down in York PA, hopped on the Ninja and already blasted 180 miles this morning to make it to some kind of poker run up north in Cloudersport.

[gtem]

Bellies full but tanks working their way to “reserve” we kept riding on beautiful twisty roads through the Northern PA forests up to Galeton to fill up the bikes and to grab some beer for camp. A mile out of Galeton I started to feel my GS buck a bit, 135 miles on the odometer as I recall… seemed a bit soon for reserve but that’s certainly what I hoped it was. Of course I didn’t remember which way reserve was on the petcock so I flagged my brother down and we pulled over. Flipped to reserve and cranked a bit… nothing. In hindsight it was probably just the vacuum petcock operating as intended and hadn’t stayed open long enough to fill the bowls, but I flipped it to “prime” and immediately saw my yellow Tygon fuel line fill full. A total non-event, but when riding a bike on its first real ride since getting it back on the road and not knowing fuel economy/range/capacity yet, whether there was some junk in the tank that plugged the petcock up, etc. it’s certainly a bit unnerving. The gas station in Galeton greeted us with its beer cave, normally stocked full of the aforementioned Straub. Just our luck: no six packs, but 15 packs… 15 pack it is. Jammed in on the bike and away we went for more awesome twisty roads. We stopped by Germania for some ice, then routed onto gravel for a few miles to avoid a road closure. No problem, just a bit dusty for me riding second, and I was doing my best to avoid any potholes/bumps so as not to shake up our precious cargo.

[gtem]

At around 3pm we made it to camp at our already established site at the Kettle Creek State Park, in the never-used equestrian camp. It’s nicer and more private than the two established campgrounds in the park, the only downside is a lack of clean drinking water. It turned out we had a few casualties in the Straub ranks: two cans that were riding against the luggage rack had emptied their contents on the back of the GS. 13 is still more than plenty (IMO!) for two weary travelers so we kicked back with our brews, made a fire (we were literally tripping over nice dry firewood all around the campsite), and eventually I threw together a nice little stew for dinner. I’ll make a note too, I’m not one to indulge in quite so many brews in one evening, and I can’t explain why/how, but both my brother and I noticed just how not-buzzed we were at the end of it all. Was it the fresh air? The hearty stew? Straub putting less than the 4.1% advertised? No idea. But we were in fine functioning sober form for what came next.



We wrapped things up with sundown a little past 9pm. I had just gotten into the tent when I see a white Dodge Dakota roll up to the site, and quickly realize it’s a park ranger. Well, turns out you’re not supposed to just set up camp in the equestrian camp, it’s by reservation only “booked months in advance” (the place looks abandoned). We offer to move our tent the 50 yards up the dirt road onto private property so we’re technically in the clear with this stickler. No, John the ranger says that he’d have to call the state police at that point and report us for trespassing. “That’s like me telling you it’s okay to shoot heroin within my sight as long as it’s out of my jurisdiction.” Yes, John, that’s EXACTLY what it’s like, shooting heroin lol. Not wanting any trouble with a guy with a gun and a chip on his shoulder, we packed our things in the dark and rode the forest access road up the mountain to state forest lands. We found a flat cleared area and quickly pitch the tent, making sure that we and the bikes were out of direct sight of the road just in case we were once again in the wrong spot.

[Grimly]

We wrapped things up with sundown a little past 9pm. I had just gotten into the tent when I see a white Dodge Dakota roll up to the site, and quickly realize it’s a park ranger. Well, turns out you’re not supposed to just set up camp in the equestrian camp, it’s by reservation only “booked months in advance” (the place looks abandoned). We offer to move our tent the 50 yards up the dirt road onto private property so we’re technically in the clear with this stickler. No, John the ranger says that he’d have to call the state police at that point and report us for trespassing. “That’s like me telling you it’s okay to shoot heroin within my sight as long as it’s out of my jurisdiction.” Yes, John, that’s EXACTLY what it’s like, shooting heroin lol. Not wanting any trouble with a guy with a gun and a chip on his shoulder, we packed our things in the dark and rode the forest access road up the mountain to state forest lands. We found a flat cleared area and quickly pitch the tent, making sure that we and the bikes were out of direct sight of the road just in case we were once again in the wrong spot.

One thing the world will never be short of, is authoritarian ass hats.

[wyly]

One thing the world will never be short of, is authoritarian ass hats.

Definitely power tripping, as there was no else there and no one would be arriving at that late hour, the ranger could've told him it's okay to camp for the night but be gone by morning.

It was mistake telling the ranger where they were going next, unlikely police would be out patrolling the woods after 9pm.

[gtem]

Definitely power tripping, as there was no else there and no one would be arriving at that late hour, the ranger could've told him it's okay to camp for the night but be gone by morning.

It was mistake telling the ranger where they were going next, unlikely police would be out patrolling the woods after 9pm.

The spot we offered to move to was within easy eye-sight of where we already were (would be easy to just carry the tent over), just a bit up the gravel road, the park property officially ends and private property begins (the person had their trailer set up for the summer and the gas company has some sort of pipeline access point there). The thought was that as long as we were off "his" park property that that would be good enough, but it wasn't to be. Oh well, we ended up finding some really primo free camp sites on state forest land that we will use next time.