new member with abused GS750

[Pat80FLH]

Good day to all. A series of wrinkles in the fabric of the universe landed this gem in my garage, a 1977 Suzuki GS750 with 7700 miles. The original owner is my Reiki instructor, a pretty spry 75 year young lady. She visited the house, noticed the bike project in the living room and told me her tale of woe, how she brought a running motorcycle to "a guy", to get the carbs cleaned. He promptly completely disassembled the carbs and pushed the bike outside where it sat for 4 years. Like a fool, I offered to help.

The bike arrived on a trailer(on its side), tank seat and carbs off. A cardboard box full of carb pieces. It looks bad, oxidized everywhere, wheels spokes, fork tubes badly rusted, lots of surface rust on frame and corroded aluminum and chrome everywhere.

I put the carbs together, a miracle I found all the pieces. Cleaned points and reset, sourced a 1-4 coil, the old one had the plug boots cut off. Had juice to the points but very weak spark, running a jumper directly to coils helped that. I heard it run yesterday, running on jumper cables from the Cali, and a remote half of Harley fuel tank. It is hitting all 4 cylinders, no terrible noises, oil light goes out. After fogging the cylinders with a little oil I've got 150 psi across the board. So I'm declaring the motor ok.

Any weak spots I should look for before I accept what I know is coming. I located a used front end and wheels on ebay, figure 500 of used parts,13-1400 worth of tires, tubes, wheel bearings, fork seals, swing arm bearings, brake hoses, master and caliper rebuild kits, brake pads cables, but I hesitate to sell her this if these bikes have soft tranny gears or something. It is in no shape to be road tested. I plan to tell her I suggest pulling it down to bare frame and have her get it painted or powdered. I would then reassemble, adjust valves, rebuild carbs for real, replace swing arm bearings, rear wheel and tire, sprocket chain, put new seals on used front end, new tire and tube, overhaul all brakes. Final assembly and tune. I'll leave any prettying and painting to her.

What would you charge a friend for a job like that. I'm estimating 25-30 man hours. Obviously shop rates would void this job. I haven't been able to talk her into scrapping this thing, besides she is emotionally attached. I am considering charging her a flat 500, which I think is a gift. Another question, good source for parts?

I have been unsuccessful in attaching a picture, but it is pretty ugly in its present condition.

[roeme]

The GS engines are quite sturdy, and the bikes themselves to my knowledge have only two known weak points: One, the charging system, and two, there are some shaft-driven runs that have a weak final drive.
But you'll get some more info as soon as some more knowledgeable members chime in.

With merely 7700 miles, I don't think you need to replace the swing arm bearings, unless you know they're f$cked?

Since I'm just a hobbyist when it comes to wrenching on bikes; I can't judge if your estimate of 25-30 hours is realistic; and I think pictures are needed for that (you can use imgur, flickr, google images to name a few - our forum itself is only useable for smaller pictures). Also, as to what is appropriate to charge; that's dependent on your location. Nonetheless, making it road-worthy sans cosmetics for 500 bucks seems like generous deal, reserved for good friends.

[allojohn]

Yep, that bike is bullet proof except for the regulator and rectifier. Replace with a single unit - SH775. Also, bypass the third stator wire connected through the headlamp switch and connect all three to the SH775.
There is a market for the SH775 so be careful, lots of cheap fakes out there... There's a post somewhere about how not to get caught out, I'll try to find it.....

[Phred]

I hope that you are getting your Reiki instructor involved in the rebuild. Be sure to get her involved in the Forum conversation and check out Basscliff's website for some excellent tutorials on getting these bikes in top notch shape. This forum is all about wrenching on your own machine as the mechanics that used to work on these bikes are being replaced by younger ones who have never worked on carbs as everything is now becoming computerized. I studied this forum for a long time before I joined and was able to completely disassemble and re assemble my bike. I can certainly appreciate it a lot more now than i did when I first bought it some 35 years ago.

[Pat80FLH]

I found a parts bike locally, GS550 that loses power on hills, 13k miles, in much better shape cosmetically. Might see how she feels about buying and repairing it. It looks identical to her bike. Is the frame and front end the same?

[Pat80FLH]

Parts bike was a bust, 1000 or best offer turned into 1000 firm, instruments hanging off, ran very poor , cosmetics were decent but......ordered used front end and rear wheel from ebay, under 240 for both shipped(different vendors). Rear wheel looks to have rotor and sprocket, might just have to fit a new universal fender, I don't think you could grind enough rust away to even paint over. I am meeting with oner Weds, going to recommend we strip to frame and have it blasted and coated. Assemble as needed. I'd like to see her throw a leg over it too, I think a little shorter shock is in order and drop the trees maybe a little.