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Hello all -
First I want to say _thank you_ to everyone and to the host/owner/creator of this site. It's been invaluable to me (and yes, I'll donate too
in my progress rebuilding a my GS750E.
14850269904_55215e849d_k.jpg
About me:
Software Developer, Builder, Breaker, Fixer, I love to work on things and fix them - from old Gottlieb System 1 pinball machines to Ghostscript bugs. I'm the dad of two daughters, and I'm finally starting to _actually_ enjoy my GS750E.
The bike:
I bought it from my dad after it sat in his barn for 5+(?) years, and he bought it from the original owner who parked it and let it set for about a decade. I think he was older and dropped it once (not an at speed drop, I think a "fall over") and then just let it sit.
Over the last few years I've...
1. Rebuilt the carbs. Still ran rough and waaaay to rich, debated about the needle position but lost the battle with the person trying to help me work on them.
2. Ran with the headlights off a lot. Bought a new stator and rectifier from ElectroSport.
3. Twiddled with the carb pilot screws trying to make things better, ran with the choke on a lot to balance it out the air mixture, still ran like a dog, kept ignoring number 1 above.
4. a few months ago I was stuck on a two hour conference call so I decided to pop the take up, and stop ignoring what I though back at 1 above. Replaced the air filter (not with pods, just a K&N drop/screw in replacement with orig air box), dropped the jet needle another (to the last) notch, and after the call I took it out on a test drive. It was still sluggish and then it started chuffing a little, I'd thought it wasn't really firing (correctly) on all four cylinders, and when I gave the throttle more love to investigate the chuffing
-- WOOSH --
I nearly slid off the seat when everything stopped being stubborn and took off. It felt (an exaggeration in my mind, I imagine, but still) like the 2001 Yamaha R6 I used to own. My heart rate went up a bit and started to really explore the bike, now it was getting fun.
5. Immediately decided it was time to replace the rear pads that were squeaking and bleed the brakes.
6. this weekend, I decided to get off my a** and change the stator, was reminded what terrible Phillips head screws seized in an aluminum block were like. After munging 3 heads (properly using an impact driver), and resigning myself to using a cold chisel to drive them loose, I got it changed (some wiring threading issues due to some previous owner/mechanic stuffing some of the other wires in the wrong channel, all into one), changed the stator, got my collection of M6-1.0 35mm, 40mm, and 45mm socket head cap machine screws, put everything back together, (put a nice charge back on the battery while I was at it), and now I've noticed it running decidedly better with plenty of juice to go around.
I'm currently running lights all the time trying to see if the stator (I'm sure it will) stays up and even push button starting it a lot just to use up juice. I prefer to kick start it because I generally get it running on one kick, but this is all about taxing the electrics for me at this point.
What's left:
Front forks: I notice they aren't dampened enough and some fluid has been coming out of (I think) the top of the telescoping part of the suspension, not sure how much fun those will be to take off/fix or if it's worthwhile, still need to research this - but obviously I need to deal with it.
New tires (or tyres)
I may save and replace the seat, it's original and doesn't have a tear in it, but I see it's trying to come apart in a two inch section up top. Anyone still reading and have any experience with the MotorcycleSeatsDirect [dot] com people? I'm assuming these are shipped from SE Asia/China, and that's always fun when things don't work out.
This winter I'm going to get the tank (and maybe the tail if I keep the existing seat config and just get a cover to protect it) dents pulled (only a few) sand it down and paint it with at least a nod to the original design. I'll probably replace the valve cover gasket just to get in and do it, and I'm sure more and more as I move along.
First I want to say _thank you_ to everyone and to the host/owner/creator of this site. It's been invaluable to me (and yes, I'll donate too
in my progress rebuilding a my GS750E.14850269904_55215e849d_k.jpg
About me:
Software Developer, Builder, Breaker, Fixer, I love to work on things and fix them - from old Gottlieb System 1 pinball machines to Ghostscript bugs. I'm the dad of two daughters, and I'm finally starting to _actually_ enjoy my GS750E.
The bike:
I bought it from my dad after it sat in his barn for 5+(?) years, and he bought it from the original owner who parked it and let it set for about a decade. I think he was older and dropped it once (not an at speed drop, I think a "fall over") and then just let it sit.
Over the last few years I've...
1. Rebuilt the carbs. Still ran rough and waaaay to rich, debated about the needle position but lost the battle with the person trying to help me work on them.
2. Ran with the headlights off a lot. Bought a new stator and rectifier from ElectroSport.
3. Twiddled with the carb pilot screws trying to make things better, ran with the choke on a lot to balance it out the air mixture, still ran like a dog, kept ignoring number 1 above.
4. a few months ago I was stuck on a two hour conference call so I decided to pop the take up, and stop ignoring what I though back at 1 above. Replaced the air filter (not with pods, just a K&N drop/screw in replacement with orig air box), dropped the jet needle another (to the last) notch, and after the call I took it out on a test drive. It was still sluggish and then it started chuffing a little, I'd thought it wasn't really firing (correctly) on all four cylinders, and when I gave the throttle more love to investigate the chuffing
-- WOOSH --
I nearly slid off the seat when everything stopped being stubborn and took off. It felt (an exaggeration in my mind, I imagine, but still) like the 2001 Yamaha R6 I used to own. My heart rate went up a bit and started to really explore the bike, now it was getting fun.
5. Immediately decided it was time to replace the rear pads that were squeaking and bleed the brakes.
6. this weekend, I decided to get off my a** and change the stator, was reminded what terrible Phillips head screws seized in an aluminum block were like. After munging 3 heads (properly using an impact driver), and resigning myself to using a cold chisel to drive them loose, I got it changed (some wiring threading issues due to some previous owner/mechanic stuffing some of the other wires in the wrong channel, all into one), changed the stator, got my collection of M6-1.0 35mm, 40mm, and 45mm socket head cap machine screws, put everything back together, (put a nice charge back on the battery while I was at it), and now I've noticed it running decidedly better with plenty of juice to go around.
I'm currently running lights all the time trying to see if the stator (I'm sure it will) stays up and even push button starting it a lot just to use up juice. I prefer to kick start it because I generally get it running on one kick, but this is all about taxing the electrics for me at this point.
What's left:
Front forks: I notice they aren't dampened enough and some fluid has been coming out of (I think) the top of the telescoping part of the suspension, not sure how much fun those will be to take off/fix or if it's worthwhile, still need to research this - but obviously I need to deal with it.
New tires (or tyres)
I may save and replace the seat, it's original and doesn't have a tear in it, but I see it's trying to come apart in a two inch section up top. Anyone still reading and have any experience with the MotorcycleSeatsDirect [dot] com people? I'm assuming these are shipped from SE Asia/China, and that's always fun when things don't work out.
This winter I'm going to get the tank (and maybe the tail if I keep the existing seat config and just get a cover to protect it) dents pulled (only a few) sand it down and paint it with at least a nod to the original design. I'll probably replace the valve cover gasket just to get in and do it, and I'm sure more and more as I move along.
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