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Just wanted to say hello again. I was pretty active on the Forum circa 2009-10 or so. I've been looking around, and I see some familiar faces and a lot of new ones. Back then I was planning a cross country trip from NJ to Cali and back on my '78 GS750. Wanted to get her in tip top shape for the trip, and got a lot of great advice and help on here (and some parts in great shape too).
I took the trip (9000 miles over the course of 3 months...I took a VERY roundabout route) and was off the grid the entire time, so I didn't post on here at all. I had an amazing time, and saw some beautiful things. It wasn't my first cross country trip (not by far), but it was my first one on a bike. I kept to back country and desert roads, ate at mom and pop restaurants, and slept in a tent or crashed with friends and the occasional hotel/motel along the way. Somewhere around Utah on the way out, I developed a small trickle from the head gasket. Replaced a rear tire in Denver on the way back, as Kansas and MO on the way out left me with one hell of a flat spot. By the time I hit Ohio on the way back, my engine was p*ssing oil to the point where I always wore my rain pants and got rid of some gear so I could carry enough oil in my saddlebags to keep her full. There were a few points though where I was in the boonies and went through oil and couldn't resupply, and the level got dangerously low. I think I fried my stator, among other things. Managed to limp her home to Jersey, but she was in sad shape. I parked the bike in my sister's garage and haven't touched it since. A sad, sad state of affairs.
Finally got sick of "I really need to get my bike back up and running" so now it's "I'm gonna fix my bike." Luckily it was so covered in oil, that there was no rust from sitting...
I already ripped the carbs off, gave 'em a nice soak in Berrymans and rebuilt with my fresh set of o-rings from cycleorings.com. I'm gonna continue down the list of basic maintenance items, so that I can begin to diagnose how bad the damage actually is. This will more than likely include a complete top end rebuild among other things. I'll be sure to post pics as I go, and probably ask a lot of questions on here... I'll also dig out pics from my cross country run and post those. Maybe in this thread, maybe in a separate one.
On a side note... Tkent, if you're reading this I still have your front fender. Thank you for all your help, and sorry I fell off the map after the fact.
More to follow.
I took the trip (9000 miles over the course of 3 months...I took a VERY roundabout route) and was off the grid the entire time, so I didn't post on here at all. I had an amazing time, and saw some beautiful things. It wasn't my first cross country trip (not by far), but it was my first one on a bike. I kept to back country and desert roads, ate at mom and pop restaurants, and slept in a tent or crashed with friends and the occasional hotel/motel along the way. Somewhere around Utah on the way out, I developed a small trickle from the head gasket. Replaced a rear tire in Denver on the way back, as Kansas and MO on the way out left me with one hell of a flat spot. By the time I hit Ohio on the way back, my engine was p*ssing oil to the point where I always wore my rain pants and got rid of some gear so I could carry enough oil in my saddlebags to keep her full. There were a few points though where I was in the boonies and went through oil and couldn't resupply, and the level got dangerously low. I think I fried my stator, among other things. Managed to limp her home to Jersey, but she was in sad shape. I parked the bike in my sister's garage and haven't touched it since. A sad, sad state of affairs.
Finally got sick of "I really need to get my bike back up and running" so now it's "I'm gonna fix my bike." Luckily it was so covered in oil, that there was no rust from sitting...
I already ripped the carbs off, gave 'em a nice soak in Berrymans and rebuilt with my fresh set of o-rings from cycleorings.com. I'm gonna continue down the list of basic maintenance items, so that I can begin to diagnose how bad the damage actually is. This will more than likely include a complete top end rebuild among other things. I'll be sure to post pics as I go, and probably ask a lot of questions on here... I'll also dig out pics from my cross country run and post those. Maybe in this thread, maybe in a separate one.On a side note... Tkent, if you're reading this I still have your front fender. Thank you for all your help, and sorry I fell off the map after the fact.
More to follow.
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