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I recently found a very special bike, to me. My dads 77 GS750. He bought the bike new when I was 6 or 7 and I have great memories of him taking me riding on what I was sure was the fastest motorcycle in the world! He sold it a few years later and never bought another motorcycle.
I had been looking for a CB 750 or similar 70s Japanese bike for a scrambler project. I’d been looking on eBay and Craig’s list for a few weeks and talking to various people I know, just looking for the right bike at the right price.
I happened to be talking to one of my dads old friends about bikes and he mentioned that the guy my dad sold the bike to still had it and that it had been just sitting in his garage for years. Immediately I had visions of restoring the old girl and presenting it as a gift to the old man.
Expecting the worst I met up with the guy to check it out. It had been stored in his garage and was last tagged in 1988. He said that he had been planning to get it running again but didn’t have the money or mechanical knowledge to fix it back up. He had drained the carbs and fogged the cylinders, drained the fuel tank and fogged it with oil as well. He said that he would turn the engine over with the kick starter every now and then to keep the rings and valves from sticking. Of course the tires were rotten and the seat cover is brittle and it was covered with dust, but appeared to be in surprisingly good condition.
Best of all he was willing to sell it to me at a very reasonable price because of my family connection to the bike and because I assured him that I intended to restore it rather than mod it.
After getting it home and looking deeper I realized that the brake system is pretty much toast. The master cylinders were frozen up with dried up brake fluid. The brake hoses are completely clogged and the calipers were full of brown sludge.
I hooked it it to a battery and was pleased to find that everything electrical was working. Starter, lights gauges, and I had fire on all four cylinders. A look with the bore scope showed the cylinder walls were spotless thanks to being oiled properly. After a quick carb clean and and a fresh set of spark plugs she fired right up. Smoked for a few minutes and blew a crap load of rust out of the pipes. But idled smoothly.
So far I’ve replaced the tires, tubes and wheel bearings. Polished the chrome and given it a thorough cleaning. There are a few chips in the paint and a couple of small dents in the tank. The bright work is in very good condition with a just few very small pits in the front fender and exhaust pipes. And there are some gouges in the bottom of the stator cover where my dad laid it down on a dirt road.
I disassembled the calipers and master cylinders and i believe that they can be rebuilt. I’m now waiting on brake parts. They are supposed to arrive this week and hopefully I’ll be able to take it for a shakedown ride by next weekend.
I had been looking for a CB 750 or similar 70s Japanese bike for a scrambler project. I’d been looking on eBay and Craig’s list for a few weeks and talking to various people I know, just looking for the right bike at the right price.
I happened to be talking to one of my dads old friends about bikes and he mentioned that the guy my dad sold the bike to still had it and that it had been just sitting in his garage for years. Immediately I had visions of restoring the old girl and presenting it as a gift to the old man.
Expecting the worst I met up with the guy to check it out. It had been stored in his garage and was last tagged in 1988. He said that he had been planning to get it running again but didn’t have the money or mechanical knowledge to fix it back up. He had drained the carbs and fogged the cylinders, drained the fuel tank and fogged it with oil as well. He said that he would turn the engine over with the kick starter every now and then to keep the rings and valves from sticking. Of course the tires were rotten and the seat cover is brittle and it was covered with dust, but appeared to be in surprisingly good condition.
Best of all he was willing to sell it to me at a very reasonable price because of my family connection to the bike and because I assured him that I intended to restore it rather than mod it.
After getting it home and looking deeper I realized that the brake system is pretty much toast. The master cylinders were frozen up with dried up brake fluid. The brake hoses are completely clogged and the calipers were full of brown sludge.
I hooked it it to a battery and was pleased to find that everything electrical was working. Starter, lights gauges, and I had fire on all four cylinders. A look with the bore scope showed the cylinder walls were spotless thanks to being oiled properly. After a quick carb clean and and a fresh set of spark plugs she fired right up. Smoked for a few minutes and blew a crap load of rust out of the pipes. But idled smoothly.
So far I’ve replaced the tires, tubes and wheel bearings. Polished the chrome and given it a thorough cleaning. There are a few chips in the paint and a couple of small dents in the tank. The bright work is in very good condition with a just few very small pits in the front fender and exhaust pipes. And there are some gouges in the bottom of the stator cover where my dad laid it down on a dirt road.
I disassembled the calipers and master cylinders and i believe that they can be rebuilt. I’m now waiting on brake parts. They are supposed to arrive this week and hopefully I’ll be able to take it for a shakedown ride by next weekend.
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