GS750 into Sportster style - Possible?

[Guest]

Hello all. This is my first post here and I'm completely new to motorcycles so please forgive my ignorance. I decided I wanted an inexpensive bike this spring and ended up with a 78 GS750E. It was in near perfect cosmetic condition when I got it.

I hate the giant seat and tail in the stock configuration and want to go with a look that's a little more custom. My first thought was to buy a generic bobtail fender and try to make it look like a sportster or something similar. After looking closely, I'm finding that the frame geometry doesn't work well with that look unless you drop the rear end WAY down. The only good looking bobber/cruiser GS bikes that I've seen are hard tails and I definitely don't want to get rid of the shocks. Now I'm leaning toward a brat style seat since I don't like the hump-back cafe look. The brats look ok, but the seats look extremely uncomfortable. I would really like to make or buy a seat/rear fender combo that looks good and provides a comfortable ride. I really like the bobtail sportster look, but I'm not sure if it can be accomplished with my bike. Overall, I'm trying to make a bike that will look good all blacked out and ride comfortably if I want to go 100-200 miles.

The point:

Has anybody out there achieved a good Sportster/Bobber/Cruiser look with their GS bike WITHOUT going to a hard tail? If so, what does it look like and how did you do it?

Thanks in advance.

[hjfisk]

Going to be pretty hard to make an inline 4 look like a V twin. Two totally different animals.

[GreaseMonkey]

Yeah, I realize that. If I had known more about bikes before I purchased one, I probably would have gone with a v-twin to start with since I was looking for more of a cruiser look. That said, I really like how this bike rides and I like how smooth the engine feels at highway speeds compared to a Vtwin. I love my bike, I really just need some options for seat/rear fender cosmetics. Thanks for the input.

[gearheadE30]

It kinda sounds like you're looking for something like a GS750L. Honestly, especially considering that you describe the bike as being in excellent cosmetic condition, I would put it up for sale or for trade for something that is already more the style that you're looking for. A GS is never going to be as good a cruiser-style bike as a bike that was designed for it, and if you do start tearing into that bike and customizing it, it will probably never be worth as much as it is now. Modified vehicles very rarely are worth as much as their stock counterparts in good shape. I know it's probably not the advice that you were looking for, but that's what I'd do.

[GreaseMonkey]

That's a good point, but I'm not really looking to sell it. I've always wanted a bike and got this one cheap one craigslist with the intention of learning to ride and learning to work on it. I don't want to turn the bike into a low-riding cruiser. I'm really enjoying it as a standard. I love the bike overall, I just keep staring at that HUGE seat and wanting it to go away. Just curious about what others have done really.

[tkent02]

Sit on the front of the seat for carving up a canyon road for a while, then sit on the back for a high speed blast. Different seating positions for different rides. There is a reason they were made long, it is very useful. If you want a bobber/sportster/chopper buy one, if you want a really good motorcycle to learn to ride on, you already have it.

[MAJikMARCer]

If this is your first bike and you haven't had it long, give it some time before you try to mod it. I was convinced that I wanted to cafe mine when I got it, but funds just weren't there. Now I wouldn't dream of changing the looks that dramatically. These bikes have a charm that you can't get else where.

My advice, learn on this bike this season. By the end of it, if you still want the Sportster look find that bike. Just like with women, looks are important, but the ones you think look the best may not be a good fit once you are on them (that sounds terrible huh?).

I'd ride this one and shop around. Sit on a LOT of bikes until you find one that feels right and has what you want/need.

Of course we here on GSR are always going to be have a bias towards saving the bikes original look, especially if it's in good shape. Too many of these bikes get chopped up into garbage then tossed up on Craigslist. $600 bikes being sold as $3000 "custom" bikes that need another $3000 worth of work to make them safe and reliable bikes again.

[tkent02]

$600 bikes being sold as $3000 "custom" bikes that need another $3000 worth of work to make them safe and reliable bikes again.

And a new frame, and some fenders, and a lot of routine maintenance that they didn't get from the kid with the hacksaw.
We see them weekly.

[limeex2]

I agree with most of the opinions. Leave it alone. If you want a bobber style, your starting with the wrong bike. Get on craigslist, wait for a 80's style metric cruiser. many available and basement prices. Honda vt600's,700's,750's look and sound great when "bobbed". Seen'em, heard 'em. Enjoy your new ride.

[nejeff]

You have a lot of ideas for someone new to motorcycling and who doesn't yet know how to ride. When my son first started to ride he'd talk about different styles, ect and was too worried about appearances or being cool. Told him to knock off the crap and just learn to ride first. Now he's "graduated" to a GS850G that he is very happy with and he can operate correctly & safely.

It's not all about your personal style, preference or whatever. Learn to walk before you run, take your time. Damn, why is everybody in such a hurry these days!

[earlfor]

Sell the GS and get a V twin. Why get a cat and dress it up to look like the dog you really wanted?

[Chuck78]

Unless it's just casual highway and city cruising you're after, I think you'll find that a GS750 (especially with some good Shinko 230 tires, overhauled brakes & maybe s.s. lines, and stiffer fork springs) is going to be a much more pleasing and enjoyable ride if you enjoy taking the backroads and riding twisty curvy routes. For me, that's most of what having a motorcycle is all about.

I think if you just buy some GS750 non-oem replacement upholstery on ebay and chop up your seat, re-shape the foam with an angle grinder, and maybe do a little metalwork to the pan to shorten the back half of the seat (delete maybe half of the passenger area?), as well as get the chrome rear section of a GS850 fender and matching taillight, ditch the trunk on your bike, you will be much more happy with the look without chopping the frame or doing much else.

Personally, the flat early GS seats are just good enough, but I will be reshaping mine and ditching the trunk at some point. I won't be shortening it, as I sometimes do slide way back and use the passenger footpegs when I want to get low on the highway. The "King/Queen" style seats with the larger humps raised in the back look hideous to me, and belong on a grandpa cruiser like a Goldwing or fully loaded HD cruiser. These bikes are sporty, so the taller cruiser bars and big seats don't fit in with my image of a GS a a sporty classic looking bike.

you can get shorter shocks for the rear, but it will make the steering a little slower, and you won't want to lean the thing at extreme angles when burning through hard corners, as you may scrape your exhaust on the side, which can in hard hits cause you to wreck. A 120/90/18 tire in the rear will raise the back up a little to compensate for a slightly shorter shock, and the rear end will still look tucked. you can also lower the fender a bit.

[Chuck78]

Here's my wife's bike with a 3.00x16" Harley p.o.s. (weak, thin) steel rear rim laced into a GS drum hub, 130/90-16 Shinko tire, lower rear shocks from MikesXS (1.5" lower than stock 550 shocks?), some unknown seat that only says "August 1974" (Yamaha maybe?), fender shortened front to rear and lowered in the frame slightly to clear the seat pan. Still the stock rear fender, taillight is missing in photo and license plate still in stock location.

We did the seat swap and trunk delete for cosmetic desires of hers, but lowered the bike (front and rear) ONLY because she is only 5'4" with shorter legs, couldn't touch the ground stock even with original 36 year old sagging springs.



These bikes in good maintenance form and slightly modified will ride as good or better than a sportster. and my 77 GS750 with a few mods even before I properly jetted the carbs is DEFINITELY faster than my buddy's late model Harley XL1200C Sportster. His almost keeps up 0-60, but mine is faster in the long haul by A LOT.

[GreaseMonkey]

I like it! That's basically what I'm looking for, just a way to get rid of the duck tale in back and maybe slim down the seat to make the bike look a little meaner. You guys have convinced me that the rear fender and cruiser look just isn't going to work with this bike.

Thanks to everyone for the input. You guys are probably right about learning to ride it and figuring out what I really want out of a bike before I start changing things. Just to be clear, I'm not looking to chop up the frame(except maybe a bit just behind the shock mounts to shorten it up) or do anything to butcher the bike or change the frame geometry. I'm a very competent auto mechanic so I know the difference between a hack job and quality modification work. I've put shorter(11") shocks on it, and I like both the cosmetic change and the feel of the increased caster. It also made it so I can reach the ground better. I've also put some new handlebars on it. Other than that, I've just been fixing up the old girl and trying to make her reliable. I've been consistently impressed with the common sense engineering of this bike and the simplicity of the systems. This is why I love Japanese engineering. I fully intend to ride this bike for a year or so and then go pick out something new(or newer) for long distance riding. I don't know if I'll end up with a cruiser or a touring bike or what. I wont know which I prefer until I try them. In the mean time, I'm just trying to make this thing look a LITTLE BIT more mean and a little less 1970's Japanese. Is that so bad?

Anyway, I appreciate you guys taking the time to share some knowledge. I'd love to see some more pics of different seat styles.

[GreaseMonkey]

THIS is what I was wondering about. Found it on page 26ish of the "Post your custom GS" thread. Looks like the frame is stock from what I can tell, except for the ass end. It was posted by Mike_H who was a guest. Wish I could find more info about exactly what he did.