Picking up 1980 GS750 tomorrow. Have basic fluids questions.

[Nessism]

Well, even with the stress of escorting my wife to the hospital for her chemo therapy, I've been able to get some important things done on the bike this week.

I was able to resuscitate the lead/acid battery enough so as to ascertain that my charging system is functioning properly --- it metered out from a sitting 12.33 volts up to 12.70 just below 3500 RPM with a slow roll of the throttle.

I made a cork cap button for the Lights On/Off switch to give it my own individual touch.
While I have NO INTENTION WHATSOEVER of running the bike with the lights off, that is the way I will be starting it.
The nanosecond it will take to do this isn't sufficient to harm the stator or regulator/rectifier.

I purchased a replacement Deka ETX15L gel battery, washable/reusable K&N SU-1250 canister air filter & a K&N #133 oil filter.
K&N is all that I've ever used in all of my vehicles, including a 1982 COrvette that I used in autocross racing.
They make quality products.

I'm going to go with Valvoline conventional 10W-40 motorcycle oil.It goes for $4.00 & change
at Walmart and looks to be good stuff.

On ebay. Search Polaris RZR or Ranger regulator. Tons for sale. Just be sure to message the seller and confirm the unit you are considering has "SH775" imprinted on the top edge. These Shindengen units are robust so purchasing used is no worry. There are various harness options including a nice Triumph pigtail available. A simple search will bring up the part number.

Discussions about oil continue to amaze. 15W-40 oil is the exact same viscosity as 10W-40 when the engine is up to temperature. The difference being when the engine is near 0 degrees, and in that instance the 15W oil is a smig thicker than 10W oil. Living in Florida negates that issue completely though. Regardless, nothing wrong with Valvoline motorcycle oil.

BTW, if you are concern about oil in your bike you better perform the oil relief valve spring shimming mod. The 2nd gen. 750 engine is know to have a bad oiling system and the factory fix was to add a .060" shim to increase oil pressure. There is info about this mod in the archives so you may want to search to learn more.

 

[Steve]

Nope, can't find a single Shindengen SH775 on eBay.

I can't either. :-\\\

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-POLARI...ash=item46626cddb9:g:DuUAAOSwrhBZA7Ke&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-Reg...ash=item28327f2607:g:pHwAAOSwvihZALpt&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-Ran...ash=item44027a582b:g:OqwAAOSw42dZAqbp&vxp=mtr

Take a look at the ones above, then open this link, sort by price, scroll down to the ones for $38.99. Look for the ones for Ranger and RZR that look like the ones above, any of them will work. Yes, they are SH775 regulators, they also have Polaris part number 4012941.
http://stores.ebay.com/PowerSportsN...&_sop=15&_fsub=290962319&_sc=1&_sid=134661409

Yeah, if you do a search for "Shindengen SH775" you probably won't find any, you just have to know some alternate search terms.

.

 

[Guest]

Huh?? I thought the consensus on this site was in favor of the Rotella 15w40 diesel oil. There are a lot of us using it with no regrets.

consensus has nothing to do with it, it's not a presidential election

the reasoning behind rotella, (not that there is anytyhing wrong with it, other than more clutch drag when cold) is cost....it's cheap.
its the 15w40, it's the wrong vi
10w40 is the viscosity recommended, and in my limited experience it works better in the clutch / transmission. but it cost more.....too bad, don't get cheap on me now

these motors will survive no matter what you dump in the crankcase...pretty much...any non-synthetic xxW40 will do as far as keeping the engine alive for a lifetime.
the mileage we put on them hardly requires even changing it at all, the motor still survives, so whether you have "no regrets" is practically meaningless.

 

[82tiburon]

consensus has nothing to do with it, it's not a presidential election

the reasoning behind rotella, (not that there is anytyhing wrong with it, other than more clutch drag when cold) is cost....it's cheap.
its the 15w40, it's the wrong vi
10w40 is the viscosity recommended, and in my limited experience it works better in the clutch / transmission. but it cost more.....too bad, don't get cheap on me now

these motors will survive no matter what you dump in the crankcase...pretty much...any non-synthetic xxW40 will do as far as keeping the engine alive for a lifetime.
the mileage we put on them hardly requires even changing it at all, the motor still survives, so whether you have "no regrets" is practically meaningless.

I couldn't agree more --- tractor oil belongs in a tractor, not in my motorcycle's crankcase.

A friend of mine who works on boats, motorcycles & cars was gobsmacked when I mentioned the use of Rotella.
He's of the same mind as yourself in that the only reason to use it is to save $$$...which you'll be laying out lots of in the long run.

Motor oil is basically motor oil --- for example, Harley doesn't pump theirs out of derricks on Harley oil fields, does it? --- but you should at least be using something engineered for your TYPE of engine.
Last time I looked, I don't own a Massey-Ferguson or John Deere.

 

[Guest]

I can't either. :-\\\

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-POLARI...ash=item46626cddb9:g:DuUAAOSwrhBZA7Ke&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-Reg...ash=item28327f2607:g:pHwAAOSwvihZALpt&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-Ran...ash=item44027a582b:g:OqwAAOSw42dZAqbp&vxp=mtr

Take a look at the ones above, then open this link, sort by price, scroll down to the ones for $38.99. Look for the ones for Ranger and RZR that look like the ones above, any of them will work. Yes, they are SH775 regulators, they also have Polaris part number 4012941.
http://stores.ebay.com/PowerSportsN...&_sop=15&_fsub=290962319&_sc=1&_sid=134661409

Yeah, if you do a search for "Shindengen SH775" you probably won't find any, you just have to know some alternate search terms.

.

I ordered one from ebay 2 weeks ago. It came from Canada and the seller listed it as coming off of a Cam-Am Renegade. Maybe another search possibility?

 

[Nessism]

I couldn't agree more --- tractor oil belongs in a tractor, not in my motorcycle's crankcase.

A friend of mine who works on boats, motorcycles & cars was gobsmacked when I mentioned the use of Rotella.
He's of the same mind as yourself in that the only reason to use it is to save $$$...which you'll be laying out lots of in the long run.

Motor oil is basically motor oil --- for example, Harley doesn't pump theirs out of derricks on Harley oil fields, does it? --- but you should at least be using something engineered for your TYPE of engine.
Last time I looked, I don't own a Massey-Ferguson or John Deere.

If you and derwood ever decide to clue-in about motor oil the Bob Is The Oil Guy forum is a good place to do it. https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

Sign up and do some reading, and you will learn that there is no better place on the net to learn about oil. You will also learn that there are tons of guys there that use Rotella oil in their older cars and motorcycles. Why you ask? Because it's good stuff. Low price is a bonus, not the reason. For example, modern motorcycle oils have less ZDDP than Rotella (and diesel engine oils in general) because most new bikes have a catalyst these days. I'll take the diesel oil thank you very much.

 

[82tiburon]

If you and derwood ever decide to clue-in about motor oil the Bob Is The Oil Guy forum is a good place to do it. https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

Sign up and do some reading, and you will learn that there is no better place on the net to learn about oil. You will also learn that there are tons of guys there that use Rotella oil in their older cars and motorcycles. Why you ask? Because it's good stuff. Low price is a bonus, not the reason. For example, modern motorcycle oils have less ZDDP than Rotella (and diesel engine oils in general) because most new bikes have a catalyst these days. I'll take the diesel oil thank you very much.

Valvoline VR1 racing oil & it's conventional counterpart BOTH have zinc additives, which is why I started using it in my 43 year-old ironhead Sportster & 40 year-old Low Rider.

Just because I disagree with someone's opinion doesn't make me wrong & I'm certainly not a noob when it comes to engines, how they work & how to keep them that way.

So let's just agree to disagree.

 

[Nessism]

Valvoline VR1 racing oil & it's conventional counterpart BOTH have zinc additives, which is why I started using it in my 43 year-old ironhead Sportster & 40 year-old Low Rider.

Just because I disagree with someone's opinion doesn't make me wrong & I'm certainly not a noob when it comes to engines, how they work & how to keep them that way.

So let's just agree to disagree.

You realize of course that all motor oils have "zinc additives." It's just a matter of how much. Check some oil analysis test reports and you will learn that Rotella has about 1100-1200 ppm of both zinc and phosphorus. How much does that Valvoline motorcycle oil have?

 

[82tiburon]

It has enough to keep my pushrod engines happy.

BTW, I don't read oil analysis test reports --- my reading material in the crapper consists solely of service manuals, from which I can actually learn something useful that may help me if I ever find myself on the side of the road.

 

[Nessism]

Mystik JT8 Diesel Oil

Great stuff.

Oil analysis report shows 1150 ppm phosphorus and 1450 zinc. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4328939/1

BTW, I was serious about shimming the oil pressure relief spring...

 

[82tiburon]

Well, this weekend I spent some $$$ but got some peace of mind out of it.

The previous owner, who was a oil rig wildcatter & hulking side-of-a-house type of guy, had some stock-looking (but stiff as all-hell) shocks out back which had me standing on tippy-toes at stoplights even though I'm 5'-10".
So my riding partner & good friend JD came over so we could look it over for the simplest ($$$) solution.
He's an offshore-racing boat builder & has an innate ability to quickly find the simplest, most common-sense solution to any mechanical problem.
We simply dropped them down to the next-to-lowest setting, which still gave me sufficient ground clearance in the corners, but allowed me to get my feet nearly flat on the ground when standing the bike upright.

The Deka ETX15L is still on the trickle charger waiting to go into the battery tray, but I just haven't had the time to get to it or fit the K&N air filter into the airbox.
Thankfully, I'm slammed with work right now (even in this economy) & it's just too damned hot when I get home (even at 5:00 or so) to get up the motivation to want to go down to the garage to do these simple things.
90 to 92 degrees, with close to 80% humidity is not uncommon theses days in South Florida, so I'm trying to cut myself some slack.:hororr::hororr::hororr:

 

[82tiburon]

The heat finally let up long enough for me to get some work done on the bike yesterday night.

The Deka battery went in --- a PERFECT fit, BTW --- which made me feel MUCH better.
Not only are absorbed glass mat batteries lighter, they're maintenance-free, generally have a higher cold-cranking amps (CCA) rating & there are no worries about spilling acid that can rust out & destroy a battery tray faster than you can imagine.

Next came the K&N air filter.
After lightly oiling it down, it too snapped right on in & was a direct-fit replacement for the stock paper element that the bike's previous owner had in the airbox.

I had been meaning to raise the idle a wee bit from Day One, as I found it to be too low at about 925 RPM & prone to stalling the motor out.
The idle stop screw was easy to find behind the 3rd cylinder carb, but somewhat difficult for my big hand to access it.
Thankfully, the factory gave it some serrations so that I was able to get a good grip & raise the idle to a more-reasonable 1050 RPM.

Last, but not least, on my list was to check the charging system by metering out at the starter relay.
Working alone with a non-alligator-clip-lead-voltmeter & lacking an all-important 3rd hand, I was unsuccessful.
Oh well, I can always leave that for another day.