Took my first real ride tonight! A few issues....

[Guest]

'83-84 GS750ES/EF

I finally got the GS done, legal and plated yesterday and took it out for a few short test hops and one longer (30mi) ride this afternoon. Everything felt great for the most part but I have a couple of questions/issues.

First of all. WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I built this thing from a total of three parts bike over the last seven months or so...its done, it runs and it rides great!

Now... After I'd done a few test miles I opened it up some...enough to get past 4k on the tach and I noticed that when it's pulling at around 4,500rpm it sounds like the clutch slips (in 4th & 5th at least) but the tach stays the same. I expected to look down and see at least a few hundred RPM more from the sound but the revs seemed fine. A quick back off on the throttle and it was back to normal.

Does this sound like something is wrong or out of whack? Ideas?

What pressures are people running in the forks? I've got about 8.5psi in there now.

The front brakes still seem a little soft. I rebuilt a spare master cyl and put that on which helped, the old one was leaking inside for sure but while this stops OK it isn't a "hard" lever for sure.

How am I supposed to listen to the **** engine? Forgot to buy earplugs... maybe those will cut down on the wind noise enough to hear the bike. I've got two Hayabusa cans and midpipes on it so its pretty quiet out the back. (Pics and write up coming to a mods section near you soon)

What RPM (about) should I be turning at 55-60? I think I was pulling about 4k which was higher than I thought I would be in 5th. 5th pulls nice from about 10mph though so I could go 1st to 5th if I wanted to. heh

Now I'm going to go clean up all the tools scattered around the garage and remember all the points I forgot to make.


Glad to be on two wheels,
/\/\ac

[moto_dan]

What RPM (about) should I be turning at 55-60? I think I was pulling about 4k which was higher than I thought I would be in 5th. 5th pulls nice from about 10mph though so I could go 1st to 5th if I wanted to. heh

That sounds about right 14-15 mph per 1k rpm's with stock gearing. Have fun.

[duaneage]

Re: Took my first real ride tonight! A few issues....

'83-84 GS750ES/EF


Now... After I'd done a few test miles I opened it up some...enough to get past 4k on the tach and I noticed that when it's pulling at around 4,500rpm it sounds like the clutch slips (in 4th & 5th at least) but the tach stays the same. I expected to look down and see at least a few hundred RPM more from the sound but the revs seemed fine. A quick back off on the throttle and it was back to normal.

Does this sound like something is wrong or out of whack? Ideas?




What pressures are people running in the forks? I've got about 8.5psi in there now.

The front brakes still seem a little soft. I rebuilt a spare master cyl and put that on which helped, the old one was leaking inside for sure but while this stops OK it isn't a "hard" lever for sure.

How am I supposed to listen to the **** engine? Forgot to buy earplugs... maybe those will cut down on the wind noise enough to hear the bike. I've got two Hayabusa cans and midpipes on it so its pretty quiet out the back. (Pics and write up coming to a mods section near you soon)


/\/\ac

The tachometer tells the tale. If the engine speed does not take off ( with the speedometer staying still) then your not slipping. If you drop a gear and get on it what happens? Let the engine break in for a few hundred chilly miles before going above 5000.

I run 30psi on my 650 forks, the roads suck around here and I need the support.

Try and bleed the front brakes again, replace the MC if you can't get proper feel. Brakes are most important and never a good place to save money.

[Macmatic]

Re: Took my first real ride tonight! A few issues....

The tachometer tells the tale. If the engine speed does not take off ( with the speedometer staying still) then your not slipping. If you drop a gear and get on it what happens? Let the engine break in for a few hundred chilly miles before going above 5000.

I run 30psi on my 650 forks, the roads suck around here and I need the support.

Try and bleed the front brakes again, replace the MC if you can't get proper feel. Brakes are most important and never a good place to save money.

I'll have to experiment with it more tomorrow and see what its doing... its doing something for sure. I know it can't really be reving since the tach stays the same but it sounds/feels like it is. By the time I got confidant enough to go looking for it I was headed home right on the edge of dark.

I'll try bleeding the brakes again, I'm working on rigging up a power bleeder with an external reservoir and a filler that extends into the master cyl to leave a "head space" around where the fluid level should be.

The forks don't feel too bad to me but I have nothing to compare them to since this is my first bike. I did clean them well and replace the oil when I was building up the bike. (308ml)

/\/\ac

[SqDancerLynn1]

8-12 lbs is all you need in the forks 30 is way too much. YOU do not need any fancy bleading equipment, just put a piece of hose on the blead nipple, put the end into a container with a small amount of brake fluid to cover the hosepump the brake lever slowly

[Jethro]

My bike is basically stock ratios, I pull 65 mph at 4500 rpms in top gear.

It took me two entire evenings of bleeding my brakes for them to fell good. Don't ride a new bike though, you're brakes will make it feel like you are using a baseball card in the spokes to slow you down.

[duaneage]

The manual for my particular bike called for up to 36 psi. I tried them empty, 10, 20, 30 and 36 psi

30 works for me. YMMV

[Macmatic]

8-12 lbs is all you need in the forks 30 is way too much. YOU do not need any fancy bleading equipment, just put a piece of hose on the blead nipple, put the end into a container with a small amount of brake fluid to cover the hosepump the brake lever slowly

I might bump it up a few pounds from 8.5 and see but it seems OK so far. I weigh in around 250lbs...

I bled the brakes by the book, L anti dive, L caliper, R AD, R caliper three times and then again after I put in the rebuilt master cylinder. I'm thinking of making a power bleeder as more of a "just to be sure" thing. I know it makes bleeding dual circuit automotive brakes much quicker and easier!

I tried both the "pump, close the nipple, release, open the nipple, pump" method and the submerged hose and cracked open bleeder method but since it might snow tomorrow I'll have time to try again I guess.

Thanks for the input!

/\/\ac

[snowbeard]

congrats!!!

the forks should only need a few pounds by the book, but I've never been really happy with their performance, but again, mine is my first bike too!

good idea to keep the speed low on the shakedown runs too!!

[duaneage]

Try increasing the pressure, you might be happy with them after all

[cloudbreakmd]

Make sure you adjusted and routed the clutch cable correctly as you assembled this one bike from 3 bikes. It may dragging just a little. Take a nickel and check play of the clutch lever. There should be about a nickels (the thin side) worth of play in it as you start to pull on it. Also what kind of oil are you using?

[Macmatic]

Brake bleeding and engine temps, oh my.

I'm still fighting with the brakes. I'm sure the master is good...just rebuilt it the other day but I've still got a soft lever (no wisecracks!). I've got two theorys about where the air could be hiding:

1. The balance pipe/manifold just downstream from the master cylinder. Its a horizontal tube and I can imagine air getting pushed from one side to the other but not bled out. I'm going to try bleeding it on the sidestand next time so the pipe will be at an angle.

2. The Anti Dive units. I noticed tonight that the manual mentions air getting trapped in them and says to take them off the fork and holding them upside down to free the air...but isn't that going to free fork oil all over my garage floor too? I guess I COULD pull off everything and pull hte forks to replace the oil..but that idea sucks.

Am I wrong on this? I think if I remove the anti dive units from the forks the oil will just run right out.


Engin Temp. Where is the sender for the oil temp on an '83-84 GS750? I found the pressure switch just fine but so far I haven't found the temp sender on the engine or in the book. My temp stays low, at least by the gauge. On my 30mi ride it only just hit 160F in 50-55F ambient air.

Thanks! More bleeding (for the bike) tomorrow.

/\/\ac