Resurrecting Yamaha 750 Sportbike

[csiamanis]

Whats up, Im Chris and am wanting to get my Grandpa's 1978 Yamaha 750 Sportbike up and running. He passed about 5 years ago and his bike is sitting in the garage rotting away. I need to do something with it.

What do you suggest for a bike that has been sitting for 10 years? Battery, tires, plugs, oil, carb rebuild? Is there a way to see if it is worth the money and not locked up? Throw in a battery and some oil with a bit in the plug holes and fire away? What kind of oil and how much do they take anyway?

Sorry guys, Im a car man. I just getting into the biking scene. Help me get this thing back on the road!

[8trackmind]

Please, take no offence to this but you do realize that this is a Suzuki GS site, right?
I'm sure we can help you but...you may not get the in-depth answers you're seeking.
Btw, what model is it?
XS750 maybe?

[csiamanis]

Sorry, yes I do realize that, but someone from sportbike.net referred me to here because "It's a site for the old Suzukis ('76+) but there are some crazy knowledgable people on there and lots of threads about how to resusitate old junkers. They also have a carb cleanup series (a picture guide) on the main page. Pretty much everything will apply to your bike except part numbers."

XS750 maybe?

That sounds right. I will go over to my grandmas or call her to make sure.

[Cajun Cycler]

First off look at things logically. look at the condition of plugs wires, hoses. If any of them are split, cracked broken they will need replacement. take out the plugs, put a teaspoon of motor oil in each cylinder and crank it over to lubricate the cylinder walls. good idea to get a compression gauge and check compression. do this with the throttle wide open for a proper measurement. The carbs will have to be removed and cleaned thoroughly. Same goes for the tank. dump any old fuel, from carb bowls, tank and drain the oil from the crank case and replace with fresh. Get a new battery, the right one for the bike. Don't be cranking it with a car battery. If you are still serious about restoring it at this point, Get a Clymers or Haynes or both manuals so you can learn all you can about the bike. A good place to start is a Yamaha dealer for info on parts availablilty. Check sites like Bikebandit.com to see if necessary parts you can't fix or refurb are still made. Ebay is a great place to start looking for odds and ends to replace on the bike. Hope I gave you some starting points. Oh by the way, do NOT ride on those tires if they are ten years old. Don't trust your life to old hard cracked rubber.

I too had an uncle who passed away a few years ago leaving a barely ridden XS750 in the barn. It was so rusty it was a forgone conclusion in my mind that it was not worth even tackling. I hope yours is in better shape. Sad when people let great bikes just rot away because they are too lazy to care for them. This one of my Uncle's would have been a great bike to keep for the long haul.