Looking for technical guidance in Philly area.

[egent]

Any GSR members in the Philadelphia burbs willing to help a newbie learn how to do maintenances on a 78 GS 750 E available this or next Saturday? :shock: I can supply Beer and food as desired for payment of your assistance. I am planning on adjusting the valves; changing the oil and filter; Drain, clean and replace fork oil; Clean, adjust, and oil the chain. ](*,)

I don't know if this is the right forum for this request, but thought I would try.

Thanks,
Dirk

[snark]

Unfortunately your a few miles too far for me...but your CLymer Manual should give you all of the guidance you need. With the exception of the valves, everything that you have listed are reasonanbly simple tasks. Just make sure that you fork oil level is EXACTLY the same in both forks. Good Luck.

[egent]

You are right, you are a little too far. It is a shame I don't still live in Kittanning. Yes I do have the Valve cover gasket in hand as well as the half moon seals, breather cover gasket and the breather elements. So I am ready to do the job. I was just hoping to find some guidance with it, so I can be sure of doing it correctly. I have both the Haynes and Clymer manuals as well as a PDF file of the factory manual. So I guess I have the information to do the job, but I was hoping for the little things that are not in manuals that people have learned by doing the job over the years.

[waterman]

Egent,
Too far to help personally, but can help over the wire.
I would break tasks down a little. The oil change, chain maintenance are simple tasks that are quick to do with little extra prep work. These are best performed on a warmed engine. Oil flows better and chain gunk is softer.

The valve adjustments are not much more difficult, but do require a cold engine, not ran for at least overnight. It will require more disassembly--tank removal, spark plug wires, tachometer drive, and then valve cover removal. Once that is done, the gasket will most likely need to be scraped off and gasket area cleaned. Then check your valve clearance as detailed in factory manual (search forum for procedure). Hopefully, you can reuse most of the shims and find a dealer who will exchange shims to get the correct clearance needed. Don't won't to dissuade you from task, just want to give perspective. After correct shims installed, reassemble being extremely careful to not strip valve cover bolts (use good torque wrench and consult with higher power).

The fork oil replacement is usually straight forward; remove drain screw, drain, refill to correct level with chosen weight oil. I generally will pull forks, drain, pump forks, drain, flush, drain, pump forks again, drain again, and then fill again while in my vise. I use a spray bottle pump marked with tape to get the correct oil level in each fork. It isn't too difficult but usually end up with oil all over me. Good luck, you can do it.