Advice on Upgrade of 81 GS750E forks to 82 or 84 GS750E fork

[Anonymous]

Hey Mark, yes the 750 tubes are 35mm. As far as I know they were like that from the first GS750 until '82 when they added antidive for that year. Things changed in 83 with a major chassis revamp and engine updating and it was a different bike after that. The air balance kit I got was from Progressive Suspension and it wasn't all that much, 20 bucks or so.

People say that a smaller front wheel gives quicker steering and the choice of rubber is greater as well. I had an 83 1100e chassis for parts a few years back and run the 1100 rims (19 and 17") and swingarm now. I have the front end still but after reading posts I'm not sure I want to use the antidive forks or if I should hunt down a front end from an 80 or 81.I guess it would be preference of the rider. I keep the 19" front because thats what I had to work with. Most new bikes use rims smaller than 19" so I guess smaller is better from a performance aspect.

[oldschoolGS]

Dan, very well, I will definitly keep that in mind. I picked up a complete spare motor about 6 months ago for parts and plan on using Electrix for the stator/rectifier. Mostly it needs a lot of time and elbow grease and a few misc items once I get into it. I plan on doing it right-the bottom end is currently bone stock(crank and rods) and to handle the 802cc displacement it needs full crank work and balancing in addition to the beefed up clutch. It will probably be next summer until I get it all built and streetworthy. This 802cc motor is a monster-I am guessing about 110 rear wheel horses which makes for 3rd gear power wheelies at 90 mph. In the meantime I have the TL to ride. Ride On, Ed.

[Billy Ricks]

oldschool,
I've got a master cylinder you can have for shipping. I have a few other bits and pieces so figure out what you need and if I have any of it I'll let you know.

[oldschoolGS]

Billy, I will take you up on that rear master cylinder. That will be one less thing I will have to hunt down. Its good to know you have some extras, as I know I am going to need more parts once I get my 750 completly torn down. When you get a chance, send me an email to "mustang4@swbell.net" and let me know app. shipping cost. I will send a money order in return. Thanks Again, Ed.

[Anonymous]

[quote="Jon Kramilius"]The air balance kit I got was from Progressive Suspension and it wasn't all that much, 20 bucks or so.

I have the front end still but after reading posts I'm not sure I want to use the antidive forks or if I should hunt down a front end from an 80 or 81.

I went on Progressive's site. The air balance kit looks like it will only work with forks whose air caps have a valve which comes straight up, out of the cap. My caps have a cast-in upper portion which positions the air-valve at about 45 degrees. I don't think that I can screw the Progressive adapter on to this arangement.

As to the 80-81 GS1100E forks, I have seen them in person and they look no different than the ones on my GS750. They are clear-coated aluminum, the axle in ahead of the fork tube (but not as far from the bottom as the "L" model forks) and there are no external adjustments. They do have the air caps on the top of the fork tubes. I never measured them, so they could be 37mm. However, they use the square headlight, whose cover extends up to the guage cluster. The headlight/cover is the same for both GS750E and GS1100E. The GS750E mounts this assembly to brackets which mount inboard of the fork tubes, between the tripple clamps. The fork leg slides through rubber bushings at either end of this bracket.

If the 80-81 GS1100E forks really are 37mm, I need to find this bracket and bushings to fit the 37mm forks (83GS1100E) that I just bought, so I can reuse my headlight/cover and retain a stock appearance while avoiding rigging the wiring/headlight/mounts.

[Anonymous]

The air caps should fit, they fit mine and we have the same setup unless they just fit by fluke. The 1100E forks have an adjustable damping knob on the bottom of the fork legs for 80-81 and the preload is under a rubber cap on top of the forks. The air valves are in line above the lower clamp (I think) not on top of the fork (in factory setup anyway). The 82 and up are different with the antidive and such on the lower leg. Maybe the forks you saw were 1000 pieces as they are 37mm also. Anyway, thats the info my archives tell me.
Cycle did a retrofit in an 81 issue with the 1100 front end on the 750 and stated that the 750 should've been built that way as it made it a superior road machine to almost all others in it's class.