Just bought a GS- what now?

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!

Hi Mr. Rob,

If your bike is a '79 ('N' is the model year designation), then it probably has Mikuni VM carbs, not CV carbs. Seems like you've found "the dude's welcome page" but old habits are hard to break. So...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us, keep us informed.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[rudy]

Should I hunker down, learn something about bikes, and possibly go insane in the process?

I would have thought you guys would have been all over this little tidbit!

Rob, insanity is a requirement of working on these old bikes. If you're not a little crazy, you won't fit in. You won't enjoy it if you're not insane. It's not logical to spend 3-4 grand (or MUCH MUCH more) resurrecting a mass produced bike just for the fun of it.


You've come to the right place for advice. Look at all the good suggestions so far. And that's just the beginning. Stick around, you've got yourself a great ride that you can be proud to say you're the one that works on it and brought it back to life.



EDIT: Just read your post on wheels. Keep the spokies!!!! They're rare on the bigger bikes! I was lucky enough to get not one, but two sets of spokies with my 1k, along with the cast wheels. The beauty of spokies is that they're rebuildable. You can make them look better than new with a few bucks, and a few hours. Check these out:

[mcloud]

Tacho Bell...

Here's what I went through last year with the tacho issue when I picked up my 850

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=125421

[Suzuki mad]

HI and welcome.

Firstly get a good manual before trying too much and read the thing from cover to cover and learn about your bike.

Get the battery out of the bike and stick it on charge (remember to remove the 6 little plugs in the top of the battery while its charging.)

Put the bike on its centre stand and check how much oil you have with the sight glass. If its over the window then you've probably got fuel in the oil from it being on prime. Using the oil drain plug drop the oil and fill it up with fresh. You could also put a new oil filter in (at the front of the engine under the round cover.)

The rocker box leak is an easy change of gasket.

The tacho cable not spinning. Could be a broken cable or the take off is not attached to the exhaust cam. (You will see this when you remove the rocker cover and change the gasket. A cable is cheap.

As for model its got wire wheels so that makes it an early one (well here in the UK it would be) and with VM carbs (CV's came in 1980 onwards) so don't get to hung up on what year.

Oh BTW I bought a UK road legal GS(X)1100E and it took 3 months to get it fit for the road and 6 months restoring it at a cost of £5400 in 2006 so little projects can get out of hand money wize.

Enjoy.

Suzuki mad

[Rob]

Again, I thank you all for the advice/encouragement/etc. This is clearly a very good forum.

Just one more trifle for now: I just want to affirm that this is the proper replacement petcock before i drop $40+ on it:

http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1716

Thanks, everyone, for everything. Hopefully, i'll get the thing going in the relatively near future, but i'm promising myself to be poatient and careful, as to not eff things up too badly. Haste, they say, makes waste.

-rob

[Suzuki mad]

I would suggest that this fuel tap (i'm English) is for the later models with CV carbs than your bike.

Have a look here for a 1978 GS750 http://www.alpha-sports.com/suzuki_parts.htm
This shoudl give you a good idea for parts for your bike.

I would suggest having used the pages that yours in a GS750B/C/N model so an early one. That fuel taop may not fit. Worth giving them a ring or an email to find out as its half the price of a genuine suzuki one.

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. Rob,

Be advised,, that particular part does not list the '79 GS750EN as an application. The EX, EZ, and ED are later model years ('81-'83). If the bolt spacing is the same, it might work but require a little modification to your tank. Z1 has a good petcock repair/replacement reference page HERE. It states:

Be advised that some of the aftermarket petcocks come with a larger diameter filter than stock and different shapes - this means you MAY have to enlarge the hole in the tank for the filter to fit or remove the filter. Additionally, the length of the main feed pipe going into the tank may be different from stock, so the reserve capacity may / will change.

Yes, you might want to give them a call and see if they can offer more information on that part.

Your OEM petcock is Suzuki Part# 44300-45011. Flatout lists them for about $65. I'm sure BikeBandit, Alphasports, and others on the list can also get them.

Let's hear from a 750 owner before you order.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff