Resto-Mod 1979 GS750L

[tkent02]

He has all the tools and stuff and he can help you out, even though he hates Ls to death, he'll lower his standards to help another GSR member.

Anyone who gets rid of most of the L pieces this quickly is OK in my book. I'd be happy to help de-L the rest of it.

[Starboard M]

If you are adding pods make sure you verify the jetting on your carbs matches that is recommended by the Pods or else you will have a hum dinger of a time keeping it running right. Several people have pods on their bikes so do some searching and you should find all the answers you need.

Paul

Bike came with pods when I bought it, so I had no choice but to go with pods. I ditched the ill fitting no name pods it came with and bought some APE ones. Much better quality that actually fit right!

I didnt find much info on people rejetting with pods and stock exhaust on the 750s. I posted up as well, and no one really gave much feedback. I also found that my '79 had an unusual combo on it.

I figured Ill just raise the needles one notch, and see how it runs. The bike somehow mannaged to run fairly well with air and fuel screws all over the place so with them being the same it should purrrrrrrrr.


Once its running Ill have a better idea of what I need to do.

The picture you have of the tach driver isn't the problem with your tach. That isn't broken, that's normal. You need a new cable. Buy one locally or one from Z1, they're about $18.00. Contact Tkent, he's closer to you than you think, he's near South Park, doesn't live in South Park. He has all the tools and stuff and he can help you out, even though he hates Ls to death, he'll lower his standards to help another GSR member.
South Denver? On the east or the west side of I-25? Like I said, you may be closer than you think. Valve Shims need to be addressed as well. Contact Ghostgs1, he can help you out there. Since you have BassCliff's site already, all those things he says need to be done really do.
Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Interesting, Ill have to take a closer look at the cable. I think Im going to order some throttle cables, so Ill get a tach while Im at it.

Im in the DTC, west side of 25.

Anyone who gets rid of most of the L pieces this quickly is OK in my book. I'd be happy to help de-L the rest of it.

How close to SP are you? Hit me up back channel if you dont want to post specifics.

I wouldnt mind some experience when I decide I should tackle the valves.






I got the carbs half way rebuilt yesterday and today only to get stopped by a stripped bolt on the throttle linkage. I found this out after the hardware stores closed for the night, so Ill continue tomorrow morning.

Tomorrows plan:
1. Go get bolt, and finish carb assembly.
2. Install carbs on bike
3. Final mount gas tank and new petcock
4. See if it starts
5. Reinstall rear fender and lights so I can be legal. Ill redo them at a later date after Ive actually ridden the bike.
6. I think the battery might be on its last legs, so I unfortunately might have to go buy some jumper cables to get it started.
7. Go for a ride?


Im a slow worker, so I might only get past #1, but we shall see.

[Starboard M]

I got the carbs half way rebuilt yesterday and today only to get stopped by a stripped bolt on the throttle linkage. I found this out after the hardware stores closed for the night, so Ill continue tomorrow morning.

Tomorrows plan:
1. Go get bolt, and finish carb assembly.
2. Install carbs on bike
3. Final mount gas tank and new petcock
4. See if it starts
5. Reinstall rear fender and lights so I can be legal. Ill redo them at a later date after Ive actually ridden the bike.
6. I think the battery might be on its last legs, so I unfortunately might have to go buy some jumper cables to get it started.
7. Go for a ride?


Im a slow worker, so I might only get past #1, but we shall see.

Got some work done today. Finished putting the carbs together and out of the living room.

Also installed the universal petcock with a little massaging, and it seems to not be leaking.

Got the carbs, tank and lights mounted as well, went to install the fuel line, and realized it was now to short.
Bought some more line only to drive back in the rain, so I had to stop for the day.


The color I chose looks horrible though. It looked good on the tank while I was painting it, but on the bike it looks more battle ship gray than a good kind of gray.
I will live with it for now, but I need to find another color eventually. Sucks putting a lot of effort into painting something (really my first time trying to do nice paint work) only to have the color look horrible.




So now Im sitting inside rewatching the second season of Top Gear.

[Flaming Chainsaws]

I like cafe's so I'll be following this one .

[Starboard M]

Got everything buttoned up, got the bike to start and it actually runs. Like I said before, the paint looks horrible, but I will live with it for now.


Next issues are the bike seems to bog on WOT, and the #1 carb leaks when the bike is on the kickstand. Carbs will be coming off sometime this week and I will redo the floats.

Bike also seems to be running a bit hot. Its ~60* here and in only a 15 minute ride with mostly 30mph cruising the crank case gets super hot. Doesnt seem normal to me, but I have never had a air cooled anything before (other than an old B&S powered mini bike when I was 7) so I dont know if thats considered to be normal operating temp. Quick search seemed to be a 220* temp as normal, and I dont think this is. Not sure how to tell though.


Rear end is also wallowy, and Im thinking a new rear tire is in order. I think a 110 or 120 rear Pirelli Sport Demon and a 100 front will work nicely.


Anyway, onto the picture, since I know no one read anything I wrote! And how can I blame you.

The 'ol battleship has come to berth at my apartment

[breckenedge]

I also have a 1979 GS750L that I've been restoring for a few months. Sticking with parts as close to stock has been very challenging.

Which Z1 petcock did you get? I realized today that mine is missing the filter part, so I'm shopping around for replacements, and cannot find the original part number for the 1979 GS750L. I've considered getting the one made for the 750E just to see if it fits... they're both 44mm I believe.

Which jet sizes did you go with in order to make the pod filters work?

[Starboard M]

I also have a 1979 GS750L that I've been restoring for a few months. Sticking with parts as close to stock has been very challenging.

Which Z1 petcock did you get? I realized today that mine is missing the filter part, so I'm shopping around for replacements, and cannot find the original part number for the 1979 GS750L. I've considered getting the one made for the 750E just to see if it fits... they're both 44mm I believe.

Which jet sizes did you go with in order to make the pod filters work?

I got the new petcock. It wasnt quite a bolt on, but I got it to work and no leaks so far.

Nice piece, quite expensive, but I feel it was money well spent.

[Starboard M]

Been a while since Ive updated this thread. Between work, waiting on parts, and life getting in the way, I have not been able to do much.



Got the carbs back together, installed them and took the bike for a ride. Battery crapped out on me and died a mile from my house, so I shelved the bike for awhile.


Got re motivated and bought a bar end mirror, turn signal, tail light and license plate relocator bracket.

Before, mirrors gave me a nice view of my shoulder


Also stock rear fender, tail light and turns were not quite the look I was going for


Got it all done






It looks a little ghetto, but it works pretty well. One issue I ran into is that when you turn the turn signals on, the tail light flashes.
I also have a valve cover gasket on order, and Ill be ordering valve shims, tool and "half moons", as well as a new tach cable sometime next week. Also need to get new tires, and brake odds and ends.


Also need some help tuning the carbs, its pretty obvious that they are not synchronized.

[breckenedge]

Nah doesn't look ghetto at all. Where did you order them from?

I ended up finding the top half of my petcock while removing a failed paint coat from inside the tank. It's definitely a '79 GS750E petcock with the two-cylinder shaped fuel filter, but it appears to fit well.

[cal_look_zero]

Been a while since Ive updated this thread. Between work, waiting on parts, and life getting in the way, I have not been able to do much.



Got the carbs back together, installed them and took the bike for a ride. Battery crapped out on me and died a mile from my house, so I shelved the bike for awhile.


Got re motivated and bought a bar end mirror, turn signal, tail light and license plate relocator bracket.

Before, mirrors gave me a nice view of my shoulder


Also stock rear fender, tail light and turns were not quite the look I was going for


Got it all done






It looks a little ghetto, but it works pretty well. One issue I ran into is that when you turn the turn signals on, the tail light flashes.
I also have a valve cover gasket on order, and Ill be ordering valve shims, tool and "half moons", as well as a new tach cable sometime next week. Also need to get new tires, and brake odds and ends.


Also need some help tuning the carbs, its pretty obvious that they are not synchronized.

If you're bridging a ground between the tail and signals, give everything it's own individual ground. Could be enough of a backfeed to light up the LEDs. Heard of it before on cheap ITs on newer sportbikes.

[ride_002000]

What tail light is that? Im doing a cafe style build on my 78 GS750 and need to start thinking about the tail.

[loud et]

sweet!

hey man, the back end of that thing looks great. my gs (80 1100e) has a larger rear cowl , tailpiece. I am probably am gonna use it as is, but might do a whole rear end restructure like you did. wait and see I guess. regardless, diggin the clean look you acheived. two thumbs up.

[Starboard M]

If you're bridging a ground between the tail and signals, give everything it's own individual ground. Could be enough of a backfeed to light up the LEDs. Heard of it before on cheap ITs on newer sportbikes.

You know, now that I actually think about it, I had this same problem when I installed LED tail lights on my Jeep. Ended up using a LED box thing intended for trailer light LEDs to get them to work right.

I used the stock ground junction, so Ill try using individual grounds to see if that helps.

What tail light is that? Im doing a cafe style build on my 78 GS750 and need to start thinking about the tail.

Tail light:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400173595275&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT

Bar end mirrors:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120716984988&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT

Plate relocator:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120442778806&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT

The light isnt as bright as I thought it would be. Its bright, but Im thinking a "OMG my eyes!" kind of light would be better. When I make my own tail Im going to use a LED light similar to what I used on my Jeep:

hey man, the back end of that thing looks great. my gs (80 1100e) has a larger rear cowl , tailpiece. I am probably am gonna use it as is, but might do a whole rear end restructure like you did. wait and see I guess. regardless, diggin the clean look you acheived. two thumbs up.

Thank you sir. It looks pretty good for a hobbled together thing, but not the end look I want.




Went for a 15 mile ride today, and man, bikes are fun!

Couple impressions though:
-My brakes SUCK
-Bike needs to be tuned bad. My tach cable is broken (seen earlier in this thread), and I have one on order. Once thats in, Ill get the bike tuned.
-Neutral light comes on with 1st gear, and first gear stays on when its in nuetral for the first 10 miles I rode today. Makes getting to N a bit interesting. Ill take the cluster apart and see if that fixes it.
-My butt gets hot really fast while sitting on a bike. Thinking how I can get some air flow to it for my future seat so I dont sweat through my pants, which I came close to doing today.
-I need to do something about the suspension. Expansion joints are killer, and it feels like Im riding a wave. Trying to figure out if I want to keep the L front forks, or if I should start to look for a regular set to build.
-I need to reinstall my front fender. Turns out you still get sprayed when you hit water even with all the junk in front of you.

-Did I mention my brakes suck????

Tomorrow I think Im going to try and order some tires, brake switch, valve tool, and other random stuff. Still doing some research into what brake stuff I want to do, but Im thinking the CBR rotors and Kawi calipers that are popular is the way to go.

[linuxrick]

Wow bike is looking great!! Long time jeeper here...bikes are so much more fun to work on than jeeps!

[Datafive0]

GS > XJ > Foxbody 5.0