1983_GS750E - Rebuild

[GateKeeper]

talk to me about the Kat......sounds interesting.....

[brslk]

talk to me about the Kat......sounds interesting.....

Sounds to me like GK already has one bike... two more coming in and considering another...

Bike hoarder! (that would be an excellent reality TV show).

Bruce.

[Sci85]

Hey GK, gotta question. You recently painted your air box. Did you paint just the outside or the inside as well? If you did the inside, how did you get it cleaned up? Mine is covered in 30yrs of grease and some rust and not sure how I will get it clean enough to hold paint.

Thanks.

[spyug]

The thing about Kats is you either love them or hate them. I fall in to the 2nd camp. They do not appeal to me in the slightest. I find the styling butt ugly and after sitting on it, the forward lean is a killer and mucho uncomfortable for me.

You may wonder why then did I end up with one. Sit back, pour yourself a cold one and listen to my tale of woe. It all started on a cold and blowey night in Oct 2009. I was in the market for a winter project and had my heart (more about that later) set on a GS1000 to do up as a skunk or perhaps Cooley rep. I had been looking all year and finding nothing. Winter was closing in and I was feeling the pressure. Out of the blue, I got a PM from another member in Mississauga wondering if I'd be interested in an 82 750 Kat, an engine in frame rolling basket case. Already being familiar with the 750 that I refurbed I figured I could do it and it would keep me out of mischief that winter. The deal was done and a road trip to Miss got me said bike and all the parts.

I got stuck right in but soon found the engine seized. A call to the member ( a big Kat fan and multi owner) indicated he had not been aware of that and he quickly gave me another replacement engine. As the engine was in the frame already I figured I'd find out why it wasn't turning but being lazy decided to not pull it out. After a few weeks of fiddling and farting, being unable to free it up I pulled off the head and "bonked" (technical term) the pistons free. One rusty ring was holding it. After cleaning everything up back together it went and it spun with no clanging or banging. A few weeks later the carbs were redone and on so it was time to fire up.

Needless to say, it wouldn't fire. Check everything , recheck everything umpteen times and still no go. Weeks pass ( and my thread of despair grows to many pages) and I'm ready to take a sledge hammer to it when a kindly member gave me a great hint to cover the mouths with some cling film with a hole in the center to give it some air restriction. She fired right up.

By this time we are heading to spring 2010 and I'm not feeling all that perky and work continues slowly. She is more or less complete by summer and I get ready to do the test ride only to find she will not come out of first on her tires but will cycle through all the gears when on the lift. At that point I've had enough. I don't have any desire to delve into it and I barely ride the 750.

At my annual physical in June the doc sees something on my ECG. Could be nothing maybe your age but lets check it out he says. The test is scheduled for July, in preparation and after being a couch potato for years I take to vigirous walking and bicycle riding. I feel pretty good. I go to the stress test and after a few minutes the cardioligist stops and says, "You've got a blockage" More tests are scheduled. A week later I am out for my Sunday morning ride and I'm down in Grimsby with my riding buddy. I feel majorly sick then my chest starts being squeezed, I'm in trouble. My riding partner works in a hospital, she takes one look at me and dials 911. No heart attack but diagnosed with unstable angina another potential sudden killer. More tests and they find I have 6 plugged arteries, by pass surgery is schedule and done and 9 months go by before I feel capable of wrenching again. Somewhere in there I pick up the 550 project as number 1 son declares an interest in learning to ride. A whole year goes by ( and more issues with the 550 catolgued in here somewhere) then another 6 months. Bringing us to today.

The Kat lingers still under its cover. I feel recovered enough now to get back to it and I will sort out that linkage/tranny issue but I really don't have any love for it. A few folks have expressed interest but no takers at the giveaway price of $1500. Go figure.

Anyway just about 90% of everything has been done and while its not as pretty as yours is going to be its still a nice bike for the Kat enthusiast. If and when you have nothing to do ( figure that will be next fall) , come and have a look.

Sorry to highjack your thread I guess I just felt like yakkin today. Hope you had some time off and got some more done.

Cheers,
Spyug

[GateKeeper]

Hey GK, gotta question. You recently painted your air box. Did you paint just the outside or the inside as well? If you did the inside, how did you get it cleaned up? Mine is covered in 30yrs of grease and some rust and not sure how I will get it clean enough to hold paint.

Thanks.

Sci, I just painted the outside. I cleaned up the inside with varsol, and rags and a bit of scrubbing. Then the outside I just used some 400 grit sandpaper, and sanded the whole thing to rough it up a bit, washed it down nicely making sure to have all grease off and what not, and then used the bumper paint, 2 coats, all the fine scratches filled in nicely, and she looks as good as new....

Like all the parts we are painting, prep is the key......

Hope this helps

Cheers

[Sci85]

Thanks GateKeeper. I didn't think you did the inside but wasn't sure. I've started on the outside of mine but it's going to take a lot of work to get it clean enough for paint. The hardest part is getting under all the little tab's I have on mine. Now would be a good time to own a soda blaster

Oh, and loved the story Spyug. You one lucky bug.

[GateKeeper]

@Spyug.....

Wow, what an experience you have gone through, sounds like your out of the woods, but it seems you will have to be careful from this day forward, but knowing is a good thing and that makes it easier to move forward.

And the story on the bike is a really cool read, the experience with one bike, is interesting, and the ups and downs it can give one, I can see the love hate relationship, and not even mentioning the riding position....

I have not sat on a Kat as of yet, so my affection for them is purely on looks, I really like the styling for the era of the bike, mind you I like the styling of my new Ninja a lot more....I was never a fan of the cruiser style bikes, always like the crotch rockets.....

I will come by, hopefully it don't have to be next fall, perhaps during this summer, not only to check out the Kat, but have a pint with you and a face to face chat, and possibly a good ride as well, we can throw in a conversation about the Kat in there somewhere....

Unfortunately, I am not doing anything on the bike this weekend, it seems I have caught a cold, and am laid up in bed at the moment, not that I could do much anyways, the Brafasco is closed so I cannot get my SS nuts and bolts that I want to change out, but I did catalogue everything and places in zip lock bags so I know exactly what I need, and better yet where it goes. So if I am still under the weather tomorrow, I wll at least get the parts needed, and stay at home in bed and try to shake this cold ASAP

And no worries on the HiJack.....it's all bike related, so it's all good......

Cheers

DAn

[GateKeeper]

Sci - don't forget the PineSol......it works wonders not only on carbs, but will clean up the grease and grime on the air box as well, mine wasn't very dirty and filthy, and remember it's really seen all that much, so all the nooks and crannies don't really need to be completely clean, the paint will cover that up as well,,,,,LOL

[GateKeeper]

Painted Calipers

Well, I have come down with a nasty cold, can't breath, nose is stuffed up, coughing, aching and so on, but since I already had the calipers stripped down, I decided to tape up the areas I didn't want painted, and hit them with come VHT Caliper paint.....

Might as well get something done, and it felt good to get out of bed, and be a least a little bit mobile, mind you this did take most of the day, as it hard to do anything while being sick, but at least something was done...









I noticed a run on one caliper, too late to fix it now, going to have to wait for the 7 day cure, then sand lightly and shoot them again....

ohhhhh well



.

[brslk]

Those look excellent GK. I wouldn't worry about a run on a caliper. No one will ever know but you.

Take it easy and get well soon.

Bruce.

[SVSooke]

Been there,done that.Me and the wife had one(a cold that is).Nasty piece of work.Hope you feel better soon.

[GateKeeper]

Thanks Bruce.....but the run is on one of the faces and will be seen with no problem at all, so it will have to be fixed, if it was on the backside or underside I would leave it, but unfortunately it's not....

Trying to get better for sure, and if I miss work, I will at least try to get out and pick up all the SS Allen bolts that I want to replace on the bike, I have them all separated and they just need to match up with the old.....


Thanks Greg,,,,,ya it hit me out of the blue, no one was sick in the house, was not around anyone either that was, and woke up feeling like crap, hopefully it will pass in a day or so, most times my colds last at most 4 days, so I am half way through already....


.

[Redneck]

Dam it man making me feel like a lazy butt. I have not painted mine because it is too cold and afraid the paint will not set right. If I paint in the garage with the furnace down there the whole house will soon smell like a spray room. I wish I could use the excuse I am sick....lol. Get well soon.

Paul

[GateKeeper]

Hey Paul,,,,I was actually surprised, the VHT Caliper paint did not stink up the house like some of the other paints, hardly noticed it at all, I sprayed it in the garage, gave about 10 minutes to setup and opened up the garage door to let the smell out, and took the calipers into the laundry room and hung em to dry/cure.....the wife didn't even notice this time that I had done any painting....

Took today off, still sick, feeling a bit better, but was laid up in bed all day, so no work on the bike, was going to go the nuts and bolts place and get the rest of the SS allen screws to replace all the stock ones, but that isn't happening right now either, I still have about 2 hours before they close, maybe I will muster up the strength and go...

[GateKeeper]

Well I am giving up......

In my search for SS Allen head bolts that I wanted to get to replace as many of the stock bolts on the bike, hit up 3 different places and none had any, and was more or less told good luck in finding SS metric in fine thread, it's an automotive application and to keep costs down they just don't do them in SS but just the plain old black....

Bummer

So now I will have to paint the bolts I have cleaned up, and use them, ohhh well, at least I can get back to assembly