My new project thread: 78' GS750

[Spiff]

More testfitting today with the great help of boxes, wood, tape and other stuff that would keep the fairing in place. Encountered a minor setback as the clip-ons are to close to the fairing and clearance issues will arise due to the fact they are slanted at a slight angle.... So I will need some clip-ons that are not slanted, like tarozzi's or the high rise tarozzi.
OR i could put mount the clip-ons ABOVE the triple but that would lower the front end accordingly and seeing the amount of scrapes and bruises my exhaust pipes already have I don't think that's a good idea.
Any other adverse effect of lowering other than exhaust scraping one should worry about?















And oh! Setback number 2; I managed to drop the windscreen on the concrete which resulted in it cracking almost across the entire width of the screen They have new ones at bikescreen.com but still a major bummer....

[Spiff]

Engine is back in the frame today. Should make it easier to get the fairing installed in the correct position.
I'm also gonna buy a set og tarozzi "hi-rise" clip-ons, they raise the bars up about 70mm's wich is hopefully gonna be enough to clear the fairing
I'm buying a fork brace to at the same time since I'm installing a plastic front fender. Maybe I should buy a steering damper too?

[T8erbug]

So I will need some clip-ons that are not slanted, like tarozzi's or the high rise tarozzi.
OR i could put mount the clip-ons ABOVE the triple but that would lower the front end accordingly and seeing the amount of scrapes and bruises my exhaust pipes already have I don't think that's a good idea.
Any other adverse effect of lowering other than exhaust scraping one should worry about?

If you lower the front you will change your rake, trail, and swingarm angle. When you lower the rear you get more rake and trail but lose a lot of swingarm angle. There is no way to change one without affecting the others and they are ALL important. That's what's so different about motorcycles. They are just a beautiful machine that relies purely on balance. Usually on these older bikes you can get away with either raising the rear, lowering the front, or a little of both. It will give you quicker turn-in either way, you just don't want to give it too much because you'll lose stability in straight lines and coming out of corners. Most fellas, I hear, like to go the route of raising the rear and giving themselves as much ground clearance as possible due to the width of these old bikes. That way they get quicker turn in and more ground clearance. As you turn hard the suspension compresses effectively lowering your bike anyways.. Any lower and you take away your ability to really lean on her.

[T8erbug]

OH and by the way your Z looks great man!

[Spiff]

Very informative, thank you

OH and by the way your Z looks great man!

Thanks, it looks better on pictures than in real life though, california import so needs new paint and of course the dashboard is cracked

I ordered the hi rise tarozzi clip-ons yesterday along with a tarozzi forkbrace, the hi-rise clip-ons should give me the necessary clearing without lowering the forks

In other news I was thinking of installing a Dyna S ignition. I don't know why, my ignition is working... But I like new shiny parts I guess.
Anyways I was wondering what ignition I had (kokusan or nippon? couldn't figure out) and after removing the timing cover I saw one of my points where bent pretty bad out of shape:


I bent it straight with some pliers but I was unable to check the gap since my feeler gauge was somewhere else.
Don't know how this has happened

[Big T]

Very informative, thank you


Thanks, it looks better on pictures than in real life though, california import so needs new paint and of course the dashboard is cracked

I ordered the hi rise tarozzi clip-ons yesterday along with a tarozzi forkbrace, the hi-rise clip-ons should give me the necessary clearing without lowering the forks

In other news I was thinking of installing a Dyna S ignition. I don't know why, my ignition is working... But I like new shiny parts I guess.
Anyways I was wondering what ignition I had (kokusan or nippon? couldn't figure out) and after removing the timing cover I saw one of my points where bent pretty bad out of shape:


I bent it straight with some pliers but I was unable to check the gap since my feeler gauge was somewhere else.
Don't know how this has happened

That's a Nippon Denso ignition

[Spiff]

That's a Nippon Denso ignition

Great.
But if my ignition is working as it should, Is it really worth it to spend all that cash on the dyna ignition and coils?

[Big T]

The Dyna is great, mine's still going strong for 30 years. I did check and adjust it a few years back

You don't have to get the coils, the Suzuki coils will work fine

Points are just a perpetually failing system

[wedoo2]

I have been thinking about your color scheme and you really should look at some kind of racing theme since the fairing will be so cool.

A couple of ideas. First is obvious



Another blue idea. I did a 74 Honda in this scheme.





I had more but Photobucket is messing with me this morning. Have fun with it.

[Spiff]

Cool, if you have more please post them.
But what I was planning on was to paint it in a scheme that would match the red with gold and orange. Since I painted the bike in 2012 I'm not that keen on tearing it up again. But some of those schemes does look cool!

I took a pic of the fairing this morning so I can start photoshopping something
I was imagining the base color of the fairing red, then the upper part of the lower fairing would have a gray inlay(like the engine), encapsuled by gold and orange pinstriping....

If anyone has photoshopping skills please feel free to create something cool!

Also thinking of plastidipping the wheels gold. That way it can always be removed if I don't like it or grow tired of it.

Hondas original paint scheme is kinda cool also, but then I would have to create a rear fairing I think:


But first I'll need to get it mounted, I found some nuts and bolts today so I could bolt the fairing together. Held it up by a jack followed by the usual staring, thinking, stare some more, think some more etc...
Here's what I have come up with.

I'll weld a frame tab on the underside of the frame tube underneath the tank that allows me to bolt on a small piece of flatsteel or small radius steel rod/tubing going out to the two mounting points on the fairing.



For the headlight I'm gonna weld on a bracket to the steering stem so I can bolt in a Y shaped bracket that will hold the headlight and provide additional support for the upper front part of the upper fairing. It will look similar to the Y shaped bracket you see here but a little more beefed up since it's also gonna hold the instrument cluster:

[wedoo2]

I'll mess with this on photoshop for a couple of days

[Spiff]

Tarozzi Hi-Rise clip-ons have arrived along with a fork brace.
Didn't install the brace since I need to swap a fork seal on one of my forklegs...



Had to cut away the instrument mounting ears, gonna tidy it up some more before final assembly, I'm waiting on some 2.5" instruments; a tacho and a speedometer

[Spiff]

Another view :-)

[tkent02]

Points are just a perpetually failing system

Points do have some advantages. The bike will kick start with an almost completely dead battery. Anything that can fail can be fixed alongside some road with hand tools. Very easy to understand how everything works, even for an eletrical newb. They are not susceptible to damage from voltage spikes like the 550 electronic ignition system. If everything is working properly, they last a long time without any adjustments. They don't just fail out of the blue with no warning.

It does take a few minutes every year or two to keep it all working correctly, but it's no big deal.

[Spiff]

Well, I'm not gonna do anything with it at this point. I feel that if it works why fix it? If they fail I might go the dyna route