1979 GS 750L resurrect

[harley10]

Good news these old bike are awesome , I got two I need to get running soon to , it's fun and addictive,Brian

[Crake]

Back on track

Well after a bit of a fuel supply issue the 750L seems to be running good. She fires on the first stroke (no choke) and seems to idle well. I gave it some hard throttle last night and blew a few more cobwebs out the pipe. My temporary gas tank is too small to warm the bike up and properly tune it, so I'm making the tank restore my next priority.

Last night I stripped the old paint down to the bare metal and gave the tank a good sanding. Put two coats of primer on the tank before bed. Gotta make up my mind what color to go with 'cause it's about time already...

- "Crake"

[Crake]

Some updates

Well I've gotten behind on my updates. Here's a few new details....

Turns out she wasn't running as well as I thought - #2 & #3 run fine but no fire on #1 and #4 at all. Good spark, compression and fuel's getting through. Pulled the plugs on 2 & 3 and did some monkeying around with the fuel/air mix on the problem children. Now #1 and #4 fire on about 3/4 choke. So there's some progress. I wanna check the fuel levels in the bowls but I gotta get my hands on the appropriate tool. Gonna put all F&A matters on hold as I'm sick of stinking up my attached garage & house. My wife has been frowning and sniffing a lot. I'd do it outside but it's friggin' COLD.

Put about six coats of flat black on the tank and side panels. The decals were a little chewed up over the years so I gave them a few nice aluminum coats and they look ok. (This project is all about the cheap!) I skipped the clear coat (as it's seldom worked well for me in the past) and laid down a bunch of coats of automotive wax on top. I think it looks ok. Good enough for my purposes.

Took apart the seat. The leather is completely rotted and the seams are all coming apart. At least I'll have a material pattern to work with. The foam was in good shape. The pan? Very rusty. Dropped it in the electrolysis tub and gave her a jolt for a few days. (My tub isn't big enough for the entire pan so I have to keep rotating it). Pulled her out this morning. There's a few rusted through spots I'll have to fill with the welder but I think she'll do.

[eil]

Looking pretty good!

Mine came with the same handlebars, I sent them off to the scrapyard with all haste.

[Crake]

More updates

Its been awhile since my last update, took a bit of a hiatus. I've been chipping away at a few things in the past couple months.

Got the tank hooked up, the petcock works fantastic, no issues there. I really hate the fuel line routing to the carb, I think I got some permanent scarring on the backs of my hands from trying to connect the fuel line after the tank was installed.

I pulled out the old sewing machine and about 20$ of marine upholstery and sewed up a half-assed seat cover. It doesn't look professional but it will do for now. Bought a new battery. Last week I ordered a $50 piston cup set for the master cylinder and got the front brakes working. The whole process went surprisingly smooth.

The bike was leaking a lot of gas last time I ran it. I suspect the #1 carb float is sticking. There's a lot of smoke out the left exhaust and #2, #4 plugs are pretty black. The damn F/A mix is clearly off and it's super frustrating to adjust those fuel screws once the carbs are on the bike. I suspect I'm gonna have to pull them off again and lean up all four cylinders. Right now the bike fires instantly with no choke at all so I'm thinking the mixture's rich on all four carbs. For now, I've drained the bowls and let her sit until I can roll it out on the pad instead of stinking up the garage.

Now, if the damn snow would melt, I might be able to take it for a quick trip around the block.

Here she is, sitting impatiently on the driveway. C'mon, spring!

[Crake]

Spring sucks

So I've named my bike Stinky because of the ever-elusive gas leak stinking up my shop. I pulled the carbs again and gave the floats and needles a close inspection, as I suspected the bowls are overflowing. Did a meticulous cleaning and reassembled it. There seems to be some sort of stealth leak as I'll let the bike sit for a few days - it would seem fine however after a day or two a bit of gas would puke out randomly in the middle of the night all over the floor. I don't get it. You'd think if there was a leak, it would immediately leak when the fuel hit the carbs.

I suspect the petcock might be dribbling a bit and one or more of the carbs are gradually overflowing. Possibly even forward into the cylinders. This was verified when I tried rerouting my fuel line (what a cursed tight space to work!) and gas would trickle out the petcock as I cursed and fumed.

I pulled the bike out on a warm day and drained the oil - it was looking pretty cloudy and I suspected it was contaminated. New filter, new oil - and a nice brand new fuel cut-off valve between the gas filter and carb. That should stop excess fuel flow, I'll make a point of running the bike a few minutes after I shut the valve and that should empty the fuel system. Take that, leak.

Stinky now sits outside 'cause I don't wanna get high on gas fumes anymore. Took her for a spin around the bay and she seems to run fine, all systems are go. A new development, however - now there's a black oily gunk leaking out of the exhaust drain. Not much (whenever I start it and let it run, about a teaspoon dribbles out) and a wee bit out the rear exhaust. Could be unburnt oil (leaking past the rings when the oil was contaminated?) or possibly just the excess of penetrating lubricant I used to free the cylinders getting ejected out the exhaust. I did use quite a bit of Fluid Film so I hope that's all it is. Will watch the fluid levels closely.

So now I wait patiently for May 1 to go pick up an antique plate. More to follow...

[Crake]

All done (almost)

Today I picked up some bar end mirrors at my local motorcycle salvage shop. The guys talked me into some decent handlebars for $30. I figure I'd probably pay that in shipping to get something shipped in, so I went for it.

The end mirrors needed a bit of flat black paint but otherwise were in great shape. Picked up an antique plate over my lunch break ($78 for 6 months - wow!) Came home and installed the new handlebar. It looks great and feels a lot more natural than those ape-hangers. What did the guy call them at the salvage shop? "Wheelbarrow handles"...

Took her down to Husky to fuel her up - $12 of premium to fill. She ran really well for the 5km test drive. I did notice the occasional stutter now and then but otherwise the bike had good acceleration and seemed to run and idle just fine. Tach is still sluggish - I'm gonna ride her for awhile and see if it loosens up before springing on new gauges.

I cut the fuel supply about 100 meters from the house and parked it in the garage. Put a tub underneath her - lo and behold, the black ooze seems to be gone. I guess all she just needed to blow out a few cobwebs.

So here she is. Gonna spend my next allowance on a new set of tires. I'll take some better pictures when it isn't gusting 70kph winds and blowing dust and sh*t all over my neighborhood. Cheers!

"Crake"

[keepsailing]

Right on!! Congrats, glad to hear it made the trip. Wish I could say the same about my current build. Keep us updated

[Crake]

put-put-put

Well the first 20 km went well. Then she started bogging down like she was running out of gas. Managed to limp her home (barely) and observed the fuel line from the filter to the carb was bone-dry. After a few cranks there was barely a trickle down the line. Soooo. Plugged filter or plugged petcock. I'm betting it's the filter. Should be an easy fix - and here I was all sad there was rain forecasted for the rest of the week!

[keepsailing]

Well the first 20 km went well. Then she started bogging down like she was running out of gas. Managed to limp her home (barely) and observed the fuel line from the filter to the carb was bone-dry. After a few cranks there was barely a trickle down the line. Soooo. Plugged filter or plugged petcock. I'm betting it's the filter. Should be an easy fix - and here I was all sad there was rain forecasted for the rest of the week!

Shouldn't be too bad of a fix. Should probably swap out petcocks on my bike as well.

[Crake]

Petcock

Shouldn't be too bad of a fix. Should probably swap out petcocks on my bike as well.

I stripped my petcock and cleaned it. Had about 29 years of solidified resin and crap plugging it completely. Once it was cleaned it seemed to function well.

[keepsailing]

I stripped my petcock and cleaned it. Had about 29 years of solidified resin and crap plugging it completely. Once it was cleaned it seemed to function well.

I'll have to look into that instead, could probably save me a little coin. It would probably be safer to run a new one though. Hopefully the bike makes a full trip for you in the near future!

[Crake]

Petcock cont

I'll have to look into that instead, could probably save me a little coin. It would probably be safer to run a new one though. Hopefully the bike makes a full trip for you in the near future!

After a bit I suspected my petcock might be leaking a bit of gas over time (mine only has an "on" and "reserve" setting, no "off") so I installed a fuel cut-off switch a bit further down the line to resolve that.

[keepsailing]

It should have a vacuum line then? At least mine does, which allows the ON position to basically be an OFF position when the bike isn't running.

[Crake]

It should have a vacuum line then? At least mine does, which allows the ON position to basically be an OFF position when the bike isn't running.

Yes sir, there should be a vacuum line running to the petcock. When the motor runs, the vacuum pulls a diaphragm back which opens a rubber stopper inside the petcock, allowing gas to trickle through. Turning the petcock lever rotates a small plastic fitting that redirects fuel flow from either the top end of your in-tank filter ("on") or the bottom ("reserve").