Weasel's 1978 GS750 cafe racer project

[Weasel]

I cleaned up one of the forks and nut (top of picture) on the brass wire wheel on the bench grinder. Unfortunately, the pitting is more than just surface rust. I found a local chrome shop, waiting to hear back.

[Weasel]

My daughter took an action shot...in case you want to put a face with the name

[steveb922]

Make sure your plating shop is set up to do 'hard chroming'. The finish on the fork stanchion is different to say, exhausts or mudguards. Hard chroming has far better abrasion tolerance and wear resistance, and also oxidisation resistance.

[Weasel]

Thanks Steve. This place specializes in auto & motorcycle chroming but I will be sure to ask.

[Weasel]

No luck with that chrome shop. Said they don't do tubes, can't keep them the correct size.

[IanC]

I'm not sure what they would cost to get rechromed once you found a shop to do it. I do know this company offers replacements. http://www.fastfromthepast.com/05-0038

[Weasel]

Thanks Ian. That would be a last resort unless refinishing costs more than the replacements at $350 US. I'm still following leads on local shops.

[Chuck78]

wow man, I would just look into getting a set of 37 mm gs850 or gs1000 forks, non L models, straight legs. Put them in 82 or 83 GS1100E aluminum triples, double check those two years to make sure the triples are off of a straight leg model. The leading axle models are more rectangular shaped lower triples with less offset, the ones you want are more V shaped with more offset, those are the ones from straight leg forks. EBay listings are not always correct often because parts were switched around on various bikes before they got parted out completely.
the 37mm is definitely the better way to go. They are much stiffer than 35's that came stock on the 750. The aluminum 1100e triples will offset the additional weight of the bigger forks. The only downside is that the cartridge emulators that fit those have to come from racetech, and they are $100. It's a no brainer to swap them on vs getting $$$$ tubes for the old forks.
A good chrome used set shouldn't be too hard to find.

Or you could upgrade to some Bandit 1200 forks & 310mm brakes!

[Chuck78]

wow man, I would just look into getting a set of 37 mm gs850 or gs1000 forks, non L models, straight legs. Put them in 82 or 83 GS1100E aluminum triples, double check those two years to make sure the triples are off of a straight leg model. The leading axle models are more rectangular shaped lower triples with less offset, the ones you want are more V shaped with more offset, those are the ones from straight leg forks. EBay listings are not always correct often because parts were switched around on various bikes before they got parted out completely.
the 37mm is definitely the better way to go. They are much stiffer than 35's that came stock on the 750. The aluminum 1100e triples will offset the additional weight of the bigger forks. The only downside is that the cartridge emulators that fit those have to come from racetech, and they are $100. It's a no brainer to swap them on vs getting $$$$ tubes for the old forks.
A good chrome used set shouldn't be too hard to find.

Or you could upgrade to some Bandit 1200 forks & 310mm brakes!

[Chuck78]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231722864058

$76.50 shipped, that was the first good looking pair I saw in 2 minutes of getting on ebay searching only gs850 forks from lowest price & up...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361473460101

$20.94 shipped... all there top bottom & bolts


Same seller as forks, axle is 10mm wider than a 750, has 1 spacer

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351552107620

$16.35, probably would combine shipping and just throw it in with the forks...

Dual disc for 275mm factory rotors, upgrade to honda 6 bolt rotors, ninja/concours calipers, & Dan aka Salty_Monk's adapter kit, chopped/shimmer fork springs, & Racetech Gold Valves... ultimate GS vintage OEM front end...

only thing better in vintage would be an 89-90 gsxr1100k cartridge fork but those really need sent to RaceTech for revalving to be really awesome. 1st gen Bandit 1200 forks, gs axle adapters and Bandit rotor spacers machined, 89-90 gsxr1100k triples or 93-05 vmx12 triples... that'd be the ultimate.

[Chuck78]

Or something like this, base model GS1000 (Not E or L model) single 295mm disc forks (can use your stock GS750 brakes or upgrade to a 310mm fireblade/Blackbird honda rotor & Ninja/Concours caliper with just a caliper bracket to hang the bottom bolt away from the fork a bit)

These look to have very slight rust in the top area but maybe none in the seal sliding area, may buff out even:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231810753039

$129 shipped!

[Weasel]

Thanks Chuck but I already have $100 invested in powder coating on the lowers so I'm going to figure out how to refinish or get a replacement set of stock ones. I called the Harley shop I used to frequent because they used to send out parts for my HDs to get chromed all the time. They gave me the name & number of the chrome shop they use. I called the guy & he said no problem, bring them by for a quote. I'll keep you posted on what he says.

[Weasel]

My fork seals & steering bearings showed up today along with a halo headlamp with black housing. It's a 5.75" diameter and will look way better on my minimalist front end than the big 7" stocker.

[Chuck78]

All good, I've been running a highly modified set of 35mm GS650/750 forks for a long time now, dual disc, emulators, tarozzi fork brace... great handling setup. The 37mm stuff with the aluminum triples is quite nice though.

[Weasel]

Excellent. Like I said before, just going to get this thing back to mostly stock for now, making small upgrades here and there like the fork damper set when it makes sense. There'll be plenty of time in the future to change things on a solid running machine.

The snow is flying here in western Pennsylvania and the meteorologists are all excited about the possibilities of this winter storm. I have plenty of coffee, beer & new parts to keep me busy if we get snowed in. Be careful out there folks.