Zagg's Project: '78 GS750E

[Zagg]

This is currently available installation/set-up sheet from V&H.

"GS750 2V -> Increase the main jet to a 115. Pilot Jet should be increased to a 17.5. The needle may need to be raised on notch (lower clip)."

Crystal clear and to the point. Thank you.

[alke46]

Welcome to the site. I just finished reading this from start to finish and will be following along with your process. Good luck with your rescue of another fine motorcycle.

One question, did you record the sizes of the jets from the carbs when you had them apart? Could really be good for having a baseline to go from.

Larry

[Zagg]

Welcome to the site. I just finished reading this from start to finish and will be following along with your process. Good luck with your rescue of another fine motorcycle.

One question, did you record the sizes of the jets from the carbs when you had them apart? Could really be good for having a baseline to go from.

Larry

You nailed it Larry. I just dropped in to post that my jets are 112.5's. I just checked.

[Zagg]

I'm guessing this means I will need to go through the carbs and measure the screws and jets and compare against stock.

[Zagg]

Happy New Year, GSers, wrenchers, and riders! I'll be talking to you in 2016.

[Weasel]

Good stuff zagg. Just ordered a valve shim tool after seeing yours. As you saw in my thread, I'm about in the same boat as you. Looks like yours is in similar fair condition. Penetrating oil and impact driver have got all of my bolts & screws loose with no damage. My heat gun came in handy for making the intake boots and air box boots pliable. You plan on getting it back to stock or customizing?

[Zagg]

Good stuff zagg. Just ordered a valve shim tool after seeing yours. As you saw in my thread, I'm about in the same boat as you. Looks like yours is in similar fair condition. Penetrating oil and impact driver have got all of my bolts & screws loose with no damage. My heat gun came in handy for making the intake boots and air box boots pliable. You plan on getting it back to stock or customizing?

Yeah, I saw your rescue here and then bumped into it on another site while looking for info. We are definitely in the same boat! That's what I thought was cool about your project - you got the same bike at the same time.

Definitely need the impact. I was at Harbor Freight yesterday because I thought I could get the pneumatic at 25% off -unfortunately the sale starts today and after buying a Birthday gift for my daughter and Winter boots for snow removal work I am broke. Oh well, so it goes. I will pick one up soon either way because HF has them cheap.

I will start working the PB Blaster into the RH cover soon. I have all but two of the LH replaced with SS (stainless steel) hex heads and I will do the same to the other side. Heat gun would be nice. I have one of those propane torches to heat things up.

Not sure where my build will go. It's my first bike since riding dirtbikes for fun as a kid so I'm not sure how much work beyond restoration strictly for riding purposes I will get to. I want to get this thing on the road so bad I can hardly stand it.

My main concerns with this bike are riding comfort and the ability to carry 1 or 2 days worth of supplies so although I like the "cafe" style I'm not sure that it will work for my bike. Also, I have a bulging disc in my lower back , one in my neck, and my shoulders are about shot (not bad for 38, huh?) At 6'3" 160 I am fairly certain the forward lean riding position will not work.

How do you put the button "Click here for Weasel's 1978 GS750 project thread" to come up? Thanks! Happy New Year!

-Rich

[Weasel]

Sounds like a good plan. Yeah I started posting over on the Do The Ton forum because they have a section just for cafe racers. This is the best place hands down for GS info but they're not too crazy about chopping them up. But I can certainly understand their point of view and respect that. My plan is to just remove things as I have done and not do anything that won't allow the bike to go back to the original.

I know how you feel about wanting to get that thing on the road. I took a 7 year break from motorcycles to raise kids and buy a farm. With the cafe style and 750 engine, this thing will look bad ass and back up its looks. Comfortable and a long rider it will not be! I plan to add a used sport/touring bike to the garage for trips and I'd like to build a scrambler someday.

Go to page one of your project post. Highlight the address in the link bar at the top. Select copy. Go in your profile and click on signature. Put any text you want in there, I put my project description. Highlight the text you put in and click the globe with the link icon to add a link. Paste your project post link in there. Hope that makes sense.

[Zagg]

Sounds like a good plan. Yeah I started posting over on the Do The Ton forum because they have a section just for cafe racers. This is the best place hands down for GS info but they're not too crazy about chopping them up. But I can certainly understand their point of view and respect that. My plan is to just remove things as I have done and not do anything that won't allow the bike to go back to the original.

If you think they are hardcore here, spend some time over at Caferacer.net. I've read several threads started by unsuspecting builders looking to start a project thread or to ask a question and just mentioning the word "cafe" gets some pretty unpleasant responses from some of the members. The guys there are purists regarding classic bikes and lean more toward performance upgrades over chopping the bikes up. I guess it's more about guys with more confidence than skills buying a vintage bike - one that becomes more rare in its stock form every year - and immediately strips it to the frame and cuts tabs, cuts the tail, and then disappears from the site when they realize they are in way over their head and go buy a newer bike and stick their bike-in-a-box in the corner.

I know how you feel about wanting to get that thing on the road. I took a 7 year break from motorcycles to raise kids and buy a farm. With the cafe style and 750 engine, this thing will look bad ass and back up its looks. Comfortable and a long rider it will not be! I plan to add a used sport/touring bike to the garage for trips and I'd like to build a scrambler someday.

That's cool. I get it. Started a landscape business almost 5 years ago, single dad. I would eat, sleep, and breath nothing but work and anything left at the end of the day went to the kids (not much). Learned a lot, burned out on that not quite 2 years ago and said "what the hell am I doing?!" So I split my time - normal work day, stopped burning the candle at both ends... better, but still no fun for me in the equation (the girlfriend left after she realized 3rd place was the best finish she was ever gonna get). Completely by chance that motorcycles came back into my life so I will play it out and see where it leads me.

Go to page one of your project post. Highlight the address in the link bar at the top. Select copy. Go in your profile and click on signature. Put any text you want in there, I put my project description. Highlight the text you put in and click the globe with the link icon to add a link. Paste your project post link in there. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for that. I figured out how to put it in there but not title it so I just hand an ugly ass, mile long link! Much better now, thank you.

[Zagg]

Thought this was interesting... 2 of my projects.... The top is a GS750 head, the whole head. The bottom? 1 head off a 7.3 idi. Like my Christmas card says.... "Oh what fun..."

[Zagg]

Started cleanup work on the airbox... What a mess. I worked on removing some of this mess, scraping the last of the foam seal inside, and some rust cleanup.

[Zagg]

I will post some pics when I get it wrapped up. I have the weatherstripping to install once clean. I want to put a nice coat of paint on it too. Picked up a pneumatic impact driver from HF... 25% off plus a return... $10.

[Zagg]

Took a pic of the main jet...



A little blurry, sorry bout that.

Went through the shims...



Found this tool setup to work really fast. I got the last 6 shims out faster than I removed the first 2.



The red handled tools are from a crappy little pick set from Advance Autoparts. It came in a 3"x6'" grey box. 4 pics, 2 stars, 1 phillips, 1 flat. The flat and the 90 pic worked well. The flat popped up the shim and then I pushed the pick down in between the shim and bucket on the opposite side and pushed towards the bucket notch. I had only 2 valves pass the feeler test at .04mm. Pulled them all and marked them down although after reading a few threads I will double check them all with the vernier to verify. I will be submitting shims to the shim club for trade.

[Zagg]

I would just like to go ahead and thank the P.Owners for all they have done.... The stripped screws, the missing parts, the botched wiring, and whatever the shmootz was they used to stick the valve cover gasket on with because there are little bits of it all over the cams, the buckets, everything! Just when I start beating myself up over half-assing something I come face to face with the reality that if I am half-assing, then these d-bags are WHOLE assing!

[Weasel]

I just started messing around with my valve shims too. My clearances were all tight. I was able to move a few of the smaller shims to get within spec on a few of them but I'm going to have to order a few other sizes.

Gotta love POs hack jobs. I found a few pilot screw springs missing when I rebuilt my carbs along with a missing o-ring.