Drew's 83 750e project

[jsandidge]

Finally got a chance to look this old girl over today. The reason for the excess oil behind the stator cover is a leaky petcock. I drained the fuel tank and engine oil today. The oil had a lot of fuel in it. Took the petcock apart and found a porous diaphragm. I did pick up an airbox and boots. Going to do some more digging to see what she needs. I'll pull the valve cover next for a valve check. Might be nice to not need to replace shims. Hopefully, I can re-use the gasket. So far, my parts list only consists of a stator gasket, petcock, and air filter. I promised the wife that I wouldn't spend anything on this bike until I re-do the deck for her, so for now, I'll just keep adding to my list.

[jollidude]

That engine uses screw and locknut to adjust valve clearance - no shims. Valve cover gasket is rubber and normally can be re-used several times. You will probably need to replace it due to the age of the bike, however. I had an 84 GS750EF back in the day, very nice bikes, I loved mine. I recently found a 1984 GS750E (round headlight, no fairing) on Kijiji that I am going to restore over the next couple of years as funds are available. Needs a fair bit of work, but came with a number of extras that will help out.

Cheers!

Jollidude

[eil]

Dang! Nice! Would love to find a decent 700E or 750E for anywhere near that price around here.

[jsandidge]

Well, I finally finished the deck for the wife. Time to start working on this thing. I installed a stator cover gasket and filled the crankcase with some cheap oil to flush out any leftover fuel from the bad petcock diaphragm. Hooked up an auxiliary tank since I haven't addressed the petcock, and she fired right up!

The motor really sounds good. I will be stripping the carbs down for a dip and new o-rings. The carbs are leaking a little at the t's. The PO had drilled out the mains in an attempt to re-jet for the pods. I have a set of stock mains and a stock airbox that will be going on. This is going to be fun!

[salty_monk]

Stock airboxes are rare (and hard to fit on that model). You'll need to release the engine mounts to fit it.

When you do the valve check you may find you need new washers to go under the bolts, the gasket is rubber too, you might be lucky....

Check the oil lines carefully when you take the cover off.. Sometimes the banjo bolts holding them on to the valve caps are snapped (and the only source is to find some used ones).

I had some Crush washers turned up to convert M8 External banjos to M10 so you could use standard lines... never got round to testing them. I may have them stashed somewhere, if not I have the drawing.

All I've seen weep a little by now at the rubber to end joints & there is no replacement available.

[jsandidge]

All I've seen weep a little by now at the rubber to end joints & there is no replacement available.

Not sure what you are referring to here. Can you go into a little more detail?

[Nessism]

Not sure what you are referring to here. Can you go into a little more detail?

The oil feed up to the cams is via external oil lines. The lines, on the back side of the engine, have a banjo fitting on the ends crimped to a rubber hose, and the joint between the materials tends to slowly fail.

[jsandidge]

I see. I'll keep an eye on that. Thanks.

[jsandidge]

Stock airboxes are rare (and hard to fit on that model). You'll need to release the engine mounts to fit it.

When you do the valve check you may find you need new washers to go under the bolts, the gasket is rubber too, you might be lucky....

The stock airbox I found was in rough shape. Both of the hose nipples were broken off and the seam was open in the back. I was able to get some nylon hose barbs threaded and glued into the holes, and glued up the seam. It came out tight and strong, very happy with it. Getting it in was as difficult as you described. Even releasing the engine mounts barely gained enough room to squeeze it in. It's coming along nicely now, though. Valve checks will come tomorrow.

[jsandidge]

Running nicely!

Pretty pleased with today's progress. Got the carbs in (they don't leak anymore, yay!). Valve adjustments are done, only a couple of them were a little out of spec. Started up easily, it really runs well! It took throttle well, unlike when the pods were on it. I'll do a vacuum synch tomorrow.

I did have a minor setback. 2 of the 3 signal generator cover bolts snapped, 1 of them was actually already broken before I started. No big deal, I'll get them out tomorrow.

[Charlie G]

Pretty pleased with today's progress. Got the carbs in (they don't leak anymore, yay!). Valve adjustments are done, only a couple of them were a little out of spec. Started up easily, it really runs well! It took throttle well, unlike when the pods were on it. I'll do a vacuum synch tomorrow.

I did have a minor setback. 2 of the 3 signal generator cover bolts snapped, 1 of them was actually already broken before I started. No big deal, I'll get them out tomorrow.

Good news. Congratulations!

[jsandidge]

Having fun now! Just got back from getting a state inspection (no issues) and short ride. There are a few minor things I want to look at, but then I'll go for a longer ride this afternoon.

[jsandidge]

Since I was able to sort out my oil pressure light, I went for a good ride this morning. This bike runs & rides great! It's not for me, though. I have bad knees as it is, the riding position is really rough on them. My 850L with the floorboards is much more comfortable, and the style suits me better.

I was tempted to keep this thing, but I'll be sticking to the original plan of flipping it. I'll start working on the cosmetics soon. I do enjoy working on these old machines, and I think I can even make a little money on this one.

[dorkburger]

Glad to hear it's going well. Those bikes have grown on me quite a lot over the last few years. It looks good as is before cosmetic work, so hopefully it will only get better. With your purchase price it definitely seems you can make a profit.

[jsandidge]

I went to tidy up some of the electricals today, since some of the wiring under the left side cover was a little sloppy. I did the charging quick tests, which indicated good charging, but possibly some dirty connections. I knew the bike had a non OEM r/r, but I wasn't sure what it was. After doing some research, I have identified it as one of the 6 wire Honda r/r's like the ones Duaneage used to sell. The sense wire is tied into the ignition wire just under the fusebox. The hot wire from the r/r was going straight to the battery +. I have changed that back to the original red harness wire. The ground wire from the r/r was also going straight to the battery -. I am making an SPG grounding point. If this bike was going to be a keeper, I would get an SH775. But since the bike is charging well, this is what will stay in it.