1981 Suzuki GS 750 Opinions

phrige

I'm a pig, I'm A dog so exuse me if I drool.
Hey,

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going with my brother to check out a 1981 Suzuki GS 750 he's interested in buying. Anyone have experience with these bikes? I'm not to familiar with them but I though I remeber reading them being pretty good, as far as the GS line goes.

Any bugs to specifically check for?

Thanks,
Petr
 
I have quite a lot of experience with them, was working at a Suzuki dealers.
Is it 8 or 16 valve motor? (8 valve has round cam end caps, 16 valve has 'square' cam end caps, was GSX everywhere but US)

PJ
 
8valve

Unfortunatly the big turned out to be in worse shape than listed. The listing said redone brakes and carbs.. yet when i looked at it, one cylinder wasnt firing, two carbs were leaking, front brakes didnt work and exaughst had some white smoke. Tires were old/ original. and the throttle was a bit messy. the actual twist needs to be replaced since its held together by electrical tape, not too big a deal as far as replacement. but overall Not exactly "like new" as listed. THough the brake problem was something that wasnt there when he parked the bike 3 months ago. i can believe him on that.

Really nice looking bike. Long and big as all hell. My brother was looking for something he could just buy and drive. He's not looking for a project.

How were they overall in your experience? seems like it could really be nice especially on long trips.
 
Its a stupidly reliable motor, only two things ever really went wrong with them, both owner related.
The tappet clearance is ony one to three thou so exhaust valves could burn if not adjusted (real easy as its shim over bucket, special tool about $10.00)
Generators could fail if used to charge dead battery, not designed to put out max amps for extended periods.
If its cheap ($4~$500 or less) it would be a good project/resto bike

PJ
 
What PJ said. I'm doing a GS850 at the moment and really like it. Starts first time everytime (only start it once a week to keep it from seizing or battery going south) and pulls like a freight train. The 750 doesn't have the shaft drive and weighs a bit less in general so I can only imagine it'd be just as much fun to ride (or more) than the 850.

Top notch reliability apart from the electrical system, which is known to burn out its charging system. Not a big deal, and if the bike is running then its probably fine. As above, my 850 starts first hit every time and its got 35,000 miles up on it. They're known to go around the clock, so don't worry too much about mileage.

Clean the carbs and get some new sparkplugs and leads, it'll be up and running again like a champ.

Cheers - boingk
 
wow, Thanks for the info. I estimated in the ballpark you mentioned PJ, 4-500 would definitely make it a worth while project candidate. I didn't realize it was such a reliable machine. That really perks my interest. I love these kinds of well built machines.
good luck on your project Boingk, Thanks for the heads up.

I dont know if ive been around to many old/new hondas or modern bikes but when i saw the GS750 i was amazed at its size, long, not to wide but def has girth. for a 750 this was definitely larger than i expected for some reason. great style to it too.

I'll look into further. Owner was askin 1100 for it, but if it was like half as much i might want to snatch it up if my brother passes.
 
I used to flog the snout out of a GS750T. Rode it from Long Beach MS to Sturgis MS rally with oil pouring out the tach drive hole the entire way there. Found the oil leak in Sturgis (good rally if anybody wants to show up). Bike never hiccuped.

Wind Jammer 2 fairing, 23" tall windshield, luggage rack, backrest bar, milk crate bungeed on for storage. The stock burgundy color was atrocious, especially with the silver fairing. Ratlle canned the tins, redyed the seat (not worth it, flakes off), rode it until the tires were bald. And we sold it for $1200 a couple years later, made a few bucks on it.

Bad points? It is a HEAVY bike. Eats chains. Top heavy.

I wouldn't mind having another one to play with...
 
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