'78 GS750 Suzuki brat/cafe "Fawkes"

Greetings everyone.

So this is the beginning of my GS750 "E" build (1978).

I inherited the bike from my dad via my younger brother who didn't have time for it after he fell in love with a VW Karmann Ghia restoration project. So I picked it up and will see what I can do with it. Because I am working as articling student at a law firm. I will be restricted to working on the bike during my (few) free weekends... thus I expect I will be a while finishing it.

It looks like this.

Advice will be both greatly sought and needed in equal proportions!

Oh.. and by the way, I am naming this bike "Fawkes" after the Phoenix from Harry Potter b/c this build will be truly and utterly a beauty rising from the ashes. Ya I'm a dork.

Re: '78 GS750 Suzuki brat/cafe "Phoenix"

Now I know what you must be thinking... "he is crazy" or "it can't be done" or "its not worth the trouble" and well it is a bit crazy.

But, it ran before being torn down which is a plus. I didn't pay anything for it; another plus. A lot of the misc. part won't be going back on the bike anyways (like bars, controls, levers, master cylinders, pegs, chain, sprockets, rear suspension etc...) and I am prepared to sandblast and powdercoat anything that seems to warrant it. Another plus.

I am also going to go with a different tank because the biggest beef I have with GS750 café builds is the atrocious lack of traditional straight line running from the tank to the back of the seat/tail. Terrible. There are a lot of nice GS builds around (and growing in number) but none with perfect 'top line.' That sucks.

My bike at least has really nice wire wheels and having just spend hours cleaning them... I am so surprised and pleased by how nice they are.

This bike spent 12 years in a garden shed (not in pieces though)...

Any thoughts?

By way... here are a couple of inspiration pics. I have been looking for MONTHS and have only found a few GS's that I really like.

Re: '78 GS750 Suzuki brat/cafe "Phoenix"

I am really looking forward to the engine rebuild. The lower end will be left alone but a complete top end plus timing upgrade and electrics/wiring upgrade will be done.

One of the primary objectives of this project is to get the weight down on this bike while improving the handling. I don't think I will go crazy with the build (as in fork swap for GSXR etc or frame cutting) but I do want to trim weight where I can.

After hours of work... here are a few pics of the wire wheels (they were absolutely filthy before!!!) I still have to spend some time on the spokes... so they still look poor.

Anyone think I would be better off powdercoating the wheels black with chrome spokes? would hate to waste such nice chrome wheels but it does look good with the black/chrome combo....

Re: '78 GS750 Suzuki brat/cafe "Phoenix"

Am going to drill the rotors this weekend which should save a little weight and incrementally increase braking ability. The rotors on this bike are heavy!!!!

Thought I would post a picture of the frame before I grind off superfluous bits (not sure which to grind off at the moment... which is what I was trying to decide when I took this picture). Pretty good shot of a basic GS frame and also that broken line that (under where the seat was) drives me crazy!

Sorry if I am giving anyone viewing fatigue... part of the reason for posting these pics is for future reference! and of course community ideas.

looking good so far! i would leave the wheels as they are atm, you can always paint them black afterwards if you still want to.

any idea what kind of tank is going on?

Welcome mate. That is a nice looking start point you have. I will be watching this closely.

And I am bloody jealous of your brother. VW Karmann Ghia is my dream car.

To be honest (and I know I will get groans for this...) I am leaning towards some kind of a Benelli-style tank. Prob is they are pricey and hard to find if you want an actual used or NOS. I would consider ordering one made in India but would love to know if they are of good quality or not.

I am also thinking about a Manx TT from DCC or something of that ilk. If there were a way to modify the existing tank to make it work I might try that... but at the moment I have not come across any overly successful examples from my admittedly limited search on it. Will keep looking.

My goal by the end of spring is to have tape, tubes, and tires on the rims (likely left chrome as they do look great), the brake rotors drilled, the calipers rebuilt and powdercoated (the latter first of course!), and at least the frame cleaned up and any unwanted bits ground off. Additionally, I hope to have the front forks cleaned up, progressive springs installed and new rear suspension purchased.

As regards new rear suspension, is there any reason why I shouldn't order rears that are slightly (1") shorter? Would that do something drastic to the handling if you take into consideration the fact that I am aiming to lower the front by 1" as well (simply sliding the forks up and attaching clip-ons to the raised bit)? I could use anyone's advice as I don't want to build a beautiful killer!!!!

Brodie: I agree, the Ghia is amazing. He is putting a 2200 bus engine in it which will require a rad to be installed somewhere so he is having a great time with it. Hopes to have it done by the end of this year but I doubt that.. single dad with three kids!

jungalist: thanks for chiming in. I appreciate any advice I can get. I think I will takes your advice and leave the wheels.. you are right in that I can always remove them and paint them later. Thanks for that.

With my limited time and the fact that there will be extensive work done on the engine... I anticipate that I will be able to have a finished frame etc by the end of the summer, with winter reserved for engine and wiring work. I am going to build my own wiring and rewire as much as possible through the frame. Everything from fork lowers to frame and parts of the engine will be powder coated satin black (or so the plan is atm). I would love to have the balls to go with something unusual but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to risk it looking terrible! Any suggestions??

I am also toying with the idea of putting handlebars back on instead of clip-ons and attempting to replace at least some of the controls with toggles build into the bars and internal wiring. Not sure I can pull that off or not. I had a great picture from PipeBurn somewhere of a bike that did that.. looked very clean. I will see if I can find it.

Hmm... found this switch and I like the style and low profile.

http://www.shop.modernmotorcyclecompany.com.au/products/switch-block-alloy-with-flat-toggle-by-posh

Keep those wheels chrome and do blacked out spokes. Good luck bro looks like a fun challenge.

nice looking switch, but it seems a bit expensive for something you could make yourself. be a bit creative with metal cigar boxes or go to the junkyard for some interrior pieces from a car that have the shape of those control housings, you should be able to make your own set of controls

and with handlebars you mean clubman bars or stock bars?

Hey Junalist, good ideas. I linked to that switch for that very reason. I didn't want to forget where I saw it but it is too pricey for me anyway. It is a cool design idea. I was looking at possibly going with clubman bars.. I won't go back to stock "rototiller" bars!

I really like the bar setup on that GS in my thread... nice clip-ons, but I want to have something at least a little bit original. Time will tell. I am still a novice when it comes to fabbing parts. I have a lot to learn.

HR

Those wheel are in really good shape. Those spoke will shine up like new once you clean them. I got the same rims on my GS1000 and they they looked way worse. I took them apart and polished each spoke. Time consuming but they look like new. If you really hate the chrome you can always go back and do the wheels later.

Well... I am looking for some advice from some experienced GS builders.

I want to remove any excess bits from the frame tomorrow. I have my grinder, my files and am ready to go. I just some advice on what I can or rather what I should NOT remove.

Can I remove all the tabs outlined in my picture below?

Glad I found your build thread, always like to watch another Zook build.
couple of things I thught of while reading...
If you really want a teardrop shape tank check out the one from an L model. Our GS,s backbone is so wide hadley any other will fit without major mods.
You already know I cut off my rear peg / exhaust hangers. The tabs in the triangle can be removed if you dont want to use the sidecovers, but the ones you circled under the backbone are handy to hold the harness. Might want to keep those.
Looking forward to your progress..if you need need anything, just holler.

Thanks for the advice. Think I will do some grinding tomorrow.

HR

Okay...so I have been grinding... and filing. (repeat ad nauseam)

I have a couple of questions that I hope someone can help me with...

If you see in my pics... am I missing anything? Are the circled items able to be removed? Also, can I remove anything from the swingarm? Also... in the second picture I have removed most of the rear triangles that held the passenger pegs and exhaust mounting bolts... but one side seems rather more useless than the other... can I cut of the left side?

I have another question that popped into my mind while filing (ad nauseam)...do the old GS's have front brake switches? I don't seem to recall mine having one when I last rode it 15 years ago! My memory is poor though! I didn't see a switch among the parts I 'inherited'.... so I am at a loss. Can anyone enlighten me?

Thanks for all the help!

HR