1978 GS750 -- Runaround Sue

Re: 1978 GS750 -- First Build

Okay, so the front forks... The upper were in such bad, rusty shape (as you saw in the photo) that I have ordered some new ones, but in the mean time I took the old ones and cleaned them up a bit and hit them with some black paint so they wouldn't look so horrible and cobbled them together for the intent of mocking-up the front end to make sure everything fits right. When the new uppers get here they will be installed with new Progressive springs and W15 fork oil. The fork pictures were mostly there to show off the lowers... Sorry for the confusion there.
 
OK, I've been doing a lot of little things lately as my schedule is currently only permitting about 4 hours/week to work on it. The good news is that it's really only little things that I have left to do.

Over the past few weeks I've been focused on getting the electrical back in place and getting ready to paint the tank and side covers. I've also been kicking around seat/tail ideas, but that post will come later.

Here's the new gauge bracket I fabbed out of some scrap I found laying around at work:

Here's what the original gauge pod looked like -- big and ugly. Time to see if it can be slimmed down a bit...
HPIM1742.jpg


The original piece:
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After some cutting, grinding and bending:
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With the gauges attached and mounted (still needs painting, so do the gauges themselves):
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Showing proof of some electrical success. Amazingly almost everything works after sitting dormant for 20 years. I haven't gotten around to really testing the charging/ignition system yet, but I'm sure it won't go as smoothly.

Here is a headlight that is actually shining. You can also see that I've gotten the front wheel on as well as the grips and hand controls.

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Next weekend (yipee, it's a four-day) I expect to get the filler on the tank and take care of the brakes.
 
Cool project. The stock gauges on those things are obnoxious (I just got rid of mine) but other than that you are going to love this bike. At least you got the 140mph speedometer. My OEM one only went to 85. On an 1100.


That exhaust is super heavy too. Some real weight savings simply by upgrading that to a 4 - 1.
 
Hey thanks. I did pick up a Kerker 4-1 for it and mounted it over the weekend (just don't have any pictures yet) and it looks much nicer than the stock 4-2.
 
Do you plan on keeping the stock airbox ? Either way, you may want to rejet. These things were jetted a little lean from the factory as it is.
 
I am planning to keep the stock box (and, in fact, I got it put back on last weekend) and I have a baffle for the Kerker, so we'll see how it runs (if it runs) when the time comes.

Over the weekend I also finished the tank, side covers, and headlight bucket:

HPIM1871.jpg


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It's going to need a little bit of wet-sanding next weekend and it should be pretty good...for now.

Also, yes, that is a pan of bread dough rising in the pictures. It was in there because at the time, the "paint booth" in my garage was the hottest part of the house (I had my small heater going full-blast to help cure the paint) and aided in the rising of the dough -- it tasted great too!
 
Quick update. Mounted the tank and side covers after sanding, polishing and waxing them. It's the first good weekend we've had in awhile, so I didn't spend much time working on her today, I went riding on the other bike instead. It seemed appropriate. All that's left is to put in the new brake lines, finish out the few remaining electrical bits, and get it to fire up and we should be rolling.

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Thanks, I was trying to capture a little bit of retro magic with the color -- reminded me of my dad's old '67 Mustang GTA 390.
 
Re: 1978 GS750 -- Runaround Sue has a heartbeat!

Well, after 20+ years of sitting idle, it started today! There were times when I thought it would never happen. I was giddy like a child and when my wife heard my shouts of joy she ran into the garage thinking I had wounded myself. The video linked below is actually the second time it started when I remembered to actually go and get the camera. The only issue I had was that after I shut it off and refilled the tank, the #4 carb dumped abunch of fuel through the overflow line. Wondering if I've got a vacuum line routed wrong or something... Only lights, seat and gauges left to do until she is roadworthy.

The Zuke Starts Up
 
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