1983 Suzuki GS750E Cafe/Brat/Tracker? or whatever

D

dilbone

Been Around the Block
I've got an xs650 I hardtailed, an '80 GS750 I did a brat, so I've kinda been looking to do something closer to a cafe or maybe tracker look.

I don't even have a clear picture in my mind as to what this is going to look like, so I can't even really post "inspiration pics" as to where I'm headed.

I found the '83 GS750 on CL for $200, it was already torn down for a cafe project by the PO that he dropped after getting a Buell project bike he liked better. Up to north Detroit I went to throw it all in the back of the pickup


He had clubmans on it, that I'm not a fan of and already shortened the tail by 6" or so and shortened the seat while having a buddy re-upholster it for him. I actually considered returning the bike to stock, get it running and sell it for a smidge of profit or just ride it as is stock for a while.
I got it into the barn and sat the tins on it to see what I thought about the stock look...almost threw up in my mouth...maybe the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I think shortening it made it even worse...stock isn't an option. I'll look for a hoop and dream up some seat ideas, think about bars and side cover panel ideas. The journey starts...
 
Well, my first order of business(aside from getting a rear seat hoop ordered) is to figure out what to do with the top triple and risers/clip-ons/handlebars. The current set up looks absolutely ridiculous IMO and those skinny stems aren't looking so hot in terms of strength.
From what I can tell, the fork tubes are supposed to be above the top of the triple on this bike for the stock risers that were used. I'm thinking maybe I could use clip-ons above the triple because I don't want to be laying down to get to the bars. Otherwise, drilling out the threaded holes those risers are currently installed in could allow me to use some aftermarket risers or at least be able to use the ones on there with some rubber grommets and washers above and below the triple. Dropping them down into the triple so they're not sticking up like a sore thumb.

Anyone else been down this road? The more I look at the box of parts for this bike I'm not sure how many stock stuff I'll be able to use...very little.

 
I don't have any pics, but clip-ons off a CB750F DOHC will clamp straight on to those forks (they're both 37mm).


I had a set on my old GSX750.
 
Other thing to note is Suzuki used the same SHB's for this bike and a bunch of others including early GSXR so a front end swap is pretty easy.


By the way, did you get a motor with this box of bits??
 
The more I looked through the parts the longer my list of things to order is getting....

Well, here's the motor



PO said all the oil leaked out of the motor as it sat in the corner of the garage...I was a little worried that maybe something was cracked until I saw gasket hanging out all over the place. The other question is I can't find any gasket information for a 1983 GS750E...Like it doesn't exist. 77-79 all day, but nothing past 79 that I can find.


I took the bars off and it looks better already...lol


I think I'm still going to use the stock tank on this despite its strange shape. Although, once I start figuring out what to do with the seat I may change my mind, but I think it can still lend well for this style bike. I don't see many people using the stock tank, so I kinda feel a challenge to make it work. It definitely looks better without that seat, side cover, and tail.
 
Ordered a crap ton of parts tonight. Gonna be like Christmas at my house the next week to 10 days....
 
The first 2 packages showed up today...


Speedometer...I likey


And the Clip-ons...I'm probably gonna have to raise the tubes just a smidge to get them a little closer to the top of the clamp...maybe 3/8" or so would make a big difference. I've never even ridden a sport bike, so these bars seem soooooo low to me, but I suppose it will fit the look.



Next, I opened up the carbs so see what jets were in them. The PO had pods and an open exhaust so I figured something had to have been done or it wouldn't have run well enough to even be able to ride it very much.
I pulled the main jet out and it looked like plastic...it is plastic...
Here are the numbers. According to what I've found Main should be 117.5 and pilot 37.5
What I have in these is a 145 main and 37.5 pilot, with a 160 pilot air that isn't even listed on the chart I saw.
After seeing these I actually texted the PO to see if he knew anything about the mods to the carbs. He didn't, but said the guy he bought it off of had a couple of drag/race bikes and figures he must have made the changes.
I then asked him if it ran well and he replied with, "it ran pretty good, but I wouldn't call it perfect."

The plastic main(with no markings) is pictured on the left in the pic, brass pilot air on the right(with a Mikuni stamp in it). Below is the stock pilot jet. At this point I know I need to up the pilots and most likely reduce the mains...but the needles will likely be an issue also. Is the stage 3 kit worth getting with the new needles? Or can I get needles for these as well as the individual jets?

 
Just seen your build....I'm doing something very similar....mines over in the specials section!
 

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unclerob said:
And btw, your problem finding gaskets is probably because its a GSX 750, not a GS!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw your build before I bought this one. The PO called it a GS750E despite this one not having any decals at all like I've seen on others with the same configuration. There's also no model listed on the title...

I didn't realize that the 4 vs 2 valve motors were the change in designation which apparently were made side by side but with different designation so as not to cause confusion(didn't work for me lol). I'm finding all sorts of stuff for the GS750E now
I'm assuming the 4 valve heads are about the only difference so I should be good on the gasket I picked up. Now to see if the jetting is different with the GSX...

*EDIT* it seems from my little search that all sorts of people have issues distinguishing between the GS750 and GSX750 as it doesn't appear the US distinguished between them with the X in many cases...huh...I had no idea about all of this
 
And some more parts...
Man, it's like Christmas...
Clutch cable, tail light/plate bracket, headlight. I'm going to have to send this cheapo headlight back. The chrome ring is all dented in, if it was mostly on the bottom I wouldn't have worried but there are 3 pairs of deep dents all right across the top. I probably should buy a nicer light but....


I took all the controls, clutch perch, and front MC off the old clubmans and got them on the clipons. I just kinda laid stuff out to see what it would look like. I'm still not sure I'm even gonna like this thing once it's done...the cafe style is nicer to look at than ride in terms of body position IMO, I've never been much of a fan of sport bikes. It might look ok, I'm still not sure about this tank situation. I also need to get to my brother's so I can get some slugs made for the seat hoop. I'm also thinking I might use the keyed seat lock on the seat I build. It would be kinda nice to be able to take it off and on with little to no effort. I may be able to cut and hack my way to making it work. Meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out the jetting that I have currently vs. what I need to try.

 
The other day I got the gasket and my turns in. I wasn't thrilled with the style of these signals, but they were LED and metal instead of plastic so I went with them. Also, the price was right...
At some point here I'm going to have to get out to the barn and do some cutting and fabricating. The headlight I got was dinged up all over the top of the chrome ring...they ended up giving me a refund and said they didn't want it sent back because of the shipping it wouldn't be worth it.
Sooooooo, I need to order another headlight.
At this point all of my "bolt on" stuff has come in except the throttle cable and a new headlight I've yet to order.
I also need to order uni pods, possibly jets, and line up my seat materials. Paint will be later...I might just hit the raw steel with some semi gloss engine paint as I go and leave the tank with stock paint until I get it together and running before I break it all down for paint.

Next order of business is to cut off the rear and get the hoop sized and cut to fit.
get the slugs made from my bro and weld on the hoop
make some front and rear signal brackets(bolt on for lower tree pinch bolts/weld on rear)
make tail/plate bracket mount and weld on to seat hoop
build a seat
make a speedo mount bracket
decide if I really want(need) a tach
re-install the choke cable in the left control
get oil pan taken off look around in there clean everything up and install new gasket
hopefully get motor installed
clean up exhaust which is completely covered in surface rust
decide if I'm going to relocate several items or just make side covers to conceal stock battery location among other things
Enjoy the process...

 
I finally got to cutting, I cut where the PO had chopped the frame already. I'm still not sure if I need to take a bit more off. It'll depend on the seat length I end up deciding on and how much I can take off of the hoop.


Now to get some measurements and see how big of a seat I want to build
 
I needed to make some slugs for this seat hoop and the I.D. of the hoop was about 60-70 thou smaller than the frame's. I was going to have my brother turn some on his lathe but he's an hour away so I decided to check the farm store and picked up a 7/8" bolt to make my own with a bench grinder. They're not pretty, but they work



I trimmed about another inch off the ends of the frame and saved the bottom of the boxed bracing section so I could tap those up and close the open hole left at the back.


Then I slid the seat hoop into place, measured out about 6" back from the ends, and started to cut off the excess. I had just changed out cutoff wheel I was using to a fresh one and had just a sliver on one side to slice through. Of course it caught the edge and pretty well blew up...and of course as it bounced back it had to find my hand. Those 1/16" disks are great, but man they blow up if they get hung up at all...it always seems to happen with a brand freakin' new disk too. Oh well.


I didn't risk another so I got out the hack saw, finished the cuts, and cleaned them up with a flap disk. I still think it seems a bit long, but I'm running out of material to remove. The tank is so big though, that I don't think the seat is going to look too big or out of place. The end of the seat hoop is just to the front side of the rear axle. I've got to think some more about what exactly I'm going to do about the seat pan. Probably do fiberglass cloth and see if I can't incorporate the stock seat lock/removal latch. Until then I need to get the tail light and turn signal brackets made and welded on before I weld the hoop on.

 
been there done that, haha
Could you by any chance give me the diameter of the front brake rotors on this bike?
i would be much obliged, thanks
 
farmer92 said:
been there done that, haha
Could you by any chance give me the diameter of the front brake rotors on this bike?
i would be much obliged, thanks
Click to expand...


260mm.


http://metalgear.com.au/mgear-brake-disc-front-left-p-5314.html
 
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