77 Suzuki GS750 Build

[Greenmachine]

Thanks for the votes on the king queen seat and the girder but unfortunately the girder is too long and would require too much rework to get to the point where I would trust it going down the road. I am also not sure how much I like the king queen shape. I think I am going to go with the solo seat and use an old springer fork I have laying around that will require a lot less rework. The springer should bring my trail numbers in line and give me the look I'm after.

I did make some progress on my motor mounts this weekend. Got the lower mounts fabbed out of 1/4" x 1" flat stock and welded onto the frame.


Cut the beginnings of the mounting points out of the same material and rounded them off in prep for welding onto the seat post. Pilot drilled them in my drill press, will drill and tap once I determine the bolt size I want to run.


Welded them to the seat post with the top level with the mounting points on the motor. I will have to drill and tap the mounts and fab up some brackets to go between the mounts and the motor but having removable upper brackets should make installing the motor in the frame a lot easier.

[baelzbub]

GS power? Low slung frame? Mustang tank? Solo saddle?
You're crazy, that'll never work!



No wait... yes it will!


LOVE the stance! Are those the stock GS750 forks? Cuz, they look great! You got me thinking I need to build another GS! Great work!

[Greenmachine]

So I had an old springer I got with an old BSA parts bike I bought last year. I tried to cut it down to make it work on the BSA but it didn't pan out. I am now going to extend it to work on the GS. I drew the front end up in CAD and it should bring my trail numbers back to about 5" or so instead of the 11" it's at with the stock forks.

Cut two sections of 1-1/4" DOM 12" long to sleeve the 1" tube on the old rear legs.


Slotted the leg extensions 3" from the bottom to fit the new rocker mounts. Drilled holes inline with my drill press and cut out the remainder with my bandsaw, filed the rest for a snug fit on the plate steel.


Here's a pic of the first extension and the new rocker mount next to the incomplete one. Drilled the new tube for rosette welding to the round stock leg of the rear springer leg, will chamfer the holes once it's all mocked up for welding to the old springer leg. I think that between the rosette welds and the weld around the end of the tube to the springer leg I should be good to go.


I am going to bevel the slots in the tube and use a lot of preheat from my torch when I weld to the stock springer leg to make sure I get good penetration on all my welds. I am going to drill the round stock legs about 1/16" deep to make sure i get through the chrome and grind around where i make the fillet weld so i get past the chrome to base metal. Any other suggestions to make sure this thing doesn't fail on me from you professionals would be appreciated.

[Greenmachine]

Got the lower pivot points on the rear legs welded out today. Will take a flap disc and smooth them out later. All welds were made after significant pre heating with the torch.




Also finished out the plug welds on both legs. Hope it holds lol! Again lots of preheat helped out, it was a long process but I think it's better to overkill these things sometimes for peace of mind.




A 21" rim and hub from a kdx 250 is on its way, scored it on eBay for $0.99 with $12.00 shipping. Hopefully it gets here early this week. It has a 15 mm axle so i will have to run some bushings in the rockers.

Also picked up a high tunnel mustang tank since the one I have has a deep tunnel and I think the bike looks better with the tank sitting higher on the backbone.

I also picked up a 5.5" wide chrome spare tire cover on eBay to run for a fender. Will see what kind of shape it's in when it gets here. I'm kind of hoping it doesn't need much work or straightening prior to paint.

[Greenmachine]

GS power? Low slung frame? Mustang tank? Solo saddle?
You're crazy, that'll never work!



No wait... yes it will!


LOVE the stance! Are those the stock GS750 forks? Cuz, they look great! You got me thinking I need to build another GS! Great work!

Yep those are the stock forks. They may actually be up for sale soon pending on how the springer forks turn out

[JamesM]

Impressive work man.

[tuba6869]

man that thing is looking sweet!

[Guest]

Digging the quality of your welds man; nice job.

[Greenmachine]

Digging the quality of your welds man; nice job.

Thanks, they aren't anywhere near the level of some on this forum but I'm getting better lol.

[Greenmachine]

Thanks for the compliments guys, I really appreciate it.

So my rockers are setup for a 5/8" axle, the 21" kdx wheel that I want to run is setup for a 15mm axle. I am thinking my best option is to drill out the rocker to 20mm and press in some 20mm OD 15mm ID bronze bushings like this http://www.amazon.com/Bunting-Bearin.../dp/B003HIX8AQ to make the 21" dirtbike drum hub work.

Or I could try to find some 5/8" ID bearings with the same OD as the dirtbike hub. Any suggestions? I don't have the dirtbike hub here yet tto measure off of so I'm just trying to get ideas together.

My main concern with the bushing is getting them pressed in square and with a tight fit on the rocker.

Links to online bearing suppliers that are affordable? The bearings seem like the easier solution as long as I can get the correct fit.

Thanks

[Reid]

I got a set of stepped wheel spacers when I put a KX wheel on my XS just trim them to length.
http://www.cheneyengineering.com/FWheel.shtml

[Greenmachine]

Out of town this week for work so I've been looking for bearings online. Found these http://www.bocabearings.com/bearing-...12-MR62032RS58 according to what I found the stock KDX hub has 40mm OD 12mm width, these have 40mm OD 12mm width and 5/8" ID so it should work. The GF said that the wheel,showed up on tuesday so once I get home I'll measure to make sure but I think it will work.

So I'll have a 21" drum wheel that has better breaking power than a mini drum and looks better than the stock disc setup for $35. Plus I don't have to clutter the bars up with an ugly master cylinder either.

[Greenmachine]

Sorry for the lack of updates, between working out of town and moving I haven't got much done on the bike. Did get my KDX 21" wheel and threw it on with the stock forks. I think it looks nice.







Going to try to fab up the top motor mounts tonight.

[Greenmachine]

Finished up the top motor mounts tonight. Made a template out of cardboard and cut them out of 1/4" plate. Cut them into 3 pieces and clamped them to the mounting points on the frame and motor, then I welded the middle pieceback in place.

[Greenmachine]

Got the rear cross braces for the fender supports and seat spring mounts in place. Radiused the rear fender to match the 18" tire a bit better.





Also spent some time with a grinder and a file to clean up the welds on my springer. Still needs a bit of touch up but it should turn out pretty good.