Cafe Racer Forum banner
1 - 16 of 16 Posts

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hello fellas! I’m new here and I’m new on motorcycle world. And I have a lot of doubt, but my first is...

Is the 1982 Suzuki GS750t a good bike for build a cafe racer?

I bought this bike very cheap a month ago and I’d like to customize it, and I though in build a cafe racer.
what you think?

thank you
 

· Registered
Joined
·
318 Posts
rage
Does it run and ride real good now?
Honestly, I would make it run as good as it can, put it on the road and then improve it in the cafe racer tradition.
Does it run and ride real good now?
Honestly, I would make it run as good as it can, put it on the road and then improve it in the cafe racer tradition.
Hello fellas! I’m new here and I’m new on motorcycle world. And I have a lot of doubt, but my first is...

Is the 1982 Suzuki GS750t a good bike for build a cafe racer?

I bought this bike very cheap a month ago and I’d like to customize it, and I though in build a cafe racer.
what you think?

thank you
Not a bad choice ! My shop is building a pair of 1982 GS1100E's for vintage racing (they are very similar to your GS750) they tend to be a wee bit heavy and the chassis will flex to some degree. The engines do make good power and there are parts around for those motorbikes as they were raced quite a bit. We did pick our motorbikes more for the racing history as the engines for those (1100cc) are much harder to find bits for as they were used as doners for a bunch of automobile racing classes and also motorbike drag racing.

As TR said first off make the basic bike run and run well. Do a leak down test and get it running and tuned. Then you will at least know what you will need to spend to get it the way you picture it ending up. It is very easy to spend your rupees making it look cool and racy only to find that you've created an expensive chunk of garage art.

Most important make sure you have some fun this not a way to increase your net worth but may very well be a way to improve your mental health. Cheers to you and have fun.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion Starter · #4 ·
Does it run and ride real good now?
Honestly, I would make it run as good as it can, put it on the road and then improve it in the cafe racer tradition.
It doesn’t run. I guess it has a carburetor problem. I started the engine using start fluid, the fuel tank is very rust inside, the generator cover is cracked and leaking oil. I’ll remove the engine replace the gaskets make the tuneup repair the carburetors and let the engine running properly first.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion Starter · #5 ·
rage



Not a bad choice ! My shop is building a pair of 1982 GS1100E's for vintage racing (they are very similar to your GS750) they tend to be a wee bit heavy and the chassis will flex to some degree. The engines do make good power and there are parts around for those motorbikes as they were raced quite a bit. We did pick our motorbikes more for the racing history as the engines for those (1100cc) are much harder to find bits for as they were used as doners for a bunch of automobile racing classes and also motorbike drag racing.

As TR said first off make the basic bike run and run well. Do a leak down test and get it running and tuned. Then you will at least know what you will need to spend to get it the way you picture it ending up. It is very easy to spend your rupees making it look cool and racy only to find that you've created an expensive chunk of garage art.

Most important make sure you have some fun this not a way to increase your net worth but may very well be a way to improve your mental health. Cheers to you and have fun.
Thanks man. I’ll let the bike running first and see what I can do later. My intention for now is not spend too much money on it. I’m mechanic of cars, old cars more specific. This will be my first motorcycle experience I think it will be very fun.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
318 Posts
Thanks man. I’ll let the bike running first and see what I can do later. My intention for now is not spend too much money on it. I’m mechanic of cars, old cars more specific. This will be my first motorcycle experience I think it will be very fun.
Braga, I use some really good goop for cleaning and then cating the fuel tank. In fact I just coat all the tanks I wook on as most are vintage to some degree or the other and I don't want mung to in up in the fuel.

I can't recall the name of the maker but tomorrow I'll look in my paint shed and get a product name. This stuff is fairly thin and I've never had it peal or flake so I'm a fan.

Cheers
 

· Registered
Joined
·
9,233 Posts
I've heard nothing but bad things about lining fuel tanks with rubber like liquids. Not from the guys that did it, only from the guys that had to deal with removing it afterwards. ymmv.

The best old motorcycle fuel tanks to keep for decades and enjoy trouble free service are made from aluminum.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
9,233 Posts
It doesn’t run. I guess it has a carburetor problem. I started the engine using start fluid, the fuel tank is very rust inside, the generator cover is cracked and leaking oil. I’ll remove the engine replace the gaskets make the tuneup repair the carburetors and let the engine running properly first.
All of your carburetor problems will be in the lower half of the carb, where the fuel sits.
If you spend hours servicing on the top parts (vacuum control stuff) you are just spinning your wheels.

... go easy with the starter fluid, you used it to determine a problem, now put it on the top shelf out of reach and temptation.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion Starter · #9 ·
Braga, I use some really good goop for cleaning and then cating the fuel tank. In fact I just coat all the tanks I wook on as most are vintage to some degree or the other and I don't want mung to in up in the fuel.

I can't recall the name of the maker but tomorrow I'll look in my paint shed and get a product name. This stuff is fairly thin and I've never had it peal or flake so I'm a fan.

Cheers
I appreciate your help, I’m looking for products for to clean my tank but has dozens on market. If you used one and had good results with it I’ll use it too. Thanks man!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion Starter · #10 ·
All of your carburetor problems will be in the lower half of the carb, where the fuel sits.
If you spend hours servicing on the top parts (vacuum control stuff) you are just spinning your wheels.

... go easy with the starter fluid, you used it to determine a problem, now put it on the top shelf out of reach and temptation.
I’ll remove the carbs and clean it first and see if I get the engine running before buy a repair kit. Good to know that the major problem are in the bottom of carbs, I’ll look it and I’ll post what I found. Thanks you pal!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
318 Posts
I’ll remove the carbs and clean it first and see if I get the engine running before buy a repair kit. Good to know that the major problem are in the bottom of carbs, I’ll look it and I’ll post what I found. Thanks you pal!
Fuel tanks:
I usually clean them with; Heavy Duty Industrial Simple Green, hot water and a handfull of medium sized nuts. I put the Simple Green and the nuts in the tank and slosh them around just to loosen the crud. I then let it sit for a day sloshing the cleaner around every once in a while. I then rinse it out again and again with hot water until the water comes clear. After that I do a last rinse with acetone before applying the sealer.
Again I'll get you the name of the product. It's nothing like that rubber crap that is often found in the rusty tanks. That shit mostly just keeps the rust in place . This stuff is more like special thin paint that you slosh around in the tank and let dry for a few days. It is a deep red but almost clear (at least you can see through it) and at least with the race bikes, because they sit at times (like during the winter) you gota do something or you'll get rust even if you fill them up to the top because once they've rusted one time they'll rust again anywhere the fuel isn't covering the metal. . We also use VP 4.4 fuel and it's caustic enough that we can't leave it in the tank. We drain it even when we're racing on back to back weekends if that's a hint. This sealer I'm talking about does survive the VP for a race event and we've never needed to do a re-clean so I'm pretty happy with how it works.

The other option is to take it to a firm that specializes in doing tanks only problem I have with those guys is they can't guarantee that the paint will survive. I'm usually going to re-paint the tanks anyway but I like to use the original paint as my base coat rather than starting from scratch so I hate having the paint screwed up.
I'll head out to the shop now and see if I can find that products name for you.:unsure:
 

· Registered
Joined
·
318 Posts
I’ll remove the carbs and clean it first and see if I get the engine running before buy a repair kit. Good to know that the major problem are in the bottom of carbs, I’ll look it and I’ll post what I found. Thanks you pal!
Braga, I found a part full can it's ca;;ed Red Coat (imagine that !) the manufacturer is Damon and you can get it from O'reilly's or who I prefer DimeCityCycles
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
Discussion Starter · #13 ·
Braga, I found a part full can it's ca;;ed Red Coat (imagine that !) the manufacturer is Damon and you can get it from O'reilly's or who I prefer DimeCityCycles
Wow!! Thank you so much for the informations Rich46!! It helps a lot!
I’ve one question; what do you do with the holes in the tank? I mean, the breather and petcock holes. Do you just put a tape? Or Do you use a old petcock and than remove it later?
 
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top