GSX750 - Cleaning the Carbs, Carbies or Carburettors.

Call 'em what you will...
But this is the thing, the 6Sigma jet kit was ready to be fitted; the carbs were looking a little worse for wear; they needed a damn good clean; and I bought a damn cheap ultrasonic cleaner.

That last point, and my grammar, was a problem...
Now the bike ran ok - ok it didn't idle properly (but then it was in a pretty bad state), but it gave me enough of an inkling that most of it was pretty good inside. And that's half the battle. If you have a non-runner, "do it up" and find something's not right afterwards, it can be hard to pinpoint the problem. At least now when it all goes tits up, I'll know it's probably something to do with a part I've stripped - like the carbs.

Initially, they looked like this.
Dirty on the outside and, due to an air filter that was long overdue for replacement, not too good inside either. So onto eBay for an ultrasonic cleaner.

Suzuki GSX750ES — Painting the Engine.

Yeah, so it's been quiet lately.
A twist of fortune gave way to some time in the garage, which meant a little more got done to the GSX. I'm currently zipping between little tasks on the bike  and not getting anything finished. And one job I did want to get out of the way was a splash of paint on the engine. 
I initially thought I'd go for bare alloy, except for barrels and head, but thirty years of corrosion was proving hard to remove. It would have been ok with constant polishing, but I relented and chose to paint it instead. 

It took a lot of cleaning from this:

Black Animals Special Bikes

Dirty Bastards? Excuse my Italian.
Just like great bikes, great friendships evolve, sometimes from the last place you'd expect, and the old 'two-wheeled bond' is always good.

So who are the Black Animals?
A drunken coming together, mixed up with incoherent chat about building a bike from scratch - probably. But no matter, it was the start of something good and Dan, Mirco and Giovanni began to tear down some unlikely tourers as they began to knock some cafe racers into shape. 
When I say unlikely, I mean old Gold Wings and GSX750ES's (who in their right mind would try and cafe race one of those?), but that's exactly the spirit we need to see in the custom scene. A love of anything two-wheeled, a not too serious attitude and the ability to sink several beers/wines while doing it. (Actually, that's probably the entire custom scene.)

Dan, drunk, again. Trying to ride a Gold Wing van.

Mirco first got in touch with me because of a common interest, the old GSX750ES, yes we both own one (it's just that mine looks like it's been run over by a cement truck, twice). So, with formalities formalised, I was invited to share in the madness that is the Black Animals on Facebook and now enjoy their antics from Italy everyday. Not just great taste in bikes, but music too! Think I need to visit - more wine vicar?

The projects so far

Mirco's GSX750ES

GSX750ES and a cool looking workshop.

Strewth, even the tank is still in good nick.

Mirco trying the GSX out for size.

GSX750ES tail piece. Very impressive!

Dan's Gold Wing

Heavy Metal!

Wish my forks were as straight as that!

                 

Blasted alloy looks so cool!

Great contrast, love those cases!

Giovanni's GSX750

So, why Black Animals?
I was baffled, but then I don't speak Italian. Dan explained:

"this is a lost in translation, as the "black animal" in italian is like saying "dirty bastard" or something like that"

That, my friend, makes it crystal clear and will do for me. Check out their antics at Facebook today.

GSX750 ES Rear Caliper and Master Cylinder Rebuild.

New Parts Have Arrived!

The caliper is still waiting patiently for its new rubbers and pistons. It's ages since I painted it so even I'd forgotten how well they'd come up.

Suzuki GSX Rear Caliper Rebuild Kit.

First step was to make sure there was nothing stuck in any of the holes - slight discolouration of the drillings isn't the end of the world, and with a quick wipe it was time to fit the seals. Always check that the seals you fit don't have a taper - sometimes they need to be fitted a certain way.

Can Someone Invent Me A Spray?

To clean the crud out of fins... and leave them black and shiny.
The engine is usually the most favoured of the restoration process. It's the bit that does the most, it's the life of bike - well it's just more exciting than the rest!

But I've been putting this off. The old GSX has had a hard life and hasn't seen much in the way of cleaning. Hence the ant's nests in the cooling fins, coupled with years of oil build-up and finished off with what looks like a couple of laps on a motocross track. Yeah, it's a mess.

Ok, a steam cleaner/jet wash might have got a fair bit of it out, but that wasn't possible at the time. So, we're back to manual cleaning of the motor.

The tools.
Toothbrush, Scotch pads, WD40, petrol, carb cleaner, screwdrivers and other metal-pokey-stick things. And a compressor. Strewth, sounds really professional. Oh well.

First thing's first, cover all ports and oil holes with rags etc. to keep the debris out of the important bits. I want to try and keep this engine in one piece, only to remove covers for repair and inspection.

Digging the major stuff out with a screwdriver and then blowing it clear with an airline can get you to a stage where you can use a toothbrush or Scotch pad in the gaps. It's slow, messy work but with plenty of solvent, the oil soon starts to break down. And a compressor and air jet makes it easy to blow out the crap from the crevices. Job's a job as they say... somewhere... probably.

Right hand side took a hit. Not yet removed the cover...

Bolts wrapped with masking tape filling the oil cooler feed/return holes.

Slow work, but a definite improvement.

Camchain tensioner hiding beneath thirty years of grime.

Various nests litter the fins. Would have been nice and warm!

Bodgett and Scarper let loose with hammer and chisel.

We're starting to see an improvement. Doing as much as you can with a Scotch pad is good because it'll also key any paint surface, preparing it for another coat if needed. I'm not going to go too mad on the finish because this motor may still have to be stripped. I'll just have to wait and see.

Banjo bolts? Or banjo players?

A brilliant invention, the humble banjo bolt allows you to secure pipes where a liquid, or gas, has to pass through. Now, care must be taken not to over-tighten them (because there's a bloody hole right through the middle of them), but the biggest issue with them is allowing the pipe to twist when the friction of the bolt head is too great. Like in the picture below.

See the angle of the oil lines? You see this a lot, whether metal lines or rubber. When tightening a banjo bolt, either insert a screwdriver by the side of the pipe to stop it turning with the bolt, or turn the pipe back slightly so when the bolt is torqued the pipe moves to the correct angle. 

In the picture below you can see both pipes hard against the inlet rubbers and the left one almost kinked at the bottom. Not good.

That's more like it.

So, a little more progress in the garage, and a pleasant surprise to see the starter nice and clean under its cover. A few more hours should have the engine looking reasonable.

At this point I think a wire brush in a drill over the crankcases to give the brushed alloy look, leave the barrels and head in black and polish the outer covers and rocker cover. Yes, I know the ignition cover looks like it's been attacked with an angle grinder! Bear with me.



Just Spent A Week In The Vinegar!

Nah, it ain't jail slang.
The bottom yoke, or triple clamp depending on where you're from, is a pain in the ass to clean because of the strengthening sections cast in at the factory. Too difficult to get a wire brush in, too much like hard work to use emery cloth and I don't have access to a shot blaster.


ACID!!!

GSX750ES - Cafe Racer?

A Penchant for the Hardest Projects

Before the DRZ was even picked up - yes, sold on eBay - a new bike was on its way to me. An '83 GSX750ES from a breakers that I decided to put an offer on one night while perusing the motor bicycles of, yes you've guessed it, eBay.

Next morning I get an email asking me to pay. Pay for what? What the hell have I bought now? Oh yes, it's all coming back, happy days!