Spare Change GSX750F

[I0seb]

I picked up this bike for $400 and decided to challenge myself to build something (marginally) more attractive than the stock bike on a very minimal budget. Where possible I've reused stock parts rather than buying aftermarket replacements (welder helps with this!).

So lets dive right in, here is the bike when I picked it up:

https://i.postimg.cc/yNcZdMsk/20200116-192951.jpg

1995 Suzuki GSX750F, possibly one of the ugliest bikes I've seen in person definitely the ugliest I've owned. It is redeemed somewhat by the absolute gem that is Suzuki's oil cooled inline 4 which I've loved since my 91 GSXR750.

https://i.postimg.cc/wjM66JG0/20200117-193313.jpg

To start off with I tore off pretty much everything not necessary for the bike to run and ran some fuel system cleaner through the carbs. With some coaxing from 'start ya bastard' 75% of her cylinders fired up. (https://streamable.com/omdqc)

I then moved house and was able to dive into the project in earnest. Picked up some clip ons for $30 and started cutting into the seat.

https://i.postimg.cc/7LdrHdh5/20200206-183124.jpg

I quickly decided the stock frame was too long, so that got chopped. At the same time I relocated the seat lock so that it ... worked :P

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqM4907K/20200207-131658.jpg

From there I utilised some professional quality CAD to design a new rear cowl/tail light mount.

https://i.postimg.cc/WbLp6F2d/20200207-131456.jpg

Moving on to the gauges, I was able to cut and weld the stock mount bracket in such a way that the stock gauges don't look like crap (having been removed from the plastic shroud).

https://i.postimg.cc/7hgkQ9xf/20200208-130721.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/cCqWm2Gp/20200208-130713.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/PrQHWS37/20200208-130735.jpg

Managed to pick up a VTR250 headlight for $20 and some mounts for $10.

https://i.postimg.cc/HkSCKVC4/20200208-152348.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/6p7Rs7PV/20200208-152411.jpg

Finally I picked up some 0.9mm steel sheet to make the rear cowl ($20). Around this time I also decided to move the clip ons to above the triple clamp.

https://i.postimg.cc/gkXzDdHN/20200220-123344.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/v8S8fDf4/20200220-163854.jpg

After a lot of encouragement from a hammer, some vice grips, an angle grinder and copious amounts of heat:

https://i.postimg.cc/fb6WqL55/20200222-114416.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/6Q75hRVy/20200222-114740.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Njj05Z58/20200222-114937.jpg

Other things I've done but don't have pics of yet:

Removed a bunch of mount tabs from the frame
Bled the front and rear braking systems
Cut down the front fender
Cut down the undertail tray to suit the shortened subframe
Accidentally ordered one mirror instead of two ($30)
Pretty happy with how the bike is looking so far considering I have a grand total of ~$100 invested. I plan on stripping the paint from the tank and going for a brushed steel look, largely because it's cheap and I hate painting.

As yet I'm undecided what to do for the exhausts, I have no real intention of ever inspecting or registering this bike so maybe I'll just cut the mufflers off and run straight pipes :D

Finally received the right tool to remove the spark plugs today so with any luck I'll have the bike running healthy in the next few days.

[ozzy1100]

Can’t complain about that

[Bob]

Looks alright

[Weaselman]

They are always so cheap but too damn hard to make into a good looking fighter but I'm liking this project

[wackyrider]

That's come up alright on one hell of a budget. Any plans to fill in the gap under the tank or just leave as is?

[I0seb]

That's come up alright on one hell of a budget. Any plans to fill in the gap under the tank or just leave as is?

Undecided as of yet, will depend on whether I can find some pod filters to fit the weird ovular carb inlets. If I can't then the airbox will take up basically that whole space.

[I0seb]

Small update, with some good and some bad



I discovered the bike had been deemed a repariable write off due to a minor accident 10 years ago - that's bad :(
I sold a bunch of the parts I didn't need for ~$300 so my total invest is now ~$200 - that's good :D



Since it's written off, if no one buys it, It'll probably end up as a track pig, would be a fun experiment to see how much shit I can cut off to lighten it before the frame turns to jelly ;)


Onto the actual work...


She was running beautifully on 3 cylinders after a spark plug change then started pissing very thin and suspicious smelling oil out of the crankcase breather. so I dropped the oil and...


https://i.postimg.cc/c1FkzJnR/20200223-160916.jpg


... about 8 litres of 50/50 oil/fuel came pouring out. Then as if that wasn't bad enough I discovered the sump plug thread was stripped. Luckily a 'smart plug' with some expanding rubber seals built in fixed that up.


I also picked up a lockset from china for $30 which I was pleasantly surprised by, the bolts and steering lock actually lined up!


https://i.postimg.cc/sXCJLx2p/20200305-183836.jpg


The electrical connector didn't fit but oh well, swings and roundabouts


https://i.postimg.cc/cCsBszwC/20200305-185827.jpg


F*** it, that'll do. And it was free :D


https://i.postimg.cc/LXkVFSqG/20200305-190143.jpg


So there we are, agonizingly slow progress but progress nonetheless. Oh I also bought some new grips for $8 so the build cost including bike purchase is now ~$250.

[I0seb]

Couple small updates on this while I wait for parts for the VFR.I stripped the rust off the headers and painted them with some exhaust enamel I had left over.https://i.postimg.cc/MTMSwNNH/20200510-142913.jpgFitted a couple of spare mufflers I had lying around, fits and looks alright for free :Phttps://i.postimg.cc/nzythTfk/20200510-142920.jpg

[Bob]

Neat looking exhaust. Suit the bike

[Fish]

They are dead set one of the ugliest frames out. But this is coming along nicely. Looking forward to how it turns out.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

[I0seb]

They are dead set one of the ugliest frames out. But this is coming along nicely. Looking forward to how it turns out.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

Agreed, no idea what Suzuki was thinking with it. They didn't even take advantage of the clearance to fit a ridiculously big tank, just covered it up with equally crappy looking fairings.

[I0seb]

More progress :)

Finally bit the bullet and cut the lower frame rails, also fitted some spare R1 rearsets I had lyging around.
https://i.postimg.cc/G2zstbKB/20200712-121505.jpg

I cut down the lower frame rails and re welded them such that they support directly under where the newly shortened seat sits.
Before:
https://i.postimg.cc/s2YWFYZ4/20200711-165028.jpg

After:
https://i.postimg.cc/d0PCSHD0/20200713-172821.jpg

I also polished the visible engine fins with a dremel
https://i.postimg.cc/XYyFLSjh/20200713-172919.jpg

Lastly, some great news from Vicroads, the bike has aged in to no longer needing a VIV inspection to be registered :D

[Gix11]

Coming together mate. It's fun hey?

[I0seb]

Hope everyone is staying safe during COVID!

I decided I didn't like how the back end was coming together so I picked up a cafe racer seat hoop and after a little cutting and welding:

https://i.imgur.com/KEvFZwY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4L1LeRm.jpg

Add on a $20 seat from China:

https://i.imgur.com/4RAO39B.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CQ6qYKP.jpg

Really emphasizes how long the swingarm is on these bikes. Finally, a quick photoshop of my plans for filling the frame-to-seat gap, gonna be a ton of fiberglassing:

https://i.imgur.com/UQ0n3Cg.jpg

[Gix11]

That is a cool vision mate!

[ozzy1100]

Agreed


More human than human

[Bob]

Looking the part.
I attempedt to do a F many years https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200930/ec9d81f4344c5ce845ca4feabf59d38f.jpg

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