After being made redundant on 30 March 2009 I have not found much time to fit anything in but it's all Gardening, Jobs around the House, nipping here and there to do some shopping or things for my dear Mother-in-Law.
I felt a need to do something, after working in Telecommunications for 45 years (see blog 'RAF and Beyond') I wanted something different.
I've always liked motorbikes, although not a continuous biker I do enjoy them. First bike I had was a Honda CB175 in 1974 (That's it in the picture). This was my 'Learner' bike and I passed my test about a month after getting the bike from Nettletons Motorcycles, Gloucester. Nettletons don't exist any longer but they were a great family bike shop on London Road. I used
that bike for almost a year until earlyish 1975 when I needed to sell it to get a car (Triumph Herald) due to impending marriage.
Next bike was around 1995 after my Honda Accord was stolen (actually, it was broken into and pushed into the river Thames at the wharf on Ray Mead Road, Maidenhead). I used this Honda CB250 Superdream for about 2 years to commute between Maidenhead and Gloucester, all year round, but sold it when I got a company car in 1997.
So, with this in mind I thought a motorbike would be a good idea but due to not getting any redundancy, notice, consultation period etc. I needed to do it on the cheap. Decided to get a wreck of a bike and rebuild it.
If nothing else, my attempts at this project should give experience bikers a laugh!
I advertised
in the local Gloucester press and was amazed by the number of res
in the local Gloucester press and was amazed by the number of res
ponses. I finished up with dilapidated, and much abused, Suzuki GSX750F. It's a 1989, 'F' registration, and has had the rear subframe cut off to make a 'Street Fighter' bike.
Many bits are held on with electrical tape and cable ties. All these have been cut off and restoration to replace bolts etc. has started.
I obtained the bike on 25 May 2009 and, with much assistance from Brother-in-Law Andy and his van, I got it back home from the previous owner who lives in Cheltenham. More photographs are on my Windows Live Skydrive
Over the next 3 
weeks I spent some time, on and off, removing items such as the seat, petrol tank, air box. This photograph shows the sawn off rear subframe where an attempt has been made to make it into a 'Street Fighter' bike.
weeks I spent some time, on and off, removing items such as the seat, petrol tank, air box. This photograph shows the sawn off rear subframe where an attempt has been made to make it into a 'Street Fighter' bike.
The Petrol tank is rusted through on the bottom See other photos with rust holes ringed) and I've removed the tap and gauge float assemblies as well as the tank filler cap assembly. I've order a new tank from e-bay, plus other items such as rear subframe. I had bought some round and square tubing to insert into the sawn off pieces and get 
them
them
welded but I though
t a complete subframe assembly would be a better bet. Just hope I can fit it when it arrives!
10 June 2009 - I've now received a clock cluster, mounting bracket (but I think I need the front fairing to use it), and the rear subframe. Not sure the subframe is the right part
I was looking for but got it for a good price so it's not really a problem.
These two photographs show the top of the engine with the petrol tank removed and the with the airbox removed.
These two photographs show the top of the engine with the petrol tank removed and the with the airbox removed.
Still not got petrol into the carbs to try the engine but that is my next step before I spend any more money.
Been too busy on a garden project over the past week
end and this week so have not been able to spend any time on the bike.
15 June 2009:
I'm pretty
sure the rear subframe is not correct so, when I can verify the engine fires up ok, I will use the tubing I've bought and get the original rear frame welded back on. It all seems to be there, some lights etc are missing but e-bay should be able to sort that out.
Had intended to try the engine earlier, with the 'Drip Feed' method (see photo on the left, courtesy of a guy from TMF) for the petrol, but not really had time over the 
past week or so. I always did think this
past week or so. I always did think this
would take me a while and I also need to spend time just poking around and looking at the Haynes manual to get familiar with what I'm looking at. E.G. Not too sure which are the breather tubes and which are the fuel feed tubes to the carbs, not going to get very far firing the engine up if I don't know that! Incidentally, whoever had sprayed the frame black also sprayed everything else in sight so I had to clean off the paint from the window where the oil level can be checked!
Hoping the fuel tank will arrive tomorrow so I'll see what I can get done this week.
16 June 09 - Tank did arrive as expected, appears to be in good condition but no key to unlock the filler cap. I will use the cap lock of the old tank, luckily I removed all the bits earlier before throwing away the tank body. Although the old cap and the tap look ok the float for the fuel gauge is rusted to hell and useless but it all aids the learning experience of what these are and
what they look like inside. I had no idea what the inside of a bike fuel tank looked like or contained. The tank I've got from 'Daley's Dirtbikes' (ebay) has good condition tap, cap and looks like the float mechanism is good as well.
18 June 09 - Problem encountered with the replacement tank in that the filler cap is locked, no key! I contacted Simon, at Daley's Dirtbikes, and also posted for suggestions on the TBMF (The MotorBike Forum). Simon came back very quickly, as did Frankie on TBMF. I followed two of the suggestions jointly because the one that said to use a large
screwdriver 
and molegrips as a key did not initially work. After getting the biggest drill bit that I had in my box and drilling down through
and molegrips as a key did not initially work. After getting the biggest drill bit that I had in my box and drilling down through
the lock I tried the screwdriver trick again. It worked and I now have the old cap on the replacement tank.
Still had a little problem in that the old cap caught on the hole that it fits into when trying to close the cap to lock it. I put it in my vice, jammed the key open, so the bolt was drawn back, and filed a
bit off the bottom of the opening where the bolt is located. Fits fine now although does not look straight in the photograph as I have not put the allen bolts in to secure it because I have some more work to do on it.
I've also sanded the top with Wet & Dry fine paper to take off the old black and red paint.
28 July 2009:
Here I am now at the end of July and not been able to touch the Bike since the last post
regarding the tank. Not had any time to set up fuel try starting the engine. Got some pointers though from an old friend in BT about checking that the crank actually turns before trying to put
fuel through it.
Reason for stopping work on it has been the building of an en-suite for the guest bedroom, grandchildren visiting and general decorating work that has been neglected due to work (job of!). Now that I'm not working I don't seem to have a minute to myself. This project was supposed to give me something to do.
05 June 2010:
I thought that 2010 was going to a good year to work on the Bike but it has not proved to be the case with a marriage, moving furniture from one place to another, and just when I thought the garage was going to be empty my elder daughter called off the August wedding and moved out from where she was living, with her furniture which is now in the garage again as you can see in the photos!
I haven't been totally idle, I managed to get a practically new seat from ebay (seller Pitstop) and It's in excellent condition. Hoping garage will be emptied, somewhat, during July!
26 July 2010 - A lot of that stuff has now gone, and a good deal more in mid August when my RAF daughter gets back from the Middle East. Still busy painting and putting stuff on walls at my other daughters new flat but that should be finishing soon, Inshallah!
Another thing I noticed is the VIN plate is missing, gets more suspicious by the month this bike. Anyway, I've got a replacement reg document and Suzuki UK have advised me to start the VIN process through the local main dealer in Gloucester.
29 July 2010
In a mad half hour I found some time to start looking at the bike. Loosened the allen bolts on the nearside cover to have a look at this nut I can turn to make sure the pistons are free and moving.
All bolts out but the cover would not move. I took a rubber mallet to it, gently, and it started to loosen, at which point oil started to leak out.
After a frantic dash to the cupboard where I keep my oil change stuff I got a bowl underneath before too much went on the floor. I have plastic underneath the bike so wouldn't have been a nightmare anyway.
Decided to speed up the process by removing the sump bolt, which resulted in a whole bowlful of oil. Need to check how much should be in there because it looks like an awful lot. I've got an empty oil can so I can measure how much I've got in the bowl.
30 July 2010
Applied the principle of RTFM and realised I'd loosened the wrong plate. Above the one I had loosened is a smaller cover which, when removed, reveals the elusive magic bolt that can be used to turn the engine.
All seems to be ok with this procedure but there was a lot of sandy, gritty, material in the top
part of the cover where some cables disappear into the inner reaches of the engine (need to find out what they are, again will RTFM to find out).
I cleaned out this sandy material with a small paintbrush, I presumed it shouldn't be there.
This evening I also removed the spark plugs, filling the gaps with kitchen roll to prevent any dirt from falling down into the holes.
They are not the easiest plugs to remove, they are very deep and the wiring looms over the top of the engine makes it difficult to reach the middle two plugs.
Thanks to my old Dad (RIP) I have his tools. He always did his own mechanics and had an extensive tool kit which includes a deep reaching plug spanner which I can fit a ratchet onto the top of otherwise I'd never have gotten them out.
01 August 2010
Early morning I was up with the dogs (no, not the lark, we've got two dogs) and had another go at the oil filter which I could not shift yesterday. It's a new filter but in trying to get it off I've buckled and bent it so ordered a new one plus a sump plug.
Today I thought that I needed more leverage and got out my old dad's socket set which has a longer handled ratchet. That did the job and it came off with just a little oil that had not drained out when I drained the sump a couple of days ago.
Put the plugs back in, after cleaning the contacts up with a bit of wet & dry, and even managed to get the air filter box back on which has defeated me for months! Amazing what can be achieved with gentle tapping with a rubber mallet.
If the engine works it will all be stripped and new plugs, air filter etc. but I hope to strip down to
the frame for painting etc....
03 August 2010
Hmmm, some doubt about the seat I got off ebay. I've joined a couple of forums which are proving to be invaluable. Here's the links to the threads I've got on each.
I've messaged the supplier that I got it from on ebay but that was back in May. Just want to confirm if the seat is the correct model as I think the locking mechanism may have been moved by the bloke that was cutting the rear off to make it a streefighter bike.
Note 6 Aug - Supplier asked me to return the seat and they will give a refund, minus P&P of course. If I'd been wiser, can't get much older, I'd have kept the original seat and recovered it. Didn't know you could get covers for them!
04 August 2010
Got the plastic bottle top mastick'ed up with two tubes ready for some petrol to go into the carbs and try starting the engine. I'll leave it until everyone's at work during the day because it may be a little noisy, there's no exhausts on the bike!
I've received and fitted the new oil filter and sump plug/washer, topped up the oil (3.8 litres as it has a new filter), previously cleaned the plugs etc.
If this works I'll renew all the rubber tubing for the tank, new plugs and whatever else that can
be replaced.
05 August 2010
Nope, didn't work. However, after the advice I've been given I don't suppose I really expected it to. I didn't cleant out the carb pots and the jets must be bunged up with 'Carb Varnish' from the residue lying there over the past 4 years. The bike was last taxed in 2006 so I'm presuming the engine has not been started for 4 years but even less would cause carb problems.
Busy with daughters flat jobs and lawn turfing the next few days so probably not get around to stripping the carbs until next week.
10 August 2010
Managed to get the carburetters off without too much trouble at all. They are looking fairly grungey but I haven't
yet had the time to remove the bottom pots to see just how bad it is.
This view is my thumb holding open the vent between the carb and the air filter. It looks dirty in there, with the brown stuff being the carb varnish, but not sure how thick it is. Hoping I can get rid of it with soaking using a can of solvent but only been able to find sprays so far. A forum entry pointed me to a website that says boiling them for 1.5 hours will do it. Not sure about this
but it might be worth a try if I can't get a can of solvent to soak them in.
I think I will have to get a new set of 'o' rings as well. This one looks a bit oval to be an 'o' ring!
21 August 2010
I don't know if they were ok to start with (doubt it) or if it was the daily squirting that did it.
Before I dismantled them I turned the whole assembly to look for the bowl screws and a load of liquid came pouring out. I think this was a mixture of petrol (from trying to start it over a week ago) and the carb cleaner. I could not see any
evidence of varnish so I think it was the cleaner that did it.
Just got to refit and see if there is any firing when I try again. If not I guess it's new plugs and probably HT leads.
Just got to refit and see if there is any firing when I try again. If not I guess it's new plugs and probably HT leads.
23 August 2010
Refitted carb assembly but no go with regard to starting. Battery recharged and will start to work my way back starting with plugs and leads. Could be a number of things but need to check I'm getting a spark first.
26 August 2010
Well, I've got a spark but still not starting.
However, the seat and tank look great!!
8 September 2010
At last the big furniture has gone and starting to make some room in the garage and getting it organised.
November 2010 to January 2011 - I just give up, daughter has moved out of her RAF married quarter and her furniture is now back in the garage, what a waste of time. I just need to organise it and see if I can get a bit of space around it to do something at least!
09 May 2011 - And now my Son, daughter in law and two grandsons are living with us in Gloucester after deciding they really don't like living in Birmingham. At least he's got a job offer to start at a new school in September.
As a consequence their house will be going on the market but it also means that, on top of our daughters stuff, all of their furniture is going to be coming down here.
I GIVE UP, and severely peed off about it as I felt I could have a go at it but it's been over two years now and you can see from the above blog that I've spent money but not been able to work on it with any conviction due to the coming and going of garage contents!
I'm asking a friend if anyone in his motorbike group (Stroud/Stonehouse area) might be interested in it.
So far what I've obtained and spent is as follows:
Reg is F627JRR and I've currently got it SORN but I've got a replacement registration document, which cost me about £25.00!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06 June 2011.
Well, after some encouragement from a couple of people I've been given new heart and started again. Still got the problem with space, to get worse when the Birmingham house sells of course, but while I can get to it a bit I rolled it out onto the drive today to have a go at the rear part of the frame.
About a week ago I put the rear frame, which had been hacksawed off in three bits, back onto the bike.
I used round and square tubing into the frame bits to give strength. The round tubing was an excellent fit (20mm) and was nice and tight when I fitted it all together. The square tubing was not so good but it seems to have a good stabiliser with the rest of the round bits fitted.
This is what it looked like when I got the bike!
You can see where the bits have been put back as it was directly behind the seat locking arch. The whole of the rear end was removed including the bottom so there were no pillion foot rests.
This is after I trimmed the bits, they don't look like they are together but they are just placed there for now until I mix the Steel Weld resin.
I made sure there was plenty of scratches and scrapes to ensure good adhesion and slapped plenty of resin on.
I made sure they were aligned and down over the damaged bit as much as possible and cabled tied it all together. I'll leave that for a few days, take off the cable ties and tidy it all up with a small file. It looks a mess at the moment but I'm hoping it will be strong enough as I'm not sure I will be able to drill and bolt through but I'll take a look at this when it's all tidied up.
So now it looks like this -------------
I've a friend at the dog training club I go to and he assures me he could get the engine firing in half an hour. I'm probably going to see him tonight so I'll try to make a date for him to come and give me a hand.
WATCH THIS SPACE !
16 June - Well, what a commotion I caused on the OldSkool Suzuki forum! They obviously don't think 'glueing' the frame together is a good idea. To be honest I don't either which is why I used the steel tubing and bolts. I am still trying to get the engine to fire and have also started to prepare the frame for welding. I'm going to ask the bloke across the way if he can help me with that as he is a great car mechanic and also does a bit of welding.
I've filed around the joins and cut into them to make them a bit countersunk to enable welding.
Julian, my friend from the dog club, came along Wednesday this week and had a go but even he could not get it to fire. However, found a few things. The HT leads were not fitted correctly so I've done that, not sure what all the tubes do and he's founding out about that and will let me know. I've also had some advice off the OldSkool forum, there are some very helpful people on there.
I used the new fuel tank and found it was leaking but today I checked that out and found it was just the bolts on the tap assembly were not tight.
Julian used Easy Start and it sounded like it was going to go but no joy. After getting some advice from the forum I've rearranged the tubes on the tank/carbs and will try again tomorrow. I can't do it now because if it did start up the noise would be horrendous (no exhaust system on the bike) and the grandchildren are in bed!
19 June 2011
I did try again but no good but I did have some 'success' in that there definitely is a spark. Remember I don't have an exhaust system on the bike, not even front end pipes - After putting petrol through the tubes, and using a can of Easy Start that I got from Halfords I had fire coming out of the exhaust outlets! The carbs were popping away with vapour being shot out of the carbs toward the back of the bike.
So, if I've got a spark, I've got fuel, why is it not starting?
Julian mentioned this when he came on Wednesday and it is probably the carbs needing an overhaul and also probably the timing. We don't know what stroke the firing is taking place on.
I've got the carb assembly off the bike and will take it to RoadRunner bikes, in Stroud, this coming week. They reckon it might be about £50.00 for the overhaul.
___________________________________________________________________
06 July 2011:
Still got problems with the carbs, just can't figure out where pipes go for overflows, vacuum, pretty sure I know the fabric covered pipes are fuel but it's all very confusing!
New photos on photobucket at http://s572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/djrose007/Suzuki%20GSX750F%20Rebuild/CARBS/
31 July 2011
I'd put the bike all together, as much as I can as it is, ready for sale but as there are no takes from the Suzuki Old Skool forum I've decided to carry on with it.
Stripped off all the bits again ready for welding of the frame which I've asked my neighbour about. He's going to ask the chap at work when he can come to look at it, or hopefully do it.
I'm missing a couple of bolts for the hangers and I've got a bloke on ebay, who was selling front footrests and hangers. I missed the hangers but he's going to send me the bolts in the mail for a tenner.
I'll update again when I get the welding done.
21 February 2013;
Welding not yet done but I've cleared the garage, almost. At least I have room to work around the bike now.
Please note that I have made updates but on the wordpress blog.
February 2013
I've moved this blog to 'WORDPRESS' -
Short URL is - http://wp.me/p19fTH-12
http://djrose007.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/1989-suzuki-gsx750fk-rebuild/
I'm sticking with the wordpress blog, it's not so complicated when you get used to it.
Original Bike - £150
Fuel Tank - £80 (including p&p) Original was rusted right through.
Clock Cluster - £30
Clock mount bracket - £15
Rear Subframe - £30 (I think this was a waste of money though but will include in box of bits if anyone wants the bike. Box will also include other bits like mudguard, a light that I was going to use etc).
New oil filter & sump plug - £10
'T Pot' seat - £50
Tubing for rear end - £11
Total £376
Any offers?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06 June 2011.
Well, after some encouragement from a couple of people I've been given new heart and started again. Still got the problem with space, to get worse when the Birmingham house sells of course, but while I can get to it a bit I rolled it out onto the drive today to have a go at the rear part of the frame.
About a week ago I put the rear frame, which had been hacksawed off in three bits, back onto the bike.
I used round and square tubing into the frame bits to give strength. The round tubing was an excellent fit (20mm) and was nice and tight when I fitted it all together. The square tubing was not so good but it seems to have a good stabiliser with the rest of the round bits fitted.
This is what it looked like when I got the bike!
This is what it looks like now. 06 June 2011
There was still the problem at the bottom of the right hand side where the square frame meets the bottom near the foot rest.
It had been badly hacked away, no idea why it was so bad but it was pointless using the square tubing that I had. So, I cut 2.5 inches of the tube diagonally, corner to corner to make two right angle sections. The hacksaw decided to have a mind of it's own and went off at an angle making it a little more difficult than I had intended. However, when I put the bits on the bike I just had to cut off a bit to tidy it to make it match up with the other bit.
I made sure there was plenty of scratches and scrapes to ensure good adhesion and slapped plenty of resin on.
So now it looks like this -------------
I've a friend at the dog training club I go to and he assures me he could get the engine firing in half an hour. I'm probably going to see him tonight so I'll try to make a date for him to come and give me a hand.
WATCH THIS SPACE !
16 June - Well, what a commotion I caused on the OldSkool Suzuki forum! They obviously don't think 'glueing' the frame together is a good idea. To be honest I don't either which is why I used the steel tubing and bolts. I am still trying to get the engine to fire and have also started to prepare the frame for welding. I'm going to ask the bloke across the way if he can help me with that as he is a great car mechanic and also does a bit of welding.
I've filed around the joins and cut into them to make them a bit countersunk to enable welding.
Julian, my friend from the dog club, came along Wednesday this week and had a go but even he could not get it to fire. However, found a few things. The HT leads were not fitted correctly so I've done that, not sure what all the tubes do and he's founding out about that and will let me know. I've also had some advice off the OldSkool forum, there are some very helpful people on there.
I used the new fuel tank and found it was leaking but today I checked that out and found it was just the bolts on the tap assembly were not tight.
Julian used Easy Start and it sounded like it was going to go but no joy. After getting some advice from the forum I've rearranged the tubes on the tank/carbs and will try again tomorrow. I can't do it now because if it did start up the noise would be horrendous (no exhaust system on the bike) and the grandchildren are in bed!
19 June 2011
I did try again but no good but I did have some 'success' in that there definitely is a spark. Remember I don't have an exhaust system on the bike, not even front end pipes - After putting petrol through the tubes, and using a can of Easy Start that I got from Halfords I had fire coming out of the exhaust outlets! The carbs were popping away with vapour being shot out of the carbs toward the back of the bike.
So, if I've got a spark, I've got fuel, why is it not starting?
Julian mentioned this when he came on Wednesday and it is probably the carbs needing an overhaul and also probably the timing. We don't know what stroke the firing is taking place on.
I've got the carb assembly off the bike and will take it to RoadRunner bikes, in Stroud, this coming week. They reckon it might be about £50.00 for the overhaul.
___________________________________________________________________
06 July 2011:
Still got problems with the carbs, just can't figure out where pipes go for overflows, vacuum, pretty sure I know the fabric covered pipes are fuel but it's all very confusing!
New photos on photobucket at http://s572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/djrose007/Suzuki%20GSX750F%20Rebuild/CARBS/
31 July 2011
I'd put the bike all together, as much as I can as it is, ready for sale but as there are no takes from the Suzuki Old Skool forum I've decided to carry on with it.
Stripped off all the bits again ready for welding of the frame which I've asked my neighbour about. He's going to ask the chap at work when he can come to look at it, or hopefully do it.
I'm missing a couple of bolts for the hangers and I've got a bloke on ebay, who was selling front footrests and hangers. I missed the hangers but he's going to send me the bolts in the mail for a tenner.
I'll update again when I get the welding done.
21 February 2013;
Welding not yet done but I've cleared the garage, almost. At least I have room to work around the bike now.
Please note that I have made updates but on the wordpress blog.
February 2013
I've moved this blog to 'WORDPRESS' -
Short URL is - http://wp.me/p19fTH-12
http://djrose007.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/1989-suzuki-gsx750fk-rebuild/
I'm sticking with the wordpress blog, it's not so complicated when you get used to it.
