[Project] '93 GSX-R 750 Project

[93formulalt1]

I picked up my "new to me" bike last night, and so far, I haven't wasted any time getting the project started. I found a source for most of the parts I need (pretty much everything except a tank), and should be picking the parts up this weekend. Today's progress was mostly limited to assessing damages and disassembling the bike, but I think I made a decent dent in the project. So far, I removed all of the fairings, the seats, tank, instrument cluster, and inspected the bike for any damage that was previously unnoticed. The bike looks to be in great shape, just needs a couple of parts to make it driveable, the rest of the work is mostly for appearance. Should have the bike on the road soon, and hope to have it looking better by the end of the summer. I'm planning on painting the bike black, and leaving the frame either silver (unpolished aluminum) or I'll take some wet sandpaper to it, and polish the exposed parts to a mirror finish. It's all going to depend on what parts I am able to source for the project, and what my budget will allow. So far, I've spent $520 on the project. Purchase price was $500, gas for the trip to Rochester to pick it up was $20. I'm looking at another $500-$600 in parts to get the bike where I want it to be. After that, I'll be getting some riding gear, and I plan to enjoy the bike (and the excellent gas mileage) for the rest of the summer.

Here are some pics of the bike, taken right after I unloaded it from the truck:






And a few taken moments ago, after removing all of the plastics and broken parts:













Any ideas you'd like to share, feel free. Nothing is decided for sure, and the future of the bike remains unclear. . .

[Darren]

does the bike run as of now? If so I think you got a good deal as you can piece together the appearance of the bike while riding it. What does it need to make drivable?

[93formulalt1]

does the bike run as of now? If so I think you got a good deal as you can piece together the appearance of the bike while riding it. What does it need to make drivable?

As of right now, no, it does not run. It needs a few little things. . . Gas tank, battery, and I think that's it. Now "Running" and "Driveable" are two different stories. . . To be driveable, it needs a new front fork tube, instrument cluster, new turn signals, new headlight housing, a key made for the ignition, and a new front tire. I'll throw some parts on it a little at a time, as money allows, and it should be up and running in no time.

[kammi10]

no offense here but you shoulda just bought one that did need a ton of work cuz piecing bikes together will nickle and dime you to hell and back. you prolly could have found that bike in running condition and not all broken for under 2k which is what u will have into it i bet

[MunsterZ28]

stunt it

[93formulalt1]

no offense here but you shoulda just bought one that did need a ton of work cuz piecing bikes together will nickle and dime you to hell and back. you prolly could have found that bike in running condition and not all broken for under 2k which is what u will have into it i bet

No offense taken. I have found a source for all the parts except the tank and lower fairings, which he may also have. I'll be picking that stuff up this weekend, assuming those Bel Air parts sell. Also grabbed a new battery for it today, and I have an appointment for tomorrow morning to have keys made for it. I don't think I'll have $2k into it, I think it will be around $1100-$1200, but by the time I'm done, I should be able to sell it for close to $2k, if I decide to sell it.

I'll be keeping track of what it costs me to get this bike looking better than new, and I'll let you all know what the numbers come out to.

[93formulalt1]

stunt it

I was thinking of going "Streetfighter" with it, save some money on fairings, just replace the front one and find a decent tail that would look good without any fairings to compliment it. That would probably be a ton cheaper than trying to find original plastics that will likely be damaged and overpriced anyways. I'm looking to make the bike look clean, not going to go too "over the top" with it. A simple 2-tone black and polished aluminum look would look great, IMO. I'm even contemplating an all Silver color scheme, with black accents (black windscreen, hand grips, pegs, seat, etc.). At this point, I just want to make it ridable, then have some fun with it. I'm going to get keys made, get a tank, and replace the parts of the bike that are absolutely necessary to get it on the road, and the rest will come as I find deals on parts on ebay and craigslist. I'm not looking to break the bank with this one, just looking to build up a somewhat-decent looking bike that I can go riding on and not have to worry about dropping it. I've always loved the look of Streetfighter bikes, they look really aggressive, and there isn't a whole lot of expensive plastic to break if you drop one.

Kind of like this:


Although this is more like what I wanted mine to look like. . .

[ITSSLOW]

Damn. Sorry to see you bought that. Looks like a fun project and all but I could of got you a lot nicer 91 GSXR 600 for $600 that needs way less than $500-600 in parts. Gotta start PM'n bike guys next time you go out looking.

[93formulalt1]

Damn. Sorry to see you bought that. Looks like a fun project and all but I could of got you a lot nicer 91 GSXR 600 for $600 that needs way less than $500-600 in parts. Gotta start PM'n bike guys next time you go out looking.

I put up a thread! You should have mentioned it in there! In all reality, I can get away much cheaper than that if I do a streetfighter bike, all I'll really need as far as body panels go is a headlight.

And I was looking at it yesterday, I'm going to try to clean the rust out of this tank using the kit from POR-15. Comes with everything I need, tank cleaning solution, rust remover, and tank sealer. I'll probably give the rust remover a try with some metal ball bearings thrown in there to knock the rust loose. If that doesn't work, I've got a couple of other tricks I'm going to try. If all else fails, I'll start looking at replacement tanks. Saving this tank will save me about $100.

I'll post more progress pics as I get stuff done, but for now, progress is stopped until I get some parts. Unless, of course, I start painting the plastics that I'm planning on putting back on. . .

[JSTALT1]

good luck with it nick, you should stopped by when you were in rochester, i live about 5 mins from downtown

[Joedashredder93]

Thats a really cool bike and great price too. I want a bike so bad, I'm learning off my uncle's 86 Rebel and plan on doing the same thing as you by restoring someone else's mess (just no money yet). Hope all goes well with the rebuild.

[93formulalt1]

good luck with it nick, you should stopped by when you were in rochester, i live about 5 mins from downtown

Now just how the hell was I supposed to know where you live?! lol If I would have known, I definitely would have stopped by. It was about 11:30pm when I finally left the guys house though. Didn't get home until 3am. lol

[93formulalt1]

Thats a really cool bike and great price too. I want a bike so bad, I'm learning off my uncle's 86 Rebel and plan on doing the same thing as you by restoring someone else's mess (just no money yet). Hope all goes well with the rebuild.

Over in my Wanted thread, someone posted a pair of 79 Kawi 750's for $500. PM him, see if that's what your looking for.

[93formulalt1]

Took off the top of the triple today, dropped it off at the locksmith to have a new key made. Also picked up some Muriatic Acid, going to give that a try to get rid of all of the rust inside the gas tank. It's going to take some time to get the money together for the rest of the parts, but I should have it running this week. Might even be able to get the tank cleaned out and get her moving under her own power! Still going to take quite a bit of work before I'll take it out on the road, but it's closer than it was when I bought it.

[93formulalt1]

Got bored tonight, so I went out and started working on painting the fairings. Only got the right rear fairing sanded and painted, and I didn't do a very good job, but it looks pretty good for 30 minutes of work. Sanded it by hand, hit it with scotch-brite, wiped it down, and sprayed it with rattlecan gloss black.

On a similar note, I want to simply express how much I love spray paint. Rattle can paintjobs may look like shit on larger objects, but it's PERFECT for motorcycles. There are no parts that are too large, so it's easier to hide defects in the paint by just spraying the whole thing again. Not to mention, spray cans are much more forgiving on smaller objects, so I can take a couple rattle cans of gloss black and make it look good, where on a car, you can't paint anything more than maybe a side view mirror housing without seeing some sort of problem with the paint. . . lol

I'll post pics tomorrow once I have some more work done. I might just pick up a quart of black metallic paint from the paint shop when I sell these parts, then get everything fixed up and paint it all at once, but for now, the spray cans are looking great. I should have at least the right rear fairing mounted to the bike tomorrow, I'm hoping to get the taillights bolted to the rear subframe where I want them, and get the taillight surround painted. I might kick it all out early, break out the DA, and get started pulling the dents in the tank. I'm not concerned about the bike looking perfect, but I would like it to look presentable.