1983 GS750ESD

[Suzukian]

I purchased my 1983 GS750ESD new, even built it out of the crate. I have added a stock half fairing to it.  I feel like a total "noob" asking this, but do you classify this bike as a "teapot" or an "oil cooler"?  It has the 16" front wheel.  Thanks you for you patience.  When I color match the Lockhart Lowers I have, it will look like the pic below.

 

 

[DAZ]

Your gs(x)750esd is air cooled the oil cooled gsxf 600/750 is also very wrongly know as a Katana in the Americas any looks like this 

Edited February 17, 2023 by DAZ

[TonyGee]

yep its a proper air cooled 

[Suzukian]

Thank You!!  I never got why people here though their bikes were Katanas.  Just a bunch of wanna be's I guess.  Don't know 'cause I don't think that way.  My bike is bone stock.  At times, because for a while, front tire choices where getting thin, I thought I wanted to change the front end.  I live in Connecticut, on the Northwest corner, 600 feet from the New York state line, and have access to some of the best back road riding available in this country.

 

I worked for many dealerships,  almost all of them around here, as the Parts Managers during the late '70's and early '80's, and always had a dealer bike.  In my time, I've had the fortune of being able to ride many different bikes.  This Suzuki goes down the road, carving it out like the front wheel is a scalpel. It's bone stock.  It has 40K miles on it and runs extremely strong.

 

I'm 66, and my son is getting my machine shop, tooling etc. and doesn't want me to touch this bike.  Pirelli Diablo in 100/90x 16" is available, if you can find it.  I have an Avon tire on the front, which I've grown very accustomed too.

 

As part of a small Introduction: I also have 2 other bikes. A Kaw ZZR1200 with only 3484 miles I just picked up, and a Yoshima converted my   CB400F (my 1st bike, purchased new in 1975).  Kazio Yoshima personally helped me convert that into a 458cc super bike, and for it's time, well, that's for another forum, I guess. 

 

I know where to post now and thank you for that.  I'm old, 66, and have 5 fused and 5 ruptured discs.  I still ride though.  Pain is a motherfucker.  I didn't get hurt on a motorcycle either.  A huge CNC machine decided to eat me up.  Had to give up flying and sailing, but I draw the line at bikes, and I love leaning over, and going very fast!!

Edited February 17, 2023 by Suzukian
spelling

[DAZ]

Welcome to OSS. Well your lucky to have had the bike from new, know it's ins and outs,there is plenty of knowledge on here should you need help 

[Suzukian]

Thank You.  I'm an Electronic Technician, so when the whole Stator Regulator/Rectifier issue raised it's ugly head, I knew how to fix it.  I just wish I had money to buy all the bikes people were giving away because they could not modify and fix this problem.  I also have a small machine shop.  Being a cheap bastard, I buy nothing.  I make what I need.  I also do CAD, so if someone needed help, and they had enough information, I could help. 

I am thick skinned. I read the rules.  If I break one, it was unintentional.  Right now I'm reading up on the fluidics behind cartridge emulators. 

I like the anti-dive on my bike.  It works properly.  I've ridden bikes where it does,'t, and taking them apart found the moisture had gotten inside an rusted the vital components.  The cartridge emulators seem extremely interesting though, and would be really easy to make. ;)

[Dezza]

Welcome: I always liked the styling of the ESDs more than the (bona fide) Katanas (unmodified ones), whatever the engine capacity .

[krazy kat]

Hello nice 750 not many left, weren't many when there were many either.

[Suzukian]

I don't see any of these bikes on the roads of Connecticut.  When I go up to Bear Mountain, often I get a group of bikers and most say the same thing, "This is the bike that started it".  My bike was sold for only 1 year in the U.S. before the protectionist ruling brought on by H.D, the American company that makes the things with 2 wheels, and all the foreign  750's turned into 700's.  I even dragged a Velorex Sidecar with this bike for 5 years.  Machined all the brackets, 10 minutes to attach, and 5 minutes to take off.  I could drive in 1' foot of snow. 

The nature of the GS750's mid range power made it an excellent bike for that, and in those days, tight on money, working at Sikorsky Aircraft (just starting), I had to be able to ride all year.  Kept the sidecar stuffed with a sleeping bag and lots of tools, the whole unit never let me down.  In fact, the bike has only let me down once, and that was when the stator blue, and I found all the bad grounds, put in a new ElectroSports Stator, and a Kaw 1100 R/R (that regulates all 3 legs of the Stator) directly wired to the stator, rewired and relocated the R/R to under the seat.  Two 8" wires supply the  +/- voltage directly to the battery, all problems solved. 

I love that the valves are so easy to maintain.  The whole nature of this bike seems to be "Carve up the roads, use high quality oil,  do maintenance, ride me all the time, go fast".  I've known people who have gone through so many bikes during the time I've had mine, they never gained a riding advantage, and their bikes just did not last.  There are exceptions of course, but there's something special about my Suzuki.  The reason it only has 40K miles was that I got paralyzed in an industrial accident, and couldn't walk for a year.  I pickled the bike for 8 years.

[krazy kat]

Bear Mountain and Marcus Dairy runs. Now you're making me get nostalgic. Best roads to ride all the way up to Canada. Retired to Florida mostly straight and flat, boring. Long ride to north Georgia for me to get that kind of entertainment. 

[geogsxr]

Hi. My first gsx was a 750 ef. Great bike. Yours looks great though.

[Suzukian]

1 hour ago, krazy kat said:

Bear Mountain and Marcus Dairy runs. Now you're making me get nostalgic. Best roads to ride all the way up to Canada. Retired to Florida mostly straight and flat, boring. Long ride to north Georgia for me to get that kind of entertainment. 

Marcus Dairy was a blast!!  How many people hooked up there to go for day long rides that would have never met each other in any other way.  You know the roads.  I live in New Fairfield, 300 feet from the New York line.  The roads around here have not changed in 40 years, except for being repaved, and then becoming like road race tracks. krazy kat    that Kaz Yoshima CB400F I had (have)was the only one at Marcus Dairy, it would draw  huge crowds around it.  It was my 15 minutes of  fame.  I hope you are enjoying you're retirement.  I too am retired.  I stayed in New Fairfield, and have three bikes, my 2nd, also purchased new, is my '83 GS750ES, and my ZZR1200.  I love these bikes.

I've been half way around the world, but have yet to find roads like up in this region.  Lean all the way over, or go as fast as your bike can, it's all here.

[Swiss Toni]

Sounds idyllic! Welcome to OSS! 

[Suzukian]

I've noticed when looking at compatibility charts for brakes, front ends etc. a lot of bikes have little letters beyond their factory name that seem to indicate a series of frames, I guess.

Would someone be willing to educate me if their are other codes that would be used as descriptors when trying to cross match possible interchangeability of items?

The bike is an 1983  known as  the  GS 750ESD in the U.S...  I added the half fairing, it originally had the q/r fairing.  Thank you.

[Tony Nitrous]

On 2/19/2023 at 3:35 AM, geogsxr said:

Hi. My first gsx was a 750 ef. Great bike. Yours looks great though.

I was just about to post the same.

After a few naughty years I took a test and my first GSX / il4 / big boys bike was a red GSX750ESD. I think since then I’ve had a gap of about 2 weeks without a GSX of some form.

[Tony Nitrous]

2 hours ago, Suzukian said:

 GS 750ESD in the U.S... 

You’ve probably worked out that whilst the 2 valves cylinder / 8 valve head bikes were “GS” around the world,  most countries had the 16v bikes labeled as GSX’s.   If I see a 16v bike in the UK or AU labeled as a GS it’s normaly a USA import.    US also got some odd downsized 750’s that became 700’s to avoid Ronnie Raygun’s big bike tax to protect H*rley. 

[Tony Nitrous]

Personal experience with the GSX750ESD…. from my old and faded memories….

# It was quite comfy.

# The 16” front always seemed a bit fussy about tyre wear and pressure.

# The “Box” style 750 frame wasn’t a natural fit for the 1100 motors like some Suzuki’s are.

# Off all the other GSX’s it’s closest relative is the 750 “Pop-Up” headlight Katana. 

[Suzukian]

The 16" tire has to have the tire pressure right on.  That being said, it was like have a scalpel in front of your bike for a wheel.  It carved up the road, it seemed to be turning as you were thinking about setting the bike up, it really felt your preparation for the turns, and if you weren't careful, you could get inn trouble, but it will take you right out of it just as quickly.  You can hang off of it, and take turns really fast with the bike almost vertical, or lean it over.  I've worn thee flats on the center stand off and have to weld on new ones.  I found a used center stand off of ebag really cheap.  It looks new. The mounting clevis pins are pointing the wrong direction, so I have to remove the exhaust  tail pipes to get at it.  I may grind the ends off, and put clevis pins with the cotter pins on the outside to avoid having to remove something that's been together since 1983.

 

I love the anti dive.  I studied fluidics a little bit, the cartridge eliminators seem to the way to go, but my anti-dive works great, I have huge hands, and have no problem applying any extra for that may be necessary.  When I ride a bike and the front end dips, it just seems so obsolete to me.

 

I almost purchased the Katana but it had lower power specs than the GSX750 and cost a lot more.  A friend of mine purchased one, he said at the time, he felt he made a mistake.  They are really nice looking bikes, and a fully stock one gets big bucks in the U.S., but my bike is going to my son.  I just want to make sure he gets a shitload of mileage on it before I pop. This Summer will be spend on my ZZR1200 though, it only has 3845 miles on it.  I got it for virtually nothing.  It's a beast. The GS750ESD will get a lot of TLC this Summer.

[Tony Nitrous]

I hope you keep the thread going with any updates. 

It’s a long time since I had one, but funny enough someone in the village put one up for sale then deleted the ad. I contacted him and he said he’d decided not to sell, but he’d phone me up next time, so I might be an owner again one day. I have a couple of other bikes but I could always find room for another GSX. 

[coombehouse]

I rode a gsx750esd back when they first came out & at the time is seemed really good with much better suspension but being poor, I couldn't afford one. Later that year, I bought a project 1100 katana & fitted a rear end & shock from an esd as it was an easy mod, along with a 16" front wheel. Ran it as my only transport for a few years until I changed it all again. My observations were, the rear suspension setup was over engineered & heavy, the shock wasn't great & the small front wheel made the bike very tyre sensitive. It did work though.

Regarding the antidive, I think it soon became clear, once tyre technology improved, that dive actually was a good thing. It promoted weight transfer to allow better grip when braking & made the bike turn faster into a corner due to the geometry change. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by coombehouse

[Suzukian]

Could be.  I   like that I can be on the edge of the wheels at 120 mph on the Taconic Pkwy, once with my buddy on his Ducati Pantah of the same year, we had just purchased our bikes, his cost 4X more,, and the both of us, on opposite type bikes, drifting, under full control, the same on both wheels.  Different era.  That 16" wheel , well you don't hold on loosely, but you don't hold on too hard either.  I got to ride that Ducati 650 Pantah a lot, an incredible machine, felt like you needed 4 hands to steer it, but it still did what you wanted and was impervious to bumps and potholes.

[krazy kat]

7 hours ago, Suzukian said:

Could be.  I   like that I can be on the edge of the wheels at 120 mph on the Taconic Pkwy, once with my buddy on his Ducati Pantah of the same year, we had just purchased our bikes, his cost 4X more,, and the both of us, on opposite type bikes, drifting, under full control, the same on both wheels.  Different era.  That 16" wheel , well you don't hold on loosely, but you don't hold on too hard either.  I got to ride that Ducati 650 Pantah a lot, an incredible machine, felt like you needed 4 hands to steer it, but it still did what you wanted and was impervious to bumps and potholes.

Changed out my 16" wheel on my efe years and years ago . With matching rear wheel,gsxr usd front end,Werks shoch stiffer springs (old bike set up also) transformed the bike not even a close comparison. !6" wheels are gone for a reason, they didn't work as well as intended. The Taconic is a big  pretty twisty roadway great to ride on, made for that fast riding.Suzukian I'm from Suffolk county north shore of long island tight windy and at times technical country roads, your pals rubber ban would have ate your lunch down here. Not trying to get in pissing match just truth. Get rid that 16 you will not regret it will instill even more confidence and you will like the stopping as well.Before i left the Island it had changed a lot, seems like there are stop signs every 100 yds now, at one time on a Sunday morning you had the road to yourself till about 8 am that is then tone it down. Things changed not for the better.

[krazy kat]

Old rule of thumb never hang off you bike on road. Ride like Hallwood not Hayden. Be a toe cutter not a puck dragger. You will be safer and probably faster. Now i am just a geezer so take it with a grain of salt.

[Suzukian]

Depends on the roads.  I prefer leaning, but sometimes, hanging off, allows you to bring the bike down sideways, and gives you more choices.  300K miles on  motorcycles.  I do what must be done, but only challenge myself.  I never race anyone.  Too old for that!  I've scraped the sidestand flats off and was going to weld on new ones, but picked up a used one in excellent condition.  I've had my bike since new, I can take it to the edge of the tread, those these days, I have a wife and child, so I just don't push it as hard as I used to.  Gave up flying  small aircraft for the same reason.

[Suzukian]

6 hours ago, krazy kat said:

Changed out my 16" wheel on my efe years and years ago . With matching rear wheel,gsxr usd front end,Werks shoch stiffer springs (old bike set up also) transformed the bike not even a close comparison. !6" wheels are gone for a reason, they didn't work as well as intended. The Taconic is a big  pretty twisty roadway great to ride on, made for that fast riding.Suzukian I'm from Suffolk county north shore of long island tight windy and at times technical country roads, your pals rubber ban would have ate your lunch down here. Not trying to get in pissing match just truth. Get rid that 16 you will not regret it will instill even more confidence and you will like the stopping as well.Before i left the Island it had changed a lot, seems like there are stop signs every 100 yds now, at one time on a Sunday morning you had the road to yourself till about 8 am that is then tone it down. Things changed not for the better.

Which years(s)GSXR front end should I be looking for? I'm open to this concept.