djrose007

Some people knock the Sportsters for their size but at 1200cc it's certainly big enough power-wise. I would certainly go for forward pegs though unless you aren't very tall. I'm about 5' 11'' and find it very comfortable with the forward pegs. I went for the 'T' model because it has the bigger teardrop tank, rather than the peanut tank. Even a salesman at Cheltenham Harley said the peanut tank is smaller than a gnats bladder!! You'd have to be refuelling every 70 miles or so.

Apologies for the late response, you've probably found out by now but here you go. The spec weight of each is XL1200T 263kg (511.5 lb) https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/h-d/harley_davidson_xl1200t_17.htm CTX1300 338kg (745 lb) but mine was the deluxe, only the deluxe was sold in the UK, and I added a couple of bits so was probably about 345kg. https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Honda/honda_ctx_1300_14.html The combination of lower weight and height really makes a difference when pushing it around. I do still miss the performance of the CTX1300, absolutely fabulous bike to ride. Only big criticism is the panels. The fitting 'pins' are susceptible to breaking. If you did get a CTX1300, I think you can still get them new as they weren't big sellers due to the price but some distributors still have them crated. They were only built for one year as a test bed for the upcoming modified GL1800 Goldwings.

Just done a search and the only things I've posted about, multiple posts though, were when I was rebuilding a mess of a 1989 Suzuki GSX750FK. Just thought I'd bring my profile up to date since then. This is quite a bit longer than I intended but once I started I just couldn't stop! My history started in 1974 when I bought my first bike, from Nettletons in Gloucester. It was a Honda CB175, passed my test one month later (it was a lot easier in those days!) because there had been a cancellation. I was still in the RAF so with postings abroad, and marriage to an anti motorbiking wife, I didn't ride from 1975 to 1994 when I bought a second hand CB250N Superdream. Company cars intervened and in 2000 sold the bike after riding it throughout the six years, every weekend, sun, rain, frost, snow, ice, gales, whatever came, I rode from Maidenhead to Gloucester and back. It was a great little bike. 2009 made redundant from Nortel Networks (went bankrupt) and that was when I got the Suzuki GSX750FK 'for something to do'. Worked on it for 4 years, until early 2014, got it on the road much to the surprise of my wife who said 'If you want to bike again you've got to get that on the road', also to my surprise I must admit. Not my style of riding so quickly sold it, at an enormous loss financially but I obtained a huge amount of knowledge. That was when I bought my second hand Honda VT750C2 Shadow in October 2014. Had that for over two years but in 2017 rode 500 miles for the RBLR1000, and 2016 & 2017 with the RBL Riders Branch across to France and Belgium etc. I thought 'I need a bigger bike'. Traded the Shadow in for a Honda CTX1300, INCREDIBLE bike. Had that for two years but I had to admit it was too heavy for me to push around by hand. I often dropped it, thank goodness I bought the pannier guards from the States. I did pass my Advanced Rider qualification with RoSPA on it though, riding was fantastic, just problem with the pushing around. Looked for something 1000cc+ which was smaller and lighter. Africa Twin - too tall Crosstourer - great ride, liked the DCT but still a bit tall and heavy although lighter than the CTX Even tried a Suzuki V800LT, vibrated like a pneumatic road digger but looked great Thunderroad Gloucester also had a used Harley Davidson XL1200T Sportster Superlow just come in, booked a test ride although it hadn't even been cleaned up it was so new in. I'd never really thought about owning a Harley but thought it was worth a test ride. Nearly 100kg lighter and only 100cc less than the CTX1300. When I first rode the CTX1300 I absolutely loved it before I'd gone 100 yards. With the Sportster I decided I liked it within 100 yards and after about 5 miles I also decided that we could get along just fine and I would learn to love it. A year and a half riding the Sportster I now find myself thinking it's the bike I should have been looking for in the first place, but I'll never forget the journeys I did on the CTX1300, which included the 1,000 miles in 24 hours for the RBLR1000 in 2018. It was a breeze and after a thousand miles I got off that bike without a twinge. I'll be 72 in 2 days time and looking forward to a few years of riding with the Sportster, particularly when this bloody Covid-19 virus buggers off!

Hi Gordy, thanks for the compliments and the trust - Don't ever get disheartened if you don't think you are capable, you definitely are. I know this because I'd never done anything like this before and at times got so fed up I was ready to pack it in, sell it as an ongoing project or sell it off in bits. My disenchantment mostly came from not being able to get at it, as described in the blog, due to the garage constantly getting filled up. When I did get it on the road I really enjoyed riding the bike, it was a joy to ride except I'm getting on a bit and the riding position just wasn't very comfortable for me, hence the Shadow I now ride. First of all - section off a suitable space in the garage and don't let ANYONE invade it with other crap. Parts I mostly got from Wemoto http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/suzuki/gsx_750_f_k_l_m_n/89-92/ BUT To find the parts I found CMSNL incredibly useful. They have graphics to show every single part, down to washers etc. so you can identify it's name and part number. You can then compare prices for that part on Wemoto, CMNSL itself, e-bay etc. I did get a few parts from ebay but when I wanted new I usually went to Wemoto. http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gsx750-1989-fk_model13705/partslist/ I also used Robinsons Foundry for a couple of things such as exhaust gaskets. http://www.robinsonsfoundry.co.uk/content/pages/shop/parts.htm One thing I can't emphasise enough is the importance of getting onto the 'Suzuki Old Skool' facebook and forum. I would never have completed the bike without their assistance and guidance, invaluable. Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/104002846305974/?fref=ts The forum went tits up more than a year ago but it's being resurrected. See the text from an email I received only yesterday. It's very long so if you want to skip some of it the link is at the bottom. Good luck, let me know if I can help at all but to be honest the Old Skool guys are just terrific and will help you if at all possible. Cheers Dave OLDSKOOLSUZUKI Forum message; Message from Katanamangler, Reneefe, Jelle & Banoffee: As many of you will remember Ash started this forum as a temporary platform while the main site was down. At that time there was already a large Facebook community running for the same purposes. None of us thought that the original site would be gone this long. For the last 12 months this forum and the Facebook page have been working together to keep the OSS flame burning, in the absence of the main site. We were all too aware that the OSS community had fragmented and we want to bring it all back together in one place. We are now excited to share the news with you that after several years off-line, oldskoolsuzuki.info will shortly return. We have been busy building a brand new site for www.oldskoolsuzuki.info with an emphasis on quality content about the evolution of our favourite dinosaurs. A functioning news page as well as a home for the technical forum and community. When it became clear that neither of the founding members, Mr7/11 or PP were going to be able to devote the necessary time to build a new site, Mr7/11 and PP passed the URL (oldskoolsuzuki.info) and all associated rights to Rene EFE and sanctioned the Facebook admin team Rene EFE, Jelle, Banoffee and Katanamangler to build a new site. We hope that both of the founders can pop in from time to time and maybe one day take a more active part in the site, if and when time allows. Ash and Captain Chaos from this forum have also been involved in the development of the new site build. They have also agreed to help with the migration of members from the temporary forum as well as continuing to moderate on the new forum. The new site has been set up with all of the same aims and objectives as the original; to create a place where those who want to keep these lovable old dinosaurs in the here and now and on the road, can gather. A place to share information and document projects for others to enjoy and learn from. The site will have a technical forum for discussion and project builds but most importantly it will have a news page and sections for technical articles. We know that the quality of info is ultimately down to the members to create. We have already enlisted the help of some of our well known OSS big brains to produce technical articles for the new news page in order to build up a bank of quality content that we can release over the first few months. We will be gradually republishing old content from the original site in a section called the vault. The new site including the forum is planned to go live on the 6th of July and we will be asking members to migrate to the new platform. When we have a majority of members migrated we will lock this forum for new posts but you will still be able to link back all of the existing posts from the new site. Like you, we are all committed to making oldskoolsuzuki.info everything that it was and has the potential to become and we hope that we can count on your support and expertise to help us realise that potential. We completely understand that after such a long time this will come as a bit of a shock and there will be many questions as to why we are doing this. Together with Ash and Captain Chaos we have created the following question and answers to try and help explain the reasons for this change and how we hope it will work. Ash and Captain Chaos along with small test group will be testing and debugging the new site to make sure we iron out the wrinkles in time for the launch on the 6th of July. Answers to some questions you may have: Why are we doing this? Oldskoolsuzuki.info has been missing for too long. It's also more than just a name as we all know a key part of that is the URL itself! For too long it has pointed to nowhere, now is the time to change that. We've had Facebook and the temp forum keeping the flame burning however neither are ideal for various reasons. It's time to bring back OSS proper and keep it alive. Why can't we just stick with the temp forum? The temp forum is exactly that. Ash and the moderators have done a fantastic job however the proboards platform isn't ideal in the long term for various reasons. For example, the content on there actually belongs to proboards rather than OSS and they don’t permit migrating it elsewhere. Why not just switch the old yabb-based site back on? It no longer exists as it was. Ultimately the old software was horribly out of date and held together with duct tape and cable ties so it was time for a new, properly put together build. How do we know this won't go the way of the old site? The platforms we have selected are stable, well supported and fully hosted. The maintenance of the platforms used to build the news page and the forum are industry standard and not bespoke. The admin team have the utmost respect for your content and that is why we think it should be the property of OSS as not the forum provider as is the case with Proboards. I made a donation to the old site and never got anything back, where did the money go? The current admin team has funded the new site independently from their own pockets. This includes the considerable number of man hours in planning and execution of the site. There has been no transfer of funds from the previous admins. As such we are unable to make any comment on previous donations. We can however say that going forward it is our intention to publish running costs along with any site donations to enable full transparency. What about my thread(s) on the temp forum? We are working to 'lock' the temp forum and keep the threads accessible. However, there is a risk that proboards may delete the temp forum contents if it's not 'alive' so we'd recommend you copy and paste any important content ASAP in case. What happens to my pictures? As above if they are stored on the temp forum itself. If you've hosted them externally then they are as safe as your chosen storage solution. Will there be a 'general discussion' section? Yes, as before it's intended to be about general OSS-related stuff. No doubt with some banter/bushwhacking/etc too as before. But please do keep your Honda pics to yourself. Will I need to register? Yes. Can I keep my same username? Yes as long as you register it. We'd advise getting in promptly to avoid disappointment. What happens to my post count? Any post count you have built up on the temp forum will be lost. This is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved with the new forum and get posting. Will I need to have 50 posts to advertise in marketplace? Yes. Who will be the admins and moderators? The admin team are Rene EFE, Jelly, Katanamangler and Banoffee who have been working behind the scenes to bring OSS back to life. Initially the moderating team are Ash and Captain Chaos. Once we're settled in we'll be looking to grow the moderating team to cover the relevant sections with passionate people. What happened to Mr7/11 and PP? They are alive and well and getting on with their lives. They do indeed look in from time to time and still have four cylinder Suzuki blood in their veins but they have both decided for the time being that they can't give OSS the time and effort it deserves. Mr7/11 has signed the URL over to the admin team and PP has given his full permission to the rebuild and full running of OSS by the admin team. We hope that they may find the time to get involved again in the future. Contrary to what some believe, this sort of thing takes considerable effort, time and funds to achieve and keep going. We have been involved with OSS for some time and are passionate about it. We want to see it come back properly with a mix of what it was like in the past and some essential updated aspects too. Read more: http://old-skool-suzuki.proboards.com/thread/5736/oldskoolsuzuki-info-resurrection#ixzz3cHtDSFbL

Sticking foam in will work but the one I got has all the bits including hard foam of different thickness to pad out the SatNav. Not bad for everything at just short of £40.00 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Screen-GPS-Satnav-Motorcycle-Mount-Micro-USB-Hardwire-Power-/380935940042?pt=UK_CE_GPS_Accessories_Software_ET&hash=item58b18d27ca I got it back in April but only just fitted it, long story, and it didn't work. I went back to 'Mr Buy-Bits' on ebay and he came back withing an hour with a couple of suggestions. I forgot there's an on/off button on the small interface box - DOH, he must have thought I was a right plonker! EDIT NOTE - This one connects directly to the battery, no need for a fag lighter interface.

Been concentrating on the blog so neglected posting on here I'm afraid! http://wp.me/p19fTH-12 Since February I managed to get the Bike MOT'd in March but due to an and illness, operation, and a recent trip to Oman I haven't ridden it a lot, about 70 miles in local rides around Gloucester. I found it quite painful for my old gammy thumb joints so a Sport bike is obviously not the type of bike for me so I've recently sold it and got myself a Shadow VT750C American Classic Edition. Couple of Photos - First one is the GSX750FK going off to a new home. The other two are of the Shadow. 1998 and 6194 miles on the clock when I picked it up 2 weeks ago. Now nearly 6400! It's a dream to ride. http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/djrose007/Suzuki%20GSX750F%20Rebuild/PA265001_zpsa73bc1e0.jpg http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/djrose007/Honda%20Shadow%20R250HJV/Frontoffsideangledview_zpse9f4d050.jpg http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/djrose007/Honda%20Shadow%20R250HJV/30October2014_zps672d316a.jpg

It's MOT'd until March 2015, Taxed until February 2015 and it's running but what I really want is a custom/cruiser type bike, Honda Shadow, Suzuki Intruder etc. So, This bike is up for sale. Open to reasonable offers bearing in mind it still needs some work. Carbs need balancing, maybe replacing, and that would see it ok. For the enthusiast you'd probably want to go further and have the swingarm off etc. to smarten it up. Some of the fairing securing bolts aren't as on the bike frame so there are some bolts securing the frame rather than the standard Allen key bolts. I'll post in the for sale section.

Just a quick update as I haven't posted on here since March. I've been waiting for an operation to get rid of my Gall Bladder since January and it happened in July so not much riding through the decent weather we've had, typical! I've only managed about 60 miles on the bike since getting through the MOT in March but while recuperating from the operation I have taken the cover off each fortnight and she's started first time every time and run very smoothly for 10 minutes or so. Now thinking I can manage a ride so going to check her over today, tyre pressures, brakes etc. so I know she's ok for the road. It's taken so long because they couldn't do keyhole so it all went tits up during the op and they had to do an old fashioned slash and grab op so taking longer to get over than normal.

Didn't post the next day because, as expected, it failed. Could have been worse; Flash to pass not working rear suspension (thought it was a bit bouncy!) front offside caliper leaking. Turned out to be a scratch in the piston. The bloke at mantra motorcycles sorted it, and the suspension with one I got off ebay, and the flash to pass! Cost a bit in labour but the result was that it PASSED THE MOT! I've still got one problem to sort. When I rode it home, first time on the road with it, I was stalling at roundabouts and traffic lights. Problem was the clutch not disengaging with the clutch lever being depressed. I had adjusted it and there was only a tiny amount of movement before it engaged so I've ordered, and now received, a new cable to fit. Had a problem with the bottom allen bolt on the sprocket cover but got it shifted using a Torx bit and a big hammer!! Not had time to do it yet, only received the cable this morning but busy at the museum (Jet Age Museum) today.

Thanks for that E.A.Biker, it's much appreciated. I certainly wouldn't have been able to do it at all without the assistance of people on forums and the Old Skool Suzuki facebook after the forum disappeared. I've only really been able to work on it for the past 12 months in earnest because of the garage kept getting filled up with furniture and cr@p but I'll have had the bike for 5 years come May! I'll post tomorrow about how the MOT went and what I've got to do before the retest, or is that too pessimistic Cheers

Quick update - I've been doing the blog but neglecting the forum updates I'm afraid. Mostly been on Old Skool Suzuki Facebook and forum with it being an oil cooled GSX it qualifies! Todays update is to say it's booked in for an MOT on Tuesday, don't think it will pass easily but at least then I'll know what needs to be done. The blog is at http://wp.me/p19fTH-12 This is what it looks like now. http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/djrose007/Suzuki%20GSX750F%20Rebuild/P2271058_zps788b63c6.jpg

Still not on the road but have made a lot of progress since the last posting. I tend to make updates to the blog rather than the forum - http://wp.me/p19fTH-12 Got a couple of little problems to overcome. Fuel Gauge worked briefly but noticed one of the rear indicators stopped working. Disconnected the fuel gauge wiring, indicator worked and now the gauge doesn't!!! Also the fuel runs out after 10 minutes. Someone has suggested checking the hole in the fuel cap. Sometimes it's the simple things in life and I'm going to check this out.

No, not running although I have managed to get the engine running but cuts out after about 5 minutes. Lots to do yet including welding of the frame. If you don't want to have nightmares don't look at this http://wp.me/p19fTH-12

That is looking really good - still plodding along with mine, making progress but it's slooooooooooowwwwwww!

Thanks for that, it's very useful but not for the bits. I couldn't figure out how to attach the rear subframe but on the photos it is very clear so that has helped enormously. There's an LED light on the back at the moment but that is from the previous bloke when he was making a streetfighter so where it is attached is just about where the top part of the subframe attaches. Couldn't figure out how, if that's where the light goes, where the rest of the subframe comes in. Now I realise it's in totally the wrong place! Cheers for that link, it's always good to have people keeping an eye on it, still a long way to go so going to need more advice as I make progress. Concentrating on the front calipers at the moment until the weather picks up and I can get it outside to do the frame welding, or rather so that a friend can get on with the welding! Thanks again