As you know I was having the 750 gone through by, a top notch mechanic. What folow is the report he gave me before proceeding:
"This is a Bad news email which pains me to send out, after spending the last 3 days getting the thing to run.
The bike runs now, but has so many things wrong with it I dont want to take your money and repair a bike that will constantly give trouble. this reflects badly on my skills and perfection in my work.
below is a list of the items wrong with the bike. that i have found so far.
1. Coils burnt out, replaced to make bike run cost 3500 bht plus postage
2. Carburetters are from a Yamaha XS550 not from a 750 they will never run smooth and the bike will never tick over, too small for that bike and jetted wrongly
3. rear suspension is bodged with wrong shockers causing the back end to weave all over the place and bottom out as soon as you sit on bike ( total Bodge)
4. neutral safety switch shorting out inside gearbox ( again a complete stip down to fix )
5. many oil leaks from all over engine and basically because no gasgets used when re-asembled ( silicone wont do the trick ) thais do this
6. the biggest problem of all is the whole wiring loom is useless it shorts all over the bike, this is probably the cause of the coils burning out, ( in 35 years of fixing bikes i have never seen such a bodge)
7. live wires have been disconected from ignition igniter and left hanging shorting out the whole bike.
inside headlamp more black tape has been used than ive ever seen to seal twisted together wires. in short the whole bike wants re-wiring. ( expensive job ) assuming i could find a loom or make one even more expensive.
8. Brakes totally useless rear shoes glued together with oil from diff leaking into brakes.
9. headstock bearings shot to bits. this would cause possible tank slappers at very low speeds 80 -100kph
10. right hand fork leg totally up shit creek, leaking at top and seals.
I could go on once i went deeper into bike but I dont see the point this is a 1981 bike which has exceeded its useful life, I strongly suggest you pump no more hard earned funds into this bike.
I understand you love the old girl but there comes a time when enough is enough and finding new parts for a 81 model 750 is gonna be near impossible as they were not a popular model out here.
Please let me know what you want to do but i can tell you now to repair this bike to my standards will cost in excess of 60000 baht assuming i can source the parts, but labour on this bike will be extensive due to ripping it all out and starting again from scratch.
Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news but honesty and integrity are our policy and I will not just bodge for the sake of getting a bike running. it damn dangerous in the state its in."
Now I don't know about you guys but the mechanics I have met here would have believed they just hit gold, not say a word and continue on knowing you would be back and back again.
What this guy just saved me in money is unblievable, in worrieds and stress you couldn't put a price on that. I'm one these guys who doesn't give up easily. Without his honest advice I could have been in this for years.
As long as this guy is around no one else will work on my bikes.
If anyone wants contact info on him PM me and I will ge it to you
"This is a Bad news email which pains me to send out, after spending the last 3 days getting the thing to run.
The bike runs now, but has so many things wrong with it I dont want to take your money and repair a bike that will constantly give trouble. this reflects badly on my skills and perfection in my work.
below is a list of the items wrong with the bike. that i have found so far.
1. Coils burnt out, replaced to make bike run cost 3500 bht plus postage
2. Carburetters are from a Yamaha XS550 not from a 750 they will never run smooth and the bike will never tick over, too small for that bike and jetted wrongly
3. rear suspension is bodged with wrong shockers causing the back end to weave all over the place and bottom out as soon as you sit on bike ( total Bodge)
4. neutral safety switch shorting out inside gearbox ( again a complete stip down to fix )
5. many oil leaks from all over engine and basically because no gasgets used when re-asembled ( silicone wont do the trick ) thais do this
6. the biggest problem of all is the whole wiring loom is useless it shorts all over the bike, this is probably the cause of the coils burning out, ( in 35 years of fixing bikes i have never seen such a bodge)
7. live wires have been disconected from ignition igniter and left hanging shorting out the whole bike.
inside headlamp more black tape has been used than ive ever seen to seal twisted together wires. in short the whole bike wants re-wiring. ( expensive job ) assuming i could find a loom or make one even more expensive.
8. Brakes totally useless rear shoes glued together with oil from diff leaking into brakes.
9. headstock bearings shot to bits. this would cause possible tank slappers at very low speeds 80 -100kph
10. right hand fork leg totally up shit creek, leaking at top and seals.
I could go on once i went deeper into bike but I dont see the point this is a 1981 bike which has exceeded its useful life, I strongly suggest you pump no more hard earned funds into this bike.
I understand you love the old girl but there comes a time when enough is enough and finding new parts for a 81 model 750 is gonna be near impossible as they were not a popular model out here.
Please let me know what you want to do but i can tell you now to repair this bike to my standards will cost in excess of 60000 baht assuming i can source the parts, but labour on this bike will be extensive due to ripping it all out and starting again from scratch.
Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news but honesty and integrity are our policy and I will not just bodge for the sake of getting a bike running. it damn dangerous in the state its in."
Now I don't know about you guys but the mechanics I have met here would have believed they just hit gold, not say a word and continue on knowing you would be back and back again.
What this guy just saved me in money is unblievable, in worrieds and stress you couldn't put a price on that. I'm one these guys who doesn't give up easily. Without his honest advice I could have been in this for years.
As long as this guy is around no one else will work on my bikes.
If anyone wants contact info on him PM me and I will ge it to you