New to Suzuki AND Two Strokes

[DrAwkwArD]

Hey guys. I'm going to be picking up a nice 1975 GT380 tomorrow and figured I'd sign up and introduce myself as I am sure I'll be asking tons of questions. Like is the bike pre-mix gas/oil...stupid stuff like that. I'll search before I make an ass out of myself though, haha.

First off, I own two other motorcycles...a 2000 Buell M2 that I turned into a streetfighter and a 2008 Buell 1125R that primarily sees the race track.

I am buying the GT380 to convert into a cafe racer. Battery delete, airbox delete, clip ons...that sort of thing. The guy told me that the bike was running a year and a half ago after he had it professionally worked on (mainly carbs from what I gather) but it hasn't ran since. He thinks that since he never cleaned the tank that the carbs got gummed up. It supposedly turns over fine when kicked and compression is good. I'll be sure to check that out. Is there anything else specific to these bikes that I should look for?

Anyways, here are some pics of the 380 that the guy sent me and the parts bike I'm getting with the deal. Pictures of the bike once I get it will be updated!





As for personal stuff...I live in Houston and work for NASA as a Space Station flight controller.

[two-stroke-brit]

welcome to the board, there a couple of us in houston ,
scorch has a 380 also.
i have a gt750.
cheers mark

[Scorch]

Wow, those pipes look great, don't throw them away. Some fellow 380-rider may want to buy them from you!

Very cool, that makes three GTs in the Houston area. I am in Pearland. PM me your address, if you want me to ride my 380 over to admire your new bike. I've been riding it to college this week, it's running fine. I'm free Sunday morning. I can answer a lot of questions for you--first, the bike has a small oil tank behind the right sidecover that injects oil into the cylinder and onto the crank bearings automatically.

I also would love to hear about your job, I'm a BIG NASA fan.

[DrAwkwArD]

Hey guys. I picked up the bike today along with the parts bike that I may just turn around and sell for a couple hundred bucks.

Looks like the major things I'm going to need to do, beside all the fab work, is a fork rebuild (they are very leaky), new gaskets (just because), carb clean and possibly rebuild...seems like that is all the big things. It turns over nice from the kicker and seems to have good compression though I have not actually tested it. The tank has surface rust in it so it'll need to be cleaned eventually...still not sure what process I should use for that.

Here are all the pics I took today:

http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g278/jcy123/GT380/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please don't hesitate to throw out opinions or problems you might see just from looking at it. This community seems to be one of the best I have ever seen on the online forums from reading through some posts...and that's nice to see considering I know nothing about this or two strokes. I'm happy I bought it though because I'm looking forward to learning all I can about it.

Some quick questions I have are where do you guys typically source parts...like the fork rebuild kit or carb kit. I found a gasket set on ebay so far. Is amazon the place to buy the service manual?

I appreciate the help. And Scorch, you are welcome to come over anytime...so I can pick your brain!!

[Barry S.]

Most stuff can still be had from you friendly local Suzuki dealer.

[Ser_Jorah]

welcome, im pretty new here myself and also purchased a pretty beat up 74 380. its missing quite a few things. if you were going to get rid of anything like say, insturment clusters, taillights turn signals id definitely be interested in buying them off ya. ive almost got mine up to speed thanks to these guys and i have absolutely no experience working on cars/bikes. good luck!

heres my pics of the bike so far. http://monk22.imgur.com/
i have a parts manual as well if you want it i can email it over.

[DrAwkwArD]

Thanks Jorah. You're first in line for the clusters, tail lights and signals once I start dismantling everything. I won't be using any of it so I'd be happy to help you out with it.

I'd appreciate it if you could send over the parts manual. I've found a few links to some manuals online but I'm eventually going to buy the print manual. Does anyone have a recommendation for which one specifically to use. I'm not sure if there is a Clymer, Haynes and factory for this bike...

Anyways, my email is jcy123@gmail.com

Thanks man!

[Coyote]

Welcome! Unfortunatey, Suzuki never printed any public available manuals for these triples. There is one for the 750 but it only covers early models. Clymer has one but it is full of errors and incorrect specs. Unaware of any publications from Haynes.
The GT380 and GT550 share lots of common parts with the major exception of the motor. The 550 also incorporates an electric starter and is 5 speed as opposed to 6 for the 380.
On both models, things were the same for 72-73 and then 74-77. The major changes were the carburation and cylinder / head design. So for your 75 model, any 380 stuff from 74-77 will work. Major thigs that will interchange with the 550 are the tank, seat and sidecovers. Some electrical parts interchange as well All three triples used the exact same coil pack for instance.
I have on CDROM a manual in PDF format. It was recently determined that this was copied from a Chilton's manual. However, it is extremely accurate and packed full of things you will need th know like timing settings, carb syncing, float height, correct jetting, electricl testing etc. I would be glad to mail you a copy if you like. Just PM me your mailing address and consider it done!

[gt-keith]

Hi and welcome to forum, and the GT380 clan in particular.

In relation to the manuals, Haynes did an excellent manual that covers the 380 & 550, as did Pitmans which was a UK publication but does come availlable on ebay from time to time.
If you're a bit handy with the spanners, I find that Suzuki's Parts manual is as good as anything as it gives exploded views of each assembly.

Have fun.

[BRP Tourer]

I have a Clymer manual that I have been using for a couple years. Lots of pics, fairly well detailed, but as others said, some of the specs are wrong or mixed up, but it is written well and easy to understand.
I also have a "Suzuki Two Stroke Triples" manual on cd that I bought off ebay a while back that seems pretty accurate. It was under 10 bucks as I recall, the downside is my puter is inside, my bike is not. I mostly use it to review jobs I am going to attempt before I start, and sometimes to double check specs. You can always print out pages I suppose. I find it is always nice to have a couple different manuals to refer to if something gets confusing.
A third choice would be forget the manual and get all your questions answered here, might take a bit longer to complete a job though.

[diamondj]

You guys do know there's a Suzuki factory service manual and parts manual on Mr. Axl's resource page right?

http://www.3cyl.com/mraxl/gt/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The trick with the manual on Mr' Axl's is some of the pages are not listed so you have to manually change the part number in the URL. For example the engine removal page starts here:

http://kawtriple.com/tripleed/dalegt380/sm13.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But then continues to pages 14, 15, and 16 and you have to change the 13 in the URL to see these pages.

Print the manual out as you need specific sections, invest in a box of three hole page protectors and a three ring binder and you have a greaseproof shop manual....

Jim

[DrAwkwArD]

Thanks for all the replies guys! Everything is going to be helpful.

I went ahead and got the carbs taken apart today and was very surprised at what I saw in one of them...I've never seen this before:



It looks like a freaking shipwreck. I have never seen a carb like this before. The other two carbs were nice and basically clean, just needed some carb cleaner. I think these carbs were rebuilt before because it looks like this carb had a little brass piece put in the body where the slow jet is screwed in:

Brass piece:


No brass piece:


And the brass piece itself:


All the gaskets except for the o-ring on the top of the carb where the slides enter are good. Those ones need to be replaced as they are flat now and not round. Currently the carbs are sitting in a pine sol and water mixture to get them nice and clean. I'm kind of wary to use that carb but I just realized that the parts bike doesn't have the same carbs as this one...so...that sucks.

[Scorch]

Only one looked like that? Weird!

[DrAwkwArD]

Only one looked like that? Weird!

Yep, only one. I was flabbergasted! Maybe it was from a different bike? I don't know but I don't really want to use it so I'm going to hunt down an extra set or that specific carb.

[Coyote]

That carb is toast. The brass piece is a definate repair. Original pilot jet probably had to be drilled out and patched up with the brass piece. It is not correct for sure.. Keep an eye on ebay for another set.
Was that green funk hard? It almost looks like epoxy.