Long rides and your GT750

[Weirdbeard1000]

I know a GT750 is no goldwing.... But is it unreasonable to think about a coast to coast trip on a well tuned, modernly suspended Waterbuffalo? I just bought a 73 that I haven't even begun to dig into yet and I've been thinking of different ways to go with the build. I've always wanted to build a dedicated pseudo touring bike. Something I could do multi day trips on reasonably comfortably. Is this the bike to do that with? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

I've ridden and tuned/repaired/restored plenty of two strokes in the past, but none were actually mine. I was in the motorcycle business for 10 years in Philadelphia and most of my bread and butter was either 70's Hondas or Banshees, so I don't have a lot of miles in the saddle of a two stroke, and I've never had the pleasure of doing anything with a GT750 till now. Am I crazy? Or is it crazy enough that it just might work?

[pearljam724]

I know a GT750 is no goldwing.... But is it unreasonable to think about a coast to coast trip on a well tuned, modernly suspended Waterbuffalo? I just bought a 73 that I haven't even begun to dig into yet and I've been thinking of different ways to go with the build. I've always wanted to build a dedicated pseudo touring bike. Something I could do multi day trips on reasonably comfortably. Is this the bike to do that with? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

I've ridden and tuned/repaired/restored plenty of two strokes in the past, but none were actually mine. I was in the motorcycle business for 10 years in Philadelphia and most of my bread and butter was either 70's Hondas or Banshees, so I don't have a lot of miles in the saddle of a two stroke, and I've never had the pleasure of doing anything with a GT750 till now. Am I crazy? Or is it crazy enough that it just might work?

Definitely doable with a stock exhaust and baffles inserted. Otherwise, if it is not. The excessive noise would exhaust anyone within several hundred miles. The distance you mentioned would kick anyone's butt, on a quiet and extremely comfortable tour bike. That distance is no walk in the park. It's a matter of YOU having the stamina to go that distance on any bike. Then throw in rain and possible high winds. The Buffalo could definitely manage. But, just like any other bike. You'd have to be prepared a little more with it. Extra plugs, extra set of points, always carrying an extra quart of 2 stoke oil, etc. due to no Walmarts within a couple hundred miles in some places. Your expenses concerning fuel and oil would be 2 to 3 times greater than a modern tour bike. But, that wouldn't be a huge deal either. I'd focus on getting the bike finished. Before any dreams of being some Water Buffalo superbiker on a crusade across the continental U.S.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Member Allen Wood left Panama City FL and rode to Calgary Alberta with his wife Bobbi on his 74 Buffalo taking a somewhat scenic route. Then he returned home with an equally scenic route totalling near 8.000 miles.
Luckily Bobbi is the type of person who sits on the back and just goes with the flow, she even admits she 'cat naps' holding onto Allen as they cruise the long expanses of desolate roads.
I'm not sure how much miles members have covered on a total tour but I'm sure there are some high mile members in here. I've taken my 76 Buffalo for some week long tours of which a few went out to Vancouver Island from Calgary and back a few times as well. The price of gas in Canada does lean your wallet over for longer trips if your right wrist is heavy on a Buffalo.
You will need a simple tour screen (like a National) for long trips, the trick is to buy light weight touring gear for the bike as weighing it down unnecessarily is pointless, given the power to weight ratio.
The longest one shot trip I've done using the Buffalo is from Vancouver back to Calgary. It was about 700 miles and change total, I only stopped for fuel, so the bikes are comfortable enough.


The overall trip route Allen took.


A photo opportunity by a state sign, Allen took a photo at every state sign he passed for the record.


Allen and Bobbi in Calgary.


Allan and Allen in Calgary, yes we went riding once they got to Canada.

[pearljam724]

Cool share, Allan. I'd like to be able to read more about his trip. I am planning a trip from San Fran to up state Washington via route 1 ( The Coastal Highway ) next April. But, I'm shipping my bike on a train to western Colorado. I'm all about extremely long bike rides. But, the downside to such a far destination as mine. By the time you get there on a bike. You're beat due to your voyage to your set out destination. Not allowing yourself to enjoy what you set out to ride. The coast. That's why I've decided to go by rail first. I've been all over the eastern coast via a bike. But, the one ride I've dreamt about for several years was this one. So, next year I'm making it come true. Won't be on the Buffalo, though.

[GT750Battleship]

Not a problem,long distance doesn't worry them at all ! As long as they are well tuned,in good shape mechanically,Sydney to Perth & back in 1976 on my GT750M was a breeze,no break downs,no over heating problems,same couldn't be said for the T500 & GS750 I had for company,both suffered from power loss,in the 43c heat,
Cheers,
Roger.

[Weirdbeard1000]

Thanks guys for the input... I'm no stranger to unconventional vehicles mixed with long miles, so the noise is not much of a concern. In 2007 I did a 6 month, 20,000 mile tour of the mountain time zone in a jacked up jeep on 35" mud tires most of which I had no roof or doors. Earplugs were a must!! For me it's more about the journey than the destination. Like I said I'm still just kicking ideas around for how I'm gonna build this thing. I really like the streetfighter, old meets new type of build, but I already have a gsxr1000 and a tl1000r set up like that. Don't really need a third. That being said, I always felt the TLR motor would be better as a touring bike than a racer. (Maybe that's why they never won anything on the track!) maybe I'll rob that bike of the Suspention parts for the GT and put the TLR motor into a more appropriate chassis for covering the miles. I have a '70 triumph bonneville oil frame kicking around the storage unit. Decisions, decisions...

AAAHHHRRGGG! I'm going stir crazy! This winter has just gone on too long!

[jabcb]

link to the article: http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/class ... gt750.aspx

[T350guy]

Years ago when we we're young we had no issues climbing on board a 70's bike and head out West or a trip to the USA Eastern States. A buddy rode his 70's triumph out to the East Coast and toured Nova Scotia.Years later another friend went there on his 400 Honda Automatic. Heck in 81 we met a lady from B.C on her old Honda CB 360 heading to the East Coast.
We just gave it a thought,we just did it.
There is nothing wrong with those Ol gals. Most are maintain pretty well these days.
The few items I always took were Plugs, clutch cable and a master link.
Ian

[h2okettle]

Cool share, Allan. I'd like to be able to read more about his trip. I am planning a trip from San Fran to up state Washington via route 1 ( The Coastal Highway ) next April. But, I'm shipping my bike on a train to western Colorado. I'm all about extremely long bike rides. But, the downside to such a far destination as mine. By the time you get there on a bike. You're beat due to your voyage to your set out destination. Not allowing yourself to enjoy what you set out to ride. The coast. That's why I've decided to go by rail first. I've been all over the eastern coast via a bike. But, the one ride I've dreamt about for several years was this one. So, next year I'm making it come true. Won't be on the Buffalo, though.

I have found the GT a very comfortable and reliable bike.. I prefer to travel all the secondary roads for the scenery and fun of riding.. No stress and not tired at the end of the day…. Personally, I like the ride more than the destination.. Seeing the country side on a bike is the best.. Once I get there, I am ready to find a new one to ride to.. With my wife traveling with me I try to limit the day to around 500 miles.. Some days may only cover 300 miles depending on the type of roads... She has done a couple 1000 mile days, just to get her ironbutt certificate, but she is not real fond of those.. I only do interstates if I am doing an Iron Butt ride… I have done many of them on the GT.. I have started in the dark, seen the sun come up, go back down, and come up again, and still riding the GT750.. Covering 1730 miles in 24 hours non stop.. Only got credited with 1601 miles, as one of my last gas tickets was not legible... I also run a 2.5 gallon fuel cell on the luggage rack.. My last one was from the east coast (Atlantic) to the west coast (Pacific) gathering a bottle of sand at each end, and doing this in 46 hours, on the GT… On my two 1974 GT750L bikes I covered just over 176K miles with only one rebuild.. And that was a failed crank seal.. The rings, clutch plates and everything else in the motor was still in perfect tolerance.. My unprofessional opinion is the GT750 is a very reliable bike !! But on a not so happy note, my touring partner told me she wanted me to get a newer bike that does not smell like oil all the time… So I retired the GT and now a ride a "newer" 1975 Honda GL1000.. It is a bare bike like it came in 75, Only 3K miles and the original teal/blue paint looks new, with no Vetter stuff.. Time to pour on the miles…. I have a ride planned this summer to North Carolina, by way of Oregon..

Allen… Will ride for food !!!

[Weirdbeard1000]

I have found the GT a very comfortable and reliable bike.. I prefer to travel all the secondary roads for the scenery and fun of riding.. No stress and not tired at the end of the day…. Personally, I like the ride more than the destination.. Seeing the country side on a bike is the best.. Once I get there, I am ready to find a new one to ride to.. With my wife traveling with me I try to limit the day to around 500 miles.. Some days may only cover 300 miles depending on the type of roads... She has done a couple 1000 mile days, just to get her ironbutt certificate, but she is not real fond of those.. I only do interstates if I am doing an Iron Butt ride… I have done many of them on the GT.. I have started in the dark, seen the sun come up, go back down, and come up again, and still riding the GT750.. Covering 1730 miles in 24 hours non stop.. Only got credited with 1601 miles, as one of my last gas tickets was not legible... I also run a 2.5 gallon fuel cell on the luggage rack.. My last one was from the east coast (Atlantic) to the west coast (Pacific) gathering a bottle of sand at each end, and doing this in 46 hours, on the GT… On my two 1974 GT750L bikes I covered just over 176K miles with only one rebuild.. And that was a failed crank seal.. The rings, clutch plates and everything else in the motor was still in perfect tolerance.. My unprofessional opinion is the GT750 is a very reliable bike !! But on a not so happy note, my touring partner told me she wanted me to get a newer bike that does not smell like oil all the time… So I retired the GT and now a ride a "newer" 1975 Honda GL1000.. It is a bare bike like it came in 75, Only 3K miles and the original teal/blue paint looks new, with no Vetter stuff.. Time to pour on the miles…. I have a ride planned this summer to North Carolina, by way of Oregon..

Allen… Will ride for food !!!

That's pretty incredible. I certainly wouldn't be laying down miles like that! I guess what I have in mind will be no trouble at all!

[jabcb]

On my two 1974 GT750L bikes I covered just over 176K miles with only one rebuild.. And that was a failed crank seal.. The rings, clutch plates and everything else in the motor was still in perfect tolerance.. My unprofessional opinion is the GT750 is a very reliable bike !!

Quite impressive. What two stroke oil did you use?

(Sorry for taking the risk of starting a lengthy oil debate.)

[h2okettle]

On my two 1974 GT750L bikes I covered just over 176K miles with only one rebuild.. And that was a failed crank seal.. The rings, clutch plates and everything else in the motor was still in perfect tolerance.. My unprofessional opinion is the GT750 is a very reliable bike !!

Quite impressive. What two stroke oil did you use?

(Sorry for taking the risk of starting a lengthy oil debate.)

I have actually used a few different brands of injector oil.. Honda and Suzuki make a good oil… I like the Honda better only because it has a color you can see in the window.. The Suzuki was almost clear, making me pop the seat open to look in the tank sometimes.. I also like the Valvoline 2 stroke oil you could get from the parts stores, like Advanced Auto.. Not to start an oil debate, as i am no scientist, just a rider, todays worst oil, is probably better then the best we could buy in the 70s.. I went 84K miles before my first teardown and like I said, everything, brings bearings clutch plates, gears, were like new still.. My original clutch plates only measured .003 wear less than brand new ones.. I did replace all the used parts since the motor was part, but that was because I had everything new there already.. I did always make it a habit to top off the oil tank at the end of a days ride, so I would never forget and possibly run low.. Another thing I did was adjust the oil pump rod as far to the rear as it would go.. Stock settings are too rich and I would have my pipes drip oil out the rear.. I could ride all the way to Detroit Michigan from Florida, on one tank of oil in one day of riding… This may start another debate, but I had done this early on with my GT750, but the teardown I mentioned showed no signs of any wear in the motor…

Another thing for the long rides was I put a Kawasaki H2 750 front sprocket on the bike.. It is still a 15 tooth, but it has an offset that moves the sprocket outward from the cases just enough to clear the wider Oring chain.. If you ran a stock sprocket on front with the Oring chain, the side links would rub on the screw heads of the front seal plate.. I would run a 43 tooth rear (47 stock) sprocket so to drop rpm down… I did not have to do anything to to the spacing of the rear, just bolt it on.. I was getting almost 30K miles from the setup..
I was also running a Newtronics ignition and it never missed a beat.. I have never fouled a spark plug on my GT.. I also found a set of 75M pipes to swap out with the 74 pipes.. Only reason I did this was my crossover pipes would start to leak after a long trip.. What I did on one long trip with the L pipes, was use a tie down strap and run it around all three pipes to keep side pressure so the seal would nor break and leak.. I did not tell any difference in the way it ran with 75 pipes, just that now I did not have to worry about a leak.. On regular rides you may never have this issue, but some of my rides added up over 7K miles in just 9 days..

One ride I installed some new Avon tires that they said were the best.. I told my wife I was going to go give them a test and would be back soon.. I left Florida, rode to Michigan, over the Upper Peninsula, through Wisconsin, illinois, zig zagged through Indiana, and back to Florida.. Told her the tires are good, now go pack.. Reloaded the bike and we took off for Mid Ohio the day after I got back.. From Ohio up to Pennsylvania to say hi to her parents then back to Florida, taking secondary roads..


The GT750 was the best cross-country bike I have ever owned.. Had my wife not had her fill of smelly two strokes (smells like perfume to me) and that she is still trying to get the thousands of miles of oil out of her hair still, I would still be tearing up the Ozone layer, one quart of injector oil at a time..

Allen….. Seen riding an old Honda lately...

[jabcb]

Thanks for the detailed answer.

Any thoughts of how the GL1000 compares to the GT750?

[h2okettle]

Thanks for the detailed answer.

Any thoughts of how the GL1000 compares to the GT750?

I have not taken any long trips yet. About the longest ride has been 300 miles.. I do ride it a lot, but until the ice/snow clear up in the north, I will stay in the lower part of the country.. The GL as much as I hate to say, is a much smoother bike with much more power.. Then it is a 1000 cc compared to 750.. It handles very nice in the curves, as the low center of gravity with the flat motor and the fuel tank under the seat.. I have 2 GLs, and one I have converted to a single weber.. It gets 44mpg best and average of 40.. My original stock bike gets about 38 as its best, but 35 seems to be the average.. The shaft drive is a plus, so no chain lube on the trip.. There are timing belts, and valves to adjust, so I will know more later.. The belts I just changed so it should be good for many years, the valves are very easy to do as the covers are in the open and its just a lock nut and screw.. I also installed a Dyna S ignition, so no more points… I am now installing my Lester wheels, so I can run tubeless tires for a quick flat repair if needed….John (Johnakay) is going to build me a couple luggage racks for it so I can load my Givi box when needed..
I am looking forward to riding it to Deals Gap in May to hang with the smoke riders.. Unless the want to hang it from a tree and hit it with a stick..
Even though I may be not riding a 2 stroke now, I have more miles on a smoker than any other bike I have owned…

Allen….. Seen riding Hondas lately !!

PS.. I see you also have a newer Triumph… I recently sold my 09 T100 Bonneville… I put 34K miles in 1.5 years and no issues.. Great retro bike.. I got many compliments on my "restoration" from people who do not know the bike....

[pearljam724]

" Another thing I did was adjust the oil pump rod as far to the rear as it would go. " I do the same exact thing as you and couldn't agree more. But, watch mentioning that on here. There are people on here that insist on manufacturer suggestions, per oil specifications nearly 40 years ago. What do you mean, you ran an extra fuel cell ? You strapped a small fuel jug to the luggage rack, for reserve ? Awesome story.