Give me your 2 cents please

[STFlips]

I just found this other bikes section in our STO website so even tho most Suzuki posts seem pretty old, Ill throw this out there.
A work colleague who knows of my love of bikes recently said he has a relative that may be willing to sell a few from his collection.
One caught my eye so I thought I would post a few pics (everyone likes pics) he sent and seek the collective wisdom of the group.
I believe it runs, but unsure yet of when last that was. I'm told it's a 1972 GT750J model and he is the original owner.
From what I've read, they seem to be a very desirable model, but if crank seals are needed, run away. Hoping to go see it next month
but in the mean time looking forward to your opinions on this cold winter day.

 

[Shawn K]

Looks nice!

Bikes like that are not something that you purchase for rational reasons. They're a purely emotional purchase. Only you can determine that.

There's no machine that can't be maintained or rebuilt. It's just a matter of money and desire.

 

[wjbertrand]

Those are approaching or are perhaps already collector status bikes. Very clean looking, sure would be fun to show off at the Rock Store or similar!

 

[paulcb]

Looks nice!

Bikes like that are not something that you purchase for rational reasons. They're a purely emotional purchase. Only you can determine that.

There's no machine that can't be maintained or rebuilt. It's just a matter of money and desire.

+1. I wouldn't take it if it was free because it would just collect dust in the corner, but to others it may be worth a lot and provide years of enjoyment. Only you can decide what it's worth to you.

 

[SupraSabre]

Ye ole WaterBuffalo, a cool bike in it's day.

I had a friend that bought one back in 1972, when I was just learning how to ride. He put a lot of miles on it!

For me, I stuck with the air cooled two stroke twins before going to air cooled 4 strokes...

 

[sirbike]

That year with that front wheel is highly collectable. Or at least has been highly collectable last I knew.
That is a great looking bike.
If I had the space and money, it could sit on display and I'd dust it off now and then.
The crank could be an issue but that looks so nice I'd think it is worth looking into the investment for personal use.
How would you use it?

 

[bdalameda]

I have owned several water buffaloes and worked on many of them as I was a Suzuki mechanic in the 1970's. I used to race one back in 72. The 72 models with the quad-shoe front brakes are very collectible. These bikes are quite reliable and I have seen them with over 100,000 miles on the engine without needing repairs. I toured all over the USA and Canada on my 72 Gt750J. The main issues are the crank seals in the 72 models. The crank seals in the first year models could be blown out of the cases if the spark plugs get slightly fouled up and the engine would backfire and force pressure down the transfer ports into the crankcase and pop the seals out of position. This would only happen if the rider kept the throttle open and tried to get the engine to rev out as it would continue to pop and blow the seals. The crank seals could also deteriorate from age and would require a crank rebuild. I used to rebuild these cranks as I have the fixtures and press tooling but it has been many years since I've done it. Later years have metal clips installed to keep the seals in position. Even with bad crank seals there are people who can rebuild the crank and it is worth doing it if the bike is being sold at a decent price. The beauty of the old Suzuki two-stroke engines, unlike other manufacturers of two-strokes of that era, had a fairly sophisticated oil injection system that forced fresh oil through the main bearings where an oil slinger ring would pickup the fresh oil and guide it through a hollow crank pin and feed oil directly to the lower end rod bearing. This was great as the oil that is mixed in the fuel was not needed to lubricate the lower end rod bearings and main bearings. The oil injected into the intake was only needed for the piston and cylinder. This made the Suzuki's last much longer than typical two stroke engines as fresh clean oil was being supplied directly to the bearings almost like a four-stroke engine. The center main bearings were also lubricated directly from the transmission oil supply as well on a couple of the journals. This is a real find if you can get it for a decent price - I'd love to have another one.

Dan

 

[Upt' North]

Like Dan said the crank seals will be your enemy, but over here in the UK it would be highly desirable and I could see it making £10,000 plus. Just don't expect a 50 year old bike won't cost you money at some time.
As for the sound, amazing.
Perhaps Dan could be your very own GT750 motorcycle mechanic.
Upt'North.

 

[Larry Fine]

Quad shoe brakes, or just double-leading-shoe brakes?

 

[bdalameda]

Quad shoe brakes, or just double-leading-shoe brakes?

These had two double leading shoe brakes - one on each side of the front hub. The front brake lever had a balance block with two cables attached to it - one cable for each brake assembly. Here is a front view of the Quad brake hub.

 

[beemerphile]

As for the sound, amazing.

A riding bud of mine had one back when I was running a 1975 GoldWing. He had Bassani expansion chambers on it - one out one side and two out the other. I had no trouble hearing it over my GoldWing. Great bike.

 

[Larry Fine]

These had two double leading shoe brakes - one on each side of the front hub. The front brake lever had a balance block with two cables attached to it - one cable for each brake assembly. Here is a front view of the Quad brake hub.

Fascinating.

 

[thekaz]

front drum water buffalo !??!?!?!? YES PLEASE ...... seals are not a big deal but finding a machine shop to done them properly is the only hard part .....

 

[Tony]

Wow those are beautiful machines!!!

 

[Oldbikefixr]

These were great bikes. They were close competition to the Honda CB750 as far as performance and reliability were concerned. The disc brake assembly on later models was a great improvement over the original four shoe front brake. Didn't look as cool, though.

 

[Chunk]

I had a purple 1972, maybe a 1973, not sure, but it was definitely purple, and a blue 1976. They were not the best in the handling department, but still a great motorcycle. I had the air cooled gt550 and gt380 as well as a couple of Titans and a Yamaha rd350 for good measure. Wish I still had them. Here's a pic of my '76. Love the 70's street going two strokes, especially the Suzukis.

 

[Obo]

I had a ram air cooled gt250 back in the mid 80's.
The "valve cover" top of the engine had HUGE fins to help cool the engine.

 

[Rusty B]

I had a 72 or 73 GS1100GK it was a great Bike, only made for two years. Kind of like an early Wing.
I got it from my X Bro In Law, for 400.00, he had a wreck on it. I towed a trailer to California from Houston and back to get it.
All the damage to it was Cosmetic, it was hard to find a faring and rear touring box. Got the Faring, and a friend gave me a Trunk from a Honda. Had to paint the faring to match. It had Three different shades of Black when I finished.
I ended up with Gauges from a 550, the only thing I lost was a Fuel Gauge, and Gear Indicators.
I still ended up with a fine bike. It Had an oil leak that drove me crazy till I found it. someone had changed the gasket on valve cover, probably adjusting the valves. They didn't pay attention to the location the bolts came out. with three different length of bolts easy to get lost, cause there were a bunch of them. I used a piece of cardboard and the new gasket to get a pattern. and put them back where they came out. Had two that were out of sight, the third time I decided to measure the length of the bolts against the depth of the hole, and I found they would bottom out just before the bolt compressed the gasket. They were out of sight, and had to get a mirror, to find the leak. After that she went back together Ok, Caused me a couple of nights scratching my head. Ended up being a nice bike, and I sold her for enough for a good down payment on an 88 Gold Wing 1500.
Of course that Wing was a better bike.

 

[STFlips]

Thanks for all the input guys, I hope to go see it next month and I'm exited to see if it's as good as it looks. I would probably use it pretty sparingly, maybe a few vintage shows, that kinda stuff. Also heard it comes with a spare engine! Dan, I may be contacting you for advice!

 

[MaxPete]

That sounds like a heck of deal - a running '72 Water Buffalo that is complete and not ruined by some idiot with a sawzall....and a spare engine.

If you need engine work - the guy to talk to is Terry Wolfe at WolfeWorx in London, ON.

He's on the web - a superb mechanic and tons of experience with older bikes.

Pete