I’ve been busy with ‘honey do’ items the past week, as in ‘honey do this and honey do that’ ! 😉 All things that needed nice weather, so it is all good. Here and there I have been able to slip away and spend a small amount of time in the shop, plus a few items have been arriving by post.
This Covid problem has really impacted deliveries, but things seem to slowly be returning to some semblance of normal which is nice to see. First up, a new GT750 J points cover arrived from Shaun in the UK. These are an item of absolute beauty and in very limited supply so if you are rebuilding a 1972 GT750 J, then you should not delay too long in trying to get one of these while he still has them. Look for them on FB at the “Suzuki GT750 parts UK” page.
Years ago, Keith in the UK wrote up a useful ‘how to’ for replacing the high tension leads on the Nippon Denso ignition coils used by Suzuki, which he graciously allowed me to link from my web site in the “User Tips” section. 7mm copper core ignition wire is available from many places (I buy mine from Walridge Motors in Ontario), but one thing I’ve had trouble tracking down is a sleeve of the correct size similar to what Suzuki installed on the ignition wires near to the coil. I have written an article for the CVMG newsletter which will appear in a future issue as well as in the ‘User Tips’ section of my main web site, but in short, on the triples there are 2 long sleeves on the left and right, and a shorter one on the centre. I buy mine from McMaster-Carr in the US, and while I’m sure there must be a Canadian supplier, I’ve just never been able to find one. McMaster-Carr also sells JIS machine screws which again I have never been able to find a Canadian supplier for. While you do get hosed on the US $ exchange rates, their service and delivery are first class.
And from Suzuki Canada, a surprise ! They actually had a GT380 timing gear in stock and managed to deliver it to my local dealer (Inglis Cycle here in London) in a week ! I nearly fell over in a state of shock, as the price was quite reasonable also, being less than $45 CAD. These gears have now (summer of 2020) been discontinued by Suzuki Japan and reproductions may possibly be made by a fellow in the UK. If that is confirmed, then I will post that information when it becomes available. Suzuki Canada has delisted a load of other vintage Suzuki part numbers this summer (including the GT750 nylon water pump gear), which was quite disappointing to learn. That specific GT380 gear is tough to do without so I suppose I should be thankful for small things.
The fun continues ! 😎