GS750 for Wally

I don’t know if you remember Wally Walton from over Clacton, Essex, way? He was a feature of the East Anglian biker scene, and further afield, too, with his army surplus stall at rallies, and he opened and ran the Fossils biker café in Clacton, and his polished alloy tank GSX-R custom ‘fighter was in BSH. He passed away in December 2015, and is deeply missed by all who knew him.

Charlotte, the owner of this GS750, is his daughter-in-law, although she always called him ‘Dad’, and because of him she grew up around bikes and rallies. She’d ridden small-capacity machines for a while, until Bash, her other half, pushed her to do her full licence, promising that, if she did, he’d build her a bike her dad, Wally, would be proud of. She’d always loved his bikes, and this proved to be the impetus she needed to get on and get her test passed.

As soon as she did, Bash started getting the bits together to build the bike you see here, based on a 1978 GS750 Suzuki he’d bought, originally, for himself, but which he signed over to her to have as her bike. He had at some point, admittedly, sold the carbs, and a few other bits off it, but as he was planning to really only use the frame, engine n’ wheels that wasn’t too much of a worry… well, apart from the carbs anyway. While he was hunting about for another set, he got the bike up and on to the ramp in the garage, and immediately tied sheets up around it so that Charlotte, when she went into the garage, couldn’t see what he was doing, and forbade her from having a peek when he was out, too. She didn’t either – that’s some self-control you have there, girl!

Anyway, he started by rebuilding the old and somewhat tired engine, and had a local place, Towler Engineering, rebore it, and then he and his good mate Karl spent most evenings in the garage, modifying, changing, updating, and painting the GS (and getting themselves high on the paint fumes as this was before Karl, the man behind the Visual Image paint and hydro-dipping business in Clacton, got a unit). Char’ got told off a few times (good-naturedly, of course) for getting a little too close, and it ended up she was only allowed near (not into!) the garage to put cups of coffee on the step and shout to tell them it was there or that dinner was ready. Whenever she went out for a fag in the back garden, she could hear them either laughing or swearing, but that was as close as she got.

As the build progressed, she says the only thing she saw of it was the frame when it’d been painted as he brought it into the spare room for safe-keeping as other bits were made/painted. Karl asked her what her favourite colours were; she said purple and blue, and he disappeared back into the garage to get the paint catalogues out, not saying another word – in fact he was so secretive about it that even Bash hadn’t seen the tank finished until the Wednesday evening before Bumtoberfest 2021 (Char’ and Bash are members of the Muddy Bum Crew who, led by the redoubtable Piglet, used to put on the Bum in The Mud rally and Bumtoberfest on Mersea Island before the site owners pulled the plug on them). Bash and Karl’d promised the bike’d be unveiled and presented to her at Bumtober that year. It was all done very hush-hush, and she found out later that Bash’d been taking the painted parts up to their mates Kaz and Ron’s house so that she didn’t see them, and they kept the secret, too – she and Bash went round for dinner one night, and she sat beside them all night without a clue.

The lads were still out there in the garage ’til 2am the Thursday morning before the event, while Char’ and Piglet were on the ’phone sorting issues with the rally and/or getting everything packed in preparation and, at some point that evening, she was told they still had a few weeks’ work ’til the bike was ready. She was very disappointed obviously, but put a brave face on it, but what she didn’t know was that the GS was actually done and Bash and Piglet’d arranged they’d present it to her at the bike show as a surprise. That Saturday she was working in the organisers’ office when a call came in over the radio that Piglet wanted all the Muddy Bum Crew in the marquee for the bike show presentation – Char’ didn’t have a clue that the bike’d been snuck on site while she was busy and, when they presented her with it, in front of all her friends and the rallygoers, she cried her eyes out with happiness – the bike was just perfect!

She’s particularly proud of the paint – Karl and Bash did the frame, with its lowered seat arils, in silver with a rainbow flake over it, and used a very clever Aurora colour-shifting pearl pigment on the engine casings, the engine itself, the wheels, the discs, the sprocket carrier, the torque arm and more to make them sparkle in the sunlight, and used the same on top of the one-off purple base mix, adding in subtle intricate lace-work, and a waterslide decal of the magazine photo of Wally and his bike.

The GS, she says, rides beautifully, and looks far better than even she hoped it would, and she’s amazed and honoured at the love and time Bash and Karl put into it, and also that they dedicated it to Wally, her dad. She wishes he was here to see her riding it ’cos he’d’ve been proud, and says it’ll never be changed, or put up for sale, as it’s her absolute pride and joy (although she’s aware of the limitations of the old GS motor and has made plans to replace it with a Bandit 1200 engine if anything goes wrong). She’d also like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to Bash and their amazing friend/brother Karl for all the time, love, blood (literally at times), and sleepless nights that went into building it, and all the friends and family who helped keep her busy and distracted. You’re right, Char’, Wally would be proud…

Spec:

1978 Suzuki GS 750 engine (rejetted carbs, K&N air-filters, Dyna 2000 electronic ignition, one-off exhaust)/frame (modified)/foot-rests/controls/wheels/brakes/front mudguard (modified)/swingarm/torque arm, Suzuki GSX-R 1100 forks (modified)/yokes (modified), one-off front caliper brackets, braided stainless brake lines, aftermarket drag T-bars, Suzuki Bandit 1200 master-cylinders (front/rear)/loom (modified)/headlight, aftermarket controls/switches/mini speedo/grips, twin-cap Mustang tank, one-off seat, aftermarket rear mudguard (modified), one-off stainless battery/electrics box, one-off side-mount ‘plate, H-D progressive rear shock, LED stop/tail light, aftermarket chrome front indicators, micro rear indicators

Finish:

Silver frame with rainbow flake, Aurora colour-shift pearl casings/engine/wheels/discs/sprockets/torque arm, one-off purple tank/mudguards mix with Aurora colour-shift pearl/lace-work/waterslide tank transfer, all by Karl Bell at Visual Image (07549 706853 or Facebook)

Polishing:

All polishing by Lee ‘Bash’ Bassham

Engineering:

Bike built & all work by Lee ‘Bash’ Bassham & Karl Bell

Thanks To:

“Lee ‘Bash’ Bassham; Karl Bell of Visual Image; Towler Engineering for the rebore; Kaz & Ron Rudd; & Piglet & the Muddy Bum Crew…”