I just recently got hold of my uncle's old 1974 Yamaha SX750.

It has several problems:
The Seat needs to be reupholstered at the very least, ideally get a new one that's shaped better and more comfortable for 2 riders.
Needs a new carb float (at least one, maybe both need to be replaced)
The shifter is bent
The electrics are messed up for the electric start (kick start still works great)
Will it take regular gas or do I need specific kind since it's so old?
Petcocks need to be replaced or rebuilt at the very least.

If anyone has any insight in to the best way to go about fixing these (avoiding going to any mechs or service centers for the most part, most labor will be on my part), please let me know!

I'm also going to try getting in to contact with one or more Yamaha dealers and see what they have to say.

all of that is easy at home repair.

the shifter...buy a new one or heat the old one up and bend it back. if you want a new one all you really need to know is the diameter of the rod it goes on.

rebuild the entire carb. should be fairly easy to find kits for this.

rewiring an electric start is fairly easy as long as all the parts are still there. the more costly part is going to be the new battery.

it should run on 87 unleaded gas.

Seeing as how you plan to upgrade the bike to a certain originality, throw your own spin into it. Rebuild the bike the way YOU want it. Personally, I would make it a bobber. As Sub said, most of those repairs are cheap and can be done right out of the garage, including the seat being reupholstered. You can find the wiring diagrams online and very straight-forward walk throughs to do it.

This post was edited by SocialSuicide on Jan 27 2013 06:54pm

Pretty much this. AM seats are easy to find on the web too. If you rebuild the carb yourself, Work in a clean space and keep track of EVERYTHING.

I like to have my shifters fabricated because my feet are small and most stock shifters aren't comfortable for me.

Thanks for all the tips guys!
Do you guys have any credible bike forums that would also be able to help?

http://www.yamaha-triples.org/category-view.asp

That would be my first stop for questions relating to that bike. I'm not sure how credible they are, but it doesn't hurt to take a peep.

i don't keep up with older bikes so i don't know of any good forums for them.

you shouldn't really have any problems with these repairs if you use common sense and have some basic knowledge of how things work.

the electric start is about the only thing you could possibly have a problem with if its missing any parts like a relay or the battery holder is missing or something.

if all the parts are there and its just bad wiring it should be as simple as rewiring it 1 wire at a time that way you won't need a wiring diagram or anything.

This is my first bike project so I'm not too well versed in what's going on.
I have common sense, and I'm going to be a mechanical engineering major...but with aerospace instead. My father, uncle, and neighbor are all bike junkies so they have connections to people that can help.]
For the most part I want to do this on my own, so as of right now I'm just trying to get a feel for what I'm going to have to do. I have no fear that once I get the right parts or rebuilds I can put the stuff back together,
it's the getting the correct parts for such an old model that are making me a little nervous.

Aside from internals, most of the parts should be easy to find.

I hope so! Only problem is my bike is sitting in the garage at home and I'm at school 10 hours away until May! So my dad is going to have to do a little leg work for me finding out the part specifications while I do the purchasing and shipping