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'81 GS550E custom build

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ira
  • Start date Start date
test ride last night! rode a bunch of city streets, downtown, and a blast up the xway. fun times.

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More shake-down riding yesterday. Runs great at WOT with the dynojet kit. Idles lean and stalls a bit, so trying larger pilot jets.

When I get past 1/4 throttle, the bike pulls hard. Looking forward to getting the carbs sorted and doing some actual riding.

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That's a cool looking cycle Ira, lean and simple, just the way i like em.
 
Nice work.

If it were mine I'd cut the front fender down and put some knobby tires on. I'm digging the bike though.
 
I'm using the Dynojet 150 main. I may try the bigger one after I get a better feel for the bike, but it feels strong at WOT.

I bumped the pilot up one size to a 42.5, and it seems about right, if a tad rich.

I'm planning to bob the front fender a bit, but I want to make sure the front end is adequately braced. Sorry, no knobbies! Maybe if I got out of the city more than a few times a year.


Almost everything is done, mechanically. I adjusted the valves this weekend and will vacuum sync the carbs this week.

Then it's time to clean everything up and ride!
 
This bike is very close to "done". It runs and rides reliably. I still want to do a bunch of stuff with it, but it's become a daily rider.

#45 was the magic pilot jet size. Most of what's left is painting things black.

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JvZ said:
Thanks IRa, what size main jet did you end up running though?
Click to expand...

I'm using the Dynojet 150 main. I recently realized I had a very bad vacuum leak and replaced the intake boots and o-rings. I ended up going down a size on the pilot jets (42.5).

After fixing that issue, the bike has become super reliable. No stalling and good power.

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Man I love your bike, I've been working on a 1980 GS 550E. I've made it into a cafe/brat style bike I love how you hid the wiring harness what kind of air filters do you have on your bike? I've been thinking about doing something similar with the wiring on my bike
 
David, someone posted a link already.

I replaced the uncomfortable drag bars with Renthal superbike bars.

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I rode this bike to Milwaukee a couple weekends ago (180 miles round trip). I noticed it starts idling crappy when the engine heats up, which is something I thought I'd resolved by replacing the intake boots.

It has rich characteristics, and despite every attempt to lean out the idle, there still seems to be gas in the exhaust.

I checked the spark noticed it is weaker (purplish yellow) when the engine is hot. I got a good deal on some Accel super coils to replace my stock coils, hoping that a stronger spark will help the idle. Attached brackets for those this weekend.

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Here's a shot from the ride, at a rest stop.

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Not sure if you have checked the petcock or not, but mine had a similar rich problem that I chased for months. If there is a hole in the diaphragm it will suck gas through the vacuum line into carb #2.

The build looks great, I've been following this for a while and implemented your seat mounting idea into my bike and it works great.
 
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