81 GS550T in Co Sprgs

[cowboyup3371]

What a bummer. Wish I could give some advice that would solve the problem but for the life of me I can not remember how mine went together. I will look at my other set and see. Is there that much difference between your T and my L as far as front suspension?

Paul

Thanks Paul. I doubt there is much difference between an L and T; but in this case, a previous owner of this bike had put 79 750EC forks on here. I don't know if it's common to that year or not but it's what I have to deal with.

Try this, assemble the forks with the damper rods, emulators, springs, and the spacers and top caps, everything but the oil in place. Tighten the caps down, there will be a lot of spring tension holding the damper rod from turning. Use the drill on the bolts, they should snug right up.
It's the opposite of what I do to take the bolts out, I hit them with the impact driver before I take the tops off the forks and release the spring tension.

Thanks Tom. I'll do that once I can get everything I need.

 

[D-Mac]

Yup. I just rebuilt the forks on my GS550T last month. If you put the springs back in (dry) and compress them a bit you should be able to tighten the bottom bolt. No need for a broom handle or other tools.

"tKent02" is right about removing the bolts too (I always break them loose before removing the top caps - works every time).

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks all for the help. I bought a single allen socket wrench and the drill adapter from Sears this evening as that fit into my budget a lot better than the set right now. And guess what. It worked like a champ. I didn't put oil in the forks yet but they are together now (ran out of daylight) so I'll try to get them on by this weekend.

Here are my new springs:

And the assembled forks:

Based on Progressive's paperwork and a quick visual of how much higher the springs stuck above the forks, I don't need spacers. However, I'll still test things once I put the forks back on the bike.

 

[brslk]

I have rebuilt car engines and carbs but the idea of rebuilding my forks has me scared. I have no idea why.

I guess I just have to do it and get over it.

Bruce.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Bruce, it really hasn't been hard although I haven't done the oil part yet. I can say to make sure you have everything in place first and just take them apart and clean them up. The guys here and instructions on Basscliff's site are excellent.

 

[cowboyup3371]

So I played hooky from work this afternoon and took advantage of the time by installing the fork oil and springs and then finishing my valve adjustment.

The forks clamped into the bike:

I put in 180mL of 10w fork oil based on the fact these are 79 750E forks

The bottle was a 99-cent ketchup bottle from Walmart that has a handy spout for pouring

I pumped and poured a few times, put the springs in, and buttoned it up with the forks about where I remembered them being (should have marked them but didn't) and have them both set at 6.8mm above the top. Based on my understanding, I should be fine with that level but we'll see I guess.

Right fork

Left Fork

Hopefully I can get a few more things back together and start the bike next week.

 

[7981GS]

Why did you raise the fork tubes?
Trying to lower the bike?

Daniel

 

[cowboyup3371]

I didn't actually raise them but tried to place them back to where I remember them being when I took them off. As far as raising them when pouring the oil in, that was based on a recommendation in Matchless' article saying to do that while I was working with them to simplify the process a little.

I can lower them to even if necessary but I'm just trying to keep it close to how I remember so I don't screw anything up.

 

[7981GS]

The top of the fork tube should come to the top of the tree with just the cap above it.

Daniel

 

[cowboyup3371]

I have to admit, my life is never short of surprises. Last night I put a new connector on my stator wires as I got tired of looking at my mess. I did pretty good at it for my first time (insulation was in the crimp on two wires) I thought.

But these evening I'm looking at it and lo and behold I find this broken wire:

Now I remember it being good last night so I think either I or my daughter might have brushed it just right while sitting at the desk. I won't be getting mad at her but this will definitely set me back a few months on finishing the bike as I really need to pay off the IRS from last year and be ready for taxes this year.

Hopefully I can find a new stator here soon.

 

[brslk]

Don't blame the daughter. Blame some old brittle wire.
Sometimes they break by just looking at them.
Can you not just solder it back together?

Bruce.

 

[cowboyup3371]

I'm not going to blame her...like I said, I won't really even say anything to her because I could very well have done it last night and not realized it while putting the new connector on.

I don't trust myself soldering anything let alone something as important as a stator. So, I'll just work it into the budget.

 

[tkent02]

That one looks pretty charcoaled anyway, does it still work fine?

If it does, can't you just reconnect the wires? I'd crimp it not solder in this case, it can get pretty hot in there. (obviously from your picture)

 

[cowboyup3371]

I think it does work fine Tom but it's snapped in such a way I don't trust myself.

 

[Flyboy]

Danm, Scott, jeeeez, you do get all the surprises, I am sorry to hear about the stator, that really bites.
You did a good job of soldering the plug on, did you not, so why not the wire, phaaa, I am sure you can do it, you know, before Jennifers makeover, there were a whole heap of things I thought I could not do, but I learnt to do and turned out not to be too bad at them, and I am sure it was the same when you did the big rebuild on the 50 for you.
If you really, really don't think you have the skill to do it, there must surely be a workshop of sorts on the base that will do it for you as favour, or worst case, drag it down to the auto electrical shop in town and ask them to do it, can't cost more than a beer.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks Stan. No I didn't solder the plug on just a different crimp job this time. I'll ask around for someone that might be able to fix it.

 

[cowboyup3371]

The weather was just warm enough to get outside for a little while today so I took advantage and now at least have a rolling bike. Started off by installing the front wheel during which I decided to just loosen the fender instead of lifting the bike - it worked much better.

However, it quickly became apparent the axle wouldn't line up correctly so after some thought I raised the forks just a little. Finally slid the axle in and tightened it down hand tight for now. Then realized the bike was extremely unsteady on the center stand without any of my jacks underneath it.

So, I realized I cannot have these forks even with the caps in the triple tree since it's pretty obvious they are much longer than 550 forks. This is where they ended up after I was done (center stand is much steadier now).

Decided I didn't want to work on the brakes today so I put the handlebars back on (still need to verify setting), cleaned off the valve cover and installed a new gasket, and then removed the oil pan. When I did my first oil change a couple of years ago, I stripped the plug. Although I put a helicoil in it, I wanted to go back to a better setup so I purchased a replacement pan from Nessism a few months back. I found it sort of funny that the oil pan was covered with fresh oil when I'd drained it months ago.

When I removed it, part of the gasket had stuck to the oil seal on the bottom of the engine. Plus, I found this lovely item in the drain pan I'd put under to catch any surprises:

I think I'll be okay but if anyone has some insight as to what that came from I'm all ears.

By about 330pm, the breeze had picked up just enough to make it very cold outside so I called it a day for now. Still have to buy a new stator (may do it this payday as Helena's mom asked she not come down yet), fix a few electrical issues, and clean the carbs since I didn't put any stabil through them before tearing the bike down.

 

[Flyboy]

Scott, she is looking nice, I do like the blue wheels with the polished rims, :dancing:
No Idea what that little gremlin in your sump is, but if it ain't caused a problem yet, I wouldn't sweat it, I think you will be fine.
Can't wait to see her fire up again.

 

[7981GS]

What did you change?
The rear shocks?
How was it together BEFORE you took it apart?
Had you even had it on the center-stand before?

Daniel

 

[tkent02]

Is this thing steel, aluminum or some kind of alloy?