'82 GS550L - Senior Project (Father/Son) Rebuild

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

next problem. ... the seat is loose

next problem. ... the seat is loose

One piece at a time .....
Put the new lockset on the seat, and we must have something wrong. There is a half inch or so between the rubber bumpers on the seat and the frame. As a result the seat is very wobbly.

 

[GateKeeper]

is the mechanisim on the right way, possibly upside down, did it lock in place, the seat, can you push it down a bit further, is it latched for sure, can you pull it up ?

looking at the parts fische, seems you have it as it shoud be....


.

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Aaaaand ... it cranks, but no spark

Aaaaand ... it cranks, but no spark

No picture, but we put gas in the tank, connected all the hoses (Thanks, BikeCliff for the "Where do all these hoses go?" tutorial), ad cranked it up.

It turns over (and will spin the back tire if it's in gear) but it won't start.

No spark to any of the plugs.

And it turns out that the number four plug wire doesn't even have the connector in the end, so theres NO WAY that plug will get a spark.

So tomorrow we start the No Spark Troubleshooting Process.

Dang.

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

It RUNS!

It RUNS!

Took the bike into Porzio Performmance for some quality mentor time. In just over three hours, Frank and Tanner:
fabricated/modified an existing barrel to fit on the clutch cable end
checked/gapped the points
modded / faked up a footpeg bolt
modded a leftover tank cushion from another bike to fit Tanners GS
connected in the taillight and rear turn signals

and ...
discovered the loose ground that was keeping the bike from starting!

they got it started while I was on the food run. but I did get to see it run!



left to do:
replace the headlight bulb
doublecheck the rear end lights
order front end signals
wire in the Acewell speedo/tach/etc
wait for miscellaneous mounting rubbers and weird fittings that are on order to arrive

Just In Time, too ... Tanner presents his project to his class Wednesday and to the evaluation board. on May 2.

I don't think he's going to get much sleep tonight

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Tanner rode to school today!

Tanner rode to school today!

In case you missed the Big Thank You post in the General Discussion area:

We were up till midnight last night doublechecking the tail lights/turn signal wiring, installing the new headlight bulb, and stuffing wires into the headlight bucket.

This morning, I had the honor of riding alongside my son as he rode the bike HE put together to school, to use as a prop for his senior project presentation.

Sure wish I could figure out how to embed the actual video, instead of providing a link to the photobucket album.

 

[motomike]

Excellent job!! Looks and sounds great!

 

[GateKeeper]

Way to go...Congrats to Tanner, and you as well, job well done...

And you cannot embed video on this site....

.

 

[Good Times]

That is incredible to see. All of that hard work and sticktoitness paid off!

Good job Dad! Good job Tanner!

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

"Sticky" clutch!

The bike is parked again, while we tweak some of the things that we hurried through to get it finished enough for the first ride to school and the presentation.

A new problem has popped up:
The bike shifts ... reasonably well, most of the time. The problem is when Tanner stops at a red light and has to hold the clutch in. When he goes to let it out, it gets partway out, then seems to hang, or stick. It'll release all at once, leading to a lurch, or a stall if the RPMs aren't high enough - or a really rough and ugly start if the revs are up.

We'll be investigating further tonight, but we worked on it a bit over the weekend. Here's what we know:
Tanner replaced the clutch plates as one of the last steps before we put oil in and started it up. The clutch didn't stick then.

We've double-checked the cable route, and it doesn't seem to be bent, kinked, bound, or otherwise inhibited.

We adjusted the clutch according to the process in the manual. The point of engagement seems better, but it's still sticky - but only when it's held in for a moment or two. It seems to operate normally when shifting normally.

We lubricated the cable liberally, worked the clutch, and waited for it to "soak in" then lubed it again. Slight improvement, but not solved.

We have a replacement cable on the way (hope to get it today!), and we'll try that next.

Is there a way to check the clutch operation without taking off the clutch cover (and thus having to drain the oil?

 

[GateKeeper]

did you guys soak the clutch fibre plates in oil at a bare minimum of a few hours to as much as overnight...?

.

 

[spyug]

Is there a way to check the clutch operation without taking off the clutch cover (and thus having to drain the oil?

With the bike on its sidestand you can remove the sidecover with no fear of a spill. It will drain to the other side.If you impregnate the gasket with axle grease (rub it in front and back with your fingers) it will come free without tearing and be reuseable. A little tip for next time.

There is no testing that you can do that will show you exactly what is going on with the side cover in place. I would also replace the cable as they do tend cause problems like these.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

spyug

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Got the new clutch cable and cable lubricator doodad in the mail yesterday! it's a hair long because of the handlebar swap, but it looks ok. Also got the cable end barrel NOS part to replace the one Frank fabricated in the shop.

Got the cable on and routed according to the book's diagrams.

It was still a bit sticky, until Tanner lubricated the part that the adjuster screw goes into (what's that part called? it's the part that rotates when the cable is pulled?) that freed everything right up, and all is good.

Very Smooth!

Tanner is going to take it by the shop today after school and get Frank to put the grease gun on it, since we don't have a zero fitting or a grease gun.

Also got the Acewell speedo wired up and all the extra wires capped off inside the headlight bucket. That little speedo is sweet!

And got the front turn signals, and the electronic flasher "relay" wired in, so all the turn signals and indicator flashers work.

@Gatekeeper ... we soaked the fibre plates for a bit under an hour before installing them. Franks comment was "they will soak while they sit in the bike -that's where the oil is." we kinda have to trust him ... he's put more bikes together than anyone else I know.

@Spyug ... we greased up every gasket we put on. that's a trick I remember my dad teaching me when I was just a pup working on my dads VW Bug, before he sold it to me for my first car.

Went for a 4-mile test ride last night, and my older son joined is on his Volusia! first family ride!

Still to do: in no particular order ...

wait for the tank mounts to arrive in the mail so we can put the tank on the "right" way, as opposed to the jury-rigged bolts we're using now.

wait for the rear brake light switch holder nut to arrive so the foot brake more reliably triggers the brake light (it's taped into place at the moment and the switch works fine, it just doesn't always trigger when he hits the brake. dangerous, I know.)

figure out what the front brake light switch doesn't work. we took it apart and cleaned it per the BassCliff tutorial, but it doesn't work.

Attach the emblems in the side covers.

Mount the speedo leaf switch for the Acewell and calibrate it to the wheel diameter.

Wash and wax, after touching up the spots where the various lubricants and chemicals have marred the paint.

Contemplate adding a Custom Dynamics plate frame to add MORE LIGHT to the back end.

check compression and see if all the cylinders are hitting correctly. Probably replace the spark plug wires just in case.

Test the stator/rotor. no indications that anything is amiss, but it's worth him learning how to test the system.

And ride it like he built it!

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Tanner presented his project to the community volunteer judges at last night's Boards Night. He got an 86% for hs formal grade (lost points for not fully documenting the budget process), and lots of positive comments. Plus, he got to ride the bike on the school sidwalk!

It's almost finished at this point. The rear brake switch and tank mounts all came in and got installed and work.

The biggest problem right now is that cylinder #4 isn't firing correctly. Or it's not getting fuel correctly. It's running very rich, especially at low throttle, while the other three are pretty lean. We have jet kits on order.

The pilot screws (if I'm using the term correctly) on 1 through 3 are a very tight fit for a test wire to poke through, while #4 is a loose fit, so I'm hoping the fix is that simple. The plug gets good, consistent spark when we pull it and hold it against the head.

It also seems to smoke just a bit from the right pipe, especially when he revs it from idle in neutral. It doesn't really smell like oil smoke, so I'm hoping that it's gas from the rich condition. The oil level hasn't changed since he filled it the first time.

It's not as "zippy" as I'd expect it to be, and it tops out around 70mph, so there's clearly something not working right. Fortunately, Frank (Tanner's mentor) is willing to keep working with him (as opposed to simply taking it into the shop and charging shop rates) to troubleshoot and fix the problem, whatever it is.

Now Tanner has his eye on a 1987 ZX750F Ninja - the sport touring version of the race bike (MUCH cheaper insurance!). We think we can get it for $250-300, and from the pics, it has a fair amount of cosmetic damage. I'm going out to look at it tomorrow to see if there's any real damage and see if it runs.

Dang! This project stuff can be addicting!

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Oh - a couple of pics for you ...

 

[Good Times]

Every girl's crazy bout a sharp dressed man.

Once you get the carbs right it will purr like a kitten.

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Tanner is "Famous" (ish).

If you haven't checked out the story of Ted, who sold everything he had but his Ducati monster and hit the road on a voyage of self-discovery, you should. His blog is at www.ineverydirection.us

Tanner and I (and my wife) had the privilege of hosting Ted when he was in town a couple of weeks back, and part of the discussion about Tanner's project bike came back to Ted while he was broken down on the side of a desert highway.

His is a great story - and well worth the read!

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

For those who followed and helped with this project, here's a little bump.

The bike is up on Ebay, with a reserve of $503. Located in Jacksonville FL.