GS 550E 1980 -cafe build

[GateKeeper]

Love the rotors.....wouldn't mind doing that to my 750.....can you share from where you got them and how much.....

the foot pegs were another item I was going to do while I was doing my rebuild, maybe this season I will go for it....

.

 

[wegs426]

I got them from ebay for an expensive $390. Saltymonk found out that the 99-00 Honda CBR 600 F4 has the same bolt pattern which is helpful if you're buying new. They are EBC contour part number MD1014XC.

Love the rotors.....wouldn't mind doing that to my 750.....can you share from where you got them and how much.....

the foot pegs were another item I was going to do while I was doing my rebuild, maybe this season I will go for it....

.

 

[wegs426]

Splitting cases on the 550.
Started by removing side covers. NOte it is best to drain the oil prior to engine removal as most did not come out of the drain plug and made a mess of my bench.

For some reason I thought I had points but this looks like electronic with an advance unit. I guess thats why I never had to adjust points. Looks like I won't have to switch the ignition from the 650.

I thouht I could keep the pan on but off it came to get at more bolts

Finally separated, totally amazed at how well they stuck together.

Started grinding the casing to make way for the larger 650 sleeves, almost got it all the way in. Also any tips on removing crankshaft seals?

 

[Nerobro]

This is very much the hard way. Neat to see though. The 550 ignition works fine with the 650 top end. It is an electronic ignition with mechanical advance.

 

[wegs426]

Haven't made too much progress these last few weeks, but I did get a nice Miami vacation. Now that I'm back in the tundra work shall continue. Before I left I finished clearancing the casing to fit the block. I was hoping to get my forks finished also. I drilled the damping rods as required for the mikesxs emulators.

Then I went to install the racetech springs only to find out they were slightly too large in diameter. I've heard that others have had this issue as well. So I placed my order for a set from sonic which are slightly smaller diameter. They didn't have as still I would have liked but its close (.80 vs .85 kg/mm).

Today I fitted the springs and set the preload, when I filled it up with oil I realized that my seals leaked. I guess when I seated them with a socket and a clamp it ****ed them up. So now I have a new set of seals an a seal driver on the way. Lesson learned

So instead I started to strip some paint on the engine. This stuff works much better in my dads warm woodshop than it does in my frigid garage.

Also detailed the lettering on one of the tires. Looks good but it will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

 

[wegs426]

Last week I started prepping the cases for paint. They weren't too dirty but it took a day a half to clean them.
what a mess:

all clean:

Also made the steel brackets which the rearset brackets will mount to once they are welded on the frame.

Friday I painted the cases. I also had to take the crankshaft to a shop to pull the alternator so that the seal could be replaced. I tried the slide hammer trick and my own puller to no avail.

Also got most of the bottom end assembled with all new gaskets and seals, except the clutch rod seal. Somehow forgot to order a new one, hopefully it won't leak.

 

[wegs426]

Finally got the forks assembled and the front end back together. This time the seals went in so easily I didn't even need to use the seal driver. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that the first set were from Racetech and the second Suzuki. They must have their info for the 550 slightly off considering the issues with the springs as well.

Also mounted the calipers and ordered custom lines. I'm not going to bother making my own since it was a little frustrating and only saved a few bucks. I placed my order with H-E-L usa and also got their stainless bleeders. I'm also doing the rear line for the new relocated MC.

Painted the block

Installing pistons i found ART was on each one?

Looking more like an engine:

Removed the valves from the head. I sent the head and cam cover to get bead blasted locally since I want it bare aluminum. I only got about half the old paint off the block after several stripping treatments and figured the head would be even more difficult.

I placed an order for new valve seals but couldn't get any of the old one out yet.
Also has anyone ever drilled the plugs for the oil passages in the head to clean them. I'm planning to powerwash the **** out of the head to remove any glass beads but am worried about the small passages as well.

 

[wegs426]

Two steps forward one step back for this update.

I picked up my head from getting media blasted and my rearset brackets from getting powdercoated. The parts came out great.

Cam cover with some new stainless hardware.

The glass beading left a lot of glass everywhere despite the masking. Sean from Roccity Cafe recommended that the oil passages be drilled, cleaned and then plugged. When I'm done plugging them I'll make a post solely on the process. But here is what has been done so far.

Here you can see all the glass:

Drilled and tapped all plugs and the two factory holes with bolts to accept 1/8" npt plug (12 total). The aluminum plugs originally in place are 7mm and 8mm the drill size for a 1/16" npt tap is ~.006" too small for a 7mm hole and I didn't want to risk it.

Cleaned it out with a power washer. Sprayed, inspected and sprayed again. It will probably get another spray down but that's due to other issues.
Here you can see the water shooting out of the passages to the cam bearing.

High flow heads?

Once I was satisfied with that I tackled the issue of the broken exhaust bolt. I had bought a left hand drill bit for this specific reason but my dad suggested that I try an easy out first. Bad decision. It snapped off in the head. We have since spent about 6 hours chipping it away with a punch, and drilling it with a masonry bit and I have about 1/2" of threads. I'm looking into finding an edm nearby to get the rest out.

Rearsets:
Here you can see the newly powdercoated bracket with both pegs in place. I had to modify the spacer to clear the lever arm to attach to the MC.

Here it is with both levers attached.

I need to make a linkage to span the two lever arms and mount with some shoulder bolts.

Here it is mounted on the bike:

They bolt into the steel brackets which are currently tacked to the frame. I had to thin the right side aluminum bracket so that the splined shaft for the MC would be long enough once passing through the steel.

 

[wegs426]

Engine completed:

Added the brass plugs for the drilled oil passages:

detail:

Lapped the valves:

Installed valves, springs, and retainers.

Installed head and set cam timing:

Rear with cover:

Still need to set correct valve shims.

Had my brother gas weld my rearset plates to the frame:

Also got my front brake lines all set and bled with the new bigger MC.

 

[Broncoman75]

Looks real good! quick question, what kind of tool do you use to install the pistons, the plier kind of ring compressor? brand? I am trying to figure out what kind works good and where to source them from...

 

[wegs426]

Looks real good! quick question, what kind of tool do you use to install the pistons, the plier kind of ring compressor? brand? I am trying to figure out what kind works good and where to source them from...

I just used my hands, if you have two people it would be really easy.

 

[wegs426]

I've got the bike on the road but need to troubleshoot some electrical issues.

Painted the frame where modifications were made:

Rear wheel on and rolled out in the sun for the first time since january:

Engine in:

I did the valves shims at this point.

Looking more like a bike.

Made a chain guard for the swingarm:

Here is the back of the right side rearset showing exhaust mount and mc return spring:

I managed to get the bike started late Friday night. I took it for the first run Saturday morning with no major issues. It pulls so much harder than the 550 throughout the whole range.

Today I went out on a ride to the lake. At an intersection on the return the motor stopped and I lost all power to the acewell gauge and ignition. I figure I have a short somewhere where things were spliced last season or an old bullet connector came undone.

Here it is with the seat off while waiting for a lift:

I actually don't have any pictures of it fully completed yet.

 

[wegs426]

Finished photos!

Going to get the seat upholstered next week, hopefully get some video of it running too.

 

[nikosg]

what exhaust system is that inc. headers?

ps any sound clips? looks nice and loud

 

[wegs426]

what exhaust system is that inc. headers?

ps any sound clips? looks nice and loud

It is very loud, MAC 4-1 header with cone engineering "muffler" from dime city cycles.

 

[Broncoman75]

I just used my hands, if you have two people it would be really easy.

Ok thanks I guess I'll bribe my brother for some help

 

[JvZ]

The parts got the dip and o-ring treatment, new larger jets, and I'm just waiting on pilot jet plugs.

What size main jets did you end up running?

 

[wegs426]

What size main jets did you end up running?

For the 550 I actually never got it tuned properly. I was running 100's but with my straight through muffler I should have been much much higher. I was going to test out some 115's and 117.5's but the 650 parts bike fell into my hands and I went down that road first.

As for the 650 I'm running the dynojet kit. I'm using their 160 jet which is supposed to compare to a 155 mikuni (or was it 165?). Either way it is having similar problems and I need to go much richer again. I'm ordering the next 5 sizes up from dynojet and am going to do some testing.

 

[DevanJones]

Do you have any issues without that rear fender? Is that tail long enough to do the job?

 

[JvZ]

Thanks wegs