Halon's '82 GS550L Project Thread!

[Halon]

Bought this beaut off of Craigslist for $200 (with a new helmet!) in August. Everything electrical is in great working condition, but she won't start. Finally got my bike back from the shop yesterday!
It was sitting there for two months and they only did half an hour of labor! I was pretty upset. All I asked them was to see what the problem was (wouldn't run). Decided just to rip her apart and do it myself. Wiped her down a bit, replaced the rear turn signals, put on new handlebars (now I need new cables for throttle and clutch and brake!), cleaned out one of the carbs, and re-wired some of the ghetto-rigged stuff on the front end. The tank is all stripped of paint, sanded, and bondoed, which I did right when I got the bike. My favorite part of the bike is the Embry-Riddle parking permit from '85-'86! I think it's really cool, and I'm definitely going to leave it on.
Stuff I'm going to do to the bike:
-4>1 exhaust (just got one off eBay from a local salvage place)
-Paint (I'm thinking standard rat bike black everything. I mostly just want to be able to get to college and back!)
-New Tires
-New turn signals
-Shave and recover seat
-Hopefully only have a speedo, and put idiot lights on headlight bucket (have a couple cool ideas)
-Front forks are awfully squishy; thinking they need new seals and oil
-Finish cleaning the carbs

I'm sure that's not a complete list, but it's all I've got planned for the immediate future. I'm also hoping to POR-15 the tank, but it's actually not too bad inside.
Also, does anybody know a good place to get new speedo/clutch/front brake cables? I switched handlebars from the big ol' buckhorns to superbike handlebars, and now my cables are all like 5" too long.
Thanks!
Oh yeah, here is the ugly beast! (before I did any work.)

TYLER

 

[Halon]

And here's the Embry-Riddle sticker!

TYLER

 

[TheCafeKid]

Well there's your problem!! That old girl aint got no carberetors!! Hehehe J/K

Looks like a good start!! keep us posted!!

TCK

 

[Halon]

Got a lot more work done today!
Stripped an air screw in one of the carbs, figure I'll get new kits. I'm currently bidding on a set of carbs from the same year/model as my bike on eBay, too. Also got all the electricals working. Took off the idiot gauge between the speedo/tach, and shorted out the switch that only lets you start the engine when the clutch is in (mostly just didn't want the extra wires running up to the handlebars). All the new mini blinkers are on and working, too! Changed the oil and cleaned the bike up a bit more.
Lastly I attempted to take off the exhaust. I promptly sheared off the heads of 2 of the 4 bolts I tried unscrewing from the block. Didn't even try the other side; figured I'd tackle that tomorrow.
Since I got all the wiring sorted out, I was able to turn the ignition and the engine turns over! Very very good.
Pics to come tomorrow!


TYLER

 

[Ironriot]

Got a lot more work done today!
Stripped an air screw in one of the carbs, figure I'll get new kits. I'm currently bidding on a set of carbs from the same year/model as my bike on eBay, too. Also got all the electricals working. Took off the idiot gauge between the speedo/tach, and shorted out the switch that only lets you start the engine when the clutch is in (mostly just didn't want the extra wires running up to the handlebars). All the new mini blinkers are on and working, too! Changed the oil and cleaned the bike up a bit more.
Lastly I attempted to take off the exhaust. I promptly sheared off the heads of 2 of the 4 bolts I tried unscrewing from the block. Didn't even try the other side; figured I'd tackle that tomorrow.
Since I got all the wiring sorted out, I was able to turn the ignition and the engine turns over! Very very good.
Pics to come tomorrow!


TYLER

Hmm I guess everyone always stripes that first air screw. I know I did also. Oh and a tip about those exhaust bolts. Slow and in small increments is the way to take them off with out breaking them. And yes more pics

 

[Halon]

Hmm I guess everyone always stripes that first air screw. I know I did also. Oh and a tip about those exhaust bolts. Slow and in small increments is the way to take them off with out breaking them. And yes more pics

It was the second air screw!
And I stripped it because the o-ring was stuck waaaay in there, so I tried to get it out with a little screwdriver, and messed up the threads a little. Then I tried to re-thread the hole with the air screw, which wasn't the best idea! I've just gotta bust out the tap and die set and I'm sure we'll be good to go.


TYLER

 

[kent]

When I changed out the handle bars on my 550, I used the clutch and throttle cables off of a 550E model, can't remember exactly what year. I did have to modify a little bit but not much. The front brake line I had made in stainless steel braded at a local shop, the only thing I don't like is all I can see in my mirrors now, is my sholders.

 

[Halon]

When I changed out the handle bars on my 550, I used the clutch and throttle cables off of a 550E model, can't remember exactly what year. I did have to modify a little bit but not much. The front brake line I had made in stainless steel braded at a local shop, the only thing I don't like is all I can see in my mirrors now, is my sholders.

I'll have to look into the other models. For now, my brake cable is just kinda snaked in an 's' shape behind the headlight, and doesn't look like it's gonna go anywhere. I hooked up the clutch cable and it works, but there's just a bunch of extra cable!
I think the cables from an E would be great!


TYLER

 

[Nessism]

E cables are still pretty long if you go with Superbike or Daytona bars. The 550M model cables would be good to have since that bike had low bars. I've never tried them myself but that's on my to-do list.

 

[Halon]

Got a little more work done today!
The exhaust is off, but 6 of the 8 screws sheared off! Only got about 1/2 turn into each of them before they just snapped. Oh well, that's what I've got the screw extractor kit for. Not looking forward to it, tho!
Also have all the stuff mounted on the handlebars minus the left hand grip -- don't want to put that on until I am sure I don't need to take anything else on/off the handlebars!
I'll be going to the motorcycle salvage yard Tuesday to pick up the new (to me at least) exhaust and hopefully will have all the bolts out of the block by then.
As promised, here are more pics!

General overview of my shop area! Had to move the tiki bar.

Carb runner(?) boots, brand spankin' new!

TYLER

 

[Halon]

One more pic of the rear blinkers. I took the ears off and mounted the blinkers directly to the fender... The ears hung the blinkers down a little lower and I kinda like them up a bit higher.

More to come!


TYLER

 

[CA180]

if you need any parts let me know. I've got an 81 550L and lots of spare parts i need to sell

 

[Halon]

if you need any parts let me know. I've got an 81 550L and lots of spare parts i need to sell

PM sent about the carbs! Crossing my fingers!

Looks like the screws for the exhaust are stuck in the block pretty well. After reading the snapped bolt thread I think I'll just haul it off to a shop again...


TYLER

 

[TheCafeKid]

yanno i guess ive been lucky in that respect, or just that my header was put on recent enough that they havent had time to seize but none of mine gave me any trouble whatsoever...knock on wood[-o<

 

[Ironriot]

if you need any parts let me know. I've got an 81 550L and lots of spare parts i need to sell

Damn you serious. Wish I had known about that

 

[Halon]

Couple more updates.
Took the whole bike to the machine shop and they drilled out the exhaust holes to 5/16". Also, when my center stand is up then the chain rubs against it slightly. Is this normal? Chain seems to be pretty tight, so I'm not sure what would remedy this situation (if in fact it's bad).
I also won a 4-1 exhaust off of eBay and picked it up (the place was local). $70 and a little scrubbing turned out to be a good buy! I took the muffler off the headers cause it was all bent up and looked like crap. The headers also have a few small dings in them, so I might just use exhaust wrap. Not sure if I'm just going to put a cosmetic tip on there since I'm really just riding to school and back (not a fan of the school parking lots!) or if I'll look into a muffler.
Oh yeah, I have two racks of carbs on the way. Hopefully with them and my ****ty pair here I can make one good pair. Or even get the one rack on there and put on pods+rejet the other one, and then do a switcharoo. We'll see. Fuel line is coming, too, along with some T-connectors. Not sure where I'll use them, as there are just fuel and vent lines hanging all over the place on my bike (haven't seen a complete one yet, so I'm not sure how they go), but they seemed like a good idea to get at the time.
I'll post pics tomorrow!


TYLER

 

[Halon]

Finally putting it all back together! Got carbs, a side mount license plate holder, and a low-rise fender from Stephen (CA180). Put the latter two on and am trying to figure out where all the lines go from the carbs to the tank/etc. If you haven't seen my thread, please help me out! http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=714655#post714655

I also got the 4-1 exhaust on and cleaned the swingarm up a lot.

In the next post I'll show you a cool little trick I did to make starting a little bit easier.


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[Halon]

This is a cool trick I did because I got tired of holding the clutch in while I tried to get the damn thing to start! I cut the wires that connect to the switch on the clutch that makes it so you can't start the bike unless the clutch is in. Then I connected the two wires so that the bike would always think the clutch was in. This lets me start the bike without having to hold the clutch and the starter button. Really nice for checking sparks and compression and such.
I'm sure people have done this before, but I thought I'd post a pic anyway!

TYLER

 

[GrantC82GS]

i just got a GS550L (82) and it has the original exahaust. im wanting something a little more louder but i dont know whats worth the cash and sound. anyone have any idea or what they got and they are happy with?

thanks!