The $150 GS550

[Suzuki mad]

I hope I'm right

I hope I'm right

2 is the to the fuel tap.

1 and 3 are overflows.

Suzuki mad

Or my 1000 is wrong.....

Suzuki mad

 

[TheCafeKid]

Or my 1000 is wrong.....

Suzuki mad

I should clarify a bit too.... what I said is for bikes with VM carbs. The BS cv type had the vac line on TWO like you say. Let me edit that now lest anyone get confuzzled.

 

[Napoleon047]

1 is definitely a vacuum line, and 2 and 3 ill buy as overflows. But what do they hook to? The vac line has to hook to something, I know that much. I guess the overflows could just dangle there.

 

[Napoleon047]

Ok, I figured out that it attaches to the petcock. I got the cleaned and re-o-ringed carbs installed, one turn out on the fuel and two out on the air, new filter and airbox bolted up, cleaned and set the points, etc.

It cranks and has good spark, but it wont fire, where should I go from here?

Fuel is flowing and the bowls have gas.

 

[Zooks]

Rebuildable? Yes but if it were me, I'd call it a parts bike and go find another in better shape. There are tons of them and I bet if you advertise locally you can find a similar model just waiting in someones garage. Just my 2 cents.

Disagree (no offense). If the motor turns over and the frame is reasonable, the rest is easy. Every bike we strip for parts is one less in existance. I am of the opinion that every old bike (or car, tractor etc) that can be saved, should. They get junked all the time and get less every year anyway because of neglect, accident damage etc. We need to hang on to them if we can.

Just my 2 cents, we are all different

 

[Zooks]

I should clarify a bit too.... what I said is for bikes with VM carbs. The BS cv type had the vac line on TWO like you say. Let me edit that now lest anyone get confuzzled.

I was confuzzled to begin with.

 

[Dave8338]

try this

try this

Ok, I figured out that it attaches to the petcock. I got the cleaned and re-o-ringed carbs installed, one turn out on the fuel and two out on the air, new filter and airbox bolted up, cleaned and set the points, etc.

It cranks and has good spark, but it wont fire, where should I go from here?

Fuel is flowing and the bowls have gas.

Dump in about 1/4 - 1/2 ounce of 5-w30 oil in each cylinder and spin it over several times WITHOUT the plugs in. There is a chance that the rings are stuck or very dry and the compression is too low to fire. A compression test would be high on the list of things to check (WOT and wet).

After you've let the oil seal things up on the top end, add about an 1/8 ounce of fuel (I like to use 2-cycle mix for the extra lube) and reinstall the plugs. Hit the starter and it will likely fire.

 

[Steve]

Can someone tell me where hoses 1-3 hook up?

Assuming that all those hoses go to the same set of carbs (it's kinda hard to tell about #2),
#1 is the vacuum hose that goes to the smaller fitting on the petcock
#2 and #3 are VENT hoses, not overflows. They get routed back over the air box and just hang out near the battery.
The hose that is connected directly under #1 is your fuel inlet. That goes to the larger fitting on the petcock.
The OVERFLOW hoses are the ones that go to the nipples on the bottom of each float bowl.

.

 

[mmills37]

I have an '81 550 that I just rebuilt all the carbs for. Based on recent knowledge, Steve above is correct.
Mike

 

[Smokinapankake]

Disagree (no offense). If the motor turns over and the frame is reasonable, the rest is easy. Every bike we strip for parts is one less in existance. I am of the opinion that every old bike (or car, tractor etc) that can be saved, should. They get junked all the time and get less every year anyway because of neglect, accident damage etc. We need to hang on to them if we can.

Just my 2 cents, we are all different

Agree with Zooks. If it's not hanging a rod, it's worth saving. Don't look at it from the perspective of how much it will cost you, think how much you will gain as far as experience, confidence, and freedom from the fear of mechanicals....
My .02

 

[kamelman]

Up here near Toronto you can't really find bikes that run under $500. Hell if it's saftied it'll go for $1500-$1750 easy, no matter the year,make,model or mileage.
So hence I bought this 1982 GS550M for $200. I figure about $800 - $1000 in and I'm already ahead.

 

[kamelman]

Shoulda taken some pics before starting dissassembly. Thats the reason I haven't posted any yet. Who wants to see pics of parts

 

[Napoleon047]

IT RUNS!!!!

I did a compression check: 120, 100, 100, 60.

As I said, I finally got it to run without the choke on, but the lowest I can get it to idle is over 2000 rpms. Its also blowing gray smoke constantly.

 

[Napoleon047]

oh yeah, it backfires when starting and when I open the throttle.

 

[Napoleon047]

Ok, so I reset the floats and it no longer smokes

But now it will only start and run with the choke on, and then it idles at 4k. I can close the choke partially and it will run down to 2.5k, but any lower and it dies and if i try to open the throttle, it dies.

Im guessing its too lean now?

 

[salty_monk]

Do you have the air box & filter on it? If not... that's your problem.

60 on that cylinder is very low, even the others aren't great, hope the rings seat better than that with some use.

Dan

 

[Napoleon047]

It has been sitting a while, the newest registration on the plates is 1989.

Yes, the factory airbox and an OEM filter are on it. I fiddled with it more and I can sometimes get it to idle with the choke off around 1500 RPM, but after I rev it, it will die. If I use the throttle stop screw, It wont die anymore but it hovers around 3k for a while before dropping to 1500 again.

I'm about to do a fuel injection conversion

 

[Napoleon047]

I finally got it to run smoothly and idle without the choke once it warms up. It revs well, shifts through all the gears smoothly on the stand etc. so I figured I would take it for a test ride. Well, the seat pan was so rusted that when I sat on it, it broke and the seat came back off

So I started playing with some fiberglass:

 

[Napoleon047]

Well, its alive. The stuck ring broke free and I now have good compression on all cylinders. I ran it around the block a few times. Its for sale now: http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/mcy/1065847124.html

 

[BassCliff]

Nice work Mr. Napoleon47. :clap:

Too bad you're going to sell it. Are you going to get another GS to flip?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff