The 550 Project

[Molino]

So I got me a Five-Fitty'. 1984-85? Mfg. Date is Oct. 1984, so I dunno what that falls under.... Anyway, 1985 GS550ES. Here she is in all her pride and glory:

A heaping pile of Steel with just barely working front breaks, which I know will need a changin'

That Back Break is littereally not moving one bit. The foot break doesn't budge at all. Looks like when I get to it, it'll be a loooooong day.

Heres a look at the carbs:

I think I'm going to need more than a hand screwdriver for this one....
So!, Now for questions! , in order of most relevant:

Where do I find clamps that will fit around the Intake Rings, and the rubber between the carbs and the airbox?

I found a slight leak in the seal of the gas tank, will some Silicone Gasket Maker clear this up? or is fuel too corrosive for even that?

The Oil Drain nut on the bottom of the engine looks pretty corroded.. Should I even bother with my ratchet & some PB Blaster, or should I just rent an Impact Wrench from Autozone?

The Fork Seals, total goner. It was a PITA to do the fork seals on my scooter, will these be any more difficult? How far do you think I'd get on the current ones?

Any Aftermarket Options for Rear Blinkers & Taillight? I mean, the quality is amazing that they still work, but It's a little too Retro for my taste :lol:

I hooked the thing up to my scooter battery, because the one in the bike is dead. The one in the bike is rated 12v 11amp, my scooter batt is only 12v 9amp, but I was still able to use it to get the bike to turn over. So I'm guessing next i'll be:

Carb Rebuild
Reset Valve Timing? I dont have a clue how to do this
Purging the old Motor Oil
Cleaning all the little bits and bobs.

Any other recommendations guys? First thing before I start buying anything else for it is to just get the Engine to Run. If I can accomplish that, then i'll move ahead.

Phew!... Thats alot on my mind. Now I finally have a place to coherently put all my thoughts. Hahaha, Cheers Guys!

 

[Molino]

I've been trying to get the carbs today. I managed to get the airbox clear of the carbs, pushed back and away. The only thing left are the rusty clamps connecting the Carbs to the engine... are these all thats in the way from removing the carbs or am I missing something?

 

[Molino]

So I got the carbs out last week. I had to cut the clamps, the screws were just too rusted in there. Hopefully I can find some other clamps that are in the same oval shape. But boy was that an ordeal....

I'm going to start taking them apart today, and replacing all the O-Rings with an o-ring kit I got at Autozone. Also giving them a good cleaning. Then hopefully I can put em back in the bike and get it to fire up.

 

[cowboyup3371]

I don't know how well but try looking at hose clamps like the kind you can buy at Lowes for those boots. Hopefully those o-rings are going to be the right size for you as most of us get ours from Robert Barr (www.cycleorings.com). Check your local bike parts house or www.z1enterprises.com for the new intake pipes.

 

[Do Little]

Just buy some large hose clamps to replace the clamps you had to cut off. They bend really easily, and will form to the oval shape as you tighten them down. Shouldn't be more than a buck or two a piece, and most large hardware stores should have something big enough to fit.

 

[Molino]

Yeah, thats what my friend keeps telling me I should do. Suppose I will. Well, After a frustrating 20 minutes of fiddling with the screws on the carbs, I decided to take them to my new work (Vespa Mechanic yaya! And low behold he had an impact driver/punch, which was able to knock all the screws right out, even the two badly stripped ones at the bottom of the float.

Went ahead and gave it a good cleaning with some compressed air & carb cleaner:

One of the Idle Jets? (really small one) Was abit stripped at the top, so I'm going to order a new OEM one and replace it. Other than that the carbs looked pretty shiny. Oh yea the 25 year old float gaskets were toast, needed those too. Cant wait to put it all back together and get this thing running! Hopefully by next week ill have the time.

 

[Nessism]

No disrespect but please read this thread carefully before you become a victim... http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=171846

 

[Molino]

Don't worry my friend I hear ya. Unfortunately not all of us are perfect

 

[Molino]

So I found out my fuel Tap is busted. After trying to vacuum out the old gasoline, nothing would come out. Also the knob on the Fuel Tap wont move. Could I possible find one for sale in the parts section of the fourm? Or should I just get one from Z1? Another thing is the one on Z1 says its 44mm, Are those the right dimensions for replacing the fuel tap on the suzuki gas tanks?

 

[Molino]

So, reinstalled the cleaned carbs, poured gasoline into them, Got a brand new battery, changed out the oil & oil filter. Tried to start it up, and All I got was the Starter Motor turning over & over.... Nothing else. If I kept on the starter motor for too long, it would kill the battery. So done for today, time to think.

I'm sure it's got Spark. Could gasoline not be making it from the Carbs to the engine?

Any Thoughts?

 

[Redneck]

Have you seen the spark plug sparking. Pull one out touch it to the case and turn it over you will see spark in the gap. Best way to determine if you have spark. But I would make sure you have spark first. Once that is determined then move on to fuel. do you have fuel going from tank to carbs?

Paul

 

[mike-s]

Two things you need to have in a tolbox,
1) compression tester
2) timing strobe, or failing that if your not concerned with timing (or ever setting timing yourself) and only if it has spark at all, get this. I have both.

Although checking for spark against the side of the engine is good, i believe that checking it "in situ" is better as you know for sure if it works or not as I've heard of plugs working at atmospheric but failing when inside the engine.

Have you considered using a quick squirt of a starting aid to see if it is working ok (not recommended for regular use). Two we have here are aerostart and Nulon Start Ya Bastard which are both ether (and other light flammible liquids based products)

 

[Molino]

So I got the thing to fire up & nearly Idle with a quick few shots of Starter fluid down the intakes & the choke all the way engaged. I still have to check to make sure all the plugs are firing but this is a good sign. Maybe it was just a poor carb cleaning on my part, & gasoline isn't making it to the engine.

Although I will say, it did sound pretty badass the the 5 seconds that the engine did run...

Cheers!

 

[Molino]

So I checked all four plugs, they all get nice spark. Now the problem I'm having is that the gasoline isn't making it from the float bowls, through the jets & into the engine. Gas Is getting from the tank to the Cabrs, but after that It doesn't make it to the Engine Intakes.

So either bad compression?
or My jets are still clogged?

I did dip the carbs, maybe it's still not good enough. When I bypass the Carbs (I know, it sounds so bad) and give it a quick few shots of starter fluid down the intakes, the engine starts right up and runs untill all the ether burns away. So fuel is not making it through that carb, and thats whats causing the engine not to run?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Did you run the wire through the jets and make sure they were completely clean like was said in the tutorial?

 

[Flyboy]

You must also know, you are going to have headaches trying to get it to run without the airbox on, make sure it is on good and sealed up tight.

 

[Molino]

Carbs are really clean. I went over them yesterday to be completely sure. I hooked everything up today all nice and tight & I still get the same issue. Fuel is just not going through the carbs. What the ****?......

 

[cowboyup3371]

If fuel is not going through them then they are not clean. There are passages you cannot see that will get clogged up. Don't trust the fact the bowls look good to think they are clean.

Dip them properly and run a wire through each jet. Replace the orings. Follow Nessism's carb cleaning tutorial and you'll do fine.

 

[Molino]

It Lives!!!! Well, finally got it running. Now i'm having a problem of it idling too high. Air Leaks? Also I have pretty bad gas leaks comming from the float bowl's as well as the fuel tube. I am still running the stock O-rings, if I replace them with proper new ones you think it'll solve that problem?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Yes it is possible and more than likely necessary. You can also fiddle with the idle adjustment knob to see how well that plays.