GS550 Gearshifting Shaft Bent & more!

[Joneman]

Cant get above 3rd gear? Post 1/2

Mike - Thanks for the info. I had not figured it out, I was going to go with the current bearings as winter will soon be here . When I checked the bearings, there was a bit of "chatter" but otherwise they seemed fine... driving was also good, no apparent issues with the rear wheel (that I can remember... it has been too long).

Procedure:

So after much elbow grease and way too much time, I got the oil seal out (rotary tool, sharpened screw driver, makeshift pry bars etc.). I guess it had a really really good seal. Bad news: the bore is now scratched up a bit. I sanded (by hand) down the roughness a bit, and all the new seals have been installed (dipped in oil first, pushed in and then #2 gasket added on top). Clutch rod oil seal was too easy to remove compared to the gearshifting shaft - did it the recommended way with 2 drywall screws.

Watch out using the rotary tool! Flying sparks started to burn my rag that was protecting the inside of the crankcase... I tried to get it and pushed it in by accident. I am glad no fire started!



Sharpened screwdriver that finally did the seal in, but also scratched the bore.


Oil rag incident.


Gearshifting shaft Bore/seat is buggered up a bit.


Clutch Rod Seal - came out nice and easy!


New seal installed (oiled up first). There was a tiny bit of rubber that got pushed back as you can see in the first picture. I am assuming this is ok and not of any concern... I cut it off.





With a bit of gasket sealer:

[Joneman]

Cant get above 3rd gear? Post 2/2

Question below

Post 1 Continued:

After getting these seals in and the seal holder back in place (goes over clutch oil seal and front sprocket oil seals), I used some anti-seize (copper) on the 3 small bolts and secured into place. Now onto the other side of the bike.



I removed everything in the clutch side a while back. I also found the washer for the clutch release bearing assembly that I bought because I had not seen it... it was stuck to another part .

This time I removed as much gasket with a plastic scraper and a razor blade. Then I sprayed some gasket remover and let it soak for 10-20 minutes and scraped off some more. There still seems to be a bit left, but its pretty smooth. Thoughts?






I then re-installed the cam stopper (with some blue thread lock on the bolt as per the suzuki manual). When I put the gearshifting shaft back in, I had to tap it with a rubber mallet to get it through, while holding a pipe over the oil seal on the other side (when it was straightened, it was not 100% true & straight... this may be the cause of my problems right now - what I should have done was follow Suzuki_Don's expertise and bought a used, straight one).



Problem:
At this point, I followed a tip in the Clymers manual - to throw on the gear shifter temporarily and try and go through all the gears. Well the bike was in neutral, and getting into 2 and 3 was no problem. But now I can't get out of third, up or down (I was releasing the cam stopper by hand). There was no way I could shift down at all, as this setup below wasn't quite right somehow. It could shift up to somewhere between 3rd and 4th, and then not back down. I had to turn the gear "spindle" by hand (the piece the gear pins are in that the gearshifting shaft engages).

My guess is that the shaft is not straight enough and therefore its not going to shift correctly. When trying to shift into 4th, pressure on the pedal resulted in forward pressure on the shaft, not turning. Could there have been other major things happening to my gears when the chain came off? Or when I banged out the gearshifting shaft?

Many thanks for reading the long posts and your expertise!



More pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/1066826...eat=directlink

[Suzuki_Don]

A couple of points:

You should have replaced the gear shifter as suggested previously.
Gear changing will be more difficult when the outrigger support for the shaft is not in place.
Replace the sprocket and while turning the sprocket move the gear change and it should move through the gears with no problems.
One of the shafts holding the gears must be rotating for the gears to change.

[Joneman]

Will try and get back with results

Don,

You are very much correct. I meant to included that point in my last post and so I've edited it to give you credit there.

The outrigger support is something I had not thought about... it makes sense that the front sprocket cover would prevent the forward motion.

Thank you for the tip - I can't wait to get off work and try it! I will post back with the results. I am slowly learning how this stuff works.

[Joneman]

That worked great, bit harder to get into first but I will see how it handles once its all back together.

Also, would the gearshifter shaft for a 78 GS550E fit my 550C? They should be the same engine, right? I have found one for a good price, and may need it in the future... but I should have bought it in the first place.

Thanks!

[mike_of_bbg]

These models all use the same part #. So basically any 8V 550 and a couple of 650s also.

1977 SUZUKI GS550B - GEAR SHIFTING
1978 SUZUKI GS550C - GEAR SHIFTING
1978 SUZUKI GS550EC - GEAR SHIFTING
1979 SUZUKI GS550EN - GEAR SHIFTING
1979 SUZUKI GS550LN - GEAR SHIFTING
1979 SUZUKI GS550N - GEAR SHIFTING
1980 SUZUKI GS550LT - GEAR SHIFTING
1980 SUZUKI GS550T & ET - GEAR SHIFTING
1981 SUZUKI GS550LX - GEAR SHIFTING
1981 SUZUKI GS550TX - GEAR SHIFTING
1981 SUZUKI GS650EX - GEAR SHIFTING
1982 SUZUKI GS550LZ - GEAR SHIFTING
1982 SUZUKI GS550MZ - GEAR SHIFTING
1982 SUZUKI GS650EZ - GEAR SHIFTING

BTW, if those wheel bearings are anything other than buttery smooth, plan to replace them as soon as possible.

[Suzuki_Don]

Glad it's all coming together for you. There's no reason it should not work OK when it is all reassembled.

[Joneman]

Getting there

Mike, thanks for the valuable information! I am no expert on the bearings, and as they don't cost too too much I will buy them the next time I make an order/work on the bike.

Don, you mentioned how to torque the nut on the clutch. I guess for this to work the sprockets and chain would have to be installed? I had the bike in 6th but it was turning, so I got it torque'd on another way to 35 ft-lb.

Don: "Put the bike in 6th gear with the front sprocket and chain in place and lock the back brake on as hard as you can and torque the sprocket nut up to the required torque."

I put the clutch all back together... that dang oil pump drive gear gave me a go for a bit trying to get its dogs to mate with the clutch housing. Kind of hard to do when you can't see it and theres no room for fingers, but I think its good.

Trying to "torque" the spring bolts was interesting. The torque wrench I have only goes as low as 20 ft-lb, so I looked at the pictures I had taken before removing the basket and tightened by the same amount. Basically it was up to the point that I could no longer tighten then with a socket on a screw driver (less torque). I am hoping this will be around the required 5 ft-lb.

I sprayed the new gasket with some WD-40 and then installed that, putting some anti-seize on the cover bolts. I then added 2.5 litres of diesel oil up to the Full line (Rotella 15W-40, first time using diesel in the bike) and kept the same filter. I'm going to change the oil and filter within the next 200-500kms to get any debris out of the engine.



Everything seems to be fine now and I will get the new sprockets, chain, gear shifter lever, footpegs, kickstarter and a few last things installed with a clutch adjustment and then start er' up! They are calling for a great, 20 celcius + weekend, but I am going back home for Thanksgiving (Canadian)... they wouldn't understand if I stayed to work on the bike. I hope its not too cold next week for riding!

On a side note, the engine re-assembly pages in the suzuki service manual are garbage. There are many steps missing compared to the Clymer manual.

Thanks again guys for the help! Have a great weekend

[Joneman]

All Done and Working - Thank you!

Hello Guys,

Thanks again for all the help. I have since taken the bike out for a spin or two and it works good! The shifting lever doesn't always fall back into position, so some of my gears are not catching right away. It might be just adjusting the pedal placement, or perhaps it is the bent shaft... I still haven't picked my "new" one up yet across the border. Any thoughts about this are appreciated.

One thing I screwed up was riveting the chain link pin. It wasn't flaring enough and then it flared too much. I was aiming for 0.015" larger than the original pin size at 0.204", so roughly 0.225 (with some extra). I ended up getting 0.244" so I will be keeping a close eye on this link for any cracks.



As you can see we got a surprise storm, with a lesson learned: use bungee cords to keep a cover on.



I plan to do a valve adjustment and complete carb cleaning over the winter. I am sure you will hear from me again

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[mike_of_bbg]

A couple of times I've had that issue it's been some corrosion between the shifter and the frame peg causing friction. A little emery cloth and some white lithium grease fixed it right up. I hope that's all it is for you. However, if your shaft is still bent that may well be the cause.

Regards and Happy Holidays.

The shifting lever doesn't always fall back into position, so some of my gears are not catching right away. It might be just adjusting the pedal placement, or perhaps it is the bent shaft... I still haven't picked my "new" one up yet across the border. Any thoughts about this are appreciated.