77 gs550 cafe racer

[mriddle]

This would be a good move

The seat actually is kinda comfy, although I might need to insert another layer of foam at some point. My kids really want me to quit cigarettes as do I , but at least a quarter of the time I go out for a smoke, I seem to gravitate to the bike and saddle up while I smoke. I am at least for now, happy with her tail.

[oshanac]

Great looking bike! $1700 isn't bad for all the money put into it. It's a classic, did you see the before piture-wuff. A piece of history for $1750.

[supergrafx]

Great looking bike! $1700 isn't bad for all the money put into it. It's a classic, did you see the before piture-wuff. A piece of history for $1750.

Thanks Oshanac! However, looks can be deceiving! And basically, all that really was done to the bike were for looks sake. The more I dive into the bike, appearance mods, ect, become secondary. The bike had issues to begin with and they were never ironed out. The third prior PO had made the electrical problems known to the next POs but these POs never thought to tell me of such issues. The bike didn't even have it's original carbs which I was lucky to score from the nice PO prior to the PO that sold them to me. These carbs were in great shape, prestine shape! However, I was so new at wrenching and wanting to ride so badly, I trusted the advice of a known mechanic of one of the POs, and instead of rebuilding the original set that were prestine, he did the junked ones that were already on the bike, 400 for that, not dipped in anything, merely just sprayed with carb cleaner. Why did the imposter mechanic rebuild the junk carbs and not the prestine ones? Because he stripped every adjustment screw on the four bodies, obviously not using an impact driver, and then decided just to use the set that was already on the bike. And as he later told me, believes dipping carbs in a solution like berrymans is useless and a myth. I just found out the other day in one of the POs prior posts that when the bike is tilted left and right the electrics cut out sometimes, actually, I think it is just the oil preassure light. The wiring harness was a complete mess, corroded at nearly every bullet/terminal. As you can see in the before pic, the 4-1 pipe was already in place when the POs got this bike. Granted the new tank must have cost a grip, but everything else that was placed on the bike like the shocks, the throttle cable (actually required two cables: VM carbs;only one was in place), ect.., were pretty junked up and needed to be replaced with OEM new parts anyways. It just makes me angry thinking about it. Which is why I will not let any shop or punk touch the bike anymore. I live in a very yuppy area called Washington D.C., and many people here are more about appearance than integrity. The state my bike was in when I got it, shows this sentiment. My bike is not running now and has a lot of issues. But I can tell if machines had feelings, this one appreciates that the current owner cares about the internals more than the outside looks. This I think, is a healthy relationship.

[mark_vaughn]

That sounds like mine! Except I knew what I was buying, it was ugly on the outside too.

Have you done much work on the electrics? I am thinking of scraping my entire wiring harness and wiring just the basics without dozens of bullet connectors. It will probably be as easy as repairing what is there, and the insulation won't be dry rotting.

Someday I will ride this bike..... someday.....

[supergrafx]

That sounds like mine! Except I knew what I was buying, it was ugly on the outside too.

Have you done much work on the electrics? I am thinking of scraping my entire wiring harness and wiring just the basics without dozens of bullet connectors. It will probably be as easy as repairing what is there, and the insulation won't be dry rotting.

Someday I will ride this bike..... someday.....

Almost every connection, I've cut off, tinned and replaced with either new insulated spade or bullets. I've used dielectric grease on half of the connections and liquid tape where water/moisture may seep in from the back ends of the connectors insulation. When I had the carbs out, I cut off the corroded solenoid ground to engine frame and re-soldered to an o clamp. The headlight bucket has all new connections except for the H4 light plug which I plan to replace too. I still need to crimp the coil wires but with a troubling dyna s install, I'm waiting to get that right before making that part clean looking. I have an extra harness but thought why not try to make the one I have work and just keep the extra one just in case for the future. If a wire or two is or becomes shorted at some point, I'll probably just add a wire or two to the original harness and wrap it with electrical tape to the existing one. Still, much to do! I've noticed where I hadn't used dielectric grease, the connections starting to show signs of oxidizing. That's what I get for not greasin' up the rest of the newly crimped connections I've put on.

[mark_vaughn]

A good site for automotive style electrical connectors is www.keefeperformance.com.
I am planning on using Deutsch connectors on mine and all new TXL wire. http://www.eficonnection.com sells TXL by the foot in over 20 colors.

[oshanac]

Well, it's good to see somebody that finally, she has someone who cares about her. A 1979 GS750 was my first bike, this is my 10th motorcycle (hey I'm only 30-I'm catching up!) and third GS. This is the first one I've ever took the cylinder head off. I'm going to do the valves on my own too, and a frame off restore (non-numbers matching). It's amazing what having that many (or few) motorcyles does for your mechanical confidence. When I look at my manual, I shrug and say "I can do that". Good luck

[beergood]

Have you done much work on the electrics? I am thinking of scraping my entire wiring harness and wiring just the basics without dozens of bullet connectors. It will probably be as easy as repairing what is there, and the insulation won't be dry rotting.

I tried a few times to repair what was basically a hopeless harness on my bike before I gave up and built a new one.

I stripped my bike down pretty far, so I was able to jettison a lot of the original layout. I don't have turn signals, or a starter button, or a battery (just a bank of capacitors). The bundle I ended up with was about a third of what I started with, and is (hopefully) much more reliable. It was a little daunting going in, but I learned a lot, and feel like I really know my electrical system now.

[gsbobber]

Yep, just hook the stock cables up to them. You just need to make sure to get the 1:4 ratio for the tach or the reading will be off.

what is the speedo ratio for the 79 gs550

[Craiger]

what is the speedo ratio for the 79 gs550

The tachometer should be all you need to worry about when it comes to purchasing on the aftermarket....which is 1:4. I believe all Japanese bikes have the same speedometer gear ratio.

[DCrippa]

So now I own her and have to start all over.

I'm the new owner... looks like I got to her a little late as she's mostly parted out.... This is what she looks like now - I've got a long way to go. Tank and headers in the mail - need to research spedo and tach options... I do dig the mini ones that were on there.

http://img716.imageshack.us/i/gs550side.jpg/

http://img404.imageshack.us/i/gs550.jpg/