GS550 carb clean & rebuild questions

[Guest]

Hey, first post here. My son and I picked up an '80 GS550e that we want to make into a cafe racer. The previous owner said the number 4 carb would get any fuel. I got the carbs off yesterday so I can clean them. While they're apart, I was thinking it's a good idea to put new gasket sets in there. I just don't know which kits to buy. Anyone know which ones to order? Any particular brand to stay away from? Any tips or tricks that will help with the rebuilding process? I'm going to attach two pics of them to help make identification of them easier, hope they upload ok.

Thanks, Alex

[cowboyup3371]

Welcome to the site Alex. All you need are new orings from www.cycleorings.com and some new bowl gaskets from your local parts store or places like Z1 Enterprises (www.z1enterprises.com) in New York or Parts Outlaw (www.partsoutlaw.com) in Florida. Also go visit this page - http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff and download Nessism's Carb Rebuild Tutorial.

[sharptailhunter]

Another pic. Is it not possible to attach more than one pic to a post?

[cowboyup3371]

You can post multiple pictures if you use a hosting site like Photobucket or Imgur

[sharptailhunter]

A speedy reply, thanks Cowboy! I'll check em out shortly!

Alex

[cowboyup3371]

Also since you are just starting on it, make sure you send an email to Steve (first name and user name here) for his valve adjustment spreadsheet since that should be done as part of your initial maintenance. Don't worry about ordering shims until you have taken the cover off and recorded what you have and the current clearances. You'll then have a good idea of what you need which means you can order new ones from the GS Shim Club here for free (just pay postage and return your old ones).

The procedures for the valve adjustment are on Basscliff's site too.


Oh, and make sure you get the service manual for the bike from his site - much more valuable and accurate than the Clymers or Haynes though Clymers has some good usage.