83 gs550e, do pods,pipe,carb recalibration really Help? Did this time!!!

[Guest]

I had a 83 gs550e with 2000 miles on clock when I got it on trade for a Car!
The boy had c4ashed it and broke an arm, his mother and girlfriend inseated he get rid of!
I got it cheap! Wasn't really looking for a street,I rode dirt!
I rode couple hundred miles, all, my friends had 750s!
I couldn't keep Up!
I bought a v and H system and a kit Called , I believe k and n filter charger?
It had pods and carb calibration needles and Jets!
This was the first year tscc engine I believe!
It had 2 2 barell Carbs!
I followed instructions Exactly!
After all was done, I could not believe the Difference!
Not only could I keep up with my friends 750! A 8 valve gs 750 in particular piped and jetted, I could out run him on the Top!
Bout the same on a Roll!
I was so impressed !
I believe 10% is a good estimate for pipe and filters, maybe more if set up just right!
It was blue and white and my first Street bike, had one ever since,I was in my mid 20s.
It was also the only bike I've ever tuned that required no changes after carb Work!
Most 90% of the increase was on the top,it screamed way past redline,bottom and mid slightly Improved!
Th E original owner was a customer of mine,I repaired hot rods,muscle cars,and vw dune buggies,
I had him Ride one day and he could not believe it was the same bike.
Those first 16valvers would turn, more than us 8valvers were used too,and still do?

[BigD_83]

I love my 550es. It's a little canyon carver that is a bit of a chore riding in the city, but shines when you get in the twisties.

I'm not surprised a little performance upgrade helped it on the top end. I found it a little lean in stock condition.

[mmattockx]

I rode couple hundred miles, all, my friends had 750s!
I couldn't keep Up!
I bought a v and H system and a kit Called , I believe k and n filter charger?
It had pods and carb calibration needles and Jets!
This was the first year tscc engine I believe!
It had 2 2 barell Carbs!
I followed instructions Exactly!
After all was done, I could not believe the Difference!

That's a lot of exclamation marks in one post. Just wait until Nessism shows up to tell you that you don't know what you're talking about and that pods don't add any significant power at all and are impossible to make work properly.


Mark

[Cipher]

I put pods in my greenhouse bean plot and productivity went through the roof
beating an 8v 750 eh? is that such a huge thing? did you do a run against prior to changes to yer bike? I think youd have been surprised at how awesome it was before you ruined its powerband and fuel economy.

[Nessism]

That's a lot of exclamation marks in one post. Just wait until Nessism shows up to tell you that you don't know what you're talking about and that pods don't add any significant power at all and are impossible to make work properly.


Mark

Pods and a pipe can be made to run just fine with a proper jet kit. 10% extra power on that 550? I doubt that.

[81gs7501166]

Bahaaaa,humbug?

[Nessism]

I'm humbug about a lot of stuff, but in keeping with the topic at hand...

It gets really old to read literally hundreds of posts here from guys that rip off the airbox, chop off the mufflers or install a loud header, and then complain that their bike doesn't run right. No sh*t. These guys install dimestore quality Emgo pods and if they do anything with the jetting it's to bump the main a size or eight. And in the end what does that get them? A few hp on a bike that's 40 years old? Actually, a lot of headers result in a power loss. It just depends on how well the bike was set up originally, and GS's were pretty darn optimized from the factory. Biggest advantage of a pipe is the weight loss.

[mmattockx]

Pods and a pipe can be made to run just fine with a proper jet kit. 10% extra power on that 550? I doubt that.

Just giving you a hard time, Ed.

I don't doubt the 10% power gain with a pipe and pods, but we do have different opinions on that. My 1100E certainly makes 10% more than a stock one did when new but I can't say everyone will get that result. It also runs as well as stock but that didn't happen without effort and time invested on the jetting. If people won't invest that time then pods are a bad idea and usually result in poor running and a crappy motorcycling experience.


Mark

[81gs7501166]

I guess the looks,and the cool factor played a big factor in many purchasing pods and Pipes?
I will agree that it sometimes takes many hours of tuning to get one right.
If u ant able to do the work yourself u have no business installing them,it would cost a small fortune
To pay someone to pull carbs and change mains,pilots,and float several Times!
I personally have never owned a stock Anything?
Every bike,classic car,4 wheeler,sometimes even a lawn tractor, has some mods,in my mind I've made them all Better?
I do respect a 100 point resto,
And some of those guys also respect my not stock,model customers.
To each his Own!
The main point in my post was occasionally, it all works out just Right?
And a 10% increase in power on a bike that made maby 50hp,I'm guessing would only be 5hp?
Just my 2cents!

[Cipher]

BHP on the 572 cc 550 is 64 HP

[mmattockx]

I guess the looks,and the cool factor played a big factor in many purchasing pods and Pipes?

It seems to be. I do think the pods look way better than an airbox and they clean up the center area of the frame but they bring with them the tuning requirements that most seem uninterested in dealing with.

And a 10% increase in power on a bike that made maby 50hp,I'm guessing would only be 5hp?

10% increase in power is always very noticeable, regardless of what the actual horsepower number is.


Mark

[Nessism]

10% increase in power is always very noticeable, regardless of what the actual horsepower number is.


Mark

10% is very optimistic.

[mmattockx]

10% is very optimistic.

Perhaps. This is my 1100E from before I bought it. It had the back half of the airbox removed, jetted to suit and a Kerker K series 4-1:



I live at ~3400ft so the best a stock 1100E could expect to do is 91-92hp. I have since put pods on and jetted it and it is significantly stronger than when I bought it. You may think 10% is a fantasy, but I know it is very realistic.


Mark

[Nessism]

Both these are from magazine articles from back in the day. The baseline hp in the first graph seems low but the same dyno was used for the other tests so the relative performance is same. If anyone wants a copy of the article PM me your email address and I'll send it your way.

GS1100performance by nessism, on Flickr

Dynochart-1 by nessism, on Flickr

[mmattockx]

The first graph is a good one, I haven't seen that before. I am surprised at the lack of gain between the airbox lid off and the pods. I had to jet up from 132 mains with the rear half of the airbox removed to 142 mains with APE pods. I would like to read the details of which Kerker and so on, they made a couple different exhausts and different baffles and they do make a difference. The VM33 carbs sure wake it up in the last step, maybe I should be thinking more about a set of flat slides for my 1100 if I want more yet.


Mark