converting to kick start

[jstone8952]

ive never really worked on bikes but id love to gut under the seat, switch to pod filters and get rid of my battery. problem is i dont know how to conver my gs550 to kick start and havent been able to find much on it. another potential issue is that it takes a good second to start anyway, with some fondling of the choke while laying on the ignition. is it hard to get a kick start started if you are already having a little nudging to get an elec start going?

[TheCafeKid]

ive never really worked on bikes but id love to gut under the seat, switch to pod filters and get rid of my battery. problem is i dont know how to conver my gs550 to kick start and havent been able to find much on it. another potential issue is that it takes a good second to start anyway, with some fondling of the choke while laying on the ignition. is it hard to get a kick start started if you are already having a little nudging to get an elec start going?

Well, if the appropriate maintenance has been done (ie, valve adjustment, the leading cause of hard cold starting, and the valves should be checked and or adjusted every 3-4K miles..chances are, your bike has never had one..carbs disassembled, dipped, new orings installed in them and behind the intake boots, the airbox is properly sealed..etc etc.) then your bike shouldnt have any problem starting with a moderate amount of choke.

Also, its not possible to convert your non kickstart 550, to a kickstart. Unless of course you put a pre 80 550 motor in it. Those came with kickers. The kickstarter was done away with in pretty much every GS model by 1980. Its a shame, as I personally think ALL bikes should have a kicker.. but thats just me...

[jstone8952]

damn. so i have what im stuck with...
i guess then what i have to do to get the look i want is hide the battery elsewhere and reroute everything. any write ups on this?

[Pete Logan]

Don't know if I can find it now, but a couple of years ago on an HD forum there was a company in Holland producing a 'fake' kickstarter which looked like the real thing but when you kicked it, it actually fired the electric starter

[jstone8952]

Don't know if I can find it now, but a couple of years ago on an HD forum there was a company in Holland producing a 'fake' kickstarter which looked like the real thing but when you kicked it, it actually fired the electric starter

that would be pretty but wouldnt solve the problem of getting rid of my underseat clutter. id like to see that though sounds neat

[BassCliff]

Hi,

If your bike is properly tuned and maintained, you can get away with a little smaller AGM battery hidden under the seat, turned on its side. You can pretty much move everything but the rear master cylinder and hide it under the seat or in a custom tail section.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[mike_of_bbg]

Thread search is your friend. Supposedly it is possible to retro-fit a kick starter onto an 80-82 8V 550 motor, if you find the right parts from a prior year motor. They left the casting on the inside of the case for the kick start mount. You'll need a clutch cover from a 77-79 of course, as well as the kick start assembly. Here's the thread:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=153065

You can PM neeko maybe to see if he got it working.

THAT having been said, I still don't think you can run without a battery at all. Sure, you won't have to have a battery for charging, but the battery also serves as a sort of ballast for the whole charging system.

[chuckycheese]

Come on!

It sounds to me like FAR more trouble and expense than it would be worth.

[salty_monk]

Been some write ups on people hiding gel batteries laid on their side under custom seats... do a search, you'll find it.

[hampshirehog]

You can do the kickstart conversion as mentioned above. You need the original parts from an earlier bike and it's a fair bit of work -splitting the cases and the like.

You can also run without a battery - Boyer Bransden do a self contained unit - http://www.boyerbransden.com/pdf/Power_Box_Leaflet.pdf. I've stuck loads on old Brit race replicas.

I had a mate who knows his electronic onions and he made me a 2 part unit for a GS550 out of some gizmos and a capacitor about 2 inches long by a 3/4 inch wide. The parts cost peanuts

[themess]

Much easier to buy a 1979 or earlier GS550E. You'll need parts from one to do the conversion, so why not start with one and clean it up?