First Bike 84 gs 550 es help?

[cowboyup3371]

It could very well be and the valves are an important job. Once you do adjust them, you'll need to resynch the carbs anyway.

Look up TheCafeKid, Steve, Kparkfan, or any of those folks in Dayton or probably even closer and see if they are willing to help you out. Most guys will do it for free or even pizza and beer so send a PM to them.

One note, Steve is in NY right now but I don't know what his plans are as far as getting back home that way.

[84gs550es]

ok ill PM them and see what they have to say

[spyug]

Sorry to hear of the problems but if its any consolation ( I know its not) we have all been there. With old bikes its one step forward and two back. Eventually you'll have it running sweet as a nut so don't despair.

If its not running on one cylinder it could be spark or gas related as 80psi is still lots of compression. You should still do the valve adjustment to see if that improves things before you go talking about rebuilds or new engines.


Do you know that you have spark to that cylinder? Pull the plug out and ground it to the block and look for spark. If you have spark it then comes down to fuel and the carb on that cylinder may not be working properly and I suspect that is the case. You may think you have done a great job cleaning the carbs but how about the tank and petcock. Its very likely crappola is flowing back into the carbs and something has bunged up the one on that cylinder. It has happened to me.....more than once.


I'd pull the carbs and reclean them. With the petcock still in the tank, stick the hose in a clean glass jar and let the fuel flow to half fill it. Check for "floaters". If the gas has anything in it, you will have to clean and possibly reseal the tank as gunk will continue to jam your carbs.

Turn the bike over a few times and then pull the plug from that cylinder. If its wet and smells of gas then its not a carb problem so then you're looking at spark.

If you find you have very weak or no spark on that cylinder, I would first replace the plug cap ( about $6) and check again. I found this to be the case with my project. The cap had too much resistance and nothing was getting through.

Check these and let us know what you find.

Good luck,
spyug

[Steve]

One note, Steve is in NY right now but I don't know what his plans are as far as getting back home that way.

Unfortunately, I am not the one making the plans.

Heard in a meeting today that we can plan on being here probably until the end of September.

That's a nice long time to enjoy the roads around here.

.

[84gs550es]

Sorry to hear of the problems but if its any consolation ( I know its not) we have all been there. With old bikes its one step forward and two back. Eventually you'll have it running sweet as a nut so don't despair.

If its not running on one cylinder it could be spark or gas related as 80psi is still lots of compression. You should still do the valve adjustment to see if that improves things before you go talking about rebuilds or new engines.


Do you know that you have spark to that cylinder? Pull the plug out and ground it to the block and look for spark. If you have spark it then comes down to fuel and the carb on that cylinder may not be working properly and I suspect that is the case. You may think you have done a great job cleaning the carbs but how about the tank and petcock. Its very likely crappola is flowing back into the carbs and something has bunged up the one on that cylinder. It has happened to me.....more than once.


I'd pull the carbs and reclean them. With the petcock still in the tank, stick the hose in a clean glass jar and let the fuel flow to half fill it. Check for "floaters". If the gas has anything in it, you will have to clean and possibly reseal the tank as gunk will continue to jam your carbs.

Turn the bike over a few times and then pull the plug from that cylinder. If its wet and smells of gas then its not a carb problem so then you're looking at spark.

If you find you have very weak or no spark on that cylinder, I would first replace the plug cap ( about $6) and check again. I found this to be the case with my project. The cap had too much resistance and nothing was getting through.

Check these and let us know what you find.

Good luck,
spyug

i have done a spark check and it looks like there is spark im not sure how much spark it needs so im not sure if its weak. but i haven't checked it in awhile but the caps look pretty bad and the plugs are new... how can i get the caps off and where can i buy some?

[84gs550es]

[davidduarte]

download this manual from Basscliff's site (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/):

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS550E-ES-L_1983.PDF

I'm not sure how different the 83 is from the 84 but probably not all that much. Your oil filter cover, does it have 3 machine screws, or 3 studs with nuts? If it has bolts, you want to get rid of them and put in studs (a good hardware store will have them) with red Loctite, then use nyloc nuts. The screws have a bad habit of coming loose (don't ask how I know).

[spyug]

The spark should be quite noticeable even in daylight and should look healthy enough to jump 4or 6 mm. If its rather anemic you'll likely need to look at it in shade for it to register. Plug caps are available in any decent bike store that handles Japanese or European bikes. Take one of yours in to compare. The NGK type are around $6 to 8 apiece. I believe they are 3 ohm resistance.

At the end that joins the wire there is a "cork screw" inside that screws into the core of the wire. When you get the new caps you may need to lop off a 1/2" or so of the wire to get a good contact with the core. Its an easy fix.

Good luck with it and I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Spyug

[JEEPRUSTY]

i have done a spark check and it looks like there is spark im not sure how much spark it needs so im not sure if its weak. but i haven't checked it in awhile but the caps look pretty bad and the plugs are new... how can i get the caps off and where can i buy some?

Plug caps screw into the wires.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/album.php?albumid=1461&pictureid=8449

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/album.php?albumid=1461&pictureid=8448

Shows some innerds.

http://www.ngk.com/results_appOther.asp?otherMotiveID=226581&mfid=1

Is the NGK link and shows what you should order as replacements.

[84gs550es]

so finally back to the bike sorry for the delay.... i took a calculus 3 final today ( brutal, took me 3 1/2 hours) i have a week break from class so i have some time to work on it.... im about to order the gasket for when i do the valve adjustment i have a link to see if this looks like the right one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NOS-1983-86-SUZUKI-GS550-CYLINDER-HEAD-COVER-GASKET-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35a1ee627dQQitemZ230350021245QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

should of ordered it earlier. so i screwed up the first time doing the carbs (did not clean them right) so round 2.... also one of the piolet jets are stripped (can i clean that real good without taking it out? or do i need to order another one and put it in there?)

also i checked the spark plugs today and the ones on cylinder 1 and 4 had oil clear up the threads that go into the spark plug holes and they are brand new... What could cause that? 2 and 3 were clean

[84gs550es]

I think I have a big project on my hands... I have realized that this is a piston ring problem and thats what I will need to fix to get it running so hopefully this summer when I have a break from school I can get this thing running. My dad is gonna help me find someone to help me work on it.

[spyug]

I think I have a big project on my hands... I have realized that this is a piston ring problem

Sorry I must have missed something. How did you come to this conclusion? "Oily" plugs can occur for differing reasons including leaky valve stem bushings. Without pulling the head for a look see you won't really be able to tell.

Putting that to one side for the moment, did you sort out the spark issue? Did you get it to run, even a little? How about the valve adjustment, did you do that?

Let us know in a bit more detail where you came to your diagnosis. I'm not saying you are wrong, it just seems a bit of a quick jump to conclusion ( and IMHO we are often wrong when we make those leaps....I least I am).

Keep the faith, it will get sorted.

Cheers,
Spyug