Picked up an 85 GS550, runs great, then electrical farts out

[pnedac]

Good day GSR! I have picked up a (what will be eventually) nice little GS550 1985. It has a funny little problem though and I am hoping to get some help.

The bike will start and it purrs no problem, but after about 5 minutes it dies suddenly and you no longer have spark and it is dead. If I want a couple days without doing anything it will start up again and then it does the same thing. If you try to restart the bike right away it will not work.

This leads me to believe that it might be somewhat simple. Something in the ingnition system is heating up and overloading, causing temporary death and then it will not again start until it has adequately cooled down.

I have read that these 85s are notriously weak in the ignition department.

Any guidance?

All is appreciated greatly.

Thanks!

Pnedac.

[pnedac]

I should mention that is it is the GS550 ES in case it can help. Again, any help and assistance is very much appreciated.

Pnedac

[mike_of_bbg]

My 82 would do that (more than 5 minutes though), the igniter was dead. The only really definitive determination is to try a compatible igniter. Unfortunately my solution, a Dyna S ignition, is not a good one for 83+ 550s since they have the advance curve built in to the igniter instead of mechanical advance.

New igniter units are still available, but they cost over $500. You can try the used market, but there's that risk of getting a dud. You can also try to repair the one you have (search for "igniter repair" on the forum), as it's usually the output transistors that go bad.

If you seek out used units, that part # was used on the following models:

1983 SUZUKI GS550ED - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1983 SUZUKI GS550ES3D - BATTERY
1983 SUZUKI GS550ES3D - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1983 SUZUKI GS550ESD - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1983 SUZUKI GS550LD - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1984 SUZUKI GS5500ES - BATTERY
1984 SUZUKI GS5500ES - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1985 SUZUKI GS550EF -BATTERY
1985 SUZUKI GS550EF -SIGNAL GENERATOR
1985 SUZUKI GS550ESF - BATTERY
1985 SUZUKI GS550ESF - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1985 SUZUKI GS550LF - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1986 SUZUKI GS550EG - BATTERY
1986 SUZUKI GS550EG - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1986 SUZUKI GS550ESG - BATTERY
1986 SUZUKI GS550ESG - SIGNAL GENERATOR
1986 SUZUKI GS550LG - SIGNAL GENERATOR

(Looks like some of those are duplicates of the same model, with the igniter listed in both the battery and signal generator fiches)

Good luck!