Gs550

[Guest]

So I have a 1980 550e and I was wondering what is a common performace upgrade for the ignition coils? Anything I might be able to pull from a later model at a junkyard. Thank you in advance

[JTGS850GL]

The only real upgrade to the coils would be Dynatek ignition coils. If you stick with the stock igniter then make sure you get the 3ohm versions.

The main performance enhancement would be to make sure your entire ignition and charging system is functioning correctly. Clean all the connectors and verify your charging system is working correctly. Verify that you have the correct voltage at the coils. Replace any warn out sparkplug boots and wires.

If you want to go one step above that you can look into getting a Dyna-S ignitor system to replace the stock igniter, but truthfully it's not going to help a whole lot on a 550E. That's about all you can do electrically. I don't know of any performance enhancement you'll get by swapping ignition parts from any other model/year GS.

Have you done the standard maintenance? Valves adjusted, carbs cleaned? If not, you may find that that will help more then the coils.

How about some more detail on what condition the bike is in and where you want to take it. That may help to determine what can be done.

[Invictus22]

Thank you for all the advice.So far I had to rewire the bike and fab up an exhaust as the stock one was rusted out from sitting outside. It's a '80 with 27k or so original miles. From what I have dug up it is a two owner but in a strange way. Original owner who it looks like babied it, sold it to his sons friends who was going to restore it after it sat for 10 or so years.He was going to crush it so I bought it for $300 and have since got it running again, standard stuff, carbs cleaned and rebuilt, new chain, clutch, brake master, rear master, front and read calipers rebuilt. So as of right now it's mostly stock with just that exhaust which is pretty much just open headers with a little built in baffle. I would like to turn it into a nice little fun daily commuter/ city bike. My biggest wants for upgrade advice is going to come in the form or brake and head/valvetrain.I would love to swap out the rotors for some nice drilled and slotted ones as well as caliper upgrades. As for power I was wondering if there is a common/not insanely difficult, valvetrain upgrade? Being able to switch to a four valve per would make a drastic difference I would believe. Is it worth the time/money? If not what would you recomend? Maybe cams? Thank you for all the help and advice

[78550GS]

Put a 650 head on it. I hear they are not that difficult or expensive if you can find the parts. I don't remember what cc's it will be afterwards.

[tom203]

Just get a later model with 4 valves per cylinder and save yourself lots of grief.

[Invictus22]

Thank you gentlemen that is what I was thinking, there is a '85 750 I was thinking to just swap the head onto mine. My only concern with getting a later model head with four per, is it mating up to the cylinder heads.