How do I quite down an'80 GS550e?

[Anonymous]

do I need to hit the bolts with something other than your run of the mill hammer? Soaked them again tonight and will start the "rap" process tomorrow. That will give 5 nights of soaking and four nights of rapping.
By the way, Drove to CT this weekend and realized a few things:
1. Everyone in Ct rides a Harley.
2. Ok, a few don't. But those who don't ride Honda Goldwings.
3. Noone on a Harley rides with a Helmet. No kidding, maybe 5-10% had helmets on. And most of the bikes I saw were on the highway doing 70+.
Strange. Not the same in NJ and eastern PA. Wonder what's going on in CT (or not going on).

[jimcor]

Yeah, don't beat on those bolts directly. If you do you could deform them and add another problem to your situation. Use a wood block, a plastic rod, a brass rod.

Usually, once you start the soaking process and rapping process you don't ride the machine. Spray 'em and give 'em a wack for a couple of days before you intend to take the thing apart.

PM wrench and mcyclenut, I forget which of the two explained the process a while back. They can helpyou too.

[Anonymous]

I rode the bike about 1/2 hour after spraying the bolts. Smoked like heck. Man, that stuff stinks when it burns off. Probably shouldn't ride it but I can't get myself to drive the cage when the bike is available. A couple days off from riding and I start getting "bumbed".

Need to get the bolts. the ones on the bike are definitely not stock and will be too long. Some of the ones on the bike are so long that they are tightening the flange to the head with a couple of nuts locked together. The flanges are about 1/2 to 1" away from the heads now. Looks like the stock exhaust will be right up against the head or off slightly.
My clymer manual says nothing about the gaskets. I'm hoping the old ones just pop out and the new ones slide right in without a seeding issue.

[Anonymous]

I rode the bike about 1/2 hour after spraying the bolts. Smoked like heck. Man, that stuff stinks when it burns off. Probably shouldn't ride it but I can't get myself to drive the cage when the bike is available. A couple days off from riding and I start getting "bumbed".

Need to get the bolts. the ones on the bike are definitely not stock and will be too long. Some of the ones on the bike are so long that they are tightening the flange to the head with a couple of nuts locked together. The flanges are about 1/2 to 1" away from the heads now. Looks like the stock exhaust will be right up against the head or off slightly.
My clymer manual says nothing about the gaskets. I'm hoping the old ones just pop out and the new ones slide right in without a seeding issue.

[Anonymous]

Replacing the exhaust

Ok. That was way too easy!

I had the bike off the road because it caught the "stator plague" on Thursday night. So I started the exhaust project. Old bolts came off like butter. I had the new exhaust on and tightened down in an hour.
A few minor issues:
I couldn't find a torque wrench for under 100 clams so I tightened them down by feel. I will tighten them down to spec next time I am at work and can borrow a torque wrench from the maintenance shop.
I couldn't get the old gaskets out so I left them in. Didn't want to take a chance damaging the head trying to get them out. Hope this is ok.
when the pipes are bolted down to spec is the flange right up against the head or slightly off it (maybe a millimeter or two)? When I torque them down they should seed correctly regardless I think. I just have to remember to loosen up the back where the muffler clamps to the frame.
These pipes look so much better than the aftermarket ones that were on there. I just hope I don't have to have the carbs rejetted for this exhaust.
Thanks for all of the advise!

[Anonymous]

Thanks again!

I'll post again when the bike is back on the road and I know if the carbs need adjustment or not.

[jimcor]

The flange will not touch the head. Sounds like you did OK! German torque: Guduntite.

[gsBert]

noone here seemed to notice that his description of his exhaust sounds just like it would look if he had a stick exhaust on there.
seems like the guy who sold it to you lied about an aftermarket exhaust to cover for the fact that it was too noisy...

check the back of the mufflers, there's a few holes there, only the cener hole should be open. if not, someone drilled the other ones for more noise. also check for any exhaust leaks under the bike wehre the pipes meet, they often leak there...

nothing that can't be fixed with a mig welder or by a new set of stock pipes...

[Anonymous]

Now that it is off the quality of the exhaust that was on there was pretty inferior to the stock ones. For one, it is about half the weight. It was baffled but it was all welded together except for the center where they joined up. The exhaust also obscurred the little peg thingy that you catch when you drop the sidestand. Now it is easy to drop the stand. I think one of the previous owners needed and exhaust and didn't want to pay dealer prices. Glad to have the original. Sounds great!

[flyingace]

Ian,
I've found that folks in tech forums don't want to get pros involved. I once tried to get a complete novice user to take her laptop computer to a pro. I got hammered without mercy - how dare I suggest such a thing!!??

Needless to say, I agree with Ian. Sometimes a little professional advice can actually SAVE money in the long run.

Ace.

[Anonymous]

Why go to a professional when we have this site? How much would it have cost me to get the exhaust changed over at a shop? shops I called wouldn't touch the bike if it needed carbs rejetted until the end of the season. I was told that shops wouldn't get into the "older bikes" until their backlog dropped in september/october. Also, bike would have to be dropped off at a shop (so I'd need to inconvenience someone else for a ride) and wait a few days for the shop to get around to it (again - in october?).
Honestly, it took me about and hour and a half to do this job. Bike is 100 times better now that it has the stock stuff. It build up my confidence so that I was able to diagnose my charging problem a week later (with the help from members of this site) and i just bought a regulator/rectifier on ebay for $10 when the suzuki dealer quoted me $151 plus tax today.
Isn't the whole idea of these old bikes to keep the cost down and stay on the road with these old, but awsome bikes?
The best classroom is the garage. I think you need to give some repairs a shot on your own as a learning experience. If I hand onto this GS for a while I too will be offering advise and cheering on the newbies!

[gsBert]

right on. my philosophy on shops is as follows:
if it's broken, i can't break it more by trying to fix it, if i succeed, im happy, if not i can always go to a shop.
if you bring your bike in the shop in june you get it back in august, in montreal that's almost the whole season...

[flyingace]

Don't get me wrong, I think this forum is great - I use it all the time. I don't intend to ever take my bike to a shop for repairs. For me, part of the fun of ownership is diagnosing and repairing problems.

All I'm saying is get help at whatever level is required. Trying to do repairs without the necessary knowledge is a recipe for disaster. If the forum doesn't help, go to whoever can help you before you do something stupid - even if it's a pro.

[emjay]

torque wrench

FYI: In Maine we have NAPA auto parts. They let you pay a $240 deposit for an excellent dial type wrench then you get ALL the money back when you return it. It's next to impossible to break it so there's not much risk involved.

[bwringer]

Back to the original post... earplugs are illegal in PA?

Why?

There's no way I'd ride more than a mile or two without earplugs. And that's in a quiet full-face helmet and a quiet stock exhaust. I can actually hear the engine and environment better with ear plugs in to dull the roar of wind noise.

Besides, don't they allow deaf people to drive in PA?