Final items to work on

[Anonymous]

Hi all, have kind of a laundry list so please bear with me. My apologies in advance if this turns into 'War & Peace'...

The vitals: 1980 GS550L, odo says 21k+ (dunno that I beleive it), it's perking away, with no recent work done on it besides what has been mentioned below.

Now there are only one or two items left that I would like to get taken care of:

• Clutch lever- This nasty little bugger is driving me up the wall! It catches both in and out if moved slowly, which makes my starts in 1st a jumpy, stalling nightmare! Friend of mine helped me take it apart and put in Anti-Seize and it worked for a little bit; now it's worn off (or whatever), and starting to catch again. The lever and the bracket appear to be both plastic, too. There is (what seems to me) excessive up/down play in the lever; should I clean it and try the antiseize again, or just replace it?

• Horn- Doesn't work. Plan on getting some electric air horns, and want to make sure I don't overwhelm the electrical system. Some people say 'use a relay', some say don't. Maybe there is a guide line I should follow? I haven't settled on which horn I'm getting, and won't until I get this one answered... I'm not afraid of a multimeter, I just don't know what I'm doing. Help me out here...

• Petcock- The handle/knob is missing. It doesn't look broken, it just looks pulled off. Am I doomed to replacing the whole thing, or can I get away with getting only a handle/knob from a salvage yard?

• Tach light- This is going to be a nightmare, having read other peoples ordeals. Now that I *finally* got my speedo cable in and now I know how much over the speed limit I am...(accidental, of course... ) Since the speedo works, this one is not a priority (anymore).

So there you have it, my round tuit list. If I can get these items resolved, Suzi will be as put together as I can get her; I'm down to cleaning and polishing then. I have an issue with the handle bars, but far from a priority. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Ride safe, y'all-

[HiSPL]

Uuhh, I don't think any GS came with a plastic clutch lever assy. I would go to a junk yard and find one with minimal up/down play and replace it.


I went to the auto parts store and bought the loudest car horn they had. It fit in the stock location and plugged right up to my wires with no problem. I personally don't think a relay is neccessary because you only beep the horn for a second or two, even if it does draw too much current, the wires won't heat up fast enough to do any damage. BTW, mines plenty loud...people don't believe that its coming from a bike and start looking for a big buick.


Take apart your petcock and find out if its replaceable. Honestly its been so long that I rebuilt mine that I don't remember. Seems like it does come out though.


Good luck

[Anonymous]

Edited...

Uuhh, I don't think any GS came with a plastic clutch lever assy. I would go to a junk yard and find one with minimal up/down play and replace it.

I went to the auto parts store and bought the loudest car horn they had... I personally don't think a relay is necessary... BTW, mines plenty loud...people don't believe that its coming from a bike and start looking for a big buick.

Take apart your petcock and find out if its replaceable. Honestly its been so long that I rebuilt mine that I don't remember. Seems like it does come out though.

First and formost: Thanks for the help!

The guy I bought it from said the owner was hell on the bike. I suspect anything and everything on this bike I haven't done the work on. The clutch handle is metal I'm pretty sure, but the control cuff, I'm not so sure. When I took it apart to put the anti-sieze in, it was black with debris; almost sooty. Thinking my best bet is going to be the scrap yard. Ditto the petcock handle.

If I can have some one weigh in on technical information as far as electrical draw and how much is too much (like HiSPL said, I'm not going to be leaning on it all the time...) I can put this to rest and move on.

Thanks again everyone for your help!

[Anonymous]

Regarding the clutch lever, check out Dennis Kirk. Replacement lever is $3.99. (url below) But first, make sure that the lever is the problem. If your 550L is like my 79 750L, the lever is aluminum. A bolt goes through the mounting bracket, and the lever rotates around this bolt. Since the lever moves, and it is softer than the bolt, I would guess that the hole in the lever is worn out. Try taking the lever off and slipping the bolt in. It outght to rotate freely, but shouldn't wiggle around. If it wiggles excessively, the lever needs to be replaced. Also, look at the condition of the bolt. If it is badly scored or damaged, you ought to replace that as well.

http://www.denniskirk.com/powervendor/lists/partlist.asp?Type=11&SubType=levers&Name=&makemodelyear=Suzuki;GS550L;1980