81 550 carb rebuild

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I have drilled out the plugs above pilot (air?) screws on all four carbs.Before removing each screw i turned them in until they just had a little resistance.Carb 1 & 2 were each about 1 3/4 turns, #3 was about 1/2 and #4 was 1/4 turn.This doesnt sound right to me.Is it possible that the factory with their "special scientific epa approved equipment " set them this way?I payed very close attention when removing them to see if there could have been crap down under them preventing me from getting any more turns but they looked good.The factory manual says "do not tamper" and therefore gives no specs on turns out.How many turns out should i begin with? Backing the screw out makes it richer?Does this adjustment only come into play at idle/slight throttle or does it effect it at all rpm's?

If you're POSITIVE the mixture screw caps weren't somehow pulled up and replaced, then it appears the factory did set them quite a bit differently from each other. Won't matter after you re-jet. They should be set using the highest rpm method. After you install the kit and bench synch the carbs, I'd probably set them at about 2 turns out before initial start up. Then, on a warmed up motor, fine tune them using the highest rpm method. If you have the correct size pilot jets in there, the rpm method will work fine. Then, vacuum synch the carbs before testing for performance or taking any plug reads. You can then fine tune the screws after the vacuum synch if needed.
Turning the mixture screws out, richens the mixture.
These screws assist the pilot jet and effect performance from closed throttle to about 1/5 to 1/4 throttle. The jet needle also kicks in sooner than some think and it begins overlapping with the pilot jet (my opinion) as early as 1/8 throttle. The more you open the throttle the more the jet needle takes over. From about 1/5 to 1/4 throttle, the jet needles take over until approx' 3/4 throttle, then the main jet takes over until full throttle.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Also, the jet kits are sometimes lean with their "base setting" suggestions. More often than not actually.
I suggest making a new thread to ask other 550 owners with the stage 3 kit and similar mods what their settings were that worked. This doesn't mean you'll get it right the first time. You'll have to test and read your plugs, but you may have a better idea where to start. Jetting can take time and patience. Hope yours is easy to re-jet.
Make sure all basic tuning is done before the re-jet. That means clean carbs, good carb inner o-rings/diaphragms, good fuel flow, no intake leaks, valve clearances set, ignition/timing/spark all good, correct plugs, clean/oiled filters.....

[ratchetneck1]

Keith, thanks for the good info.I have been doing a little each nite after work and am still waiting for parts.Although i have ordered the stage 3 kits and "aquired " the brand new pods i dont know if i will go that route or reistall the stock air intake.Both of the inner boots (air box to carbs) kept pinching off of the carb throat when i tighted the clamps.This air box is a real pain to work with as far as there being no room to remove/ install anything in this area so i thought the pods would simplify things.I also have orderd the two boots and 4 clamps so maybe i will go the stock route.I will have to decide soon i guess.I was happy with the bike with just the 4 into 1 pipe and stock intake but it would be nice not to have to wrestle with putting it back on.

[Tervo]

A little wink of those airbox to carburattor boots, I don't know if this applies to all older GS bikes but it worked well with my GSX1100F. I fighted with those boots until I realized that, when you remove the filter element inside the box, you are able to stick your hand in and aid the boots to the carburettors. It is allways a good idea to check, that if you remove a little more parts than required, it may be easier to complete your job.

[Nerobro]

putting the carbs back on a GS550 is the seccond worst task in motorcycling. Number one being getting to the carbs on a VFR :-) Pods make life so much nicer.

[Tervo]

putting the carbs back on a GS550 is the seccond worst task in motorcycling. Number one being getting to the carbs on a VFR :-) Pods make life so much nicer.

Yeah, I know your pain about VFR, I once owned a VF750F and that was also tough!

[ratchetneck1]

Tervo i did put my hand inside the airbox to aid in boot removal, it wasnt a pleasant feeling!

[first timer]

i dug this up from what i posted a couple years back


as promised all the info i have on getting as much power from the gs550 as you can...

http://www.macperformance.com/ give them a call directly and they can swap stock baffles for competition baffles (1.5?) at no extra cost. You can check out the pics at http://www.macprod.orc.ca/


A Jet kit from http://www.dynojet.com/jetkits/index.aspx for a SUZ 82 GS550 KATANA part number 3314 will fit your bike if you have the bs32cv carbs on your bike
You could also call k and n and see if they have any extra jet kits for the above mentioned bike available for sale since they are currently having a clearance sale on jet kits. This is the current kit I have on my bike and it works fine.

You will also need to order k and n filters part number rc-2382 I found http://www.martelbros.com/cgi-bin/st...ore=direct.KNN has the best price and shipping is free, you just need to order one set or 1 box I mean since 2 filters come per box and each filter goes on 2 carbs.

o-rings for carbs http://home.att.net/~robert.barr/#Outside%20of%20the

accel super coil kit part number 140403 NON-CDI http://www.accwhse.com/accell.htm#Coils good price - includes spark plug wires too.

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i think most of the links are still good, from my experience with my 550 w/ coils, dyno jet stg 3 , mac 4 into 1 with 1.5" comp baffel every think will work together to help each other.

when doing the jet kit use the 150 mains, and keep the needles at the 3rd step maybe or one up or down i can't rember, and i think set the fuel mix screws at what ever the kit tells you. (2.5??) are you running the real k and n filters or the cheap knock offs? because i tried the cheapo stuff at first and they would not flow enough air. so i had to order the pods meant for the bike.

keep in mind for what ever reason the 550 with a jet kit is real sensative to air flow, and i will notice a bad transistion from needle to main around 7k WOT if my air filters have not been cleaned in 3000 miles.

Also just for the record when you do, do this converstion your bike will hate the rain and if you get caught in rain you will have to get out of it before it really pours or pull over and cover your filters with plastic and wait for any medium to heavy rain rains it's self out. water will run right off the tank, your legs and crotch and dumps onto the filters which then chokes them for air which then kills the bike and will barely run at all till they dry out.

other then that the 550 is great fun bike and will keep up with most stuff if riden right, the power doesn't really come on till about 7500 k, i have put about 12,000 miles on my bike so far with these mods and have had no other problem besides what i mentioned.

-ryan

p.s click the 550 link to see what it looked like a couple years back, i need to update my pics now that i added a bar ends and a fork brace.

[ratchetneck1]

Whoa thats some good info.Also great looking bike.Will the K&L rebuild kits from Dennis Kirk have all the orings i need or do i have to get more (fuel feed tubes and breather tee) from cycleorings.I want to replace them all while i have carbs out.I already have the ones (4) that go on the intake ports @ the head.

[ratchetneck1]

I forgot to ask.What is the accel coil # that our bikes use?

[first timer]

accel super coil kit part number 140403 NON-CDI the rebuild kits should come with al the o-rings you need but for another 14 buck or so it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some extras especially since you are pretty deep in the hole already.

-ryan

[Nerobro]

I"m not convinced that new coils do anything for a bike unless the old coils have failed.

[first timer]

you will just have to get a pair and see. or you can keep runnin 20 year old electronics. it's one of those things, where it can't hurt and the new stuff has higher toleraces which mean cleaner and better sparks, if you want i can give you the old tired coils off my 1k, they should be fine right.....

-ryan

[Nerobro]

Well, I've been looking for a set to try it out. There are certian things you can't change about coils. The resistance across the coil, which determines spark energy can't be changed. If you do, you fry your ignitor. Or you fry your coils.

If you change the number of seccondary turns, you get a higher or lower voltage... But higher or lower amperage in turn.

Like I said, I"m willing to try new coils.... but I don't expect a change. If there is spark, there's spark.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

The Dyna and Accels coils put out approx' 35,000 volts. The stock coils put out approx' 10,000 volts. The hotter spark improves combustion. Better combustion equals max power.