rebuild and restore

[Kato76]

Well it's decided, I am going to completely restore my 1980 GS550L, I got it last year, for 100 bucks thought it would be a great time to tinker with and get running. As I was in my basement with her yesterday, I came to a conclusion. To either junk the whole project or to completely take it apart build her from scratch.

So I am asking for advice, problems, and nightmares that anyone has come about in doing a project like this.


As far as I know the motor is good, but I do think there is a clicking in it when it would run on idle...

[ddaum]

Well, I haven't done anything to my motor internally, but I did do a lot of restoration. Everything went okay, with no major problems. Almost all parts are available through the web and eBay. DON'T buy any chrome levers from a guy selling them on eBay. They suck and the chrome coating is too thick to get into the lever mount. I found this out the hard way. I took ALL my parts off and inspected each one for rust. If I found it, I sanded it off, coated it with rust converter and finally re-painted the part. As long as you have a manual, time, and money, you can get the project done.

I would advise not to do the project if you don't plan on either keeping the bike forever or taking a loss on your investment when you sell it. My bike cost me a lot of money that I know I probably won't get back on a sale because it's a small bike and the L models aren't very desirable in the UJM community. I love my little 550 though, and I plan to keep her. Ask questions if you have them, otherwise good luck.
-Dean

[rustybronco]

open up your wallet it will cost more than you think and it will take a lot more more time than you think, but it's good for the soul...

[koolaid_kid]

A restore is a lot of work, but a fun project. And you can take pride in your accomplishment.
And you can do all but the engine first, and see what you think. The engine is by far the most work and the most $$.

[Kato76]

Great guys thanks.. I do think I'll be keeping this for a while, I will probably ride her for a bit then pass her off to my wife because she has shown interest in riding as well... I think it will be a great started bike for her

[nabrams]

Based on my experience restoring four non-running bikes to good daily commuters (besides working on two of my friend's bikes), this is my advice:
If you're looking to have a show bike in beautiful cosmetic condition then be prepared to spend tons of time and money.
If, however, you're just aiming for a decent commuter (you don't care about cosmetics at all), it's likely you'll need to spend between $500 and $700 on that bike - not a big deal when you compare to the cost of new bikes. Add another couple of hunderd bucks if you've got no tools. The time investment will, however, be significant - between 30 and 60 hours.
If you're like me (wife, children, busy work schedule, etc.) then it's gonna be hard finding those 60 hours. For me, it's therapuetic and a lot more fun than zoning out in front of the TV.
I've written several detailed posts about the typical issues you'll encounter (and there are many) when restoring an '80s era non-running bike - do a search on this forum. If the bike has less than 30K miles on it, then it's highly likely you won't need to go deeper into the motor than a valve adjustment (just the valve cover comes off).
Another nice thing is that once you've done one bike then the second goes much faster. So if you enjoy tinkering like I do, you end up hunting eBay for non-running bikes you're familiar with - just for the fun of getting them back into running condition. I keep 'em for a year or two then sell 'em when I'm ready for my next project. I even broke even money-wise in a couple of cases.

Good Luck, and keep us posted!

[koolaid_kid]

Check the most important items:
Tires (wear and cracks)
Chain (wear, noise)
sprockets
Brake pads
plugs
I think your bike has electronic ignition, which is a good thing.

[Kato76]

Check the most important items:
Tires (wear and cracks)
Chain (wear, noise)
sprockets
Brake pads
plugs
I think your bike has electronic ignition, which is a good thing.

The tires look good, the chain is also good just need a little lube, I rebuilt the front and rear caliper so far and I have the cast alloy rims.

The thing was I was going for commuter, and then it turned into a bigger project, just to get it running... it wouldn't start for some odd reason .. I don't know if the ground got hit when I pulled the carbs or what but everything just stopped when I put the battery back in no lights no horn no start.

so that's when I started to think about the restore.

[koolaid_kid]

Sounds like either a bad battery (it happens) or a bad connection. I would first try jumping it to see if it is the battery. Then check check for voltage at an appropriate place. Could just be a bad connection or you unplugged a wire somewhere.
When you say it would not start before, it would turn over but not hit on any cylinders?

[Kato76]

I check the battery and when charged it reads 12-15 V plenty to start the bike, I am now cheking the ground wires and everything from the coil packs back. Ok I should say it wouldn't start. At first (when I first got it) it turned over, but wouldn't run if the choke was off.. The first Carb rack I had was crap, the float needles were rusted in place (it sat with gas in it for about a year). So I purchased a new rack of carbs, cleaned an rebuilt them, just to make sure. Had it running, but carb number 1 (the farthest on the left when sitting on the bike) was flooding, so pulled them found that the clip holding the float was bent and holding it open. So I fixed the clip put the carbs back in and then I wasn't get any gas in the main carb (#1). So I pulled them back out made sure they were all clean and nothing was stuck open or closed. After putting them back in, (I've gotten really good pulling and replaceing the carbs on this bike) I primed the carbs, got a headache hit the start button then nothing... SO that's where I started thinking about this rebuild/restore..

I originally was just going to rebuild the wiring harness, and start from there then see what happens...