Another project GS550ES, needing some help...

[LeeGS550E]

I've got a K&N Air Filter for that bike. Let me know if you want it.

Glad to hear things are working out for you. And I agree, the faired version is way cool.

[Jbeaber]

I have been collecting the final pieces needed to get the bike up and running. On Friday I bought turn signal, mirrors and grips. I put the heated grips on, then put the grips on over them. Mirrors mounted up perfectly. The turn signals are presenting a small issue i need to look into. I'm using a pair of minis and a set of larger turn signals from my wife's SV650. When I hook up the minis to one side, things seem to work perfectly. When I hook 1 mini and one SV turn signal, it will blink a couple times, then stop blinking. I may just get a second set of minis if the problem persists.
So, then it became time to get tires and work on the front fork. I put some inexpensive tires on the bike as this will be my commuting bike, not my twisty fun bike. I have a Daytona 675 for the fun rides. They took one look at my fork and said, yup, they could do it but it would leak quickly due to pits in the pipes. Damn! So, i made a visit to a SF bike scrap yard. They actually had 2 GS550ES's! I was shocked! One bike was in disasterous condition. Probably good for a few elctrical components, but nothing metal was intact. The second was in similar condition, except for the front fork. So, I asked them to remove it. Two mechanics who specialize in ripping bikes apart battled for 2 hours to get the forks off! They had to cut one of the bolts holding the calipers on. Fortunately the threading goes through the caliper, not the fork. Then they tried to pull the forks out. The clip ons had attached themselves firmly to the tubes. After a ton of work, they managed to separate them.
So, now a shop has both sets of forks. The interesting thing we noted was the difference in the anti-dive mechanisms on the two sets of forks. One set is from 83, the other 85. The bodies are the same, just a different attachment at the bottom of the fork. The seals are actually intact and the mechanic was commenting that he might not touch them. He's going to take a look at the whole system with an eye to conserving money. He might try to put the antidive from the 85 on the 83 fork. but the 83 fork is otherwise intact. The oil is definitely getting changed.
So, I might have fork pieces available if people need them. The one set of fork tubes is show, but the rest of the components are fine.
So, new brake pads need to be put in. I also need to reassemble the bike once I have the new forks. Then we shall see what happens! Very close!

[Jbeaber]

More progress made. The forks look wonderful. The mechanics chose to use the fork tubes I found in the junk yard in combination with the fork off the bike. The forks are definitely the prettiest part of the bike right now. I put the forks back on, put the brake calipers on with the new brake pads and the wheel on with the new tire. I also put the rear wheel back on, adjusted chain tension. All in all it looks great. Tonight I am going to wire in the heated hand grips, put the tank on and probably the front and rear cowls. I have to remember how the whole thing goes back together! I need to find one more set of turn signals, it seems. They were acting weirdly this weekend. If I have a turn signal on it from an SV650, the turn signals blink once or twice, then stop blinking. If I have some minis I bought as the turn signals, they work well. Dunno....
I'll probably take the bike out again as soon as I have things bolted down again. I'm curious to see how it runs now. The suspension and brakes have been redone completely and I have a different seat. Should be more comfy. I think this bike will be done soon! I still need to work on getitng a new title issued and getting it registered and insured....

[TheCafeKid]

PICS MAN!!! Glad to hear you are making progress...I on the other hand am stumped...my rear brake is giving me fits...I think i MAY have located the source, but i am now going to have to wait for parts. Cant wait to see some of your shots man, sounds like it's going well! I would suggest maybe picking up another set of those signals (the mini's) and see if the bike likes them better. It may not like the odd pairing of the two sets.

[Jbeaber]

What's going on with your brakes? got a thread?

[TheCafeKid]

Yeah actually...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=117875

I am thinking now that my seals could be crap, so im going to order another set. I was thinking the hoses could be bad too, but my fluid is running clear, and i would suspect were they bad that i would be seeing gunk in there. It seems to be really, the inside caliper, on the rear, wont come back after you hit the brakes a few times....it sits on the rotor and it stays stuck. I've replaced the caliper the bike came with, as it looked pretty rough and the bike was having this trouble to begin with when i bought it, tho the PO said the MC needed rebuilt, which i did, but it didnt solve the problem. So now i turn to a new seal set, and i'll probably replace the brake lines with SS anyway. But other than that im kinda stuck. I dunno what else the problem could be...the rotor doesnt at all look warped, and at no point did i ever feel the pulsing in the brake pedal so commonly associated with a warped rotor. Any ideas??

[Jbeaber]

Well, I fell bad putting up naked photos of the girl, but here she is I had fairings and a gas tank on it last night but didn't take photos. It was then when I ran into my latest problem....

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=738069&posted=1#post738069

The bike:




The rest of the parts:



And the front view:

[Jbeaber]

And here is a photo of me and the wife on our primary bikes:

[Jbeaber]

Well, progress has been made today. I have discovered the clutch issue. It ended up being two problems. First, the clutch plates seemed like they were bound. This problem went away when I got the bike started. The electrical problem was a bit simpler. After taking both the left and right control units apart to make sure everything was working, analyzing with voltmeter, etc... I started to follow the wires and, low and behold, one of the damn wires was unplugged! So, that fixed all the problems... We all need a reminder that we can be morons every once and a while.... Once I ran it a bit, the clutch plates released. Happier bike!
So, I put the front cowl back on, the gas tank back on. Then I took it for a bit of a ride. It is still a little off, still halting a little. I also had to adjust the idle screw a bit. I am going to run a bottle of carb cleaner through it once it is street legal.
I am going to hose the bike down tomorrow. It has a lot of dust and dirt on it from sitting for, I don't know, YEARS. I need to replace a few bolts that I have misplaced, or weren't there to begin with. I also discovered that the brackets for the turn signals are not compatible with the modern turn signals. Somewhere in the past twenty years they made the bolt attachments to the bike thicker! So, I will build an adapter to allow me to mount the modern signals to the bike. After the wash I will also attach the full fairings. I also still have to inflate the front suspension.
Then comes the final part of getting it back on the road. There is no title or registration for the bike and it does not exist in the DMV records. The PO, who was not the registered owner and doesn't have a title, wrote up a statement of facts and bill of sale for me. I need to get the engine number and VIN confirmed by the police. I may be able to get this bike on the road this week!

[Jbeaber]

And the current photos, before the full faring is put on...

[p_s]

I also discovered that the brackets for the turn signals are not compatible with the modern turn signals. Somewhere in the past twenty years they made the bolt attachments to the bike thicker!

You can still buy original turn signals from your local dealer or online. They are not expensive but not cheap. Nice looking bike.

[Jbeaber]

I'll just get small adapters for the ones I have. I am not wild about the appearance of the originals. I already have one set and will grab a second set for less than $10...

[Jbeaber]

Almost done! I put the bike back together over the past few days. I am replacing a few screws that are just old and nasty, but the bike is largely assembled. I put a new air filter in (thanks LeeGS550E). It still doesn't have turn signals but I will be making the holes in the turn signal brackets larger over the holidays. This morning I went to DMV to try to register the bike. I had a bill of sale, statement of facts and a registration from 2000. They checked out both the engine number and VIN. Then they granted me a temporary registration (which slightly surprised me since i haven't insured it). I need to take the bike to the state police for number verification and to ensure it wasn't stolen. So, over the holidays I will get the bike insured and signaled. Then Jan 2 i meet with the police, then go to DMV to get a new license plate and the final registration! The bike rode very well today. I gave it a few minutes to warm up and it just ran smoothly the whole time. It is so quiet when idling. It freaks me out a bit, I don't notice it is still running. It's going to be a lot of fun to get the bike out and run it. It was still smoking a little. i think it will take some time to fully burn off all the crap that accumulated in the tail pipes from it sitting outside for years.

[MelodicMetalGod]

Sounds like congrats will be in order soon. Keep it up and soon you'll be enjoying a vintage ride!

[Nerobro]

That's not a GS550ES, it's a GS550EF. :-) Very nice. *in here to keep an eye on progress*