motor swap???

[Son of Celts]

Greetings,

If this has already been covered, I apologize... But here's our situation:
We have a '79 GS550L with a trashed motor... we were wondering if a 750 or 1000 motor of the same year would mount up in the frame?
Will the motor mounts match?
Will everything clear?

It seems that 750 motors are more readily available in our area.
If you can provide info on this it will be much appreciated.

[Billyboy]

Geez, man. I don't know...:shock:

Seems to me that anything is possible. How many modifications would that require? Would the frame be strong enough?

The 750 and 1000 use basicly the same lump. It's heavy too. 'bout 150 lbs.

[earlfor]

I would have to say no to the motor mounts being the same between a 550 and a 750. They may be the same between a 550 and a 650 for 77 through 79. The 750 and 1000 lower cases are larger and the engines are taller.

Earl

Greetings,

If this has already been covered, I apologize... But here's our situation:
We have a '79 GS550L with a trashed motor... we were wondering if a 750 or 1000 motor of the same year would mount up in the frame?
Will the motor mounts match?
Will everything clear?

It seems that 750 motors are more readily available in our area.
If you can provide info on this it will be much appreciated.

[Big T]

Greetings,

If this has already been covered, I apologize... But here's our situation:
We have a '79 GS550L with a trashed motor... we were wondering if a 750 or 1000 motor of the same year would mount up in the frame?
Will the motor mounts match?
Will everything clear?

It seems that 750 motors are more readily available in our area.
If you can provide info on this it will be much appreciated.

When you say the motor is thrashed, do you mean low compression? Needs a new top end? I think you can graft on a 650 top end to that motor

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. Son of Celts,

I don't think you'll have any luck trying to drop a 750 or 1000 motor in the 550 frame without a lot of modification. But if you've got the tools and gear, anything is possible. But for now, let me just do that thing I do. Here's your super-duper, all-out, new and improved mega-welcome!

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)! :grin:

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the garage section via the GSR Hompage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr.

And here are some quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic maintenance needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********<Quoted from Mr. bwringer>************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:
http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:
http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.

And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com

Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:
http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm
*************<End Quote>*************
**********<Quote Mr. bwringer>**********
GS850 Basics:

Every GS850 has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting.

It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years.

It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile o-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)

Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)

Valve clearances (more important than most people think)

Carb/airbox boots

Airbox sealing

Air filter sealing

Petcock (install a NEW one)

On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)

On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.

Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
**********<End Quote>**********
***********<Quoted from Mr. bwringer>***************
Parts and Accessories:

http://denniskirk.com
Put in your bike model and see what they have.

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.

http://oldbikebarn.com seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.

OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

http://www.babbittsonline.com/
Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.

http://bikebandit.com
Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.

http://flatoutmotorcycles.com
Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.

http://alpha-sports.com
Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc.:
http://mcmaster.com
Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.

http://motorcycleseatcovers.com
Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.

http://newenough.com
You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************

Here are a few extra links:

Cycle-Re-Cycle Part 2
http://crc2onlinecatalog.com/

The ever popular Z1 Enterprises
http://www.z1enterprises.com

The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com

Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com

Lots of good info/pictures

http://www.suzukicycles.org

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[Steve]

Curiosity is running rampant here ... there are stories about how 'bulletproof' the 550 motor is, so how did it get "trashed"?


.

[Son of Celts]

Motor Swap??

Hey thanks for the input and the welcome, You guys are awsome!!!

As to How did the moter become trashed?: I don't know, it originally belonged to a friend's uncle and has sat outside in his moms backyard for at least the last 10 years. We saw it and asked what they wanted (they said just take it).

What we've discovered:

• Kickstart spins freely (w/ no compression) (a spun bearing maybe?)
• Pistons do not move (flashlight down sparkplug hole shows rust)
• on closer inspection - there is evidence of an electrical fire. (either that or someone is extreamly dangerous w/ a soldering iron)

When you say that the motor is "bullet proof" you are testifying to what I've already heard, so that being said we may try to re-build the existing motor. So we will probably be asking several questions.

Thanks

[Billyboy]

You can do it!

I'd start by spraying each cylinder with wd-40 or similer. Lef her soak a week.