GS550 skipped chain - how bad is it?

[kevinoneill]

Hey guys thought maybe someone could give me some insight. This forum was recommended to me by someone over at bayarearidersforum.com

My 1980 Suzuki GS550T skipped a chain a little while back. I pulled the covering of to the chain gear on the tranny side. Turns out the rod that runs from the foot-shifter into the tranny, sheared off, or in 2 rather, and got pretty banged and bent up.

Here's the rod, you can see it is pretty badly bent, the other end of this would go into the foot-shifter, it would rotate (twist) with each flip of a gear. Just making sure we all know what part we're looking at.


Here's a close up. When the chain skipped, it ran right into it, overlapped and bent it.


As it sits, that rod rotates freely, and also moves in and out of the tranny casing about 1/2 inch.

My questions are:

How much damage on the inside can I expect? and what kind of costs would you expect?
Would it be worth fixing, the bike cost me $900.
If so, where can I find parts? am i limited to junk yards? or are there suppliers out there?

The tranny casing itself seems to be held together by screws, meaning the use of a hand screw driver to take it apart, had no luck, basically just stripping them trying.

Here's some pictures of the bike in question

http://www.irekevin.com/wordpress/?page_id=9&g2_itemId=22439

I appreciate any help, suggestions, or even other forums that might be more suited to my situation.

Cheers.
Kevin.

[byrdman76]

that looks like the clutch rod to me...

You should be able to pull that rod out and replace it. That rod is basically a plunger that disengages the clutch. The helix on the cover you removed rotates as you pull the clutch in. This rotation creates a forward motion that forces that bent rod to enter the tranny and push on the pressure plate on the other side of the motor.

Check ebay or try the wanted section on the forum.

Good luck

[kevinoneill]

Ohhh hmm... well it def. won't come out, I gave it a pretty good tug the other day. I'll take another look when i get home. Should it come out with relevant ease?

[byrdman76]

Give it a good tug and see if it will come out - you can do too much more damage that what has already been done.

If your still concerned, pull the clutch cover on the other side off and remove the clutch. Its pretty straight forward but you will need either an impact driver or a set of vise grips to get the screws loose. Make sure that the clutch is removed and replaced in the exact order, taking note as to which side of each band was facing out. You will eventually see the rod protruding through the other side. Make sure nothing is attached and it should come right out. It would be a good time to check the clutches for wear anyway :-D.

Did the shifter rod assembly get sheared off? Take some more pictures of the shifter rod.

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. kevinoneill,

It looks like it might be time for a new chain and sprockets too? Here's some general information that I hope you'll find useful. It's my very large welcome post. Please excuse the length but there's lots of good stuff.

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)! :-D

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 edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic 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
***********************************
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:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile o-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. 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.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
***************************************
OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

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://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
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.
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 some extra parts links:

The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com
Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com
MR Cycles
http://www.mrcycles.com

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)

[Big T]

After you solve the bent rod problem, you need to address the chain and sprockets. You chain shouldn't be coming off. From the fuzzy pics of your front sprocket, I'd say a new chain and sprockets are called for.

Post a pic of your rear sprocket

[XL-erate]

Hi, Kevin, another welcome! Just noticed in your post a mention of screw heads stripping when you try to remove, if I understand you correctly? If you don't already have one, check your local autoparts store or [shudder] Harbor Freight for an impact screwdriver.

These are self-contained and work by fitment of a selected screwdriver tip, driver usually includes 2 straight, 2 Philips, placing into screw head and then rapping the other end hard and square with a ball pein hammer. There's a cam inside that converts that hammer hit into rotation, and striking force also maintains bit firmly in screw slot or cross slots. If you pre-soak the screwhead and if possible the thread section with PB Blaster you'll be astounded and amazed at the ease of removing screws!

Note carefully on the device's barrel that you rotate a collar section left or right to choose counterclockwise or clockwise rotation of driver bit. These are an invaluable tool for any motorcycle mechanic!

Further note: some will accept impact sockets as well, giving you a handy small impact wrench without need of air compressor. They're fairly cheap to buy.

[Dogma]

Harbor Freight?

Hi, Kevin, another welcome! Just noticed in your post a mention of screw heads stripping when you try to remove, if I understand you correctly? If you don't already have one, check your local autoparts store or [shudder] Harbor Freight for an impact screwdriver

Whassamatter with Harbor Freight? I just got my impact driver from there last week. It's a cheap for a reason, but it gets the job done. Perfect for us occasional users. I also picked up a great little swivel stool with casters and a base that doubles as a parts tray for $17. Perfect for working on bikes if you don't have a motorcycle lift (they have one of those too, but I went with the stool).

About that impact driver... I've never used one before, and I didn't know what to expect about how it worked, how to change direction, etc. It came with no instructions, so I had to take it apart to figure it out. Oh yes, I broke both Phillips bits that came with it trying to loosen the carb boot screws. They were too brittle. A bit from a Christmas tool set worked perfectly. Nothing wrong with Harbor Freight, just know what to expect.

Plus, they're a 5 minute walk from here.

[paco13]

That rod is removed from the clutch side. Will prob. need to cut bent part off so it will slide through, there is an oil seal you don't want to bugger up.

I checked a couple OEM sites and looks like its discontinued so ebay/salvage yard is the only option i guess.

[Suzuki_Don]

Kevin have a look at this on EBAY. Check if it is for your model.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1980-Suzuki-GS550-GS-550-Clutch-Push-Rod-OEM_W0QQitemZ150217250742QQihZ005QQcategoryZ35595QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers
don

[SqDancerLynn1]

That's just what he needs. I would sugest cutting the bent end of the pushrod off before trying to remove it. From the clutch side

[kevinoneill]

Oh wow guys, thanks a lot for all the input, that eBay aution does look like what i need.

I need to take a good solid look at it this weekend. I'm being over-loaded with school work / work. These Master degree's are hard work

You guy got a good forum going on here.

[Suzuki_Don]

Kevin have a look at this on EBAY. Check if it is for your model.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1980-Suzuki-GS550-GS-550-Clutch-Push-Rod-OEM_W0QQitemZ150217250742QQihZ005QQcategoryZ35595QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers
don

What happened KevinOneill you did not bid on the clutch push rod.

[uudfourty]

I'm telling you, institutions of "education" conspire against us. They don't want us riding. They figured out that if we're riding, we can't listen to radio commercials or buy fast food, so they're discouraging such action.

Poor Kevin probably got loaded down with homework.

[kevinoneill]

Yeah "loaded" would a huge understatement. When was the last time you guys turned in a 50 page homework ? haha, all MATH!!!!!!!

I did get to tinker with it during the week. I'll take photo's and show what I can see.

I can't get to the other end though, I got the casing off, and took out the, dunno the technical name, the 10 or so rings that push together for your clutch, friction plates maybe? but I can't remove their encasing to get behind it, the tranny casing itself, prevents me from pulling it out. So i'm a little stuck.

And I tugged, apparently, too hard... on the clutch rod... and it kinda broke snapped right inside the casing.

1 step forward, 2 steps back

Yeah sorry, I completely missed the aution, I want to make sure i'm able to repair it before I go spending money on parts.