1979 GS 550 L Fork Oil Level

[MinnesotaGS]

First off, thanks to everyone on this forum. I tore apart my bike this winter and this forum has proved very valuable at getting it back together.

I am currently ready to add fork oil to the forks and am a little confused about how much I should add. The bike in question is a 1979 Suzuki GS 550 L. I checked the manual on BassCliff's site and it gives the amount for each fork leg as 217mL. Looking in my Haynes manual it gives the amount as 165cc, which if my college chemistry classes taught me anything is 165mL. This is a pretty big difference so I do not know which one to trust.

I have not been able to find any information for my bike model on measuring from the top of the forks to set the level. Ideally I would like to measure the fork oil this way as it should allow me to set them more exactly. It appears that many people use a measure of 140mm from the top (with springs out, forks fully compressed and vertical). Would this work for my forks?

Sorry if I rambled a bit in this post, but I guess what I basically am wondering is how much fork oil should be in a 1979 GS 550 L?

Thanks in advance.

-Jake

[kparkfan]

according to my clymer manual it is 217 cc , 7.3 u.s oz.

[MinnesotaGS]

Thanks. I looked at the 'supplemental' information section in my manual and it also says 217mL for the GS 550 L.

If anyone happens to have any input on the level from the top of the forks I would still greatly appreciate that.

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. MinnesotaGS,

There are two GS550 service manuals on my website.

I'm reading through the manual. In the GS550LZ (1982) supplement, on page 600 and 609 it says 239ml (8.08 US oz.) for the fork oil capacity. On page 609 is also the fork oil level, 144mm (5.7in). If yours is the GS550LN (1979), you may have a little different specs.

On page 208 of the manual (the preceding picture looks like the '79 model - see the carbs?), the stated fork oil capacity is 217ml (7.33 US oz). On page 214 it says the fork oil level is 229mm (9.02 in.) for the GS550L.

Sorry, I don't own this model so all I can do is read the book.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[MinnesotaGS]

Thanks BassCliff.

"On page 214 it says the fork oil level is 229mm (9.02 in.) for the GS550L."

Would that 229mm be from the top? Seems like quite the distance.