'78 GS550, 20k miles,strong runner, valve adjust needed ???

[Jim-Cincinnati]

My '78 GS550 burns no oil, pulls in 6th from 25mph to 95mph and makes very little engine noise. It's never been apart and I don't want to check the valve adjustment. Should I be concerned ??

[earlfor]

Re: '78 GS550, 20k miles,strong runner, valve adjust needed

it would be rare to have valves out of spec in 20K miles with a bucket and shim valve train. I wouldnt touch them. I have 36K miles on my 79 750E and the valves are still within spec's. I have checked them, but they have never needed adjustment. I probably will not need to adjust them until I reach the 45K range or more.

Earl

My '78 GS550 burns no oil, pulls in 6th from 25mph to 95mph and makes very little engine noise. It's never been apart and I don't want to check the valve ad
justment. Should I be concerned ??

[jimcor]

What's the 550 manual say...every 6000 miles? Forgetaboutit. Had mine checked twice in 71 or 72k and never needed any shim changes. Of course our legal department sez: "you're on your own!" 8O :?

[Jim-Cincinnati]

Valve adjustment

Same goes for the cam chain ? and cam chain tensioner ? ( my 26 year old Son accuses me of treating my '78 GS550 as my "Golden Calf" ; I sold it once but bought it back a year later. Is this addiction abnormal ? ).

[earlfor]

Re: Valve adjustment

My 750 is on the origional cam chain and it is as quiet now as it has ever been, so I have not reason to adjust it. Never have needed to adjust it.
It isn't broke, so I am not going to be fixing it. Unless you are hearing something unusual or abnormally noisy, I would leave well enough alone.
Your addiction is probably pretty normal. I suspect there are a lot of us that
would buy our old bikes back if we could find them.

Earl

Same goes for the cam chain ? and cam chain tensioner ? ( my 26 year old Son accuses me of treating my '78 GS550 as my "Golden Calf" ; I sold it once but bought it back a year later. Is this addiction abnormal ? ).

[saaz]

The shims do bed in and need little attention. Keep the cam chain tensioner working ok and the can chain will last ages.

[Gary Lich]

Re: '78 GS550, 20k miles,strong runner, valve adjust needed

it would be rare to have valves out of spec in 20K miles with a bucket and shim valve train. I wouldnt touch them. I have 36K miles on my 79 750E and the valves are still within spec's. I have checked them, but they have never needed adjustment. I probably will not need to adjust them until I reach the 45K range or more.

Earl

My '78 GS550 burns no oil, pulls in 6th from 25mph to 95mph and makes very little engine noise. It's never been apart and I don't want to check the valve ad
justment. Should I be concerned ??

With 20k on the bike I would check the valves... Some bikes may be ok and others may need an adjustment. Even though it was running fine I checked my GS at 14K and found two valves out of spec.