Gs650 katana valve timing

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know (from experience) exactly how to set up the valve timing for a gs650 katana shaft drive 1984. I have the climer manual and after having set it up (twice now) exactly as it describes the bike does not run correctly (perhaps I read it wrong..I can be very thick!).
First time I guessed that the carburettors were not balanced properly or crud in them, bit now I think after it runs 'perfectly lumpy' always and every time I think the timing is out by a tooth. The climer manual sez to set it up so that the exhaust camshaft arrow is level with the top of the head, but does it mean 'the arrow' or 'the marked line "1"'. It is not possible to set it up so that the 'arrow' is perfectly level with the top of the head.
I am guessing the inlet cam is set correctly on the 20th pin (of the camshaft) from the 1st arrow, going back obviously.
Does anybody know why there is a difference between the shaft and chain model on the valve timing (out by one tooth). This seems madness, I don't believe they are different cams (or even different engines).
I tell you this suzuki pushes me to the limit of tolerance, so far I have only dented the tank once!
Incidently it had been stored for some years but everything has been properly (by me) done carbs cleaned and set properly, new rings, and has a dyna s ignition system/ coils etc which worked well for years before hand. I would dearly like to get it running properly on the road and would be enormously grateful from any experienced help!
thanks

[dgeorge]

grayam, I was experiancing the exact same problem over the weekend and posted pics so check out http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...ic.php?t=22551 It will make things clearer for you. Unfortunatly when I was putting the last bolt in the last cam cap it broke. :twisted: :twisted: and I haven't been able to get it out yet. I just bought the new type of extrators from sears and if they work I will be placing a post in tips and tricks about them. Good luck with yours, oh and check your bolts for stretch before you bolt everything back down. I had ordered 4 bolts from bike bandit for mine and I think they sent a substitiue. They were the zinc instead of the hardened steel that they should be. When I took them back out the other three were stretced like a 1/4 in.

[Anonymous]

Hi Daniel,
On my timing (with the cam caps all on and torqued up right) the arrow is either pointing down at a slight angle or up at a slight angle but not directly inline with the top of the head. What is going on, Suzuki must have just toshed this one together (they are the right cams though). If the arrow points down slightly, the no. "1" is bang parallel with the top of the head and the no. 2 is pointing perfectly at 90 degrees ...so i'm still a bit confused. Hmm just had a thought, my cam chain could be slightly streched, must measure it.
Sorry to hear about your cam cap bolts ...my problem was that one of them pulled out of the head, so I had to use a recoil repair kit, which worked really well. They are at a pretty low torque though (only about 8Nm on mine). Do you have any ideas about why the shaft drive and chain drive are one tooth out on the intake cam? seems weird to me (p'raps its all part of suzukis 'tosh it together' policy??

[Anonymous]

The Katana IS different ...

I've changed shims but never had to take the cams out (mine's a 1983 Katana 650) so I havn't encountered your problem.

I bought the Clymer manual too but it doesnt cover the 650 Kat! It does cover all the chain and other shaft drive models but there are differences with the Kat. Suzuki claimed more bhp for the Katana engine and I think this was due to slightly different cams / timing and maybe a bit more compression.

I'll look for the article I read about this tonight and have another look at the Clymer manual too but this might explain why yours isn't running right even when set up per the manual.

Don't despair 'cos if all else fails I'll take the cover off my engine and count the pins for you! I've been intending to check those valve clearances for ages ...[/i]

[SqDancerLynn1]

If the head/block have been resurfaced it could through the marks off requiring slotted cam gears and degreeing the cams

[Dink]

How many pins between the arrows? #1 should point at the gasket surface exactly; not below & not above, #2 should be pointing straight up, and #3 should also be pointing straight up, and cylinder #1 should be at TDC. All these things should co-incide, if not the timing is out! BTW if all these things do not co-incide are there 20 camchain link pins btwwen the #2&3 arrows?
Dink

[Anonymous]

grayam:

My GS1000 cams were both retarded at TDC. I had to slot the bolt holes with a chainsaw file and re-time cams to 106 degrees lobe centres, as recommended for the 1000.

As you suspect, it's mostly down to sloppy 1970's manufacturing tolerences. Old Suzuki's are notorious for it. Camchain stretch on an old motor will aggravate it. And true TDC isn't where Suzuki reckons it is!

Where in the UK are you? I'm in Suffolk.

I've got all the tooling necessary to dial-in your cams. If my results are anything to go by, it's a job worth doing on any bike.

Ride the bike over, throw me a couple of quid and I'll sort it for you!