4-1 w/stock air box?

[byrdman76]

Guess I should have thanked you directly....

byrdman, you never got back to me to say how the suggested jetting worked out on your bike. I just like to know because it helps others. I make educated guesses but they are still guesses. But I can see you followed my suggestions and it appears to be running well.....and on the first try!
That's why I take the time to help with this carb stuff. So you can get to riding instead of wrenching.
'Scuz me for tootin' my own horn.

I posted this in May on my SCUD project thread under the appearances forum...

Had to take some time off from the SCUD project to get a few other things done around the house and a few other projects took priority. The wife and I found out that our first pregnancy turned out to be a double header! Dont know what they will be (not going to find out) but they are fraternal so maybe we'll get lucky and have one of each - right now we just hope their healthy. Finally got back into working on the bike last week and got it mostly back together except for paint.

First off I would like to say thanks to Keith for you recommendations on jet sizing, needle adjustment, and both pilot and air screw adjustments. I also promised to post up my current set up to all of us faithful GS550 owners.

I drilled and removed the stock exhaust baffle basically a 1" hole in each pipe Sounds great, not too loud but with the pods it has some serious character. I installed the cheap ebay K&N knock off pod filters, ebay K&L carb rebuild kits, dipped the carbs in berrymans, installed a Dyna S ignition, dyna coils, and dyna wires.

I set the carbs up with 100 mains (ebay 32 jets for about 30 bucks), stock pilot jets, set the pilot fuel screws 2 turns out, air screw mixture 2 turns out, standard float height, and highest needle position. bench synced and put them back on.

The Dyna ignition is truly unreal. When I first fired the bike up and took it down the road for the first time it ran great. I got back to the house with the bike running pretty well. It had gotten a little sluggish on take off, but it cleared its self up once I got the rpms up and was still idleing fairly smoothly. I pulled all four plugs and they looked horrible - I couldnt believe the bike was even running. I would have had to throw them away in the past - you know these Suzuki's can be tempermental if the plugs get even close to being fouled. I sprayed them off with carb cleaner, put them back it and adjusted the air screws for the highest rpm on each carb. Jumped back on the bike and rode the **** out of it for 20-30 mins. Got back and the plugs looked great and the bike sounded like a sewing machine at idle. Still need to throw on the merc sticks, and plug chop it a few times (just to be thourough) but i am truly amazed how well this thing runs.

Couple of things to point out regarding the changes. No bottom end loss if anything it has improved, no flat spots in the power band - bike hauls butt to 100MPH, adjustments were minimal - air screws and fine tuning the ignition timing with a gun were the only adjustments made, and I rode it probably 100 miles this week (same spark plugs). Higher RPM's 8-9000 are smoother and quicker to obtain. Im totally happy with the performance, now i just have to make it look as good as it runs. I'll post some pics once I get done painting it.

Later,

Byrd

I posted that mainly so that like you said, others would know what combinations work - some of us like myself need all the help we can get. Thank god we have guys like you around here that actually know what they are talking about from hands on experience.

Thanks again for all of your help Keith. Oh and BTW toot all you want, you deserve it!

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Thanks for that Byrd. I didn't know anything was posted somewhere else.
Glad the bike runs well and congratulations on the twins. I wish your family every happiness.

[brveagle]

ALot of useful info in this thread... I learned some..

[badbrown]

Thanks for all of the setting suggestions. I will test out the pods on the VM's as well since I have them and never hooked them up. In the morning I'll throw on the merc sticks then ride.

[badbrown]

Success I've rediscovered my midrange torque and 1/4-1/2 throttle response. The needle move to one richer helped. Then of course cleaned (again) and reset screws and float hights bench and vac sinced.. My jets were already opened from 80 to @100. No air box lid and the UNI filter. Still doing chop tests however I don't have it scary lean anymore, good color on the plugs thus far,,,,,,,,,thanks again for all of the inputs,,,, I feel like a semi-pro after this endeavor.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Glad its running better. Do some 1/3, full, and then minimal throttle chop tests and see what the plugs say. Don't rush it. Take your time.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

To be perfectly honest, if that pipe flows decently and with the airbox lid removed, my experience says that just 1 position richer on the jet needles isn't enough. It is possible, but I just want to mention it so you test and be positive. At 1/3 throttle for the needles. The plugs won't lie if you did an entire tune/jet job correctly and test correctly.
Most of us spend the most time riding on the jet needle and it must be right.

[badbrown]

Will do.. I feel it could be a touch better in the mid range, but alot smoother than before. Did a long ride yesterday and kept up all day with the other two bikes, just cruising though, but comfortably. I couldn't do that prior. Should I try the pods as well? ( they are sitting on my work bench), or am I on the right path with needle hight/mains/tuning. No plans to get a jet kit or change pilot jets...thanks again for your help.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

The pods, jetted correctly, will allow a little more power around 6500 rpm to approx' redline. You'll have to change the jet needle e-clip to the richest (bottom) position for sure then. If you like the 3/4 to full throttle performance now and have decent plug reads, then the pods will lean you out enough that you'll also have to richen the mains further. Also, the pilot circuit will need richening and if richer pilot fuel screw adjustments aren't enough, then you'll need a 17.5 pilot jet. Also, removing the two floatbowl vent lines, pods OR filter top removed, is necesssary.

[slapz]

Picked up a non running '77 GS550. Cleaned carbs and re installed w/o air box for now. Have some pods. The main jets are 80 and I have the clip set in the middle. It will start and idle but when I blip the throttle it dies and is hard to start afterward. Is there ANYPLACE to find out how to tune a vm22? I can find stuff on the 26 and up but nothing on the 22. Thanks, Slapz