1980 GS 550E Engine and suspenion mods

[Gateway]

This season I bought a 1980 GS 550E for a hundred bucks. Now... after doing 20 years worth of maintenance and turning it into an investment I am already getting ready for the next winter tear down and make over!! Money is not really an issue , so I want it to be what I want !! The questions: 1) When I rebuild the engine, it has the infamous " cam walk ". Will a later model TSCC head/ top end work and is there any advantage to that? Also is it possible to tell if a used head has " cam walk " without hearing an engine run? 2) will a GS 650 top end bolt up to the GS 550 bottom end? 3) Will the GS 650 front end bold up to the GS 550?

Thanks!!!!

[rocky279]

Glad its running, but 80 mph top seems way slow,

My GPz550 goes waaay faster than that!

Silver REXs are sooo subtle - they slide right under the enemy's radar, then WHAM - they're dead!

03 REX - Akra, K&N pods, Ivan's jets, Teds Advancer, airbox out and chainguard, Chrispy's mirrors, Biscuits rearsets, Greg's brace, Armz shift linkage, Wog's seat, 'n some other stuff
84 KZ1100R - Yosh, K&N, fork brace
82 GPz 550 - Hindle
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2013 MERCEDES BENZ SL-CLASS

[Gateway]

Well I am not sure where you got that from? My 550 does well over 80MPH and with all do respect, you only have a Kawasaki, but I won't hold it against you!!

Brian

[wegs426]

This season I bought a 1980 GS 550E for a hundred bucks. Now... after doing 20 years worth of maintenance and turning it into an investment I am already getting ready for the next winter tear down and make over!! Money is not really an issue , so I want it to be what I want !! The questions: 1) When I rebuild the engine, it has the infamous " cam walk ". Will a later model TSCC head/ top end work and is there any advantage to that? Also is it possible to tell if a used head has " cam walk " without hearing an engine run? 2) will a GS 650 top end bolt up to the GS 550 bottom end? 3) Will the GS 650 front end bold up to the GS 550?

Thanks!!!!

I can answer a few questions.

2)yes: this is a popular and very good swap. It will give so much more power. You will have to split the cases and do a bit of grinding but nothing major.
When the cases are split you can also retrofit a kickstart if you like.
3)yes: If you get your hands on some 650 forks or even just the fork lowers it opens up a whole new world of braking options and upgrades

I suggest you take a look through my build or toasty's build.
PM me if you have any other questions.