Project: 1985 GS550ES

[Nerobro]

MetalGod: My joke goes a little deeper than that. the 77-82 GS550's have 549cc blocks. The GS650 block has a 673cc block..that just so happens to fit on a GS550 bottom end if you're kinky enough. So my 1980 GS550 has 673 cc's...

550ERAT: The manual has no settings for the Pilot screws. 2.5 turns out IIRC for these carbs.

I'd hope for a few more complete sentances and a better story of what you've done before we go about the diagnosis path. :-) Just off the top of my head, have you replaced the carb boot o-rings?

[Nicholaschase29]

I'm gettin jipped on my 699CC 700...

Nice bike as previously stated, I really like the look of the 550's boy 122mph, must be something wrong with my bike...

Here is something to look forward to.
VROOMMMMmmmm...... http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=MVI_4504.flv

Anyway, am enjoying reading about your project, keep it up and don't start to lose steam!

I agree, you need to pull your carbs and clean them, its really easy to do, and the longer you wait the more time the jets have to fuse themselves into the bodies.:shock:

Good Luck!
Nick

[MelodicMetalGod]

MetalGod: My joke goes a little deeper than that. the 77-82 GS550's have 549cc blocks. The GS650 block has a 673cc block..that just so happens to fit on a GS550 bottom end if you're kinky enough. So my 1980 GS550 has 673 cc's...

That's about what I figured, although I'm not intimately familiar with all the various engines. And you're telling me to go stock... [-X

[MelodicMetalGod]

I'm gettin jipped on my 699CC 700...

Nice bike as previously stated, I really like the look of the 550's boy 122mph, must be something wrong with my bike...

Here is something to look forward to.
VROOMMMMmmmm...... http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=MVI_4504.flv

Anyway, am enjoying reading about your project, keep it up and don't start to lose steam! ...

Yeah, I was very lucky to get this bike in pretty decent shape and it's a style that I happen to like quite a bit.

No steam lost. Just continuing to wait on my new tools to arrive so that I can do the job right (and not round off anything that's not supposed to be rounded off!). In fact, the more that I have to wait, the more I'm raring to get back at it!

Thanks for the virtual ride down the local rip-strip. I hope to be able to at least trail that in the near future.

[550ERAT]

550ERAT: The manual has no settings for the Pilot screws. 2.5 turns out IIRC for these carbs.

I'd hope for a few more complete sentances and a better story of what you've done before we go about the diagnosis path. :-) Just off the top of my head, have you replaced the carb boot o-rings?[/quote]

No I haven't. Plugs changed, air filter changed....I will get a complete parts list up in a day or two to let you know exactly what I changed....thx

[MelodicMetalGod]

Tool! Tools! I have Tools!

Ahhhhaaaahhhahahahaah! \\/ Now I can return to the laboratory and properly restore the beast! :twisted: :-D

[Nerobro]

What's not in there are a good solid set of screwdrivers. :-) But you knew that already. Craftsman makes good stuff. I think 3/4 of my tools are sears branded. Anything that isn't, I consider disposable.

[MelodicMetalGod]

What's not in there are a good solid set of screwdrivers. :-) But you knew that already. Craftsman makes good stuff. I think 3/4 of my tools are sears branded. Anything that isn't, I consider disposable.

Correct. I couldn't find anything under $300 dolloars that included screwdrivers, so I had picked up a 10 piece Craftsman screw driver set last week as most of mine are "misc" makers and pretty well chewed up. In addition, I already have a set of what I call "micro screw drivers" (for really tiny stuff, like watches, etc) by Stanley.

[MelodicMetalGod]

Fighting with the carbs!

So apparently removing the carbs is a bit more involved than "...pull carbs and airbox toward the rear of the bike as far as possible and remove carbs from engine flanges."

Turns out that the airbox moves back abot 1" and I seem to need another inch or two to clear the engine flanges. I've been fighting with this thing all afternoon/evening and I'm about to do some damage! Which, of course, I don't want to do. That's part of the problem. I could just muscle the carbs out, but I'm afraid that I'll damage the flanges on the air box, the engine or both.

Is there a magical method or is this just a blood, sweat and tears process? Advice?

Here's few pics of the situation:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...S/IMG_0976.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...S/IMG_0970.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...S/IMG_0969.jpg

[lord1234]

first off,
Unscrew the airbox so it gets a little motion...

second off, the first time you do it...expect to spend some time going back and forth, up and down etc pulling up and down on the carbs...

also, unscrew all those rings off the boots, and push them as far back as you can...it will help

[Nerobro]

It's simple when you know the trick. :-)

First, loosen all the bands holding on the carbs.

Then undo the two screws holding the throttle cable bracket on the carbs.

Undo the choke cable nuts. Never use a wrench on those, they only need to be finger tight, and they're plastic. Using a wrench on those WILL strip them.

Take your battery out of the bike.

Remove the ignitor from the side of the battery box.

Remove the fusebox from the other side.

Undo the two bolts that hold the battery box down. They are underneath it and bolt to the shock mount.

Remove the battery box.

You will now be able to move the airbox back 3" or more. Pleanty of room to remove those carbs.

Take care not to lose the blocking rubber bits that fit in the front of the carbs. They tend to fall out easily.

Tip the carbs toward you to remove them from the carb boots. Then you can rotate the pully to remove the throttle cable. This manuver is where you'll usually lose those little rubber blocks.

That's it.

[MelodicMetalGod]

first off,
Unscrew the airbox so it gets a little motion...

second off, the first time you do it...expect to spend some time going back and forth, up and down etc pulling up and down on the carbs...

also, unscrew all those rings off the boots, and push them as far back as you can...it will help

I've been following the Clymer (sp?) manual and the first thing is removing the airbox screws. I've definitely spent "some time going back and forth, ...". I have also unscrewed all the retaining rings completely and I can push them to any location on the boots (or carb for that matter).

[MelodicMetalGod]

It's simple when you know the trick. :-)

First, loosen all the bands holding on the carbs.

Then undo the two screws holding the throttle cable bracket on the carbs.

Undo the choke cable nuts. Never use a wrench on those, they only need to be finger tight, and they're plastic. Using a wrench on those WILL strip them.

Take your battery out of the bike.

Remove the ignitor from the side of the battery box.

Remove the fusebox from the other side.

Undo the two bolts that hold the battery box down. They are underneath it and bolt to the shock mount.

Remove the battery box.

You will now be able to move the airbox back 3" or more. Pleanty of room to remove those carbs.

Take care not to lose the blocking rubber bits that fit in the front of the carbs. They tend to fall out easily.

Tip the carbs toward you to remove them from the carb boots. Then you can rotate the pully to remove the throttle cable. This manuver is where you'll usually lose those little rubber blocks.

That's it.

Nerobro, I was afraid that was the answer but I was hoping it wouldn't be. :-( The manual says that just unbolting and sliding the air box back provides all the room needed. Whoever let that fly in the final edit s/b shot! I suppose it's not IMPOSSIBLE, but it seems unreasonable to make the attempt given the lack of clearance. Guess I'll just have to take the more time consuming, smarter and easier road tomorrow. Should've done it today but instead I wasted my time trying to make the "quicker" method from the manual happen.

I'll keep an eye out for the rubber pieces you mentioned. Didn't know about those.

Thanks for the advice!

[Nerobro]

Time consuming my butt!! It's fast, and almost stupidly easy. :-) It just sounds complex. It's a fairly deep stack of parts you're going under. At least all the bolts are 10mm, which makes things fast.

I can have the carbs out of my bike in 3 minutes. It takes longer than that just to squeeze a carb past the boots on a bike where you can't get the airbox "out".

Pulling the carbs out of a 1980 GS550E takes 10-20 minutes. Depending on air temprature and how strong I feel that day. putting them back in takes at least as long. By the time the carbs were out of a 1980 GS550E you could have the carbs out, jets changed, and back into the 83 GS550E :-)

[550ERAT]

Ok Nero, here we go...I re dipped my carbs in brand new carb cleaner. Replaced all the jets, set the float heights, changed the o-rings on the manifolds (what a pain finding them)....The carbs are now silver (not painted black) and very clean. Stock pipes, stock air filter, stock everything. All hoses connected. Air screws were 3 turns out. The bike would start but idle very erratic or not at all. Once she got above 2-2500, she ran awesome. Pulled the plugs and noticed they were damp and white. HMMMMMM? I turned the air screw out 1 more full turn and it idles very nicely now. Was running low on gas so I couldn't road test it. Will do that after it stops raining here in the north east. Is there any other info you need or anything I am missing? I am determined to restore this thing (I am second owner and only has 15,000mi). My next step is to find new plastics for it. I love that full fairing and want to say thanks for the info about the letter designation 550EF. Oh, and it is easy to get the carbs off after you follow those directions about the battery box etc..... and get a haynes manual , much better than clymer.