81 GS550T in Co Sprgs

[pete]

You know Pete would say it did not happen if you did not post pictures but I will forgive you. LoL... sorry had to take this opportunity to jab at Pete. Glad to here it was just the local crud that took you to the Hospital. I miss horse riding. Been way to long, last time I did any real riding was working cows back on college break many many... well you get the picture, a long time ago.

Paul

Hahaha nice one Paul

Don't worry Scott, hospital's an excuse that's more than enough to not post pic's... and yes they suck! Very glad to hear it's not tragedy...

[cowboyup3371]

Cheers Pete. Most everybody is doing better now this week. Helena was the last to catch it and still can't hear out of one ear so she's scheduled an appointment to see a specialist. Cheyenne had her tonsils/adenoids taken out during her bout so it made it even harder to understand her but she's finally talking a bit louder and clearer (if we can get her to move her jaw).

Checked the float height and bench synched the carbs last night as well as did a couple of more connectors. Why is it male terminals refuse to come out of the crimper yet I have no problems with the female terminals? I'll have to explain a bloody shirt to Helena later as I pricked my finger pretty good trying to get one out last night.

And for those who might be reading this thread, may I provide another plug for using the search feature. I know some may think it's difficult but in reality it works pretty well when using the Advanced Search and choosing titles only.

Here's why. I bought the carb tool when I purchased my Morgan Carbtune, you know - the one that has the screwdriver and socket all in one? I had problems last night getting it to sit down on the adjustment nut/screw between 2 and 3 yet it worked perfectly on the ones between 1 and 2/3 and 4. To get it done, I just grabbed a wrench and screwdriver and finished everything up. Afterwards, a search for "carb tool" looking throughout the messages gave me 500 hits. I changed it to Titles Only and pulled up 30ish (don't remember exact number but not over 40) with the 4th hit down an exact thread about my issue. I know this means more headaches if you don't know the right words to use but 9 times out of 10 you'll get close. Plus, there are times when folks don't always reply right away and if it's something critical, you might just get an answer faster searching the archives as I've seen there isn't a single question that hasn't already been asked at least 10 times.

I'll be finishing up the wiring harness this week and will need to get everything back on the bike by this weekend, finished or not. I tried testing it one wire last night but don't have enough hands so I'll just cross my fingers and pray I did everything correctly.

[cowboyup3371]

After a long boring day at work, I figured I'd get back on some real work this afternoon. I started packing by putting some of my networking books and almost all of my woodworking tools in boxes. I hope I can fit them in the Jeep as well as my bow, camping gear, and all of my motorcycle tools. I'll also tear down my workbenches so Helena won't have as much to do over the summer.

Then, it was time to get back on the bike. For the most part the wiring harness is done finally. Just have some small connectors to make such as the turn signals, taillight, and the signal generator. As far as the actual harness:

fuse block area:



Ignitor, coils, left handle switch, and the wiring harness side of the signal generator:



The ignitor and fuse block itself are redone. I took the separate power wire and inserted it into the same connector as the fuse block wires. I felt this will give it a cleaner look and make it easier to keep track of everything.



And finally the wiring section in the bucket area and the harness side of the gear position switch



I didn't take pictures of the clocks or gear position switch but both of them also have new connectors. I'm really hoping I crimped the terminals correctly as a couple did pull back out on me. But I recrimped them so they should be.

I'll try to get the carbs and harness back on the bike and finish up the crimps there on Saturday. Then it's take care of the brakes, tighten bolts, and some other smaller things. If all goes well, I'll fire it up soon after arriving in Dayton next weekend.

[TheCafeKid]

When is your first day of work Scott?

Oh there's some space cleared out in the second garage for you. Gonna have to make a little more though as Mikey is bringing his Bandit up for me to do some work on this weekend as well.

[Steve]

And for those who might be reading this thread, may I provide another plug for using the search feature. I know some may think it's difficult but in reality it works pretty well when using the Advanced Search and choosing titles only.

... Afterwards, a search for "carb tool" looking throughout the messages gave me 500 hits. I changed it to Titles Only and pulled up 30ish (don't remember exact number but not over 40) with the 4th hit down an exact thread about my issue. ...

It also helps IMMENSELY if people would put descriptive titles in there, too.

Too many times the thread title is simply "Help..." or something very non-descriptive like that.
That kind of stuff won't help your search at all.

.

[Dogma]

When is your first day of work Scott?

Oh there's some space cleared out in the second garage for you. Gonna have to make a little more though as Mikey is bringing his Bandit up for me to do some work on this weekend as well.

Now that sounds like a fun wrenching party.

[pete]

Good stuff Scott, those connectors look good! Should stop any wiring issues and let you get good voltage around the harness.

Are you getting excited for the move? Or is this the painful preparation stage?

[tkent02]

I'm really hoping I crimped the terminals correctly as a couple did pull back out on me. But I recrimped them so they should be.

Scott, if there is a question about the security of the crimps, wouldn't a tiny drop of solder in each provide a little peace of mind?

[cowboyup3371]

Scott, if there is a question about the security of the crimps, wouldn't a tiny drop of solder in each provide a little peace of mind?

Why do you always give me the best suggestions AFTER I put everything together?

We'll see how things work out; if things go wrong and I have to redo it, I'll recrimp and then solder like you said.

Good stuff Scott, those connectors look good! Should stop any wiring issues and let you get good voltage around the harness.

Are you getting excited for the move? Or is this the painful preparation stage?

I'm not bouncing off the walls excited Pete but yea, it's the painful preparation side. I have so much to do and the little stuff keeps getting in the way. Course, it's what I get for waiting until the last minute but two weeks ago, I couldn't get myself motivated either.

I put the coils back on the bike this evening. I really wish I'd remember to take better pictures when taking things off as I couldn't figure out how to put them back on. Then I found a picture that just barely showed how one coil was sitting on the bike and voila!, they're back on. Also installed the left handle switch, starter cable and cover, gear shift indicator switch thingy, and clutch cable. Still have a lot to do before I can put the carbs back on though. Won't be able to fire it up this week but I won't have much to do in Dayton either.

[cowboyup3371]

So maybe not a lot to do to put the carbs back on. Planned on having a few hours to work on the bike today knowing I'd spend time at Helena's dad's place for lunch. However, that didn't quite work out the way I'd planned as we didn't get home until 5pm this afternoon. Managed to get the carbs on after realizing I'd put the intake boots on the wrong sides (had looked at part numbers before hand but still managed to mess that up); that soap trick really works wonders. Also mounted the battery box and tried to mount the airbox but discovered my bracket I had welded on is about 1/2" too far back from where the airbox is really sitting. That's what I get for trying to eyeball things and need to find someone to cut the bracket back off and re-weld it.

I'll get the wiring harness back on tomorrow night I hope and then work on verifying all the bolts are tight. I need to call it quits by Wednesday night though so I can pack up my tools.

It got dark tonight before I had a chance to take pictures. I'll sure be glad to have a garage again to work in.

[Steve]

I was just wondering ...

Are we going to see a new thread starting in a couple weeks titled "81 GS550T in Dayton"?

.

[cowboyup3371]

So I got the rear wheel tightened but not aligned, wiring harness is back on but when trying to follow the service manual's formatting I found an issue so I am waiting until Sunday to look at Kparkfan's 550L. It's about ready to go on the trailer tomorrow evening IF I can do a few more things. Course I still need to pack so I don't know how much I will get done.

[mike_of_bbg]

Scott, is it following the wiring diagram that you're having issues with? I could send you the Clymer wiring diagram, which is quite a bit easier to read than the factory service manual one.

[cowboyup3371]

No, it's the actual layout of the harness itself along the bike frame. TCK and I are going to work on it next week so we can look at the 550L as well. The service manual shows the harness running along the top of the frame and there's a clip on top that would match up with that. However, the tank doesn't sit right if I do it that way. I'll probably just put it back the way I had it last year which worked perfectly.