building a GS500M+velorex562

[wouter]

We had nice weather for more than 14days. With temp of more than 20°C and no rain.
But tonight it has rained. I hope the roads will dry up this morning.

I've tightened the carbbowl from cyl 1 because there was a drop of fuel. Looks dry now.
I've adjusted the clutch cable and cleaned and adjusted the brakelightswitch.
Tire pressure is checked.
I borrowed the licenseplate of my Tiger. I think the bike is ready a small testride.
Exciting!!

[wouter]

I did a 10km testride.
Everything went well!
I still have to sync the carbs that is noticeble.

Almost forgot to take a pic.

[Tim Tom]

Congrats! Its always a good feeling after a successful test ride. I like the red accents on the front brakes and crash bars. Looks good!

[jadeasker]

I really like your motorcycle! Good job!

[wouter]

Congrats! Its always a good feeling after a successful test ride. I like the red accents on the front brakes and crash bars. Looks good!

I have nothing changed so al credits go to the designer.

Today i synced the carbs.

This is my setup.




I forgot to take a pic before the syncing but this is the result at idle.



After that i took it for a testride about 20km.


the bike looks a lot cleaner on the pics than is for real.





things still todo:

fix and fit the chainprotector (one attachementpoint is gone)
fit a new front tire (must borrow or buy tire levers)
clean my workbench
fit the new sparkplugs and airfilter. (not yet arrived )
fit the velorex

[wouter]

I couldn't resist it.
I took the baby katana out for a ride this morning.
the bike died 2 times. Everytime after a long straight (5km doing 90km/h) But the bike fired right up. I had no idea what was wrong.
I found the bike not responding to the throttle like it should, it seemed like starving on acceleration.
So i took the tank off again and rechecked the idle settings and the ballance. All seemed still ok.
Then i realised it had still the old air filter. I looked at the filter and i think i found a problem. I fabricated an other airfilter for another testride.
The bike now stalled after about 6km. I was waiting for a traffic light as soon it was green i opened the throttle and the bike died. It did not start right away.
I changed the petcock to pri and the bike started again. I rode it a few km with te petcock on pri and changed back to normal. The bike didn't run smooth anymore. I putted the petcock to res and the bike ran smoot again.
I went to a nearby gas station and filled 17liter (capacity 23l).
Took the bike back on the road, petcock on fuel (normal). No problems anymore.
I think i found the rootcause.

When i ride in 4th gear around 5K rpm and i open the throttle the bike does accelerate but not real fast. Is this normal?
I don't know what to excpect from a 500cc bike. I'm used to a 955cc tripple.

[Charlie G]

I couldn't resist it.
I took the baby katana out for a ride this morning.
the bike died 2 times. Everytime after a long straight (5km doing 90km/h) But the bike fired right up. I had no idea what was wrong.
I found the bike not responding to the throttle like it should, it seemed like starving on acceleration.
So i took the tank off again and rechecked the idle settings and the ballance. All seemed still ok.
Then i realised it had still the old air filter. I looked at the filter and i think i found a problem. I fabricated an other airfilter for another testride.
The bike now stalled after about 6km. I was waiting for a traffic light as soon it was green i opened the throttle and the bike died. It did not start right away.
I changed the petcock to pri and the bike started again. I rode it a few km with te petcock on pri and changed back to normal. The bike didn't run smooth anymore. I putted the petcock to res and the bike ran smoot again.
I went to a nearby gas station and filled 17liter (capacity 23l).
Took the bike back on the road, petcock on fuel (normal). No problems anymore.
I think i found the rootcause.

When i ride in 4th gear around 5K rpm and i open the throttle the bike does accelerate but not real fast. Is this normal?
I don't know what to excpect from a 500cc bike. I'm used to a 955cc tripple.

I have had the very same fuel problem with my bikes. Funny how that works.
Your 500, four cylinder is only the second one which I've seen on this forum and I doubt that you'll find someone with first hand experence with it's performance. Generally these bikes produce more power if the RPM's are kept higher than 6k. I have heard that they love to be "wound out".

Love your bike and thank's for the pictures of the Belgum countryside.

Charlie G

[SVSooke]

The 550's where noted top end bikes in the day.Makes me fell old that I can remember when these bikes where new!

[wouter]

Thanks for all the response.

As soon as the new air filter is mounted I'm going to rev it to the red line and wake the little devil inside.

[Charlie G]

Thanks for all the response.

As soon as the new air filter is mounted I'm going to rev it to the red line and wake the little devil inside.

I'm not saying to exceed the redline, mind you. I also would sujest you break and trafic laws either . Good luck and be safe.

cg

[wouter]

As I'm waiting for the new airfilter to arrive i decided to measure the valve clearance.

The bike has only 18K km so i excpected no problems.
But all valves are tight.
I' reread the manual and remeasured and i had the same result.
My smallest feeler gauge is 0.04. And It was not possible to get it underneath one of the valves.
So i took all the shims out (one by one off coures) and noted alle the sizes.
I' don't know any service history of this bike. Maybe the clearance was never checked.
This afternoon i go talk to the suz dealer and try to change shims for the correct size.

[wouter]

All valves within specs again.
The dealer agreed to swap shimmes without cost. Great service.
I realised I've synced the carbs to soon.
I'll have to redo that as soon as the new air filter is in.
Luckily I have some excperience now.

[Charlie G]

Nice dealer. Practice makes perfect.

cg

[wouter]

This morning if fitted a brand new bridgestone BT45F.
I ordered it from www.mopedreifen.de That is a german company that offers almost any tyre at good prices. I payed 70.36€+3€ shipping. I will not find it cheaper in a local shop.
It was the first time I changed a tyre without a machine. But I did it without much effort and the inner tube is not damaged .



I hope the air filter will arrive soon. I ordered it about 3 weeks ago with the other parts at the suzuki dealer. All other parts arrived the same week. It is not their, fault I know and they offer a nice service. Otherwise i would order it somewhere on the net.
But waiting takes a long time

[wouter]

The air filter arrived today, together with the valvecoverseal.
I mounted everything, did the carb sync again and took it for a testride.
Everything goes fine until 6500rmp. Then there is loss off power, the engine doesn't run well anymore and there is popping and banging in the exhaust.
I drove it home at lower than 6000rpm's without problems.
The only thing i did not check yet were the sparkplugs. I inspected them and measured the gap. They all are within spec and look clean.
Than i inspected the ignition cables. The cable nr2 was heavily corroded where the cable fits in the sparkplugcap . The cap itself was also somewhat corroded.
I cleaned the cap and shortened the cable about 1cm.

Next testride is tomorrow.