Mike R's GS550/650 bare bones street racer

[boontonmike]

I'm in talks with someone about buying a complete 78 550 kicker for a pretty good price. My goal is to sell it off and make my money back but keep the engine. OnceI'm done with the current build I'd like to build a second engine 550/673, but now you guys have me thinking 699 , with even more power mods, i.e. valve jobs, head work, cams, and some more custom stuff that i dream of doing.

[tkent02]

I'm throwing one together soon, 675cc, all stock, then taking my time to build a better one, 699, cams, head work, etc.
Got two spare 550 engines to work with...
Should be fun.

[boontonmike]

I'm throwing one together soon, 675cc, all stock, then taking my time to build a better one, 699, cams, head work, etc.
Got two spare 550 engines to work with...
Should be fun.

Awsome ! sounds like we are on the same page. Keep me updated on that as I would love to follow that engine build. I'm thinking We should be able to squeeze 90HP out of these puppies naturally aspirated which is downright amazing.

[tkent02]

Awsome ! sounds like we are on the same page. Keep me updated on that as I would love to follow that engine build. I'm thinking We should be able to squeeze 90HP out of these puppies naturally aspirated which is downright amazing.

That would be amazing, and amazingly expensive I bet. I would be happy to get the performance of an old 850 without all of the weight and massiveness.
At any rate, it will be fun to make it happen.

[boontonmike]

Well, I picked up another 550, which I just posted to part out in the for sale section. this gives me the oppurtunity to have a spare engine for parts and a future high output N/A or turbo motor.

My knee is healing pretty good and I'm back on my feet walking. Slightly achey and painful, but I can start cracking on the bike again. I'm going to head up to the bike in a bit and work on finishing off my seat/seat pan. I ended up doing a little trimming on the seat so it wasnt so bulky yet still retains the same style.

I pulled the flywheel (which was tough as hell and bent my puller) and gutted all the starter clutch parts and the gear. That takes off a large amount of uneeded rotating mass on the crank. I'm hoping with the flatslide style carbs, quarter turn throttle, and all the weight off the crank that it'll have a dirtbike like snappy-ness to it. Only time will tell and I really need to start fiddlig with wiring the bike up and getting it prepped for start up. I've set a May timeframe for initial startup.

[boontonmike]

Decided to slap on the rest of my side cover gaskets, carbs boot o rings, bolt everything down. Threw on the ignition and fired her up. The carbs were overflowing from what I believe to be the float bowl settings. She ran on a mix of ether and gas after only a couple kicks. Scared the crap out of me. Video will be up shortly.

[boontonmike]

^^^^ Click for Video ^^^^

Still lots of work ahead, but a great motivational kick in the ass to know that it's a runner after all the mods.

[DannyMotor]

Good job man! Can't wait to see if mine runs!

[Tim Tom]

Its a shouty one! Congrats on start up, now just a bit more fine tuning and you can get it to stay running for a bit longer. If you haven't already

Cant wait to see this thing finished up and on the road, it's a kick ass build.

[boontonmike]

Pictures of the delted starter clutch assembly. Looks nice and light. In the future I would like to get a crank machined to tuck the flywheel in closer.





Hydraulic clutch:



Exhaust hanger made from old shock linkage piece:



Tore the carbs I bought off ebay down to do some mods, they were darn clean. I set the flaot heights and added some dyna needles I had from another set of carbs that are the same. They are on the 3rd clip from the top, pilot screws are 2 1/2 turns out and running 110 and 112.5 mains. Runs pretty damn good for a first go guess at setup:

[boontonmike]

Here she is in her test mode glory, notice the ghetto tank setup: electric is fairly cleaned up. I will be doing a heat shrink perfect harness when all is said and done after I get the bike dialed and all the eletrical on it:



She idles real nice, revs up really good. Has one small stutter off idle that I need to tune out. With the 1/4 turn throttle you pretty much skip over it. I took her out for a test ride but I need to get a plate and insurance before I go too nuts. Clutch was slipping which may be from sitting for 3 years in crappy oil. Worst case scenario I will get stiffer springs and new plates.

The bike ridses just how I want it to so far. Crack the throttle and it jumps forward with power and aggression. I need t bolt the seat on because all I was doing was almost falling off the damn thing.

I ordered the AEM so I will be able to dial the bike in.

I'm going to go to DMV tomorrow and get the bike legal followed by alot of future testing and tuning. I can't wait. I have some more videos to put up too.

[boontonmike]

To those who've PMed me about anything recently I've been consumed by this build lately and apologize for not getting back to you.

[DannyMotor]

I like the direction this took! However, how are you gonna get a full kick out of it with the peg in the way? You're only really doing about 1/3 of the kick-stroke.

I love the oil cooler lines, and the hydro clutch! Great, great work so far!

[boontonmike]

I like the direction this took! However, how are you gonna get a full kick out of it with the peg in the way? You're only really doing about 1/3 of the kick-stroke.

I love the oil cooler lines, and the hydro clutch! Great, great work so far!

I pulled the spring setup from that footpeg and used a nut, bolt, and washers to create a friction fit. it hold tight but allows you to pull it all the way up and it stays there why you crank it over. just gotta remember to flip it down before riding off.

Thanks for the compliments.

[DannyMotor]

I pulled the spring setup from that footpeg and used a nut, bolt, and washers to create a friction fit. it hold tight but allows you to pull it all the way up and it stays there why you crank it over. just gotta remember to flip it down before riding off.

Thanks for the compliments.

Well in that case, that's pretty damn trick! Nice indeed.