'82 GS550L - Senior Project (Father/Son) Rebuild

[spyug]

Is there a way to check the clutch operation without taking off the clutch cover (and thus having to drain the oil?

With the bike on its sidestand you can remove the sidecover with no fear of a spill. It will drain to the other side.If you impregnate the gasket with axle grease (rub it in front and back with your fingers) it will come free without tearing and be reuseable. A little tip for next time.

There is no testing that you can do that will show you exactly what is going on with the side cover in place. I would also replace the cable as they do tend cause problems like these.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

spyug

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Got the new clutch cable and cable lubricator doodad in the mail yesterday! it's a hair long because of the handlebar swap, but it looks ok. Also got the cable end barrel NOS part to replace the one Frank fabricated in the shop.

Got the cable on and routed according to the book's diagrams.

It was still a bit sticky, until Tanner lubricated the part that the adjuster screw goes into (what's that part called? it's the part that rotates when the cable is pulled?) that freed everything right up, and all is good.

Very Smooth!

Tanner is going to take it by the shop today after school and get Frank to put the grease gun on it, since we don't have a zero fitting or a grease gun.

Also got the Acewell speedo wired up and all the extra wires capped off inside the headlight bucket. That little speedo is sweet!

And got the front turn signals, and the electronic flasher "relay" wired in, so all the turn signals and indicator flashers work.

@Gatekeeper ... we soaked the fibre plates for a bit under an hour before installing them. Franks comment was "they will soak while they sit in the bike -that's where the oil is." we kinda have to trust him ... he's put more bikes together than anyone else I know.

@Spyug ... we greased up every gasket we put on. that's a trick I remember my dad teaching me when I was just a pup working on my dads VW Bug, before he sold it to me for my first car.

Went for a 4-mile test ride last night, and my older son joined is on his Volusia! first family ride!

Still to do: in no particular order ...

wait for the tank mounts to arrive in the mail so we can put the tank on the "right" way, as opposed to the jury-rigged bolts we're using now.

wait for the rear brake light switch holder nut to arrive so the foot brake more reliably triggers the brake light (it's taped into place at the moment and the switch works fine, it just doesn't always trigger when he hits the brake. dangerous, I know.)

figure out what the front brake light switch doesn't work. we took it apart and cleaned it per the BassCliff tutorial, but it doesn't work.

Attach the emblems in the side covers.

Mount the speedo leaf switch for the Acewell and calibrate it to the wheel diameter.

Wash and wax, after touching up the spots where the various lubricants and chemicals have marred the paint.

Contemplate adding a Custom Dynamics plate frame to add MORE LIGHT to the back end.

check compression and see if all the cylinders are hitting correctly. Probably replace the spark plug wires just in case.

Test the stator/rotor. no indications that anything is amiss, but it's worth him learning how to test the system.

And ride it like he built it!

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Tanner presented his project to the community volunteer judges at last night's Boards Night. He got an 86% for hs formal grade (lost points for not fully documenting the budget process), and lots of positive comments. Plus, he got to ride the bike on the school sidwalk!

It's almost finished at this point. The rear brake switch and tank mounts all came in and got installed and work.

The biggest problem right now is that cylinder #4 isn't firing correctly. Or it's not getting fuel correctly. It's running very rich, especially at low throttle, while the other three are pretty lean. We have jet kits on order.

The pilot screws (if I'm using the term correctly) on 1 through 3 are a very tight fit for a test wire to poke through, while #4 is a loose fit, so I'm hoping the fix is that simple. The plug gets good, consistent spark when we pull it and hold it against the head.

It also seems to smoke just a bit from the right pipe, especially when he revs it from idle in neutral. It doesn't really smell like oil smoke, so I'm hoping that it's gas from the rich condition. The oil level hasn't changed since he filled it the first time.

It's not as "zippy" as I'd expect it to be, and it tops out around 70mph, so there's clearly something not working right. Fortunately, Frank (Tanner's mentor) is willing to keep working with him (as opposed to simply taking it into the shop and charging shop rates) to troubleshoot and fix the problem, whatever it is.

Now Tanner has his eye on a 1987 ZX750F Ninja - the sport touring version of the race bike (MUCH cheaper insurance!). We think we can get it for $250-300, and from the pics, it has a fair amount of cosmetic damage. I'm going out to look at it tomorrow to see if there's any real damage and see if it runs.

Dang! This project stuff can be addicting!

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Oh - a couple of pics for you ...

[Good Times]

Every girl's crazy bout a sharp dressed man.

Once you get the carbs right it will purr like a kitten.

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Tanner is "Famous" (ish).

If you haven't checked out the story of Ted, who sold everything he had but his Ducati monster and hit the road on a voyage of self-discovery, you should. His blog is at www.ineverydirection.us

Tanner and I (and my wife) had the privilege of hosting Ted when he was in town a couple of weeks back, and part of the discussion about Tanner's project bike came back to Ted while he was broken down on the side of a desert highway.

His is a great story - and well worth the read!

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

For those who followed and helped with this project, here's a little bump.

The bike is up on Ebay, with a reserve of $503. Located in Jacksonville FL.