Her 550T

[gsrick]

Dinner break, time to show of the carbs

Carbs are finshed and ready to be reinstalled. Not till after we take a compression test and see if we should proceed.

Before cleaning



After soaking, new orings and polished allens and some polishing of the tops and end bowls by Bonnie........looks so much better than my photos show.






Bonnie wanted to do the center two bowls, but no one can see those. I wont be surprised to see them polished some time while I'm asleep tonight or at work tomorrow.

[Whitedog]

Tell Bonnie NICE WORK.

Rick you are lucky to have the Mrs take such and interest in maintenance on her new ride. My wife will ride her bike and fill the gas tank but she come home and tells me it needs to be washed cause she road in the rain ect. Gotta love her though, she had ridden over 14000 mile the last 2 summers.

[gsrick]

Tell Bonnie NICE WORK.

Rick you are lucky to have the Mrs take such and interest in maintenance on her new ride. My wife will ride her bike and fill the gas tank but she come home and tells me it needs to be washed cause she road in the rain ect. Gotta love her though, she had ridden over 14000 mile the last 2 summers.

Bonnie says thanks.

[gsrick]

Compression test results.

Here are the results of the comp test. I tested each cylinder twice each round and recorded the best results.
First round dry 1-4 : 30, 115, 100, 125

Second round with 1 cc of Marvel Mystery Oil: 50, 125, 140, 150

Third round with 1.5 cc more MMO: 140, 180, 160, 185
Just had to try #1 again and got 5 more for 145 psi

So what do you think?
It has been sitting for approximately a year.

PS the oil was drained last night and I ran the test with all the plugs pulled.

[gsrick]

Shes a runner

Sweet. Just came in from throwing everything back together on the 550. Fired right up like I knew what I was doing.
Didn't even need the choke, damn I'm good.
I do have a problem though. I kinda found the oil leak the PO mentioned.
Look like it's coming from behind the clutch cable cover.
I can see it coming down the back of it down the oil pan.
Not sure where it could be coming out from behind there.
Something any of you've run across?

Not too shabby looking, for just a cleaning. I did paint the starter cover with chrome paint. Not chrome, but it looks good from a distance. If I color sanded it and cleared it, who knows it might actually look like the cap did. I wanted to get it running and test the stator before pulling and polishing the covers. Seems like it's charging ok. I have to adjust and sync the carbs still, but so far I'm very happy. We'll paint it up after I check all the gaskets for any leaks, so far it's just behind the one cover.

[pete]

Nice one Rick! Love it when a plan comes together...

If it's anything like the 450, the clutch pushrod seal can be susceptible to failing and it's behind that cover... and also if it's like the 450 it shouldn't be too hard to replace without needing to split the crankcases.

[gsrick]

Nice one Rick! Love it when a plan comes together...

If it's anything like the 450, the clutch pushrod seal can be susceptible to failing and it's behind that cover... and also if it's like the 450 it shouldn't be too hard to replace without needing to split the crankcases.

Thanks Pete. That's what Eric thinks also. It was getting to late last night to start pulling off everything to investigate. I hope you both are right and that it a simple seal replacement.

[pete]

Cool. The 450 also has an oil seal behind the gear position indicator switch but I'm not sure if yours has that or not. That's even easier to replace than the clutch pushrod seal but it doesn't seem to be a common issue.

[Steve]

Nice to see a couple being into bikes together.

We took that concept a step further. Click on the "Family Portrait" link in my sig.

Bonnie wanted to do the center two bowls, but no one can see those. I wont be surprised to see them polished some time while I'm asleep tonight or at work tomorrow.

Maybe she can use these for some inspiration?









Obviously, those are also "unseen", here is the rest of the bike:







.

[gsrick]

Cool. The 450 also has an oil seal behind the gear position indicator switch but I'm not sure if yours has that or not. That's even easier to replace than the clutch pushrod seal but it doesn't seem to be a common issue.

I ordered all three seals, Gear position switch, gear shift rod, and the clutch rod. I can't find anything in my Haynes that tell how to remove the clutch seal and rod. It's bent a little and looks scared from a broken chain. I want to straighten the rod or maybe replace it if someone has a good one. It looks like there is a worn groove on the inside that might be causing my leak.

I took these last night and have removed the retaining plate(gold).

Bad photos, but you can see a difference from one side(scars) and the other (after rotation). If I try to pull out the rod it comes out about an inch and stops. That's when you can see the wear groove from inside the engine.

Anybody's help would be greatly appreciated in the removal of this seal and rod. Thanks in advance.
We also drained the oil again, removed the stator and clutch cover for polishing. I took off the VC to check the shims. It was clattering when I fired it up to check for leaks. I've got 2.70, 2.75, 2.80, and 2.85 shims to work with. Wish me luck.

[pete]

Ok Rick, that looks pretty much the same setup as the 450, easy!



Unfortunately, you have the 1 piece clutch pushrod... the good news though is that the reverse part number lookup shows it to be the same part number as used in the 80 - 82 450's... which means you can upgrade to the two piece pushrod while you're in there That makes things a lot easier as you can remove just the left piece without touching the clutch.

If your existing pushrod is bent, the two piece upgrade is even more justified

Here's the fiche for the '82 450EZ:



I have no experience with the one piece setup like you have, but I have a feeling you may need to remove the clutch to get the pushrod out as it has a threaded end.

Once you get the pushrod out of the way, the seal removal should be simple.

I believe the trick is to screw two woodscrews into it and use a pair of pliers to yank it out. As you can see by the fiche there's not a lot holding the seal in, which is why it has the retainer plate instead.

[gsrick]

Ok Rick, that looks pretty much the same setup as the 450, easy!



Unfortunately, you have the 1 piece clutch pushrod... the good news though is that the reverse part number lookup shows it to be the same part number as used in the 80 - 82 450's... which means you can upgrade to the two piece pushrod while you're in there That makes things a lot easier as you can remove just the left piece without touching the clutch.

If your existing pushrod is bent, the two piece upgrade is even more justified

Here's the fiche for the '82 450EZ:



I have no experience with the one piece setup like you have, but I have a feeling you may need to remove the clutch to get the pushrod out as it has a threaded end.

Once you get the pushrod out of the way, the seal removal should be simple.

I believe the trick is to screw two woodscrews into it and use a pair of pliers to yank it out. As you can see by the fiche there's not a lot holding the seal in, which is why it has the retainer plate instead.

Thanks for the advice Pete, I've never taken a clutch apart on a bike. Is there any special tool needed? The second schematic for the 450 explains the rods relationship to the clutch. The drafter seems to have forgotten to ad a center line lining everything up. I get it now. I've ordered the two 450 rods, I hope they fit. Boulevard Suzuki doesn't have the 550 part listed for sale to check the numbers myself. I use them when I can, since I can pick it up from their brick and morter store, Deland Motersports.

[gsrick]

update

I took the clutch apart to get the rod out, though my seals haven't shown up yet. Took it apart farther than needed, but I wanted to inspect everything. The rod could have been removed by just removing the the springs pressure plate and clutch thrust piece(11-17)Clutch looks ok, as does everything else. Any suggestions of maintenence while it's all apart?



Here'fs the ofending clutch rod, hope the two piece 450 rods work.
Notice the gouges on both side of were it rides in the seal. These are what was causing the oil leak. The seal actually looks good, but I'm going to replace it anyway.


No valve job either, the feeler gauges I bought a few months ago aren't fine enough to use here. I'll try to pick up some while I'm in Daytona tomorrow.
It looks nice and clean up there.

[gsrick]

Got the rods Pete, hope it works, but it sure looks different. I'll find out tomorrow, the important parts are the same, length, width at seal.

[pete]

Excellent Rick, sorry I lost track of this thread for a bit.

Your existing rod certainly looks like it's had a hard life and the two piece should make it easier to maintain in future.

Hopefully the seals go in and play nice and the pushrod is an easy swap too.

I'm no clutch guru but I suspect just check the spring free length and plate thicknesses to make sure all is good and in spec while you've got it apart.