my "new" 1980 gs550e

[phatts27]

I was looking t the z1 bolt kits, they seem like a great investment. I think I'll pick up a set.

It was pretty dry of oil in the head when I opened it. That may be because when I picked up the bike from PA, it was loaded on a lifted pickup with no ramps. The front end went up first and had the bike at a pretty serious angle before loading the rear. It had to be greater than 45° but it wasn't quite vertical. Reverse for unloading. I have not attempted to start it because I haven't fiddled with everything yet. Eil, how much oil should I put in there?

I took the photos directly after taking off the cam cover. I have rags stuffed just about everywhere now.Unfortunately, I don't have an indoor workspace. I have a piece of cardboard on top of the head, draped in a canvas bag with a larger trash bag over top. It's all weighed down by a piece of 2x4 I found laying around. I also have the bike cover on and clasped to keep the rain at bay. I would kill for a heated, lit garage!

[phatts27]

Ok, I sent Ray a message over there at the gs shim club. I've never done a valve adjustment before. One I figured out how to use the valve tool, I felt like an old pro! Thank you basscliff, I can't type that enough! I'm fairly certain that my engine would have grenaded sooner rather than later with gaps like these.

All sizes metric
Current gap/current shim

Intake
1.) .038/2.70x
2.) .051/2.65x
3.) .038(tight)/2.65x
4.) .063/2.65

Exhaust
1.) .051(tight)/2.65x
2.) .038/2.75
3.) .076/2.65x
4.) .076(loose)/2.65x

[phatts27]

This is still new to me. The idea is to get close to .08mm, correct? Do I leave my shims with .076 clearance where they are and address the rest?

Am I doing this right?

Example:I1, .038/2.70x

To get to .08, I would need to subtract .04 from the shim size. Do I need a 2.30x?

[Pete's GS]

Oh man, those old Windjammers. Real POS. But Vetter sold over 400,000 of them.

[phatts27]

Today, I tore into carbs. Those screws were trouble but a good screwdriver with a vice grip on it made easy work of those suckers. I was only able to remove 1 float hinge today, I have a Ken Talbot tool on order to finish the job.

The bike still had the idle mix plugs in play. I managed to remove the plugs but I am sure I will wreck the idle screws. None are mangled yet, thank God. WHY WON'T THEY COOPERATE! Pb blaster let me down!

[eil]

This is still new to me. The idea is to get close to .08mm, correct? Do I leave my shims with .076 clearance where they are and address the rest?

Am I doing this right?

Example:I1, .038/2.70x

To get to .08, I would need to subtract .04 from the shim size. Do I need a 2.30x?

You're absolutely sure you're talking all metric measurements, right? When I see 0.038, I think thousands of an inch. But for now I'll assume that you're using thou feelers with metric approximations on them. If you can actually fit the 0.038mm feeler between the shim and the cam lobe, then the clearance is actually okay. As long as the range is between 0.03mm and 0.08mm on all valves (you can actually go as high as 0.1mm and be fine), then you're good to go: no shims needed, button it all up and check again in 10k miles.

If you need to increase clearance, you would go for the next smaller shim size. The 'x' in 2.70x means it's somewhere between 2.70 and 2.75. So you would step down to either 2.70 or 2.65. (2.30 is waaay to small, mind that decmial point!)

Valve clearance never gets larger on its own. It can only happen if the PO put the wrong shim in or some crud is holding the valve open.

And about the oil, just put in enough to mostly fill the pockets without overflowing.

[phatts27]

Thank you eil,

You're right, I'm using the metric approximation on an inch feeler set. I remember just barely being able to get a feeler under one lobe, I.3.; it was very tight. .0015"/.038mm is the smallest feeler I have in my set.

Danm those decimal points! Math never was my strong suit.

I'll button her up and check again in 10k. Thank you for the help. Now I know I can do the job!

[phatts27]

I went to autozone and picked up a spring loaded center punch for $2.99. Removing the float pins was a piece of cake with this handy little tool. I also cut into my idle mixture towers in order to extract the screws and every one came out ok, thank God. I was sure I was most of the way to a botch job until the first screw started to twist. I frigged up the new slots I made a few times before I decided to dig my dremmel deeper into the housing. It turned to be a good move as it left every screw with a healthy, hefty straight slot.

I completely tore the carbs apart and chem-dipped them before using my ultrasonic cleaner with a light pinesol/water solution. The hf ultrasonic cleaner (and an old toothbrush) did a way better job than the berrymans (0996). I cleaned up my threads using various dies, greased and installed all the o-rings, set my floats and bench synced the butterflies. Reassembly was easy thanks to the freshly cut threads. From start to finish, it took me 7 hours but it was well worth the effort. The carbs look new again! Hopefully, they'll perform as good as new, too.

[phatts27]

Get yourself an impact screwdriver and stripped screws will be a thing of the past

Would an electric impact driver be worth the investment? I don't have an air compressor yet but I know that's probably the right way to go. I need the driver to get out the intake boot bolts, those suckers wouldn't budge! Would harbor freight be a good place to look?

I'm also looking into getting a set of ss brake lines for her. Nearly every kit I've come across is from the UK and I'm not sure if they are the same as their US counterpart. I see multiple listings for the bike, but some listings say 3, others say 4 line set. Could I use either? I'll probably get the paragon set.

Finally, I'm looking for a complete headlight setup for this hog. Are the "e" and "l" headlight assemblies interchangeable? I need everything: glass, rubbers, ears, bucket, adjusters.

Thank you all,
Ed

[phatts27]

I picked up an impact driver from harbor freight. I got the lithium ion type, that thing is awesome. I nabbed a 34" black coated ss brake line to replace the old front hoses and a master cylinder from an 08 klr650. I also picked up a new set of carb holders and a sync set. I found a headlight setup on eBay and I got the k&s turn signals nessism had listed in the parts for sale section. This project is moving along nicely.

Next on the list is to determine what some of these owner installed wires do. Curiously, they are all green...