1982 GS550M Katana Rebuild

[mv577]

Thanks Vmass! I had looked at the parts fiche and seen it listed as a one year... wasn't sure if anyone successfully used another box in there...

Have you bought from Motorsloop? I'll grab that now if it's legit lol

[Vmass]

Thanks Vmass! I had looked at the parts fiche and seen it listed as a one year... wasn't sure if anyone successfully used another box in there...

Have you bought from Motorsloop? I'll grab that now if it's legit lol

I have not. Proceed with optimism and caution!

[mv577]

I have not. Proceed with optimism and caution!

Understood lol...

I found one dealer that still lists it with a price on their site... I'm going to call them when they open to see if they actually have it... fingers crossed

http://www.coynepowersports.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=93482&category=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1982&fveh=2115

[Vmass]

Understood lol...

I found one dealer that still lists it with a price on their site... I'm going to call them when they open to see if they actually have it... fingers crossed

http://www.coynepowersports.com/fich...1982&fveh=2115

That's unlikely. Back to motorspool, this link should put their site in English, with a bunch of 550m parts:

http://www.motorsloop.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=gs550m

[mv577]

That's unlikely. Back to motorspool, this link should put their site in English, with a bunch of 550m parts:
http://www.motorsloop.com/index.php?...keyword=gs550m

Well I will let you know... I didn't pull the trigger on the airbox... but they had a nice gas tank that I just bought... so much nicer then mine... 115 EUR... $124.51 shipped...



Figure I can still clean the rust from my tank and get a couple of bucks for it here...

[Wallowgreen]

Just FYI, I bought a brand new tank from England for mine. That's the tank on it now but to my dismay I found the tank did not have the hole for the fuel level sensor. I concluded at least UK bikes were not fitted with them from the the factory but that's based on nothing more than my experience. Not sure how widespread that may be in Europe.

Can't add anything to the reflector problem, mine has them so never had to look for any.

[mv577]

Just FYI, I bought a brand new tank from England for mine. That's the tank on it now but to my dismay I found the tank did not have the hole for the fuel level sensor. I concluded at least UK bikes were not fitted with them from the the factory but that's based on nothing more than my experience. Not sure how widespread that may be in Europe.

Can't add anything to the reflector problem, mine has them so never had to look for any.

Hmmm interesting... well I guess we'll see! Had you looked into having the hole cut and installing the sensor?

[Wallowgreen]

I have not so far, was working under time constraints at the time that have now disappeared so still an option going forward

[mv577]

Deconstruction continues...

I had a chance to really dig into the bike tonight... For the most part I found what I expected... neglect... hack jobs... 34 years of poor maintenance...

Taking out the wire harness I started to see the extent of the work needed... one interesting find was sign of some sort of fire at or around the battery:



Stator wire burnt



Melted chain guard



Melted inner fender well

I'm guessing that's also why the plastic inner battery tray is missing... Getting the swingarm off took some doing as the bolt was pretty seized and the bearings of course are junk



Overall though in the 2 hours or so I had things went well... The foot peg torx bit bolts are seized and some stripped so that should be fun... I left those for another day... Here's how she sits now... quickly loosing weight!!!







Parts are piling up!



Back to sourcing parts tomorrow...

[mv577]

I didn't have much time tonight to work on the bike... but I did get most of the rest of the little bits off the frame...



The bottom of the kickstand seems rotted out... should it be solid?



I decided to pull my shop crane and load leveler in the basement to help support the bike when the front end comes off... I figure I may have to also use it to raise the bike then lower it to the ground to tip the engine out...



I've been sourcing parts all week and when I come across something NOS that isn't available I jump on it... my first presents came today... Here we have a NOS headlight rim to replace the dented and repainted one on the bike



I was surprised to see it was painted silver... I thought it would be chrome... I like it!



My new front master cylinder came in today as well... and yes I know it's not OEM...



I had ordered a seat off Ebay which also came in... Mine has been redone in straight black... this one was cheap but I was hoping it was in better shape



I figure my upholsterer will now at least have the pattern to go from when I have it redone...

and last I grabbed some Dupli-Color DE1607 when I was at a local parts store for the red bits... Thank you to Sci85 for the info on that in his build thread



I had picked up a tumbler and some media thinking it would help clean bolts... I set that up tonight then read it's 2-6 hours to remove rust... I don't know if I'll keep it... that's a lot of buzzing lol... and I have a bench grinder with wire wheel...



That's it for tonight!

[Caferacernoc]

Oooooh! I see drums!

[mv577]

Oooooh! I see drums!

Lol... yup... given to us for the kids... never been used since lol

[mv577]

Pulled the engine out today... went smooth with an extra pair of hands or two...





Frame is just about ready to start being stripped (other then removing the steering head races and the rubber grommets for the side panels anyway)



I then went to work on the swingarm bearings... I returned the tumbler to Harbor Freight and picked up a blinder hole bearing puller instead



I had soaked the spacers and bearings in Kroil overnight which helped the spacers just slide out... The bearings weren't playing as nice and weren't budging with just the puller... My helping hands applied some heat and a few good wacks later the bearings were out!



That was about it for today... I got another batch of Ebay parts though!!



Which included a side cover!!! Swords are awesome!

[Wallowgreen]

See... she's looking better already

Sidestand should be solid at the bottom, mine is anyway.

[mv577]

See... she's looking better already

Sidestand should be solid at the bottom, mine is anyway.

Ya that's what I figured... and of course it's a discontinued... If by the time comes I can't find one I'll try and weld a new base to this one or something... hopefully my daily searches turn up something!

and I agree! It's refreshing to have it apart and sorting it out... a lot less daunting actually then when it was together looking like a basket case!