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So I finally found my project 550... I've been jonsing to do a 550/673 build for a while now but have been patiently waiting for the donor bike to come along.
I ended up nabbing this 1980 GS550L for $200. It's in decent shape for the price. Needs cables, battery, R&R (stock is in there) and all round maintenance and I bet if I kept it stock I could get in on the road for under $500...
The Goal here is to find a donor 650 E bike (I'd use the E components on my 650L and motor on the 550 Proto Sport). There is one local to me but the compression is bad... I'll see what I can't talk him down to. I may have to source over sized pistons to make that work for he says compression dropped for he "over" honed it. If all else fails I'll place an add on GSR for a 650 jugs, Pistons, head and misc. bits to complete the project.
So the overall goal here is to build a sporty light weight GS with a small block 4 cylinder in the 80-100 hp range. Standard upright position (don't want to go down the clip on route) but updated suspension, wheel and brake conversions. I'm looking at inverted front ends with radially mounted calipers (Modern Super sport 600 front ends). I'm shooting for a 120 70 ZR17 front and a 180 55 ZR17 in the rear. It's going to be tricky lining everything up but I'm confident with updated... Converting to mono shock is still up in the air. I can buy a complete FZ6 rear end with rim in the $100 range... So I'm sure there will be some great reduction in weight going this route. With 80-100 hp on tap and this wheel and suspension setup in the end should yield a potent little Proto Sport.
So I started to tear into the bike to see what we are dealing with.
Tins are complete and break free BUT they are in desperate need of paint. I'll plan on using these to retain a stock look.
Petcock needs to be replaced... It's damaged from the PO trying to make it flow fuel when off...
The Guts of the machine are all in stock form, which is good. No signs of tampering or splicing. Making my job easier when it comes time to strip out the frame for a fresh coat of paint.
I've never seen a 4-1 Vance and Hines like this for these little 4-cylinders... The PO welded one of the tabs to a broken exhaust stud... I wasn't concerned for I won't be using the 550 top end anyway. Motor is clean and free of any leaks. I wonder if this pipe will do well with the 673 or not...
I'll be yanking the engine guards off and placing them on my 650L... They will clean up nice, chrome is still in decent shape.
Never seen caps like this before!
I may send these out for clean and polish to one of our members.... I'm not sure yet which route to go for carburation.
So it should be a fun time and money soak... I enjoy these projects and I'm excited to get another classic GS back on the road although once completed the only thing classic on it will be the motor and frame.
I ended up nabbing this 1980 GS550L for $200. It's in decent shape for the price. Needs cables, battery, R&R (stock is in there) and all round maintenance and I bet if I kept it stock I could get in on the road for under $500...
The Goal here is to find a donor 650 E bike (I'd use the E components on my 650L and motor on the 550 Proto Sport). There is one local to me but the compression is bad... I'll see what I can't talk him down to. I may have to source over sized pistons to make that work for he says compression dropped for he "over" honed it. If all else fails I'll place an add on GSR for a 650 jugs, Pistons, head and misc. bits to complete the project.
So the overall goal here is to build a sporty light weight GS with a small block 4 cylinder in the 80-100 hp range. Standard upright position (don't want to go down the clip on route) but updated suspension, wheel and brake conversions. I'm looking at inverted front ends with radially mounted calipers (Modern Super sport 600 front ends). I'm shooting for a 120 70 ZR17 front and a 180 55 ZR17 in the rear. It's going to be tricky lining everything up but I'm confident with updated... Converting to mono shock is still up in the air. I can buy a complete FZ6 rear end with rim in the $100 range... So I'm sure there will be some great reduction in weight going this route. With 80-100 hp on tap and this wheel and suspension setup in the end should yield a potent little Proto Sport.
So I started to tear into the bike to see what we are dealing with.
Tins are complete and break free BUT they are in desperate need of paint. I'll plan on using these to retain a stock look.
Petcock needs to be replaced... It's damaged from the PO trying to make it flow fuel when off...
The Guts of the machine are all in stock form, which is good. No signs of tampering or splicing. Making my job easier when it comes time to strip out the frame for a fresh coat of paint.
I've never seen a 4-1 Vance and Hines like this for these little 4-cylinders... The PO welded one of the tabs to a broken exhaust stud... I wasn't concerned for I won't be using the 550 top end anyway. Motor is clean and free of any leaks. I wonder if this pipe will do well with the 673 or not...
I'll be yanking the engine guards off and placing them on my 650L... They will clean up nice, chrome is still in decent shape.
Never seen caps like this before!
I may send these out for clean and polish to one of our members.... I'm not sure yet which route to go for carburation.
So it should be a fun time and money soak... I enjoy these projects and I'm excited to get another classic GS back on the road although once completed the only thing classic on it will be the motor and frame.
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