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Hi all,
I promised I would start a project thread about a month ago, it's taken me a while as I've just been busy reading the forums here and working on the bike in my spare time. I've taken some pics along the way so I will start from the beginning here.
So, for those who didn't see my thread in the New Starters section - this is my first project bike after passing my motorcycle test in August. After 7 hours and a 300 mile round trip and hiring a trailer with no ramp, this is what the bike looked like when I got home.
It is a 1977 GS550 with spoked rims, dual disc brakes at the front and drum at the rear. The serial number ends in 199 which makes this one of the first 200 550's (just). The bike had been off the road since 1997 (last tax disc expired 31 Dec 96), I got some paperwork with the bike, showing the last 3 MOTs from 93, 94 and 95. They showed that the bike covered less than 3,000 miles between 93 and 97. (Currently at 35k) The previous owner had purchased the bike as a cafe racer project, but acquired a Honda CB550 that was a little further along so this one took a back seat, he told me he had flushed the tank and cleaned the carbs, he couldn't quite get the bike running when I was viewing but I took the chance at took it home. He threw in 4 carb rebuild kits, 4 new plugs and a Haynes manual. My aim for now is to get the bike running and on the road, for as little £ as I can.
This being my first project, I wasn't confident handling the mechanical elements straight away (plus having no garage or indoor space to work, I wanted to wait for days with slightly better weather before pulling the carbs off) so the cleaning began.
Starting at the rear wheel, cheap Cola and aluminium foil took care of the rim, while WD-40 and a steel scourer cleaned up the spokes. See below before/after:
Rear shocks also received the WD40 and scourer treatment and came up really well. The biggest challenge was the front wheel; the spokes and rim were much worse, I tried numerous things: autosol, scourers, steel wool, brass wire brush, white vinegar but nothing was working. In the end I treated them some Hammerite KuRust and painted them Stone Silver.
The seat needed a new cover so I sourced one from eBay (BobTheSeat) and gave the seat pan a clean and a coat of paint
Before:
After:
It was now time to move on to getting the bike running properly. I bought and fitted a new battery and just about got the bike to start, but only on 2 or 3 cylinders at a time. I decided it was best to tackle carbs first as the most likely culprit. The previous owner said he had cleaned the carbs, but I was curious as to why he gave me carb rebuild kits if he had already pulled them apart. When I opened them up it became apparent he had not touched them. I cleaned the the bowls and the jets with carb cleaner, replaced the bowl gaskets and refitted.
The bike started much easier, but still only on 2 or 3 cylinders (nos 3 and 4 not running), I did loads of research, started looking into the electrics and then it occurred to me that 3 and 4 were connected together with a vacuum hose. The previous owner for some reason had attached the vacuum hose from no 3 that should go to the petcock, to the bowl breather on 4 which must have been sucking all of the fuel from no 4 into 3 which would explain why the plug was so black. With everything connected to where it should be, the bike finally roared into life on all 4 cylinders.
Once the bike got warm I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust, I hadn't done a compression test at this point so my thoughts were worn piston rings. I saw wisps of white smoke coming from the carb area, so I thought it must be pre-carb. I remembered not knowing how much oil to add to the replacement air filter I fitted when I first got the bike, so I pulled it and sure enough there was oil dripping into the bottom of the air box as the oil had sunk to the bottom end of the filter, took out the excess oil and the smoking has dramatically decreased. I'm hoping running the bike more will clear the rest of the oil in the system.
My plan now is to get the bike booked in for a carb sync, compression test and MOT and get it on the road.
There are still a few things to do cosmetically (dent in the tank, paint on the tank etc) but these I can tackle through the winter. Here is the bike as she stands today, not bad for a month with a few evenings/weekends I think?
I promised I would start a project thread about a month ago, it's taken me a while as I've just been busy reading the forums here and working on the bike in my spare time. I've taken some pics along the way so I will start from the beginning here.
So, for those who didn't see my thread in the New Starters section - this is my first project bike after passing my motorcycle test in August. After 7 hours and a 300 mile round trip and hiring a trailer with no ramp, this is what the bike looked like when I got home.
It is a 1977 GS550 with spoked rims, dual disc brakes at the front and drum at the rear. The serial number ends in 199 which makes this one of the first 200 550's (just). The bike had been off the road since 1997 (last tax disc expired 31 Dec 96), I got some paperwork with the bike, showing the last 3 MOTs from 93, 94 and 95. They showed that the bike covered less than 3,000 miles between 93 and 97. (Currently at 35k) The previous owner had purchased the bike as a cafe racer project, but acquired a Honda CB550 that was a little further along so this one took a back seat, he told me he had flushed the tank and cleaned the carbs, he couldn't quite get the bike running when I was viewing but I took the chance at took it home. He threw in 4 carb rebuild kits, 4 new plugs and a Haynes manual. My aim for now is to get the bike running and on the road, for as little £ as I can.
This being my first project, I wasn't confident handling the mechanical elements straight away (plus having no garage or indoor space to work, I wanted to wait for days with slightly better weather before pulling the carbs off) so the cleaning began.
Starting at the rear wheel, cheap Cola and aluminium foil took care of the rim, while WD-40 and a steel scourer cleaned up the spokes. See below before/after:
Rear shocks also received the WD40 and scourer treatment and came up really well. The biggest challenge was the front wheel; the spokes and rim were much worse, I tried numerous things: autosol, scourers, steel wool, brass wire brush, white vinegar but nothing was working. In the end I treated them some Hammerite KuRust and painted them Stone Silver.
The seat needed a new cover so I sourced one from eBay (BobTheSeat) and gave the seat pan a clean and a coat of paint
Before:
After:
It was now time to move on to getting the bike running properly. I bought and fitted a new battery and just about got the bike to start, but only on 2 or 3 cylinders at a time. I decided it was best to tackle carbs first as the most likely culprit. The previous owner said he had cleaned the carbs, but I was curious as to why he gave me carb rebuild kits if he had already pulled them apart. When I opened them up it became apparent he had not touched them. I cleaned the the bowls and the jets with carb cleaner, replaced the bowl gaskets and refitted.
The bike started much easier, but still only on 2 or 3 cylinders (nos 3 and 4 not running), I did loads of research, started looking into the electrics and then it occurred to me that 3 and 4 were connected together with a vacuum hose. The previous owner for some reason had attached the vacuum hose from no 3 that should go to the petcock, to the bowl breather on 4 which must have been sucking all of the fuel from no 4 into 3 which would explain why the plug was so black. With everything connected to where it should be, the bike finally roared into life on all 4 cylinders.
Once the bike got warm I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust, I hadn't done a compression test at this point so my thoughts were worn piston rings. I saw wisps of white smoke coming from the carb area, so I thought it must be pre-carb. I remembered not knowing how much oil to add to the replacement air filter I fitted when I first got the bike, so I pulled it and sure enough there was oil dripping into the bottom of the air box as the oil had sunk to the bottom end of the filter, took out the excess oil and the smoking has dramatically decreased. I'm hoping running the bike more will clear the rest of the oil in the system.
My plan now is to get the bike booked in for a carb sync, compression test and MOT and get it on the road.
There are still a few things to do cosmetically (dent in the tank, paint on the tank etc) but these I can tackle through the winter. Here is the bike as she stands today, not bad for a month with a few evenings/weekends I think?
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