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Hey, just wanted to post in here and describe how I got my airbox on and off a couple times this weekend. I've read here and there that it's a beast to get in and out. It's a pain, but it's not that bad if you know what to do. Here are a couple notes that may be of some help to anyone who needs to do it in the future. Took me about 2 hours last night for a full removal and replacement from the time I walked through the shop door until the time i put the sockets back in the drawer.
I've been contemplating swapping to pods as a PO had removed (and lost) the top of the filter housing, and for some reason drilled a hole in the air plenum which obviously is killing my mixture... i ran it for a while with a piece of duct tape over the hole, and the top of the box partially covered but it was still running lean. Idling pretty high once it warmed up. Took things apart to do the intake boot O rings, and discovered that the boots on the airbox side of the carbs were ripped up in a couple spots. definitely a problem... I had (at the time) settled for planning on swapping to pods, and re-jetting. Went to a sweet little shop in Edmonton that also does bike salvage (Edmonton Cycle and Salvage) to see if I could get some jets for my carbs, and perhaps the pods. As it turns out they didn't have either, but they did have a salvaged airbox hanging from the ceiling with "GS550" stamped in to the plastic. Boots still on, and in good shape... no cracks, just a little hard. BINGO!!!! Decided to jump ship on the pods, and try to figure out a way to make my bike look the way I want without deleting the airbox.
Paid the man $40 and travelled home to start pulling things apart...
I threw the entire air plenum with the boots still on into a large pot of boiling water. If anything is deformed, this helps to get it back to it's original shape, while separating some of the chemicals that may have been absorbed into the rubber boots... at least that's the theory. I've done this with o-ring type gasket seals from lawnmower carb bowls that seem impossible to re-use because they absorb some fuel and don't fit in the detent properly once they are pulled out. a few minutes in boiling water and they will usually go back to their original intended shape. Seemed to help with the intake boots. Softened the rubber right up, and got a lot of that salvage yard dust out of there that had been collecting over the years.
Here's the step by step on removal/refitting.
remove tank, seat and air filter,
To remove your airbox, on the 550, it's really important that you take the rear mudguard out, or at least push it back. There is a post elsewhere that describes this in detail with pictures. In my case it was missing altogether, so no problems there for me.
Remove the battery, pull all the electric components off the side of the airbox, and remove the battery box.
loosen all the clamps on the intake boots on both sides of the carbs and remove the 3 bolts that hold the airbox to the frame.
pull the airbox back and tip downward while pressing the carb rack upward and froward. It should slip off with a little gumption.
pull the throttle cables off the carb. not a bad idea to sap a pic of the cable adjustment locations here before you do, as you can't get them off very easily without changing the setup. at least a pic will get you into the ballpark when you go to re-set it.
pull the carb rack out by pulling upward and backward so it moves past the aribox that is sitting as far down as possible.
once it's free of the boots, take it out to the right side of the bike, so you aren't competing w/ the clutch cable.
separate metal airbox and plastic air plenum (4 screws). It helps to have small hands here.
Air plenum comes out to the right, watch that you don't bend up the clutch cable.
airbox should come out to the left through the triangle.
Just to this in reverse order for assembly, but once you get to the point where you are ready to put the carb rack back in, stop. grab a hair dryer and warm up the boots first, they'll get nice and soft when they are warm and expand a little. Pre-position your hose clamps so you don't have to fight with them once the rack is in, and make sure they are backed off as much as possible
once all 8 boots are warmed up squirt a small amount of WD40 onto the inside edge of the boots. rub it around with your finger so you get the entire leading surfaces lubricated put the rack in to the engine side boots first. It should bottom out fairly obviously here. Make sure it's definitely in all the way, then tighten the clamps.
push the airbox on as much as you can so that all the boots are at least started. then grab something blunt about 4" long like a socket drive extension. I used a 1-1/2"x3/4" bit of wood that I had laying around and just cut it to a decent length where i could get my hand in the aribox and push on it. press the centre of the airbox through the filter hole using your blunt object and work one of the outside boots on to the carb. Clamp it down, and work your magic with your push block to get carbs 2&3 on as far as you can. once they are mostly seated you can push the opposite carb to the one that is clamped all the way on just by pressing from the outside. It takes a bit of wiggling but it will go. clamp it, and then you can work the centre carbs on the rest of the way by pressing from the inside with the stick in different locations at different angles.
follow through with the rest of the instructions in reverse order until everything looks normal again, and then grab your lid and go for a ride!
feel free to comment if i've missed anything here, or if you have any other suggestions!
I've been contemplating swapping to pods as a PO had removed (and lost) the top of the filter housing, and for some reason drilled a hole in the air plenum which obviously is killing my mixture... i ran it for a while with a piece of duct tape over the hole, and the top of the box partially covered but it was still running lean. Idling pretty high once it warmed up. Took things apart to do the intake boot O rings, and discovered that the boots on the airbox side of the carbs were ripped up in a couple spots. definitely a problem... I had (at the time) settled for planning on swapping to pods, and re-jetting. Went to a sweet little shop in Edmonton that also does bike salvage (Edmonton Cycle and Salvage) to see if I could get some jets for my carbs, and perhaps the pods. As it turns out they didn't have either, but they did have a salvaged airbox hanging from the ceiling with "GS550" stamped in to the plastic. Boots still on, and in good shape... no cracks, just a little hard. BINGO!!!! Decided to jump ship on the pods, and try to figure out a way to make my bike look the way I want without deleting the airbox.
Paid the man $40 and travelled home to start pulling things apart...
I threw the entire air plenum with the boots still on into a large pot of boiling water. If anything is deformed, this helps to get it back to it's original shape, while separating some of the chemicals that may have been absorbed into the rubber boots... at least that's the theory. I've done this with o-ring type gasket seals from lawnmower carb bowls that seem impossible to re-use because they absorb some fuel and don't fit in the detent properly once they are pulled out. a few minutes in boiling water and they will usually go back to their original intended shape. Seemed to help with the intake boots. Softened the rubber right up, and got a lot of that salvage yard dust out of there that had been collecting over the years.
Here's the step by step on removal/refitting.
remove tank, seat and air filter,
To remove your airbox, on the 550, it's really important that you take the rear mudguard out, or at least push it back. There is a post elsewhere that describes this in detail with pictures. In my case it was missing altogether, so no problems there for me.
Remove the battery, pull all the electric components off the side of the airbox, and remove the battery box.
loosen all the clamps on the intake boots on both sides of the carbs and remove the 3 bolts that hold the airbox to the frame.
pull the airbox back and tip downward while pressing the carb rack upward and froward. It should slip off with a little gumption.
pull the throttle cables off the carb. not a bad idea to sap a pic of the cable adjustment locations here before you do, as you can't get them off very easily without changing the setup. at least a pic will get you into the ballpark when you go to re-set it.
pull the carb rack out by pulling upward and backward so it moves past the aribox that is sitting as far down as possible.
once it's free of the boots, take it out to the right side of the bike, so you aren't competing w/ the clutch cable.
separate metal airbox and plastic air plenum (4 screws). It helps to have small hands here.
Air plenum comes out to the right, watch that you don't bend up the clutch cable.
airbox should come out to the left through the triangle.
Just to this in reverse order for assembly, but once you get to the point where you are ready to put the carb rack back in, stop. grab a hair dryer and warm up the boots first, they'll get nice and soft when they are warm and expand a little. Pre-position your hose clamps so you don't have to fight with them once the rack is in, and make sure they are backed off as much as possible
once all 8 boots are warmed up squirt a small amount of WD40 onto the inside edge of the boots. rub it around with your finger so you get the entire leading surfaces lubricated put the rack in to the engine side boots first. It should bottom out fairly obviously here. Make sure it's definitely in all the way, then tighten the clamps.
push the airbox on as much as you can so that all the boots are at least started. then grab something blunt about 4" long like a socket drive extension. I used a 1-1/2"x3/4" bit of wood that I had laying around and just cut it to a decent length where i could get my hand in the aribox and push on it. press the centre of the airbox through the filter hole using your blunt object and work one of the outside boots on to the carb. Clamp it down, and work your magic with your push block to get carbs 2&3 on as far as you can. once they are mostly seated you can push the opposite carb to the one that is clamped all the way on just by pressing from the outside. It takes a bit of wiggling but it will go. clamp it, and then you can work the centre carbs on the rest of the way by pressing from the inside with the stick in different locations at different angles.
follow through with the rest of the instructions in reverse order until everything looks normal again, and then grab your lid and go for a ride!
feel free to comment if i've missed anything here, or if you have any other suggestions!
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