First road bike - 1982 GS550L

[cdahl383]

Go back and reread what I wrote. You are free to do what you want, but increasing jet sizes is not needed, and to lift the needle, you don't want to add washers under the needle clip.

I didn't see anything about lifting the needle in the back of that file. Just stuff about the pilot fuel screws. Before that there's stuff about syncing the carbs.

[Nessism]

I didn't see anything about lifting the needle in the back of that file. Just stuff about the pilot fuel screws. Before that there's stuff about syncing the carbs.

Go look again...

[cdahl383]

Go look again...

Already looked. Didn't see it.

[cdahl383]

Ok I was looking in the back of that file like you said. It's further up. Why can't you just put shims in there rather than sand down the original part? I guess either way would work.

[scratch]

It seems that way. Under 5k miles on a bike that's 43 years old is pretty wild. Only thing on the bike that's a little buggered up is the stator cover. The aluminum must have got some corrosion or something on it and some point from sitting, maybe some moisture got on it?

I like the L bars better, but I think it would be even better if they were just a hair shorter and maybe went down further. These will be fine for now though. I need more seat time first before I mess with changing the bars again. The old bars that came on the bike were way too short. The front master cylinder was almost blocking the tachometer and the throttle cable was getting bound up and hung up on sharp right turns. Now it's fine.

Lucky for you stator covers are easy to come by…

Bars are highly personal, I get that. I’m tall and lanky so the elkhors never suited me… anyway as promised I dug up a couple of pictures of the ex’s old bike with the dirt bike style bars, the cross bar was odd to me at first but coming from a dirt bike background, she loved them. I will say that the height, width and pullback were fantastic on that bike. That said, it’s the only L I’ve ever ridde and again, it’s a personal thing for sure… you’ll be the best judge at the end of the day.

Yep, definitely a bit cold blooded. Seems like upping the jets would help that. You're saying to stick with the stock jets, but just raise the needle and open the pilot fuel screws more though?

The guy I bought it from said he went through the carbs, cleaned them, replaced all the o-rings, and shimmed the needle up with three washers so it was higher up (richer mix). He also synchronized the carbs. It seems to run pretty good overall, just seems a bit lean still to me.

The pilot fuel screws are up on the stop of the carb nearest the intake boot to the cylinder correct? I believe they originally had little caps on them to prevent people from messing with them. The ones on my carbs are drilled out so you can access them. I haven't messed with them yet. I'll turn then in all the way to see how far they were out to begin with, then I'll try the 3 turns out you mentioned.

I read on another forum a guy said to pull the airbox lid and go up to 112.5 mains and 42.5 pilot. I think stock is 92.5 main and 40 pilot from what I've read online. I think I'll try what you mentioned first as that's the easiest/cheapest thing to try. It's easy to play with jetting on my old 2 stroke single cylinder dirtbikes, just one carb to deal with. Buying four main jets and four pilot jets plus shipping won't be cheap haha!

I'm not sure on the condition of the intake boots. They seem okay. I don't see any cracks or dry rotting going on. I guess if I end up pulling the carbs off one day I can get a better look.

Having had a heap of these… recommend hunting everywhere for air leaks before playing with jetting. I could go on about this all day…But the short version: the usual suspect method never worked for me. Now I start at the exhaust and work my way back to the snorkle. Every gasket, every joint, every bit of rubber. They are all guilty until proven innocent lol…

[Big Block]

I like the look of those bars too. Height is perfect for looks and the crossbar doesn't bother me either.

[rphillips]

I'm with Block, they look, though you can't tell till you ride with them, likee they should be good. The bar makes little difference, but personally I like chrome.

[Nessism]

Ok I was looking in the back of that file like you said. It's further up. Why can't you just put shims in there rather than sand down the original part? I guess either way would work.

Dude, I wrote that instruction tutorial. I'm trying to help, but you have to read what's there.

Reducing the thickness of the plastic spacer on top of the needle clip results in a richer mixture. Old plastic spacer can be sanded down or replaced with a washer stack thinner than original spacer.

[cdahl383]

Dude, I wrote that instruction tutorial. I'm trying to help, but you have to read what's there.

Reducing the thickness of the plastic spacer on top of the needle clip results in a richer mixture. Old plastic spacer can be sanded down or replaced with a washer stack thinner than original spacer.

I worked a 15 hour day that day when we were talking on here. I was just taking mental breaks checking the forum. My brain was shot.

Whenever I get the carbs off and apart I'll reread that tutorial again.

[cdahl383]

Lucky for you stator covers are easy to come by…

Bars are highly personal, I get that. I’m tall and lanky so the elkhors never suited me… anyway as promised I dug up a couple of pictures of the ex’s old bike with the dirt bike style bars, the cross bar was odd to me at first but coming from a dirt bike background, she loved them. I will say that the height, width and pullback were fantastic on that bike. That said, it’s the only L I’ve ever ridde and again, it’s a personal thing for sure… you’ll be the best judge at the end of the day.
















Having had a heap of these… recommend hunting everywhere for air leaks before playing with jetting. I could go on about this all day…But the short version: the usual suspect method never worked for me. Now I start at the exhaust and work my way back to the snorkle. Every gasket, every joint, every bit of rubber. They are all guilty until proven innocent lol…

Good idea on the air leaks. Typically with air leaks I've had issues with idling and hanging idles, etc. This bike doesn't really seem to do that at all. It idles nicely and comes back down to idle after letting off the throttle. Regardless, I'll keep that in mind and look it over.

I have several dirtbikes so I'm used to riding a bike in a more upright position. It took some getting used to riding this GS. That said, while I like the current bars I just put on, I think they're almost a bit too low and come back too far for my comfort. I ordered a different set off of Ebay that I'm going to try that come up higher and not as far back. I agree with you, bars are subjective, what one person may like another may hate.

The photos of your old bike look great. Nice clean looking bike!

[scratch]

Good idea on the air leaks. Typically with air leaks I've had issues with idling and hanging idles, etc. This bike doesn't really seem to do that at all. It idles nicely and comes back down to idle after letting off the throttle. Regardless, I'll keep that in mind and look it over.

I may have let my past frustrations run away with me on those air leaks... and I'm not discounting the value of needle shimming... I just like to get to a nice factory baseline first if possible.
via a thorough,meticulous air/fuel workdown. On the bright side, getting there is pretty satisfying.

The photos of your old bike look great. Nice clean looking bike!

I can't take credit for it, it was an ex's bike and she put it together from boxes of parts and a roller. She went through all the fuel/air headaches, jetting for the pipes rebuilding all the brakes and so on etc... The only thing I can take credit for was not getting in her way and locating a matching left side cover...

Anyway, good hunting my man!

[cdahl383]

I may have let my past frustrations run away with me on those air leaks... and I'm not discounting the value of needle shimming... I just like to get to a nice factory baseline first if possible.
via a thorough,meticulous air/fuel workdown. On the bright side, getting there is pretty satisfying.



I can't take credit for it, it was an ex's bike and she put it together from boxes of parts and a roller. She went through all the fuel/air headaches, jetting for the pipes rebuilding all the brakes and so on etc... The only thing I can take credit for was not getting in her way and locating a matching left side cover...

Anyway, good hunting my man!

It's a nice looking bike for sure!

I just took mine out again for a ride yesterday. I put another set of new bars on the bike. These I really like. Much more comfortable than the other bars I installed. Just did a short 25 mile ride around near my home on some country roads. It started and ran well. It just needs the carbs dialed in a little better. We have maybe two more weeks of riding weather left if that. I'm just going to ride the bike as much as I can now and then mess with the carbs over the winter and into spring.