1981 GS 550 L Project Bike

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  • Murphy67
    • Feb 2026

    #1

    1981 GS 550 L Project Bike

    Hello All:

    Very happy to find this forum. Just purchased a 1981 GS 550 L with my friend's son to get him some summer wheels. Its got some problems like usual, brakes and all the carbs and related hardware were off the bike in a tote. All carbs were off the mounting rails too. At least each carb was clean and assembled. If anyone has some clear photos of the attachments for the choke and throttle cable attachment would be extremely helpful. I suppose I should be asking these kinds of things in the General Forum section.

    Ive been looking for the L model service manual and thus far I have not found one that talks about a quad carb setup on a 550. When did the transition to a twin carb setup?

    Thanks in Advance.
  • Rijko
    Forum Sage
    • Feb 2014
    • 1445
    • Netherlands

    #2
    Welcome.

    You can find a service manual here : http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/
    Lots of great documentation there.

    For the 1981 model you want "GS550 ('77-'82) Service Manual (72MB)"

    Do you have a twin carb setup with the bike ?
    Should be 4 carbs.
    Rijk

    Top 10 Newbie Mistakes thread

    CV Carb rebuild tutorial
    VM Carb rebuild tutorial
    Bikecliff's website
    The Stator Papers

    "The thing about freedom - it's never free"

    Comment

    • Guest

      #3
      The 'two carb' set-up you are talking about came out in 1983 - it's actually two pairs of two carbs, each pair fitted closely together.

      Rebuild guide here: http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage...d_Tutorial.pdf

      The choke attachment varies according to model year - does yours have the lever on the bars, below the left switch?

      Comment

      • Murphy67

        #4
        Originally posted by Rijko
        Welcome.

        You can find a service manual here : http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/
        Lots of great documentation there.

        For the 1981 model you want "GS550 ('77-'82) Service Manual (72MB)"

        Do you have a twin carb setup with the bike ?
        Should be 4 carbs.
        It does have 4 carb setup, but the manuals I found so far showed the twins. Thanks

        Is it best to go out of this forum now and use the General questions forum?

        Comment

        • Murphy67

          #5
          Choke pull is mounted dead center on the steering below the switch.

          Comment

          • Rijko
            Forum Sage
            • Feb 2014
            • 1445
            • Netherlands

            #6
            Originally posted by Murphy67
            Is it best to go out of this forum now and use the General questions forum?
            It is customary to post questions to the specific subcategories.
            That makes is easier for the next guy to find answers that have already been asked.
            Also some questions turn a thread into a loooong conversation,
            so it's best to post them seperately to avoid one single thread
            with multiple conversations at the same time.
            So yes, that would be the best thing but it's not mandatory.
            Rijk

            Top 10 Newbie Mistakes thread

            CV Carb rebuild tutorial
            VM Carb rebuild tutorial
            Bikecliff's website
            The Stator Papers

            "The thing about freedom - it's never free"

            Comment

            • dorkburger
              Forum LongTimer
              Past Site Supporter
              • Jan 2013
              • 10770
              • Stupid Freehold Boro NJ

              #7
              Welcome. Good luck with the recommissioning.
              sigpic
              When consulting the magic 8 ball for advice, one must first ask it "will your answers be accurate?"

              Glen
              -85 1150 es - Plus size supermodel.
              -Rusty old scooter.
              Other things I like to photograph.....instagram.com/gs_junkie
              https://www.instagram.com/glen_brenner/
              https://www.flickr.com/photos/152267...7713345317771/

              Comment

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