This summer, I bought a 1981 GS 550E from a guy in Windsor, CA.
About a week after I bought it, I discovered that it leaked oil like a sieve, so I took it to the local mechanic to replace the Base gasket, head gasket, et al. I told him what the bike was, a 1981 GS550E
At first glance, it is "obviously" a GS 550E, even to the mechanic. It has the E tank, the E seat, side covers, the E instument cluster, and E-bars.
There's only one problem. It's not a GS 550E; its a bizarre hybrid that someone custom made.
This actually bike started off its life as a 1981 GS 550TX.
Whoever owned it before the guy I bought it from had cut the old frame and welded on a different rear bracket to fit the seat and rear end of a 550E, replaced the instrument cluster, side covers, and tank.
The engine and frame are still 1981 550TX (we figured it out after one hell of a headache for my poor mechanic trying to match parts), but this bike has undergone some serious Frankensteinization.
About a week after I bought it, I discovered that it leaked oil like a sieve, so I took it to the local mechanic to replace the Base gasket, head gasket, et al. I told him what the bike was, a 1981 GS550E
At first glance, it is "obviously" a GS 550E, even to the mechanic. It has the E tank, the E seat, side covers, the E instument cluster, and E-bars.
There's only one problem. It's not a GS 550E; its a bizarre hybrid that someone custom made.
This actually bike started off its life as a 1981 GS 550TX.
Whoever owned it before the guy I bought it from had cut the old frame and welded on a different rear bracket to fit the seat and rear end of a 550E, replaced the instrument cluster, side covers, and tank.
The engine and frame are still 1981 550TX (we figured it out after one hell of a headache for my poor mechanic trying to match parts), but this bike has undergone some serious Frankensteinization.
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