1978 gs 550 custom

[shmoody]

hey,

so the other day, i was on here and decided to chop my bike up a little, i paid 400.00 for the bike and maybe 100.00 in repairs, runs like a dream, just looks like the Fonzy's bike...

well i turned the handle bars down, moved controls over, cut up my seat (made it lower) removed the rear package tray and going to the store to find rear tail lights.

got home from work early yesterday, and the saw zaw was sitting there got a new blade, and off my muffler's went, ( don't worry they weren't in good condtion, previous owner drop it on them, and scratched them good.) Now the bike is perfect, LOUD!! I love it!!

but i need advice, i want pods, yes i know, but they look really cool, really cool. may even have a good air box to sell anyone interested. so with no exhaust (soon to be down pipes, hell yea!!) and pods, i want to beef my carb up a little with bigger jets? right? but what size, run it and look at the plugs correcT? well anyone ever do this might be able to give me a little help.. or just ideas of where i can start.

with exhaust gone, you can already tell it runs lean, (backfires little when cold). just wondering if there might be some way just to adjust the carb to rich,

gimmie some help

always appricated
shmoody

[Steve]

With pods and a header, going up five sizes on the main jets is usually pretty close. With straight pipes and pods, six or seven sizes might be good.

Not gonna preach about the loud pipes, but I will say that you are not helping the general image of responsible motorcyclists much by having them.
The idea of 'loud pipes saves lives' has been proven to be a fallacy, and all they do is irritate more people.

.

[boba]

what does the rear package tray look like?

[shmoody]

Ha! Wait you're telling me you don't like loud cars, trucks, motorcycles, or boats?

If I could afford a Harley I just get one becuase there loud, no other reason!

Please I have a sedan, that you can't even tell its running. Very queit and very boaring...

Well anyways, the rear package tray, looks like any gs 550 1978 black with orange tracer I think? If you're really interested I'll send a picture!

Wow! You think I should go up that much on a jet size? Huh, were do I purchase these jets...

But what if I keep the original Air box setup... do you think it would be worth it?

Thanks for all you help!

[jabberjoe87]

If its loud cause it runs 9's thats one thing, if its loud and its slower than it was when stock, thats something else.

[jabberjoe87]

I agree with the five to six sizes up, to get to the point and lend some help

[Hammered]

YOur backfiring may have more to do with the length of the pipes. If youre keeping the pipes on their original path and just cut them off at the mufflers, youre gonna get backfire. If you still want that growl and snap to the exhaust sound, try adding a lenght of pipe long enough to install a baffle. It will help with that backfiring without getting in the way of the tone.

[nisom512]

http://www.z1enterprises.com/SearchResult.aspx?All=True&KeyWords=mikuni%20jet

Here is a link to jets you can buy for a good price. I dont know enough about the VM carbs on your bike but I am pretty sure they are mikuni.

and they have pods on this website that are pretty cheap.

With a strait pipe you will need to really go up.

The back fire could be because of a lack of back pressure.(IE you have no pipes or baffles.)

Good luck
Jake

[shmoody]

Hey thanks again!

Will check out the websites you gave me, I thought jet sizes went up in stages? no? I could be wrong, remeber I'm a car mechanic, so when it comes to bikes theres a lot i don't know...

also, i do want to put baffles in it, i welded longer pipes on the bike last night. still sounds loud, but further back (no much back firing)

well anyways thanks again and any more information would be awesome...

thanks again
shmoody