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JohnnyL's 1980 GS550L Cafe Build

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    JohnnyL's 1980 GS550L Cafe Build

    I've decided to document my cafe build. Feel free to comment. I know I will have questions so please feel free to chime in.

    Let me get you caught up to where I am today. I purchased a 1981 GS550L from a guy for $100. He was at least the second owner. I'm still unclear on who did what to the bike but it is somewhat already chopped up. At least the wiring is. The seat is gone and the original handlebars are gone amongst other things. I want to do this properly over the winter and take my time doing it. My plan is to get the bike running, which when I purchased it, it did not. Upon looking at the bike closer, I realized that at some point, the coil wires had been spliced(poorly) and the spark plug boots had been replaced. When removing one of the wires from the spark plug, the boot came right off of the wire. So new coils and boots were on my "to order" list. The bike did turn over but would not run. Could be the coils, coil wiring or the boots. While ordering new coils and boots, I decided to remove the carbs and give them a good cleaning. I first started by completely disassembling them. I then soda blasted them and then proceeded to give them a good soak in carb cleaner and then cleaning each part thoroughly with a brush and carb cleaner. One of the carbs' air adjustment screw had been driven in so far and the head stripped that it couldn't be removed without drilling and then using an easy out. I then reassembled the carbs with new o-rings and gaskets and checked float height. My new coils arrived so I installed those as well as the new spark plug boots. Last night I installed the cleaned carbs and tried firing it up. I pushed the starter button but there was nothing. No click, no bang. I must be missing a ground somewhere. After a phone call with Bwringer, I realized that the body of the solenoid needed to be grounded. So this morning at 6am, I came out to the shop and grounded the solenoid. Click! Bang! Boom! It's alive! It doesn't run well but hey...it runs! https://youtu.be/HX0SuVsqeFI Next step is to read stator papers again and check the stator and reg/rec on the bike.


    Here is the bike when I purchased it.



    Carbs off the bike.


    Before and after soda blasting.


    Removing stuck air screw.


    Rebuilding carbs.


    Next steps are:
    1. Pull the motor
    2. Disassemble the top end
    3. Clean the engine thoroughly
    4. Paint part of the engine
    5. Polish part of the engine
    6. Replace seals, gaskets and piston rings.
    7. Reassemble engine and check valves.
    8. Cut frame and weld in seat hoop
    9. Remove unnecessary flanges etc.
    10. Sandblast frame
    11. Send frame and wheels to powder coat.
    12. Shorten front fork springs
    13. Reassemble bike with new steering bearings
    14. Figure out what to do with exhaust.
    15. Replace gauge cluster with single all-in-one gauge
    16. Lower front end
    17. Install clip-on handlebars and new grips
    18. Install new shorty brake/clutch levers
    18. New headlight and blinkers
    19. New chain
    20. Rebuild brakes
    21. Install new braided brake lines

    I'm sure this list will have many more additions but for now that's all I can think of. I will make sure to post my progress as I go.
    Last edited by JohnnyL; 12-06-2019, 05:59 PM.
    1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
    1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
    2019 Yamaha MT-09
    2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
    2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

    #2
    Managed to remove the engine from the bike. Not an easy task to do by yourself.





    Last edited by JohnnyL; 11-14-2019, 07:26 AM.
    1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
    1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
    2019 Yamaha MT-09
    2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
    2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

    Comment


      #3
      Untitled by John Lethen, on Flickr

      Johnny,
      In FLickr, when getting the Share Link, click on the "BBCode" to get a link that looks like this
      [ u r l =https://flic.kr/p/2hKqoYj][ i m g]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49061770122_e0f76af095_c.jpg[/ i m g][/ u r l][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKqoYj]Untitled[ url] by [ url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/185493136@N07/]John Lethen[ / url], on Flickr

      I added spaces so can see the code (and it not show up as the picture image).

      You can also delete some of it so only have the IMG stuff, looks like this
      [ i m g]https : //live.staticflickr.com/65535/49061770122_e0f76af095_c.jpg[/ i m g]
      then displays the picture image only with out the other links.

      Last edited by Redman; 11-13-2019, 06:20 PM.

      Had 850G for 14 years. Now have GK since 2005.
      GK at IndyMotoGP Suzuki Display... ... GK on GSResources Page ... ... Euro Trash Ego Machine .. ..3 mo'cykls.... update 2 mocykl


      Comment


        #4
        Oh man! Thank you! I couldn’t figure out how to do that! I’ll edit my posts tomorrow when I’m on a computer.
        1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
        1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
        2019 Yamaha MT-09
        2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
        2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by JohnnyL View Post
          ...please feel free to chime in.
          Please hit the return key occasionally (new paragraph). Some of us aren't spring chickens anymore and the eyes are the first to go.

          Great photos!
          1982 GS1100E V&H "SS" exhaust, APE pods, 1150 oil cooler, 140 speedo, 99.3 rear wheel HP, black engine, '83 red

          2016 XL883L sigpic Two-tone blue and white. Almost 42 hp! Status: destroyed, now owned by the insurance company. The hole in my memory starts an hour before the accident and ends 24 hours after.

          Comment


            #6
            So I have a question. This is supposed to be a 1981 GS550L but PartsFish shows the tank as a different tank. On a 1981, the tank bolts down with one bolt through the tang coming off the backside of the tank. My tank bolts through a hole like on a 1979 tank. Does this look like maybe it's been modified at some point?



            1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
            1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
            2019 Yamaha MT-09
            2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
            2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

            Comment


              #7
              Those don't look like factory welds to my untrained eye.
              Rich
              1982 GS 750TZ
              2015 Triumph Tiger 1200

              BikeCliff's / Charging System Sorted / Posting Pics
              Destroy-Rebuild 750T/ Destroy-Rebuild part deux

              Comment


                #8
                Managed to get the engine degreased and most of the engine torn down today. Discovered some bolts that had been replaced with the wrong ones, a lot of gunk in the oil pan along with some chunks of metal. Not sure what they're from.

                Degreased


                Cams


                Top end


                Pistons


                Clutch side


                Stator side


                Oil screen (Yuck!)


                Oil Pan (Yuck! ....again)


                Metal chunks in oil pan?
                1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
                1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
                2019 Yamaha MT-09
                2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
                2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

                Comment


                  #9
                  Well I found what at least one of those chunks of metal was. The intake valve on cylinder two was missing a shim. At some point, the shim got loose, broke and made it's way into the case. I don't see any scoring on the piston wall. However, there was damage on the cylinder head where the piece was banging around(see Photo) and damage to the cam lobe(see photo). I don't see any damage to the valve though.

                  Damage to the cylinder head


                  Missing shim


                  Damage to cam lobe


                  Valve looks good so far

                  1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
                  1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
                  2019 Yamaha MT-09
                  2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
                  2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Looks like you are looking for a replacement cam. Good luck and welcome to the forum.
                    Larry

                    '79 GS 1000E
                    '93 Honda ST 1100 SOLD-- now residing in Arizona.
                    '18 Triumph Tiger 800 (gone too soon)
                    '19 Triumph Tiger 800 Christmas 2018 to me from me.
                    '01 BMW R1100RL project purchased from a friend.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by alke46 View Post
                      Looks like you are looking for a replacement cam. Good luck and welcome to the forum.
                      Thanks! Already ordered new/old cams from eBay.
                      1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
                      1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
                      2019 Yamaha MT-09
                      2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
                      2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Good job on the posting of pics. Crisp and a good size.
                        Larry

                        '79 GS 1000E
                        '93 Honda ST 1100 SOLD-- now residing in Arizona.
                        '18 Triumph Tiger 800 (gone too soon)
                        '19 Triumph Tiger 800 Christmas 2018 to me from me.
                        '01 BMW R1100RL project purchased from a friend.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Wow!

                          It's crazy what is found underneath all the outward appearance. Thanks for starting this thread.

                          Ed
                          GS750TZ V&H/4-1, Progressive Shocks, Rebuilt MC/braided line, Tarozzi Stabilizer[Seq#2312]
                          GS750TZ Parts Bike [Seq#6036]
                          GSX-R750Y (Sold)

                          my opinion shouldn't be taken as gospel or in any way that would lead you to believe otherwise (30Sep2021)
                          Originally posted by GSXR7ED
                          Forums are pretty much unrecognizable conversations; simply because it's a smorgasbord of feedback...from people we don't know. It's not too difficult to ignore the things that need to be bypassed.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Time for some soda blasting.

                            1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
                            1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
                            2019 Yamaha MT-09
                            2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
                            2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

                            Comment


                              #15
                              After soda blasting.







                              Pistons before soda blast


                              Pistons after soda blast


                              1969 Honda CL350 Cafe
                              1980 Suzuki GS550L cafe project Link
                              2019 Yamaha MT-09
                              2016 Honda CBR650F(wife’s bike)
                              2001 Honda CBR600F4i(Son's bike)

                              Comment

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