Me, Myself and my 81 550

[Guest]

Hi all,
I thought I’d introduce myself and my project properly as I’ve been asking a few questions on here already
I'm 38 from the UK and this is my first older bike.
In Sept 2019 I bought a black 1981 GS550 for £1700. In hindsight I should have left it as alarm bells were ringing when I went to pick it up. 44k miles, no service history, electric starter dodgy. In my excitement of getting back on the road for the first time in 9 years I bought it. What a mistake
20 miles into my 30 mile ride home it started bogging down and cut out on me. It wouldn’t restart. Thankfully my neighbour has a van and rescued me.
The bike then sat in my garage while I looked int to the problem. My brother in law recommended a garage so after speaking to them, I was happy that they were not going to rip me off.
They had the bike for 4 weeks and updated me every couple of days with items they recommended be sorted. It was a long list as shown below
Coils
Ignition module
Cam chain kit s/hand
Timing chain
Brake pads and rebuild kit
Carb kit
Fork oil and seals
Regulator rectifier
Chain and sprockets
Engine gaskets
Plugs/oil/sundries/bolts/shims/new bars
In all, £2500 inc labour
They said the bike was an accident waiting to happen with everything loose. It would seem I got ripped off proper from the previous owner

Jan 2020 The bike ran pretty good after this. Always a bit of a pain to start but found that it if I primed it, it would kick over after the 3^rd time. The starter was ruined. Turns out the rear wheel is from a Kawasaki Ltd so needed to source another wheel.

Feb2020 I put a new tyre on the front, Avon Road rider. Turns out the tyre that was on there was a 110 because the mudguard was aftermarket. Great, my 120 front now runs really close.

Feb 2020 I then got stuck on the motorway with seized brakes. It seemed that the hoses had collapsed inside.
I replaced them with a braided hose kit from Venhill and that solved that problem

May/June 2020
I’d been using the bike for a few short trips and decided to go on a longer ride. Big mistake.
The bike cut out at a junction and wouldn’t restart. Balls! I managed to get it started on choke and prime but its running on 3. Badly. This was fine for about 25 miles until It started sputtering. Fortunately, a services was ahead and I made it for fuel. It needed a full tank. Bike started but ran badly so I progressed home in the pouring rain. I just about managed to nurse it home on what felt like 1 cylinder and its now in my garage.


The bike runs on cheap pods with no rejet. This is next to get sorted. My plan was always to café it.
Here’s a pic that flatters it

26AFB14F-27B4-4584-B99F-1233C6499D39_1_105_c.jpg

[Rob S.]

Have you considered violence against previous owner, and the garage that worked on it?

I see that you paid $2,131 in American dollars for the bike. The market must be very different over there.

My heart goes out to you. I honestly don't know what to tell you, except slow down and think hard before putting any more money into it.

[cowboyup3371]

Please stop and do some reading before you continue on. Check out the Top Ten Newbie Mistakes thread (https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...Top+Ten+Newbie) and look through Basscliff's site (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff). It sounds like your battery is toast and possibly even your charging system. If you have a multimeter than you'll want to take some measurements. Also, clean your carburetors properly (Nessism posted instructions on Basscliff's site) then do a valve adjustment. Once that is done you'll be able to start tuning for your pods a little easier.

When you replaced the brake lines, did you also clean out the master cylinders and the calipers?

You came to the right place and I know you'll get it right with our help.

[GSXR7ED]

Hey Matt,

From what you wrote, you should have followed your instincts.

The bike looks pleasing to the eyes from the pic you posted...but apparently, looks are deceiving.

I'm guessing when bikes look aesthetically good, they are presumed good. I don't wanna ask what it sounded like when you went to see it.

I paid $475 for my bike and got the earful from the local bike shop that I bought a $200 bike. Basically, about 250 quid bike that's worth 100 pounds. So much for what you paid!

But we all are entitled to make mistakes...just learn from them.

It pays to be handy and mechanically inclined to do most if not all of the work. This site loves to see members do things on their own.

Take a deep breath and decide how to proceed. Make a realistic time line and prepare to fund your project.

All the best!

Cowboy gave some good advice...start with the links he provided.

Ed

****

[Steve]

I was reading the first post and a couple of things just did not seem to jive.

"1981 GS550" and "kick over on the third time" just don't go together. Then I see the picture and notice there is a kickstart lever. There were no kickstarters after the 1979 model year.

Clicking on the attached picture shows what appear to be VM carbs. There were no VM carbs after the 1979 model year.

Matt, please check the VIN stick on the steering stem for a production date and or model year information. My guess is that you have a 1978 or 1979 bike, not a 1981. Yes, it will make a difference when you start ordering parts.

Congrats on the 'new' bike, but take a moment to find out EXACTLY what you have.

.

[Grimly]

81 bike with a mix'n match of parts. Earlier engine and possibly front wheel (I don't see any slots in the discs, but the pic isn't detailed enough). Looks like later calipers. Ach, who knows what's been done to it in the hands of many POs.

[550Matt]

Please stop and do some reading before you continue on. Check out the Top Ten Newbie Mistakes thread (https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...Top+Ten+Newbie) and look through Basscliff's site (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff). It sounds like your battery is toast and possibly even your charging system. If you have a multimeter than you'll want to take some measurements. Also, clean your carburetors properly (Nessism posted instructions on Basscliff's site) then do a valve adjustment. Once that is done you'll be able to start tuning for your pods a little easier.

When you replaced the brake lines, did you also clean out the master cylinders and the calipers?

You came to the right place and I know you'll get it right with our help.

The carbs were cleaned and valve clearances done by the garage i used - one of the valves was bent.
The battery is pretty new and it has a new regulator rectifier. It's also running a Boyer Bransden Electroic ignition.
The existing fluid was still very clean when i drained the system, put new hoses and bled the system

Thanks for all your input so far. I'll go through the links you've kindly posted
The prices here are mental for classic bikes. Most have been scrapped due to the climate and just not as many bikes as the USA.
I paid 'reasonable' money for a fully working bike that was described as a beautiful ride and used daily. The father and son reminded me of a good friend and his father, had a few older bikes in the garage and seemed like genuine people. i guess i was sucked into the whole thing rather than just focussing on the bike.

The Frame number is GS550e 143 457
Engine number GS550 150060

I pulled it from the garage this morning and it started on the button. It does appear to have a rattle that wasn't there. I'll have a look into that today and it tends to smoke a bit on start up as well as have a fluffy throttle. i put that down to the crappy pods.

I am worried how far in i am. Over £4000 for a pile of crap is a big kick in the nuts.

.

Thanks
MAtt

[hampshirehog]

Smoke on start up is almost certainly due to hardened valve stem oil seals. They should have replaced them when they replaced the cam chain (wonder if they actually did that - I've never replaced a cam chain on a 550 as they last forever).

Rattling sounds like blowing exhaust gaskets, though never easy to tell for sure from a video.

Those jubilee clips on your carb rubbers are a bad idea. They don't fit properly and your carbs are either not slotted in correctly or the rubbers are trashed.

[allojohn]

I think you may have a '79. You may not want to hear this but you should completely disregard the previous work done to this machine, you cannot know if that work was done/done correctly. There are a miriad threads on here about false info from previous owners and work performed by bike shops which know little to nothing about these bikes. As Cowboy says... educate yourself. Start reading the manuals (Factory/Clymer/Haynes, they're all useful) and pour over this forum to get a better handle on what you're dealing with. No-one is going to get this machine to run right, safely and reliably but you. All the help and advice you need is right here, good luck and get at it!

[550Matt]

I think you may have a '79. You may not want to hear this but you should completely disregard the previous work done to this machine, you cannot know if that work was done/done correctly. There are a miriad threads on here about false info from previous owners and work performed by bike shops which know little to nothing about these bikes. As Cowboy says... educate yourself. Start reading the manuals (Factory/Clymer/Haynes, they're all useful) and pour over this forum to get a better handle on what you're dealing with. No-one is going to get this machine to run right, safely and reliably but you. All the help and advice you need is right here, good luck and get at it!

I’ve gotta be honest. It’s not what I wanted to hear. I was hoping when I bought the bike that it would be a rideable classic that I could cafe/rebuild over time.

ideally i would have another bike (dream of a gs1000) while doing this one but I dont think funds will allow. What do you think? Full strip down a rebuild it from the frame up ?

matt

[steveb922]

I think you have a 1981 frame with a pre-1980 bike living in it. That's not a big deal unless you're doing a concours restoration, and the fact that it runs is good. The list of repairs and adjustments done by the bike shop should have been pretty comprehensive, but in all reality probably wasn't.

I think you need to draw up your own list of priorities. Maybe get the engine running smoothly, then go through the charging system and other electrics, then brakes? Just a suggestion, and you may well see it differently. That way you would have a roadworthy bike and could attend to cosmetics as time and funds allow.

Speaking practically, you're in deep financially, and you're not going to recoup that money. Get it on the road, and you at least have something you can use. People here will help you do that yourself, which in the end is the most reliable and cost-efficient way.

[allojohn]

What do you think? Full strip down a rebuild it from the frame up ?

matt

Honestly, that's what most of these 40 yr old machines need. They've had multiple owners that did next to no maintenance, some who messed around with faulty electrics, changed the jetting etc...

[hampshirehog]

Those clocks are from the 79 model. You might have a 79 that sat around in a dealership for a while and didn't get registered until 1981. Not that it matters as loads of parts are interchangeable. The frame number will confirm year of manufacture and it'll give you a clue if you cross reference the engine number to see if it might be the original.

[Steve]

I don't know the details on a 550 like what the clocks look like from year to year, but I did see an engine with VM carbs and a kick starter, both of which ended with the 1979 model, and I also saw a slotted rear brake disk, which started in 1980 (not sure if it showed up on a 550, though). Yeah, a brake disk is easy to swap, but the carbs and kick starter tell me that it's pre-1980.

.

[hampshirehog]

The only 550s to get slotted discs were the Katanas. Plug and play though, across the range.