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1978 GS550 - My first restoration

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    1978 GS550 - My first restoration

    Hello!

    I thought I’d post about my very first, in progress restoration. I did some basic maintenance on a Kawasaki I had in college but nothing beyond that. This forum has been indispensable in helping me figure out what all I need to do. I was given a 1978 GS550 from a work friend. Odometer is at about 13k and it’s sat in a storage trailer for about 8 years. It would start with the choke open, idle high then die. Tachometer didn’t work, instrument panel lights, brake light, and right turn signal also didn’t work. Their son was going to restore it a couple years ago so it has practically brand new brakes and tires which is awesome!


    JHOFXBP.jpg

    Here is a gallery of my progress so far:
    Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like JoshuaWeiler.


    So far I have:
    -Got the faring off, new battery, fixed the wiring, replaced bulbs. All the lights and turn signals now work

    -Did a little test cleaning of surface rust with aluminum foil and water. I can’t believe how well this works. The signals in the gallery both looked the same.

    - Tach cable didn’t spin when the engine was running so I got it off and turning the base does not turn the other end, figure something must be broken in there. A replacement is on the way.

    -FINALLY got the carbs out, holy moly. The manuals and instructions I found were all basically like ‘remove carbs’ but wow this was a pain. I guess on the 550 you can’t remove the air box? It seemed to be a single piece whereas the videos of the bigger models they could slide it out to give you more clearance. Not to mention the clutch cable in the way. I need to grow a third hand. I finally managed to get them out after getting the metal bands off the air box boots to allow for more squish and taking a lot of ‘cool down’ breaks.

    -Ordered parts from cycleorings and replacement top and bowl gaskets. Also got new intake boots, they are super dry and literally crumbling apart.

    Next I’m going to try the valve adjustment then the carb cleaning. I found a great guide on the bikecliff website. Any other tips y’all have would be great! I’m not looking forward to getting them back in there. Since I’m replacing the boots I wonder if I could attach them to the carbs first, then to the intake? 🤔

    Anyway this is my first real mechanical project but I’m having a lot of fun and learning a lot. Y’all are awesome for newbies! I’m gonna post here as things progress. Wish me luck friends.
    Last edited by Guest; 11-15-2020, 06:17 PM.

    #2
    Excellent intro, Joshua.
    Welcome to the site. The bike looks to be in great shape cosmetically.
    "cool down" breaks and creating new swear words are all part of vintage bike repair.

    Before you get around to checking the shims you should contact Steve and get a copy of his spreadsheet. It will make things easier.
    Might look into acquiring your shims from the "shim club" if you need any.
    If you sell parts or provide services for GS series motorcycles, place a description of it in this forum.
    Last edited by steve murdoch; 11-15-2020, 10:11 PM.
    2@ \'78 GS1000

    Comment


      #3
      Thank you! I’ll check that out. Yes, I can’t believe the shape it’s in for the age. The seat looks like it could have been bought yesterday. He even had the original owners manual and tools under the seat.

      Comment


        #4
        Hey Josh, my house went a little nuts with the GS550's this summer, they're fun little bikes. There are currently four in the driveway and at one point we had seven...


        For the airbox, I found it to be hugely helpful to unclip the rear fender and push it towards the rear wheel. It gives you a couple extra cm of play to push the airbox back which is enough to make getting the carbs out less of a chore.
        1980/1981 GS450 - GS500 Cylinder + Piston Swap - "De-L'ed", custom seat, CB350 bits, 18" rear, etc.
        1977 GS550
        1977 GS750 - Cross country trip thread

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          #5
          Ok! I got the carbs clean and back on the bike, I popped the fender and that helped a lot. Everything is hooked up and ready to sync but my question is, is it safe to sync the carbs with the petcock set to prime? The manual says it should not be running in ‘prime mode’. I have a long fuel hose so the tank can sit off to the side. The video I watched showed him just capping off that vacuum port on the #3 carb. I assume he must have left it to run on prime so fuel would flow without vacuum to the petcock. If I understand correctly, the float should prevent fuel from constantly flowing and overfilling the carbs yes?

          If that’s the case, I guess I don’t fully understand the purpose of on vs. prime. Is it just so the carbs don’t overflow if there is a float malfunction?

          Comment


            #6
            The bike will run perfectly fine on prime or on. The reason you don't want to leave the petcock on prime all the time is because it puts your float valves under pressure at all times, including when the bike is parked.
            Ed

            To measure is to know.

            Mikuni O-ring Kits For Sale...https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...ts#post1703182

            Top Newbie Mistakes thread...http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=171846

            Carb rebuild tutorial...https://gsarchive.bwringer.com/mtsac...d_Tutorial.pdf

            KZ750E Rebuild Thread...http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...0-Resurrection

            Comment


              #7
              Typically the "ribbed" carbs are Kawasaki and it's looks like you have two #1 carbs and two #2 carbs... sorry to be a sourpuss but there may be trouble ahead. Then again I might be wrong, others will add their $0.02
              -Mal

              "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." - B. Banzai
              ___________

              78 GS750E

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by allojohn View Post
                Typically the "ribbed" carbs are Kawasaki and it's looks like you have two #1 carbs and two #2 carbs... sorry to be a sourpuss but there may be trouble ahead. Then again I might be wrong, others will add their $0.02
                Yep you're wrong. These look exactly like mine, on both of my 550's. The ribs are on the parts fiches, even.
                #1: 1979 GS 550 EC "Red" – Very first Bike / Overhaul thread        New here? ☛ Read the Top 10 Newbie mistakes thread
                #2: 1978 GS 550 EC "Blue" – Can't make it a donor / "Rebuild" thread     Manuals (and much more): See Cliff's homepage here
                #3: 2014 Moto Guzzi V7 II Racer – One needs a runner while wrenching
                #4: 1980 Moto Guzzi V65C – Something to chill

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by roeme View Post
                  Yep you're wrong. These look exactly like mine, on both of my 550's. The ribs are on the parts fiches, even.
                  10-4 mate!
                  -Mal

                  "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." - B. Banzai
                  ___________

                  78 GS750E

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Ok update: I went to sync the carbs and a couple of things happened. It idled fine at first, but after I turned it off and tried to start it again I noticed a lot of fuel leaking from the #2 carb. It would periodically drain through the overflow hose, but a most of it just seemed to be coming from the bottom of the carb. I assume either the float needle is still dirty or it’s bad? Also all 4 sync gauges were bouncing all over the place, that could be bum gauges. Before I reassembled them I made sure the float action was smooth and it seemed to be, I was pretty thorough with the dip/cleaning. I also find it odd that so much fuel was just coming out of the carb bottom and not through the drain hose. I did replace the gaskets.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Hey Josh. Great looking project you have there.

                      Something to keep in mind.,

                      You said it has sat for 8 years. Do yourself a favor and check the date code on the tires. Tread depth isn't the only indicator of a good tire, as they harden with age and lose grip easier. I'd hate to see that beauty tossed down the road from bum tires. I think 5 years is pushing it, but someone more knowledgeable then me will surely check in.
                      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/

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