81 GS550T Valve Cover Removal & Some Tune Up Questions

[JoeMama]

Might seem like a no-brainer but can I remove the valve / cylinder head cover to check tappet clearance / valve shims with the engine still in the frame?

I've got a 550T with @ 7,500 miles that was owned / worked on by a real buffoon of a PO at some point before it sat for years. For example - PO pulled airbox for a set of cheapo pod filters, however no re-jetting done...carbs were opened up at some point because two of the carbs were missing their black rubber pilot jet plugs, float heights were all out to lunch, made a complete rats nest of the wiring behind the right side cover when the airbox was pulled...guess routing it back the way is should be was just too much trouble...and he wondered why it wouldn't charge the battery...

Anyhow, cleaned & rebuilt the carbs, re-installed the airbox, got all the wiring sorted out and dressed nice and pretty...changed fluids, new battery, fresh gas...held my breath and hit the start switch and the darn thing fired right up! Nice smooth idle, charges like it should and actually goes down the road pretty good on its Metzler tires with their 1989 born on dates.

Pulled plugs after my quick victory ride. 1, 2 & 3 all look picture perfect...4 is fluffy black i.e. running rich according to what I read and know. I did pull the brass plugs from the pilot air screws and cleaned / rebuilt them and set all four to 2 1/2 turns out during the carb rebuild. I still need to vacuum sync the carbs but want to check valve shims before I do that. Which is the long way back to my original question - can I pull the valve cover without having to yank the motor?

It's running so smooth now I hate to have to open anything up. Any thoughts on my rolling the dice by skipping the valve shim check and just going with pilot air screw adjustment and carb sync to dial #4 in to where it should be?

 

[Nessism]

Yes, adjust valves with engine in frame. You can download a factory service manual at this site...http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

 

[hillsy]

You should do the valves first before you try and chase issues with carbs, ignition, etc.

If the valve checks out OK, swap the plug leads over between 1 and 4 and see if the problem moves (this will tell you if it's a plug cap / lead issue).

After that, if you still have the problem, check the carbs again.

 

[JoeMama]

Thanks all for the tips & advice. Checked out the Top Newbie Mistakes link in Nessim's reply...not my first rodeo but this is my first Suzuki...#7 had some good wiring gouge. I've got a factory manual and the T/L supplement so I did rewire it to match the factory schematic. The stator / R&R / headlight switch thing is good to know. Mine still has the headlight on/off switch. At some point the bike got an aftermarket R&R. I had already run the R&R ground to the neg battery terminal. Cycleorings has been a favorite go-to for a while now.

The factory manual is ok but assumes a level of familiarity with Suzukis I don't have yet. The dots connect but a lot of times the procedures skip the initial steps like gaining access to a part, what attaching hardware needs to be removed, etc. The manual pulls the cylinder cover after the engine is out of the bike. Glad to hear I can get to the shims. I didn't want to break the gasket seal without knowing if I could get the cover off while the engine was in the frame...definitely wasn't looking forward to having to remove & reinstall the carbs again just to check valve shims. Quality of photos in the manuals mostly sucks also.