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Adjusting cam timing on GS550E

  • Thread starter Thread starter scott
  • Start date Start date
Okay - got the bike reassembled and put on a remote fuel tank. I started it up and brown "water" started dumping out of the airbox drain. It was a lot more than a drip and previously it took a little while before there would be slow dripping! The liquid didn't smell like gas though. I was thinking I really messed things up but the dripping actually seemed to stop after idling for a while.

tom203 said:
Get this thing burning fuel!
Click to expand...
Yeah - I was hoping that would be the case.

I put the actual fuel tank on and took it out. Woah - it actually scared me at how much the bike pulled (remember I'm a very new rider). At least compared to how it was before, it really felt the bike was flying. The front wheel didn't come off the ground but it felt like I could have. Best of all, when I parked the bike, NO DRIPPING! :D I'll have to take it out again to make sure but I can't believe it. I think my dripping airbox issue may actually be fixed!

A couple of side questions.
  1. What RPMs do you want the bike to be at when warming it up on choke? I actually think the choke is working as intended for the first time. I used to have to give it a lot of choke to get the RPMs to around 1700 when the bike was cold. This time the RPMs shot up to 3K RPM which seems pretty high (in the garage at least). I had to put the choke just barely on - I guess that's a good thing.
  2. It may be that I just need to get used to it but is there a way to adjust the throttle to be less ... touchy. Every bump in the road was enough to nudge my wrist and made the ride a little jerky. Maybe I'm just not used to my new-found torque.
  3. I noticed something odd when I was putting the fuel tank on - it doesn't sit even. It's tilted to the right side (AWAY from the petcock side). Can't be normal right? I never took notice before but the 2 tank cushions that it slides into seem to be different sizes. Are they supposed to be different sizes but just on opposite sides (so the tank tilts towards the petcock side)? Or are they supposed to be the same size? As it currently is, I can't be working with my full tank capacity.

Thanks so much for all the help!
 
Scott the two tank cushions should be the same size. Order a couple of new ones from Suzuki then you will know you have the correct size ones fitted.
 
scott said:
  1. What RPMs do you want the bike to be at when warming it up on choke? I actually think the choke is working as intended for the first time. I used to have to give it a lot of choke to get the RPMs to around 1700 when the bike was cold. This time the RPMs shot up to 3K RPM which seems pretty high (in the garage at least). I had to put the choke just barely on - I guess that's a good thing.
  2. It may be that I just need to get used to it but is there a way to adjust the throttle to be less ... touchy. Every bump in the road was enough to nudge my wrist and made the ride a little jerky. Maybe I'm just not used to my new-found torque.
Click to expand...
"Choke" operation sounds normal- yeah, you just turn the "choke" (actually fuel enrichment ) down so revs don't scare you. I wait maybe 30 seconds (from cold start) and go- as it warms up, lose the choke and should have stable idle. Adjust idle stop screw to about 1100 rpm. You might want to rotate throttle grip assembly so it suits you. You don't need a death grip on the throttle. It takes time to relax a bit; avoid traffic as best you can, stay vigilant as car drivers have way too many distractions these days.
 
Suzuki_Don said:
Scott the two tank cushions should be the same size. Order a couple of new ones from Suzuki then you will know you have the correct size ones fitted.
Click to expand...
Looks like they're cheap so I might as well.

tom203 said:
"Choke" operation sounds normal- yeah, you just turn the "choke" (actually fuel enrichment ) down so revs don't scare you. I wait maybe 30 seconds (from cold start) and go- as it warms up, lose the choke and should have stable idle. Adjust idle stop screw to about 1100 rpm.
Click to expand...
Makes sense - it's just so different from how it behaved before. So far I haven't even needed to let the bike warm up before the shifting is smooth. I can't imagine that has anything to do with the cam timing but maybe the bike is just warming up quicker now.

tom203 said:
You might want to rotate throttle grip assembly so it suits you. You don't need a death grip on the throttle. It takes time to relax a bit; avoid traffic as best you can, stay vigilant as car drivers have way too many distractions these days.
Click to expand...

I actually think some of my jerky-ness is coming from a bogging / hesitation around 3500 - 4200 RPMs. From what I've been reading this is a lean condition? Nessism's new carb guide says reducing the needle spacer is a solution for addressing lean midrange.

Is this my next step? Or am I at the point where I should consider getting a carbtune for a vacuum synch (instead of my homemade manometer) to possibly address this? Am I correct that the mixtures screw are not related since that only affects idle mixture?
 
Scott said....."I actually think some of my jerky-ness is coming from a bogging / hesitation around 3500 - 4200 RPMs. From what I've been reading this is a lean condition? Nessism's new carb guide says reducing the needle spacer is a solution for addressing lean midrange.

Is this my next step? Or am I at the point where I should consider getting a carbtune for a vacuum synch (instead of my homemade manometer) to possibly address this? Am I correct that the mixtures screw are not related since that only affects idle mixture? "
__________________
That brown stuff that used to spray out carbs, might be now causing one or more of the vacuum slides to stick. It doesn't take much to interfere with their desired operation. I spray mine with silicone, hoping that any crap will fall away. Yours might improve with more running- lots of stuff does! Indulge yourself and get a carbtune or equivalent- I'll bet you will put it to good use. Me, I'd put at least 1k on this engine before contemplating fine tuning.
 
tom203 said:
That brown stuff that used to spray out carbs, might be now causing one or more of the vacuum slides to stick. It doesn't take much to interfere with their desired operation. I spray mine with silicone, hoping that any crap will fall away. Yours might improve with more running- lots of stuff does!
Click to expand...
Good point - still not sure what the brown stuff was (condensation from homemade manometer + oil?). Actually. the vacuum slide in my Carb #2 isn't working great anyway. It doesn't have anywhere near the damping that my others do. I re-positioned the diaphragm and it helped a little but I should look for a replacement.

tom203 said:
Me, I'd put at least 1k on this engine before contemplating fine tuning.
Click to expand...
Oh okay - somewhere I had read that a lean condition could cause things to get too hot / burn valves / etc. I wanted to make sure I wasn't making things worse.

It looks like the bike is going to run though so my next step will probably be new tires. I had been holding off until I was sure the bike didn't have MAJOR issues. The tires that came with the bike still have decent tread but they have date codes from 1996 I think :eek:
S1UA1.jpg
 
scott said:
Good point - still not sure what the brown stuff was (condensation from homemade manometer + oil?). Actually. the vacuum slide in my Carb #2 isn't working great anyway. It doesn't have anywhere near the damping that my others do. I re-positioned the diaphragm and it helped a little but I should look for a replacement.


Oh okay - somewhere I had read that a lean condition could cause things to get too hot / burn valves / etc. I wanted to make sure I wasn't making things worse.

It looks like the bike is going to run though so my next step will probably be new tires. I had been holding off until I was sure the bike didn't have MAJOR issues. The tires that came with the bike still have decent tread but they have date codes from 1996 I think :eek:
S1UA1.jpg
Click to expand...
Or the tires could be 1986! No high speed for you till you get new ones unless you're desperately seeking excitement.
You probably would notice a lean condition, so have less fear. You got valves adjusted (and cams too! )and carbs cleaned- you're in good shape. Exhaust valves need to contact their seats in between strokes to cool off or they can burn up.
 
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