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GS550L Exhaust questions -- Please Help, Thanks!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Planecrazy
  • Start date Start date
P

Planecrazy

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Hi All,

Hope someone has some or all the answers to the following questions -- first a quick background.

I have a 1980 GS550L that I bought from a guy who said he had drilled out the baffles to make the exhaust louder. This bike is, in fact, very loud, although for the life of me I can not see any obvious modification to the exhaust. My GS is also difficult to cold start and I've always wondered if it could be related to a lack of backpressure. I'd like to make this bike purr rather than roar (as well as solve the hard starting problem) so here are my questions:

1. Does anybody know how loud or quiet a stock 1980 GS550L originally was? I've never had the good fortune of hearing another one.

2. Does anybody know which available exhaust solution will give me the best combination of a quiet bike without having to play carb jet games? I'd really hate to have to modify the carbs if I could avoid it -- they're one of the few aspects of the bike that I've never had problems with in the over ten years since I bought it. Also, are there tips available that will attach to the stock pipes (assuming I cut off the old originals) and give me the quiet I seek?

3. Are the stock exhaust pipes able to be opened up and worked on? I don't see any obvious way to do it and wondered if somebody has a solution...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated -- Thanks in advance!! 8)
 
the stock exhaust is very quiet. i would look on Ebay to find a replacement for yours if you think its too loud. someone on here might be interested in your 'louder' original exhaust.

as for how loud the 550 can get...i think my bike is probably the loudest 550 ever. probably could rival a 1000 with a 4-1. that might change though, i snagged a nicer looking 4-1 off ebay to replace mine which is rusting and cracked now.

as for low back pressure startup issues...taht's not the case. you are using the full choke with NO throttle to start the bike, correct? that is the correct procedure.

make sure your battery is good, and holds a charge well. that can affect starting.

~Adam
 
Cheapest solution would be to get another set off ebay. Lacking that you could cut the mufflers off and adapt some new mufflers. JC Whitney has a selection of replacement mufflers at reasonable prices
 
someone mentioned earlier about Harley dealers giving away free stock exhaust if you ask them nicely, since they have it laying around. however, you may have to weld them onto the stock pipes, and make some kind of bracket for them to bolt to the frame. the frame bolt is optional sometimes.

~Adam
 
Thanks for the insight everybody! AOD, I'm confident my 550 could easily rival yours for volume (not something I'm proud of) and that's without any unauthorized rust holes! :lol:

As for the starting procedure ... yes, the bike gets full choke with no throttle and it has to crank "forever" before it slowly starts to cough to life. It's been this way from the beginning, and never improved after fresh tuneups.

The Harley idea is a really interesting one ... I'll have to look into that!

Haven't seen any Ebay pipes that look nice enough to take a chance on yet, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks Again!
Steve
 
Ok, Ok, yours is louder ... but not much!

By the way, I see that you have Dyna green coils. I just picked up a used set and was bummed out to find that they don't bolt right into the stock mounts. Any suggestions for mounting? My gut feeling is that I should grind off the back mount and make a new mount that will strap around the frame tube. If you have a better suggestion I'm all ears.

Thanks!
 
Good luck on a good bike. 8) Mine's stock and pretty quiet, I can putt through neighborhoods and not turn any heads, which I like. You can definitely hear it though, it's louder than most cars - I had a new Harley sail by me one day, he was really into the throttle, and I COULD NOT HEAR the exhaust. Now THAT'S quiet! He was probably rushing to pick up a set of drag pipes. I don't blame him - I'm not a loud pipe fan, it's not natural for a Harley to be that quiet. :roll:
 
i put everywhere and turn heads. ;)

:D

As for the Dyna coils...mine were a direct fit! putting the wires on was hard with the coils mounted...but they bolted up perfect. are you sure yours are made for the Suzuki? they might be kawi or something.

they should work still.

~Adam
 
Well, as I mentioned, the pair I picked up on Ebay were used so I'm not positive they were for Suzuki, but the guy who sold them to me sent them in their original box and the instructions do mention that they should fit older model Suzukis. They're also significantly thicker than the stock coils (I did expect that they'd be at least a little beefier) and although I think that they'll just make it into the brackets width-wise, they're just a little too long to fit length-wise.

I'm going to have to break down and take the tank off to do any serious work. I was hoping to avoid disconnecting the fuel lines but oh well ... let the gas spray where it will. Murphy's law applies of course ... I just filled the tank! :cry:
 
What's the story with the petcock? If I pull the full line off is it going to leak or hold? It would be so much nicer to have a petcock I could simply turn off but as you know this one has no lever ... I have no idea what to expect. :?
 
IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE!! :D

Harley Davidson dealers DO give away stock exhaust pipes if you ask nicely! My local dealer told me to "come on over and have a look."

Now, the only question is... has anybody retrofitted Harley stock pipes to a Suzuki before? If so, is there a "best" pipe to start with?
 
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