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Honda guy with a Suzuki: GS550 project

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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Sprayed some engine degreaser on it and hosed it off today. It was a bit oily and I noticed some black rubber goop around the valve cover gasket.
Can you do the top end in the frame or does the engine have to come out? Can I do head and possibly base gasket without pulling the engine?

I also noticed a pretty bad dent in the #1 pipe.....dang it!
 
The engine comes out easily. I look at your other bikes and would think you'd want to do that if for no other reason then cleaning and painting the parts once it's out. You do nice work, you'll thank yourself for pulling it.
 
steve murdoch said:
Love the mufflers on the CB500, similar to the early GP bikes.
41mm front end?
Got the brother to your S90.
Click to expand...

The mufflers are hand made in Spain. They mimic the race pipes Honda (and Bennelli and others) used in the '60's. I believe the R6 front end is 43mm.
 
Yeah, someone pointed that out. I'm still learning a out the GS series.
 
Found a good, used wiring harness and RH control for $36 shipped. WAY better than spending time trying to figure out the mess I have now!

I've pretty much decided to pull the engine (after I get done with my CT70 project) and go through the top end. Just check it out, re-seal it, lap the valves. Hopefully, a hone and maybe new rings will do the job on the cylinders.
It has 36K on it and was quite oily. That would drive me nuts.

What do the GS people think about the Cruzin Image kits? They have a pretty good reputation in the Honda world.
 
Don't think Cruzin Image makes a GS550 kit. With only 36k on that engine it shouldn't need a bore job anyway unless it's got corrosion or someone ran the engine out of oil. Those engines will push 100k miles with decent care.

OEM gaskets are best when you get to that point. A lot of guys don't believe this and/or don't want to spend the money only to get burned later.
 
Scott S said:
Actually, they do....in stock, .50 and 1.00 over. Hopefully, I can just clean everything up and be fine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/77-79-SUZU...ash=item25de54ba6d:g:P4EAAOSwio1Znmw3&vxp=mtr

Suzuki gasket over a Vesrah kit and the like?
Click to expand...

Ah, I stand corrected on the pistons. I searched but came up empty for some reason... Still, I wouldn't go that way unless the bores measure poorly they way they are now.

Vesrah gasket kits inferior to the OEM gaskets, but some people use them anyway and live to tell about it. Others get leaks. Use at your own risk. They are better than Athenia anyway.
 
Scott S said:
Can you do the top end in the frame or does the engine have to come out? Can I do head and possibly base gasket without pulling the engine?
Click to expand...

Yes you can top the engine in the frame, no issues with that. The engine does pull out easy enough though should you want to clean everything up.
 
I'm going to take a closer look when I get time. I may just do the head/valves/valve cover.
 
Thought I'd add a quick update...

I wonder how one goes about denting a header like this? You can also see the remnants of the oil all over the cylinders, and that's after I gave it a quick clean. Definitely be doing some top end gaskets and seals on this one.




That's a shame, too, as it's only the one pipe and the rest of the exhaust is in good shape.
 
I was told that the bike probably had "electrical issues'. Yeah....ya think?

I found a good used main harness and RH control on eBay for $36 shipped (for both). That's well worth it vs. sorting out this mess.


 
That one bare wire is some hard copper wire, like you'd find inside household wiring or something. And the RH control had been opened up (probably in an attempt to bypass the start button or kill switch). The parts were mostly there, but it was missing all the tiny little screws and such.

One thing that did concern me was a rather large blister at the left rear of the gas tank, right where the seat touches it.
The tank is very clean inside, looking in the filler neck. The gas doesn't even smell that old.
I was afraid to go poking around the paint blister in fear of spilling gas all over the garage. I simply haven't had time to drain the tank yet. And poking the blister with my finger, it felt rather hard.

One night after work, I couldn't stand it anymore and starting flaking back the paint with a small screwdriver. The GOOD news is, it was just bad bodywork. There's surface rust underneath, but the tank itself is very solid. Whew!


 
Love the work you did on the Honda's. I just bought a 78 Goldwing, will be picking it up in the spring when the snow is gone. As for sourcing parts, you might want to check out Z1 Enterprises. I found most of what I needed there when rebuilding my 850. They deal strictly in vintage Japanese bikes. Good luck with the rebuild. Looking forward to seeing what it looks like when finished.
 
On that header tube, depending on your resources, cut the tube right through the crease. Metalwork each end to be round again then work at making them lineup with each other and Tig weld them together. Done well it will be hard to see the repair.
To me a single crease is not a difficult repair compared to a crushed collector which generally are fully repairable as well.
 
This is/was a chrome header. I suppose I could wrap it after the repair, but I'm not really a fan.
And coating it would cost about as much as a new exhaust.
I'll mull it over, but replacement might be the best option.
 
Make sure to offer that thing up for sale on here if you do get a new exhaust. MAC is the only one here in the United States that I am aware of that still makes pipes for GS550's.
I think you were the one that was asking me about OEM GS550 exhausts. It's still -1 degrees Fahrenheit here, but the forecast next week looks very promising for garage time!
However, I would encourage you to repair that header though, that's a fairly unique piece! The head pipes definitely spell out kerker, I didn't remember the collector making such a drastic sweep coming out the side, however. I'll see if I have pictures of the 550 that I restored last June, it had a kerker header on it, but the pipe on the side look more like a Vance & Hines than yours, but was definitely a kerker.
I would repair that head tube, and look into having it rechromed or at least some kind of ceramic powder coating. Do you have a bead blaster or sand blaster?

The 550, from my experience with 1977 - 1979 models with vm22 carbs, responds incredibly well to K&N pods, and free-flowing aftermarket exhaust. Propoperly jetted carb with this configuration will blow your mind as far as the engine manners before and after, substantial increase in power! And they sound amazing with those camshafts through an aftermarket exhaust!

The big mod to do to these however is to find the top end off of a GS650G shaft drive, and clearance the 550 cases to fit the 650 cylinders, and use a custom thickness .8mm base gasket, & 550 can sprockets. 550 cams for higher end power and a very snarly aggresive exhaust tone, re-degreed 650 cams with 550 cam sprockets for more street torque. THIS would make you not even care to ride your Honda's much anymore! 73hp stock from the 650's 673cc top end! Add K&N filter or pods, Dynojet kit, aftermarket exhaust with performance baffle... and this will be your #1 go-to bike without a doubt.

we had a batch of custom order Wiseco gs650-740cc pistons made last year, and hopefully will have several members with these hybridge middleweight beasts on the road in 2018!

Dynoman Performance offers a custom order 630cc (+4mm overbore) kit of JE Pistons for the 550's still, if you are looking to really up the ante! I do not know of anyone who has run a set of these, as they are fairly expensive since they are basically a one off custom order item. This would eliminate the hassle of trying to track down a 650 top end, but the 650 head and piston design is much more advanced, and that is why it makes one horsepower more than the first generation 750.

Good luck with your build, feel free to drop in with any questions
 
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