Just snagged up my 2nd '83 suzuki!

[castheandra]

Howdy!
Newer lady rider here
I've made a few posts on the forum and have used this site endlessly for the wealth of knowledge it holds (thank you, oh wise ones!)

My 1983 gs550L has been an on-going/endless battle, its been an entire year of sourcing parts (usually waiting weeks/months for them to arrive in the mail) and having parts dealerships laugh at me saying "I dont think anyone in the world owns the bike you have, are you sure its really a GS550L???"....Ive even went to to bike salvage yards that have 1000's of bikes and usually only find ONE gs-L, if any!!!! (I had NO idea how rare the gs550L really is until after I bought it!)

SO seeing as riding season is half way over here in Canada I decided to purchase this '83 GR650! (attached a photo, hopefully it works!)
Runs great, came with a tank of gas, fresh oil change & filter and with a safety certificate too! I'm pretty excited about this purchase as the bike felt great and I love the look of it too!

Does anyone know if there are interchangeable parts between the GR650 and the GS550L? The GS will be back together & running any day now (rebuilt engine, carbs, electrosport R/R, new starter & battery...basically swapped everything for new parts except the sprockets) but after the years struggle with it I fully expect it to leave me stranded and if that happens I'd like to try and keep whatever parts from the GS and use on the GR if possible? I've noticed they have a lot in common but then they are different in many ways too.....I feel too attached to the GS-L to actually sell it, but i guess time will tell!

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

You went from rare to even rarer.

 

[tkent02]

If you have fixed everything a GS is as reliable as any bike made. 32 years of neglect is a lot. Now that you have a rider, you don't have to hurry on the 550. Take your time, finish it all up..... or not.
After riding it a bit you will probably enjoy the 650. It's got a torquier engine than the 550, probably a lighter bike with better handling as well.

 

[JJ]

Also known as a Tempter. A decent, dependable bike. Not as smooth as a 550, or any other inline four. I have ridden one many times, and liked it well enough. What matters is if YOU like it.

 

[Guest]

Howdy!
Newer lady rider here
I've made a few posts on the forum and have used this site endlessly for the wealth of knowledge it holds (thank you, oh wise ones!)

My 1983 gs550L has been an on-going/endless battle, its been an entire year of sourcing parts (usually waiting weeks/months for them to arrive in the mail) and having parts dealerships laugh at me saying "I dont think anyone in the world owns the bike you have, are you sure its really a GS550L???"....Ive even went to to bike salvage yards that have 1000's of bikes and usually only find ONE gs-L, if any!!!! (I had NO idea how rare the gs550L really is until after I bought it!)

SO seeing as riding season is half way over here in Canada I decided to purchase this '83 GR650! (attached a photo, hopefully it works!)
Runs great, came with a tank of gas, fresh oil change & filter and with a safety certificate too! I'm pretty excited about this purchase as the bike felt great and I love the look of it too!

Does anyone know if there are interchangeable parts between the GR650 and the GS550L? The GS will be back together & running any day now (rebuilt engine, carbs, electrosport R/R, new starter & battery...basically swapped everything for new parts except the sprockets) but after the years struggle with it I fully expect it to leave me stranded and if that happens I'd like to try and keep whatever parts from the GS and use on the GR if possible? I've noticed they have a lot in common but then they are different in many ways too.....I feel too attached to the GS-L to actually sell it, but i guess time will tell!

Sorry to tell you, but the only parts that may interchange are the parts you say you didn't get new, wheels, sprockets and chain, ect..... The GR650 Tempter is a twin cylinder bike and your 550 is a 4 cylinder bike.

My question is why do you think the 550 will leave you stranded? If you take care of the routine maintenance it should be good for another 30 years.

 

[tkent02]

I just checked, the horsepower went from the 550's 49 to only 50, but the torque goes up from 42nm to 61nm. Huge change. Fuel economy goes up around 40% too. Interesting.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

If you have fixed everything a GS is as reliable as any bike made. 32 years of neglect is a lot. Now that you have a rider, you don't have to hurry on the 550. Take your time, finish it all up..... or not.
After riding it a bit you will probably enjoy the 650. It's got a torquier engine than the 550, probably a lighter bike with better handling as well.

Dont have the graphs but all suzuki cycles websites shows the 550 has more torque and HP than the 650.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

Hp on the 550 is 64 vs 62 for the 650
4.8 KG/m @ 8000 rpm for the 650
5.0 KG/m @ 8000 rpm for the 550

 

[tkent02]

The numbers I looked up were different, but the two valve 550 is 49hp.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

Yeah its odd I see a lot of thos for sale as 83s too. It would seem that at least in Canada they had two models of 550 L sold as 83s.

 

[tkent02]

Did the 550 Ls stay with the two valve engines or did they use the new one?

 

[Guest]

Nice looking bike and welcome to the Forum. Whereabouts in Canada are you? Have you tried Z1 Enterprises for parts. I have ordered from them several times and parts are usually here within a week. No duties or taxes either. They have a way of getting them across the border that is pretty slick. The lading bill says old motorcycle parts. Works every time.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

they changed form 2 to 4 valves and stayed that way till the class was morphed into the 600 katana and the gr got turned into a gs 500 more or less.

 

[GS/GR PAUL]

I think the difference is that maximum torque comes in on the GR low down at around 3k. Makes it easy and fun to ride.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

hmm does anyone have the graphs?

 

[GS/GR PAUL]

Have not got access to any graphs, but here is a small feature on my GR. It rides quite differently to my 650 Kat. http://www.realclassic.co.uk/suzuki_gr650_tempter.html

 

[Guest]

Oldskool's wife had a Tempter, said it has a slipper clutch and you could basically let go of the clutch and it wouldn't stall. Sounds like it would be a great beginner bike. I missed out on one last year.

 

[castheandra]

thanks for all your input folks! super appreciate it. I'm in Ottawa, Ontario! the 550L is almost back together, hopefully have it running by end of summer Bringing home the GR650 tomorrow and I can't wait!

From what I can tell (by researching google, youtube, instagram etc etc) the 83 GR650 seems way more popular than the 83 GS550L. I've also never seen the same GS-L as mine in person (except ONE in a scrapyard of 1000 bikes) but I've seen a decent amount of GR650's.....maybe it's more of a canadian thing? haha

I havent read nearly as many horror stories of the GR as I do my GS model (carb issues have been painful to deal with, ughhh) AND ive also read that working on the GR is pretty decent. I'll be keeping both bikes for this season, maybe i'll love them both or maybe not, we'll see

 

[castheandra]

Oldskool's wife had a Tempter, said it has a slipper clutch and you could basically let go of the clutch and it wouldn't stall. Sounds like it would be a great beginner bike. I missed out on one last year.

I've read about this slipper clutch! stoked to find out! haha

 

[steve murdoch]

A scrapyard with 1000 bikes? So you've been to Woody's have you?
I was there about 5 years ago. What a mess. Regardless, we had a blast rutting through the junk.
Congrats on the new ride.