Making It Easier to Install Carbs on GS550 Motors

[Suzuki_Don]

I have read on the forum many times how difficult it is to install the carbs on a GS550, to squeeze them in between the motor boots and the airbox boots. As there is less room in there than on the larger bikes with larger frames which allow a bit more space.

My solution is to move the airbox back a bit further than it would normally move by moving the rear mudguard back a bit. Very easy to do, it takes about 30 seconds.

See following pictures and description:

Above: This is what the standard GS550 setup looks like and shows the airbox hard up against the rear mudguard. And shows the mudguard nodule in place in the frame gromet.

Above: This picture also shows the close proximity of the airbox to the guard. See RED arrow.

Above: The mudguard nodule removed from the frame gromet and the guard moved rearward to create more clearance.

Above: you can see the extra clearance provided looking down from above. This creates space for the airbox to be moved further to the rear.

Above: This pic shows the extra clearance provided for the airbox to be moved rearward. Compare this RED arrow with the previous picture with the other RED arrow to see the difference.

Some forum members may be familiar with this tip, but for those that are not it can make the job easier, although it could take a little longer as a few bits may have to be removed to allow the airbox to slide back.

Once I have done this it literally takes less than 10 mins to get the carbs on the motor.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks Don for reminding me of something I did once but haven't the other times I did the carbs. DOH!

 

[Guest]

Nice one Don, the 450's have this same problem and when I was dismantling mine I did exactly the same thing but I never took pic's of it.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Nice one Don, the 450's have this same problem and when I was dismantling mine I did exactly the same thing but I never took pic's of it.

Yes pete, it is fairly obvious and an easy thing to do, but can be overlooked easily when in the middle of doing an urgent job and wanting to get a daily rider back on the road and then you get frustrated and break something trying to jam them in there. Particularly if the rubber boots are rigid and stiff. An extra 1/2 inch makes all the difference.

It also alows extra tilt of the airbox so you can slide the carbs mouths into the boots on that side. It might help out some newbies who have not done this task before.

 

[Guest]

Yeah I've fed it back on a couple of threads, but there's nothing quite so helpful as some good pic's like what you've posted here

 

[posplayr]

Yeah I've fed it back on a couple of threads, but there's nothing quite so helpful as some good pic's like what you've posted here

a picture is worth a thousand words ,


or maybe in a motorcycle thread



a thousand words are worthless

 

[Dogma]

a picture is worth a thousand words ,


or maybe in a motorcycle thread



a thousand words are worthless

Well, in OT, anyhow.

 

[Geo]

Don bless you .

I tried you trick Tuesday and it made the #^))^$# removal job MUCH easier.
THANK YOU
Geo

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Glad it worked for you Geo.

Thank you and good luck.

 

[OzJavelin]

Thanks for that Don. When working on motorbike engines I HATE fitting the carbs back on 'cos the airbox rubbers are such a pain to clear and refit. On my ZR550 it is a world-class pain. I can remove, strip and clean the carbs in about 1hour .. then takes me about 1hour to refit them. I did the carbs on the GS750 and my GPz750 and they weren't too bad at all; probably 20min mucking about. Luckily I haven't had to do the carbs on the GS550 yet but when I do I'll be remembering this!!

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Hey OZ it's payback time. Glad it can be of use to you.

 

[jasper]

Thanks for the tip. We struggled with this job just a day or two ago.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Thanks for the tip. We struggled with this job just a day or two ago.

Did you move the guard rearward as suggested or find this thread too late?

 

[jasper]

Did you move the guard rearward as suggested or find this thread too late?

Found the thread too late...but the way this build is going the carbs will be off and on again more than a few times over the summer.

This tip will come in very handy.:clap:

 

[ScrumDown]

Awesome, but I read this a little too late. I ended up taking my airbox & "airbox filter box" apart to give me enough room to get the carbs out.

 

[Radtad]

Thank you so much I have been rebuilding my GS550 and have been dreading putting the carbs back on. You have saved me Thanks again

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Thank you so much I have been rebuilding my GS550 and have been dreading putting the carbs back on. You have saved me Thanks again

So pleased it could be of help to you. Even after discovering this easier way to put the carbs on a 550 motor I was struggling to get them in place. The carb stubs just would not push into the rubber boots. After some choice words I discovered that when I had fitted the new rubber boots I had temporarily tightened the small clamps on them that hold the carbs in place. And this was just enough to close the boots up a bit and prevent the carb stubs from entering the boots.

Loosened the clamps and the carbs slipped right into place. I looked around for someone to blame, but I was the only one there, so the DUNCE sticker gets stuck on my back.

 

[cormz211]

i am so glad i read this....took my carbs off about a week ago out of curiosity mostly and been thinking about how much a pain in the butt it was going to be putting them back on my gs 550..... saved me one huge headache.. and the pics made it so i know exactly what to do

 

[EnglishEddy]

Someone tell Clymer to re-write their manual and put this fella's method in for carb servicing.

 

[lonerider00]

I'm SO glad for this!!! When I first bought my '80 550ET, I got down to taking the carbs off and on in about 20 minutes... fast forward 2 years, a wreck and rebuilt later, I needed to go through them again... took 20 min to get off, and 3 hours to get back on!!! The thing still doesn't run quite right and I'm thinking about taking them off again to fit one of those oil cooler adapter plates that I read about in another thread and maybe a temperature gauge... this trick looks like it will save me a ton of time, headache, and $ in new wrenches (because I got mad and threw the one that was in my hand across the street (jk), not to mention my neighbors' ears (from hearing me shouting expletives)