New UK Member - Introduction

[Joseph Christopher]

Hi all. My name is Joe - I'm 27 and living in Glasgow, Scotland (I was born near London).

Attached is a 35mm photograph of my 1981 GS550T as I purchased it in 2019. This bike has been neglected by its previous owner; for safety's sake I am engaging in a full strip, recondition and rebuild.
I have been delayed in starting on account of poor health and a lack of space to work - however, recently a family member kindly let me use their garage and I have started work in earnest this week. So far I have removed everything with the exception of the steering head, swingarm and rear wheel.

While I am competent in using tools, I have no experience with working on motorcycles. I am following the Haynes manual, but as you can imagine it makes no provisions for dealing with rusted or seized parts which are plentiful on this bike. I also have a very limited budget and would prefer to use high-quality replacements for critical parts (bearings etc.) which may slow the whole process down, but I will post updates when I have them. In time I will also be grateful for any leads on reputable UK-accessible sources for said parts.

The plan is to build the bike much as it appears in this photograph; it came with a 4-into-1 and I will be using the stock airbox. It'll be finished in a paint scheme similar to the Yamaha Midnight Special. I became interested in motorcycling on account of my late grandfather, who rode and maintained a series of original BSA bikes; my decision to build this bike as a 'cafe racer' was inspired by bikes like the BSA Gold Star Clubman, rather than modern interpretations thereof. Eventually I would like to carry out the 650 top end swap and install high comp pistons.

I'd like to extend my thanks at this time to everyone who keeps the forum running - I am a newcomer to the website, but the information here is nigh impossible to find elsewhere.

Kind regards!

 

[Burque73]

Hey Joe. Welcome to the GSR forum.

 

[Rob S.]

Welcome aboard. Did someone with a Sawzall take liberties with your bike? :apologetic:

 

[rphillips]

Rob... Why the question? Do you think hose bikes came that way? Welcome joseph, and good luck with your project.

 

[Grimly]

While I am competent in using tools, I have no experience with working on motorcycles. I am following the Haynes manual, but as you can imagine it makes no provisions for dealing with rusted or seized parts which are plentiful on this bike. I also have a very limited budget and would prefer to use high-quality replacements for critical parts (bearings etc.) which may slow the whole process down, but I will post updates when I have them. In time I will also be grateful for any leads on reputable UK-accessible sources for said parts.

For wheel bearings, never cheap out, use Koyo, easily available from numerous sources in the UK.
Steering head bearings aren't so critical, but buy the best you can afford.
In actuality, there's not really that much difference in price between an anonymous cheapie bearing and a Koyo anyway, especially when you take into account the likelihood of early failure of the cheap one, and the sheer hassle and inconvenience it causes.

 

[Joseph Christopher]

For wheel bearings, never cheap out, use Koyo, easily available from numerous sources in the UK.
Steering head bearings aren't so critical, but buy the best you can afford.
In actuality, there's not really that much difference in price between an anonymous cheapie bearing and a Koyo anyway, especially when you take into account the likelihood of early failure of the cheap one, and the sheer hassle and inconvenience it causes.

Thank you for the information! Reputable brand names/parts aren't something I'm familiar with yet, so that's very helpful ( although I've decided to replace the shocks and fork springs with Hagon parts, whose name I am familiar with as my grandfather also used them)

 

[Joseph Christopher]

Thank you all for the welcome; pics to follow when I have em!

 

[salty_monk]

Welcome to the madhouse!

 

[Gr8uncleal]

Welcome from near Salisbury, Wiltshire Joe.

You might be pleasantly surprised as to how many parts are still available from Suzuki. Check out places like Fowlers in the UK and CMSNL in Holland. As well as having a retail arm, Fowlers is a big wholesaler to the dealers here in the UK, so always ask your local dealer (doesn't have to be a Suzuki main dealer) first.