OK, Now that I have it running...............

[don]

I'm sure I've meen more than a PITA with all of this. For those of you who have read/contributed to my past posts on my 83' 550e, thank you for the help along the way. Now that I have been able to ride the dam thing Ive noticed a couple of quirks I have questions and concerns about.

All completely stock/factory intake and exhaust. The carbs that are on the bike have been furiously ultrasoniced, dipped, sprayed, and sterilized for surgical use and have had every rubber part replaced with factory ones including the intake boots with o-rings. The valves have been reseated and the head had the seats recut by Suzuki with new seals etc. Merury synched, fuel level as spec, mixture screws 1/2 way between lean rough idle and ritch rough idle then tuned to plugs.

Symptoms:

I take the highway to work. About 7 minuits worth at 60 - 75 miles per hour. The rest ( 20 minuits ) is normal secondary roads, split 10 min. before highway, 10 min. after highway.

1.) When I get off of the highway, the engine seems to be a little more " rattly ". It doesn't seem to run any different, just sounds different.

2.) On a cold start in the warmer weather, I use the choke to get it started and back it off to maintain a reasonable idle (2000-1500). The problem is, it runs all choppy with the choke only a little bit on. If I turn the choke off, it runs completely smooth but at a really low idle. It will run at less than 500 rpm with no problem. I just don't know if this is normal...OK... or what.

3.) Last thing is the iol. My oil seems to get dirty really quick. After a fresh oil and filter, ( castrol-gtx bike iol, k&n filter), within 500 miles I can't see through the iol in the sight glass. Is this an indicator of other issues?

Thank you in advance for you all mighty wisdome...........

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

#1 could be a clutch rattle. Perhaps installing new clutch springs would help. Does it go away off-idle? It could also be that you need to use a better oil, RotellaT 15w40, synthetic if you like.

#2 Have you adjusted your idle set screw when the bike is all warmed up? The bike should idle around 1050 rpm, plus or minus 100 rpm.

#3 Oil gets dirty quickly. Mine doesn't stay a clear golden color very long. See #1. The heavy duty (diesel engine) oils have more of the good stuff our motorcycles like.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[don]

Thanks cliff. In order of reply.

By " rattly " I mean valves

Idle after warm = spec...900-1100 mine 1000

So I'm not alone.... it's ok then.........

Funny thing, I just read through the " car oil vs bike oil " thing on your site yesterday, lol.

Symptoms elaborated with sound effects..............

1.) Before highway ride sewing machine, (swish..swish..swish...) after highway loose valve adjustment, (swishting...swishting...swishting...) not bad by any means, just curious...

2.) with light choke car with a big cam ( chump...chump...chump...) with no choke like a new fuel injected bike ( think spanish... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) smooth as silk. You can hear each cylinder fire without ANY hesitation to the next. It's like I have the mixture screws too ritch. It needs the choke cause it's too cold, but theres enough fule to run smooth without, just too low an idle. It will take throttle at any time. This may be ok or not......I don't know. If I'm ritch, that would account for dirty iol.

3.) All set. If you....the gs superhero......get dirty oil early, I'm not concerned. lol

 

[don]

Any other thoughts after my symphonic description?

I'm going to try the truck oil next iol change reguarding the change in sound after highway ride. (note. At the speeds i described, keep in mind that with stock gearing and tire size, that's 6-7000 rpm for 10 minuits.) I don't know what your earlier 850's turn at those speeds, but this thing is singing saprano at 70mph.

After some thought, When I say at "part choke" I mean it's barly on. It may be that only one of the two chokes is actually open. Hence the choppy idle. (One pair of carbs lean, one pair rich) ????

 

[don]

O, by the way, I drilled out the center baffle in the exhaust pipes today to get a little more bark. Got a little, that's it. Sounds kind of like the bikes in the old mad max movies now in stead of all chain and valve noise.

Please let me know if I'll need to do a needle shim or screw turn as a result. Thanks.

 

[old_chopper]

My 550 gets the same sound after buzzing down the highway. I also have a Hd Vrod and it does a similar type thing. Oil is thinner, tolearnces loosen up, and your hearing has changed with the wind noise.
The oil shouldn't be any concern. Unless it's leaking a lot of compression past the rings the oil should stay good. It doesn't take much carbon to darken the oil. You might try using a wix filter if there is one that fits. I have always thought they were the best but have zero proof to back that up!

 

[don]

Thanks Chopper.

I have also considered the whole hearing thing, the thinner iol, more heat, more fuel/carbon, etc, but don't have enough experience with bike motors to know if it is reason for concern or not.

With Cliffe saying his iol gets dark pretty quick and you saying your bike get a little "clangy" after a good high rpm ride, I'm getting more comfortable with what my bike is doing.

On my bike I've used the factory filters and, as mentioned prior, the k&n ones, and they, and the iol, both seem to be the same color when I change them. So I'm guessing their both doing the job sufficiently.

We've used eveything from purolator to wix to napa filters on our stock cars and they all look the same when we take them apart. I'm sure there's some kind of difference, but you can't see it by eye. Maybe by chemical analysis or something....lol

 

[ddaniels]

Please......on your next post, type "oil"...not "iol". Sorry to be petty.

 

[Larry D]

Don't worry about it singing soprano.

These bikes are supposed to rev high....they like to rev. Redline is where it just getting fun.

 

[don]

Sory dd. Honestly I didn't even notice. I looked back through the posts, your right, how annoying. Funny how the mind and eyes coordinate sometimes.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. don,

As long as your valves are properly adjusted and your carbs are clean, your bike sounds pretty normal. These bike do like to spin. My GS850GT runs at 5000 rpm at 70 mph. You can always vary your sprockets sizes a little if you'd like to lower your rpm.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[don]

Thanks Cliff,

As mentioned earlier, just wondering if some of these little things are any cause for concern. Runs strong, consistant, and smooth.

Valves:
Spec= .003" - .005"
Mine= .003 goes in easy, .004 goes in with friction, .005 might as well try to get a screwdriver in there.

 

[don]

Is this the correct oil you guys are fond of

http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s350/donmod/0530001159.jpg

 

[BassCliff]

Is this the correct oil you guys are fond of

http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s350/donmod/0530001159.jpg

MMmmmmm, yes! That's the yummy good stuff!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[don]

OK then. We'll give it a go and see where we end up.

Thanks again fellas.