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The GS Makes Friends - Finally!

  • Thread starter Thread starter LeMango
  • Start date Start date
L

LeMango

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Who knew? There apparently IS a vintage/classic/historic motorcycle ?scene? here in Tucson! Since we?ve been here we (First Timer, certainly) has been in bike nerd companion withdrawal. We recently took the SV out and hung around with some sport bike folks, but it wasn?t the same. No wrenching talk, too much plastic.

Then, like a lightening bolt of pure karma, we were saved! I hadn?t been on craigslist for months, but signed on one day last week to ooh and ahh over some kittens in the pets section (not a joke, I am a girl after all). I browsed the motorcycle listings while I was on and stumbled on a post that said little more than ?people who like vintage motorcycles, wanna meet up?? I was skeptical at best, but First Timer got an e-mail back from the dude and lo and behold ? they were planning to meet the next evening at a bar where I had already planned to be for happy hour with work folks. Whoa. See what I mean? Fate. So a good contingent of folks showed up, with a little bit of everything: ducati, honda, bunch of bmw?s and even an indian. They all seemed like nice folks, so we scheduled an early morning ride up Mt. Lemmon for this Saturday (today).

It was a smaller, but good group this morning ? weighted toward the Japanese this time (oh, and a vmax and a harley showed up too ? never really got the story on that). Weather was excellent. Half of us stayed up top for breakfast and to extend our time in the cool air (a real commodity here in the SW this time of year). Some pics from the cafe parking lot:

2619316033_e7f23815f4_o.jpg


2620139698_5d66e5dcd0_o.jpg


As you can see, we took the 550, two up. This was its first hard ride since the cleanup, and it did really well. We went up to about 9000 ft though, and the 550 certainly ?noticed? the change in elevation. A grand time was had by all, and I suspect we?ll ride with these folks again.

Sorry for the verbose report. I?m done now ? have to go change a clutch rod seal or something.

Laura
 
no worry on being long winded, we all like to read. and those of us that don't, like pictures. you brought pictures, so all is good :D

that 550 looks nice, but man, i would love to have me an old BMW airhead. :-)
 
Congrats on Hooking up with some Good Folks out there. Nice looking machines too.:-)
 
Wow, that 550t looks nice all gussied up. Mine is still languishing in the bike barn as I slowly replace and rebuild parts. Just curious, what exhaust is that and did the pods and exhaust require much rejetting or cause issues? Any details you can give would be great, as my exhaust is rusted out and nice originals are hard to find. I also like the oil cooler (neat!) and it looks like some aftermarket coils as well. I really likee!
 
Joe:

of course not . . .but . . .

they did all show up on time . . .

and no one made fun of first timer's effeminate breakfast food choices . . .

:-)
 
Last edited:
Fishman:

That is a mac 4-1 exhaust with 1.5 inch competition baffle (www.macperformance.com) and k&n model RC2382 air filters (frankly, something of a bitch to get on and off). Went with an '82 kat 550 dynajet stg3 jet kit when the exhaust and air filters were changed. No issues.

here is a quick mod list:

mac 4-1 exhaust with 1.5 inch competition baffle
accel coils
1982 kat 550 dynajet stg3 jet kit
k&n model RC2382 air filters (a bitch to install)
15wt fork oil for 140lb person with 3/4in spacers with stock fork springs
pirelli sport demon tires
down one tooth on countersprocket from stock
basic $20 drag bars
removed crash bars because they decrease cornering clearance
a bunch of good info can be found here, but it is from 2003 so it is pretty out of date.

if you are interested in other specifics i didn't touch on, let me know.

Laura
 
Done well all round.Freaks you out when stuff like that happens.A chance meeting,phone call or whatever turns into something like that.I've found that it doesn't matter what type of bike it is,if it's "old",it'll have good folk riding it.Cheers,Simon.:D:D:D
 
Good story, thanks.
Your 550T looks real good. You should be proud!
 
Thanks for the comprehensive info! I keep thinking I should keep my bike stock, but it really isn't pretty enough to worry about it ever being collectible. A big part of me wants to mod it a bit and have fun. I checked out the links and that's a lot of information. I'm going to think about it. One other quick question . . . Is that exhaust very loud? I don't mind a bit of noise but the stock mufflers sound right to me. Do you still have the crashbars? Those are hard to find and I would love to buy them from you.
 
Thanks for the comprehensive info! I keep thinking I should keep my bike stock, but it really isn't pretty enough to worry about it ever being collectible. A big part of me wants to mod it a bit and have fun. I checked out the links and that's a lot of information. I'm going to think about it. One other quick question . . . Is that exhaust very loud? I don't mind a bit of noise but the stock mufflers sound right to me. Do you still have the crashbars? Those are hard to find and I would love to buy them from you.

I do think the exhaust leans toward the "loud" end of the spectrum. It must, as I have a tendency to talk abnormally loudly and say "what?!?" a lot right after I get off. Sorry, the crash bars were sold on e-bay about a year ago. Have fun pondering the possibilities, and let us know what you decided to do (or not do)!

Laura
 
That's probably louder than I want, but then I do have some obnoxious neighbors . . . :rolleyes:

Right now I'm trying just to get the bike up and going. Very very close and I will be riding it before the end of July for sure. Making do with my '83 nighthawk til then:-)
 
Nice update, Laura - we miss you here in Chi-town!!

Regards,
 
Sorry to get off-topic, but can you please tell me if your oil cooler is stock or not (probably not)? I'm curious as to where you routed the oil flow from, since I can see the hoses running underneath the carb rack.

I'd also like to know which turn signals you are using. I like how they look compared to giant blinker light stalks that come stock. I sure wish my 650 was as clean as yours!

Thanks!
 
Joe:

of course not . . .but . . .

they did all show up on time . . .

and no one made fun of first timer's effeminate breakfast food choices . . .

:-)

Hmm this sounds familiar... Didn't something like that happen out this way too :-k :D

550 is looking great - I'm still waiting for a picture with Ryan as co-pilot... :p
 
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