What is wrong with this STUPID FREAKING DUMB BIKE!!!!

[nisom512]

This is on my 81 GS550T
ok so last summer my chain came off my rear sprocket and wrapped around my front one it broke the pushrod, the divice that pushes the push rod and the oil seal for the push rod

So I bought
-new chain same as what it says in owners manual
-front and rear sprockets
-clutch line(the original one was pretty bad)

Ok so I also always had a problem with the bike randomly reving up once it got hot when I came to stops or are in traffic.

So I bought the O-ring kit.

Now here are my problems
So I put in all the O-rings except intake(I got one of them off and the o-rings seemd to be in pretty good shape still) and fuel cause I couldnt for the life of me get the screws out to take the carb bodys apart and I didnt want to hassle with getting screws out seeing as how it took me about 7 hours to get my clutch covers on both sides off I seriously almost drilled threw the dang things.

so I put all the other o-rings in and set the carbs to spec. except the floats I dont have the divice to measure it out. but I put them all at the same level.

I put them in and also put everything else in(chain, sprockets,clutch line..ect) So I spin the wheel once I get everything back togeather and for some reason the chain clips the device that pushes the push rod in. so I think ok well I will file it down and what ever. so I file it down and it doesnt SEEM to hit it.

So ok great its time to test it......I try really hard to get it started and finally it starts but runs smooth but bairly can stay alive, choke at full. so I tinker and get it to run with out choke but still once it gets hot starts to rise agin and RPMS jump all over the place.

I think OK what ever this is how it was last summer dumb but lets see if it drives........NOPE!!! I put it in gear and I got no where.

So I ask people on here about not goin any where and tryed what they said(put on old clutch cable, make sure bolts for clutch disks are tight and make sure you put the clutch plates in right) and once I put it in gear the bike killed.(is was as tho the bike was engaged and there was no clutch period(it didnt pull very hard)) I was able to go 10MPH at 3000K!!! so basically I was just destroying my clutch plates.(I think)

SO I take it around the community circle thing a couple times just to let the bike get hot. then I put in to the garage only to find that once I stopped and set the bike on the kick stand, it is smoking like crazy!!! so I turned it off and looked for the oil leak cause why else would it smoke, and find it is either leaking from the oil seal on the push rod(least likely, it really didnt look like it but maybe) or the oil pan......FFFFFFF that makes me so happy!!!!!!(sarcasim) and the RPMs started to rise so I went to turn the idle screw down(how I got it to start with my "tinkering") and I find that there is gas coming from the air box there!!!

So now I think to my self hum????? what should I do now? punch a hole in the wall?, or maybe kick a pile of hoses?, oh wait I can kick this box and punch the seat of my bike....I did all of thos except punch a hole in the wall.

What the crap do I do?

P.S. I left out alot of the dificultys I had finding the discontinued parts or the ones where suzuki had the wrong part number!!!

Oh and there is no way for me to measure up the push rods(broken and used one) because the broken one is all bent and such. I cant remember who I got it form on here but it is some one who has several 550's so if you read this if you could let me know what modle 550 that push rod was from that may solve a problem.

Thank you for any help
Jake

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Smart bike, bumb bike. Nobrainer.

Smart bike, bumb bike. Nobrainer.

Your problem is you bought a dumb bike. You should sell that and buy a smart bike. Try a search on ebay for a smart bike. :-\\\

 

[Nessism]

Sorry for all the problems.

First off, the increasing idle is an air leak, most likely from those intake boot O-rings. This is the number one problem on old GS bikes. Change them. Period. Do what ever it takes to get the boots off.

Clutch: Is there resistance when you pull in the lever? Is there freeplay when the lever is all the way out? You need to have some freeplay when the lever is out or the clutch will never fully engage.

Fuel overflow: you have a stuck carb float. Measure the float height with a ruler and make sure the carbs hold gas properly by proping them up on your work bench and hooking up a gas source of some type - make sure the carbs don't overflow on the work bench before installing them onto the bike.

Don't give up, you will get it...and learn a whole lot on the way.

BTW, I have a clutch pushrod if you need one. If you are not sure if yours is correct post of photo so we can compare them.

Good luck.

 

[nisom512]

Sorry for all the problems.

First off, the increasing idle is an air leak, most likely from those intake boot O-rings. This is the number one problem on old GS bikes. Change them. Period. Do what ever it takes to get the boots off.

Clutch: Is there resistance when you pull in the lever? Is there freeplay when the lever is all the way out? You need to have some freeplay when the lever is out or the clutch will never fully engage.

Fuel overflow: you have a stuck carb float. Measure the float height with a ruler and make sure the carbs hold gas properly by proping them up on your work bench and hooking up a gas source of some type - make sure the carbs don't overflow on the work bench before installing them onto the bike.

Don't give up, you will get it...and learn a whole lot on the way.

BTW, I have a clutch pushrod if you need one. If you are not sure if yours is correct post of photo so we can compare them.

Good luck.

1.ok....fine ill do it
2.yes, maybe i will check
3.danget I was hoping you wouldnt say that.

should I sand down the metal plates inbetween the clutch plates? cause they seem very smooth?

 

[nisom512]

Your problem is you bought a dumb bike. You should sell that and buy a smart bike. Try a search on ebay for a smart bike. :-\\\

hardy har har har I have two other bikes that seem to be pretty smart but this one is just being a smart arss

 

[Nessism]

should I sand down the metal plates inbetween the clutch plates? cause they seem very smooth?

It wouldn't hurt but I doubt this is the problem.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Hey Jake, don't "LOSE IT" yet. There is help at hand.

You've got to pull the carbs anyway to do the "O" rings so it's a simple matter of mounting the carbs in the vice and doing the float bowl thingo as Ed said.

Is your pushrod the one with the thick thingo on one end. I know on my 550 it will only pull out one way after the clutch cover is removed. maybe yours is different. Did you install the clutch pushrod mechanism properly. It turns on a nylon spiral thingo.

Remove the clutch cover on opposite side of engine to clutch pushrod mechanism and observe the clutch plates to see if they separate when the clutch lever is actuated.

Give us a pic of the pushrod if you have one.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. nisom512,

You've got an old bike there that has probably been neglected for a long time. There are several things that must be brought back up to proper operating parameters. You've experienced what happens when you try to take shortcuts. Please take a deep breath, let it out, relax.

Read through the mega-welcome again, paying particular attention to the Top 10 Common Issues and their solutions. You should be able to find most of the information you need on my website or in the links on my website. Check out the Clutch Odds and Ends section.

You've done some good work and you are getting close to having a trouble-free GS experience. Just finish what you've started and you'll be riding pretty.

You don't need an electronic caliper to set your float heights. Most rulers these days have inches on one side and millimeters on the other.

Keep us informed. Happy wrenching!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[GQROD]

Look at the bright side, at least your right rear reflector is not cracked!

 

[nisom512]

It wouldn't hurt but I doubt this is the problem.

I think I will just for fun
But what grit should I use?

Hey Jake, don't "LOSE IT" yet. There is help at hand.

You've got to pull the carbs anyway to do the "O" rings so it's a simple matter of mounting the carbs in the vice and doing the float bowl thingo as Ed said.

Is you pushrod the one with the thick thingo on one end. I know on my 550 it will only pull out one way after the clutch cover is removed. maybe yours is different. Did you install the clutch pushrod mechanism properly. It turns on a nylon spiral thingo.

Remove the clutch cover on opposite side of engine to clutch pushrod mechanism and observe the clutch plates to see if they separate when the clutch lever is actuated.

Give us a pic of the pushrod if you have one.

yeah that is what I have to do to put mine in and man the first time I did that it took me so long to accidentally realise that it just pops out the other end. any who what do you mean thread it in? how do I do that it has the threads I was just wondering if they may be different lengths?

how would I go about "screwing" in the push rod I just put it in there cause thats how it came out with no twisting.

Hi Mr. nisom512,

You've got an old bike there that has probably been neglected for a long time. There are several things that must be brought back up to proper operating parameters. You've experienced what happens when you try to take shortcuts. Please take a deep breath, let it out, relax.

Read through the mega-welcome again, paying particular attention to the Top 10 Common Issues and their solutions. You should be able to find most of the information you need on my website or in the links on my website. Check out the Clutch Odds and Ends section.

You've done some good work and you are getting close to having a trouble-free GS experience. Just finish what you've started and you'll be riding pretty.

You don't need an electronic caliper to set your float heights. Most rulers these days have inches on one side and millimeters on the other.

Keep us informed. Happy wrenching!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

i would of basically had one if it wornt for my chain. I had already rebuild the carbs and junk two years ago and now she hates me

 

[nisom512]

Look at the bright side, at least your right rear reflector is not cracked!

your right instead my tail light doesnt work.

 

[Guest]

Use steel whool on those clutch plates.

 

[nisom512]

Use steel whool on those clutch plates.

what grade. I have super fine right now but I could get some medium?

 

[nisom512]

so what grade steel wool should use?

 

[Nessism]

so what grade steel wool should use?

You want to rough up the metal on the plates, doing that with steel wool will be difficult. I suggest using something like 200 grit sand paper.

 

[nisom512]

Ok so I monkeyed around with the push rod mechanisim and I finally got the thing to drive I did put about an hour into getting the bolts off of the intake boots and I replaced the o-rings on it. SO I iwll be driving it this week and am super happy. I guess cutting back like I have done really killed me on this one.

Thank you guys for helping me out I always appriciate it.
Jake

 

[Don-lo]

Great to hear, Jake.

Keep an eye on that oil leak. Wadding a chain into the pushrod can crack the cases.

 

[Guest]

Glad you got it going.
I use steel whool to clean off the oil glazing on the steels. Not sure of the grade.
So the problem was with the adjustment of the clutch actuator?

 

[nisom512]

Glad you got it going.
I use steel whool to clean off the oil glazing on the steels. Not sure of the grade.
So the problem was with the adjustment of the clutch actuator?

Yeah if the actuator is the one that pushes the push rod then yeah I needed to put it on the right teeth to twist on then getting it to be low enough to not get hit by the chain, then the little screw on the back of the "actuator" I had to screw it in pretty far to make the push rod touch it.

I realized that the actuator was the problem becasue when I put it farther out it would hit the chain and the bike would pull forward when I had the clutch lever in. so I moved the actuator in and the bike wouldnt move at all. so just to make sure I did everything else right I just didnt put the cover on and turned the bike on and just striat up kicked it into gear and sure enought it killed. (that was a huge motivator for me) so now I totally knew it was that stupid thing being out to far and there for keeping the push rod engaged a little. so I put it in, then screwed the screw on the back of the actuator in till I felt a little resistance from the push rod and vwala it was good. but old tabs...... so I could only ride around the block.