criticman said:
I suppose I'll address your concerns in order. First off, clean those carbs, do not adjust them. There's no tuning to be done on the stock carbs, and I wouldn't reccomend trying to open up the adjustments that do exist. Skreemer can tell you horror stories of a rather nasty set of 1983 GS550E carbs that he happens to have. Two tips... The pilot and choke jets on these carbs are VERY tiny. Carb cleaner doesn't clean orafices like that very well, so take a bristle off a brass brush and use that to clean the pilot and choke jets. (NOT steel wire, must be brass..) The choke jets are the jets at the tips of the brass tubes that stick into the float bowls. Those jets are not removable and must be cleaned in situ.
I have an 83 550ES. It's quite a tame machine. On a good day I can get it up to 115-118mph. But that takes lots of time, and I need to tuck real tight. Skreemer's bike is a 1983 GS550E, and he's got all the fixings. He can drive his bike straight into the redline and beyond in 6th gear. you and I are lucky to get to redline.
So what can you do... We'll start with the engine. K&N sells a panel air filter which I have, but haven't installed yet. I'm gonna check out what that does for the bike later today, so expect an update. K&N also sold a Pod air filter kit for the bike, which has two pod air filters that EACH are the size of the entire air filter in my 130hp car. They're HUGE, skreemer has a set. Yoshimura, Kerker, Vance&Hines all sold 4-1 exhausts for the bike. Skreemer has a V&H pipe on his machine. Any of the big names will do you fine, if you go that route. Yoshimura sold cams for the bike, I have a set of stage 1 cams in the house, and those are going to go in skreemer's bike this weekend.
Now on most cars you have EFI, so you see imediate results from improving your engines breathing. That's no so on a carburated bike. The stock carb setup on the 83-86 bikes is deathly lean. Like "ohmygod i'm going to burn a hole in a piston" lean. And that's for emissions reasons. That is also why I get 42-45mpg. Dynojet sells a lot of kits to help recalibrate your carbs, as the stock parts in any american street bike since oh... the late 70's are not adjustable. The Stage 1 kits are for bone stock bikes. Perhaps a K&N replacement stock style filter. Stage 3 kits are for bikes that have pod air filters, and a GOOD 4-1 exahust on the bike. If you have anything less you'll run very rich. We figure Skreemer's bike is in the mid 70's horsepower wise, and it's throttle responce is wonderfully sweet. I wouldn't reccomend all the upgrades he's done to everyone, but the process of tuning it was very rewarding.
Now, suspention work. This is the most rewarding thing you can do on the bike. And, thankfully there are some incredable things you can do on the bike for not a lot of money. Progressive fork springs are $70. Those and choosing the right fork oil can make a world of difference on the front of the bike. There are cartirage emulators available from race-tech. And some people recomend disabling the antidive. Our household jury is still out on it, but we can have an answer for you on saturday for that. Since you have an 85, you may have gold cylinders with black adjuster caps at the bottom of your forks. That lets you adjust the damping of your fork. It's superior to the antidive system. If that's not good enough, buy the front end off a SV1000, or GSXR of your choice, and put that on the bike. It's a fairly simple conversion, if expensive.
In the rear, the solution is simple, buy a 92-2006 GSXR 600, 750, or 1000 shock. You need to remove the centerstand, and install the shock upside down. Replacing the shock takes you from a very simple damper rod type shock, to a highly sophisticated, adjustable, remote resivour, cartriage style shock. For $20-50 you can have one of the best factory shocks the world has to offer. ;-)
EBC and vesrah both make a veriety of pads that fit the bike. Contact EBC and Vesrah to determine what's best for what you're doing. SS brake lines are nice, but unless you disable the antidive installing a set can be a bit of a pain. The antidive also adds a certian "mush" to the lines due to the pistons in the antidive moving when you pull on the lever. You may not have antidive, so it might not be a worry for you. If that's the case, any GSXR braided brake line kit will work. No need to be picky. I wouldn't worry about replacing the disks if they aren't grooved.
I wouldn't start modifying the bike anytime soon. In stock form it's a fairly quick bike. 63hp is enough for any begininer. The suspention stuff you might wanna play with first. A bike that feels "right" improves rider confidence more than anything else. If your preload adjuster died like skreemers did, the back end of your bike can end up very "weird" feeling. Not a good situation.
Gofastparts4u said:
01 GSX-R 600 and everybody told me that I'd kill myself.
I HATE people like you. Almost with a burning passion. "Durrr I survived learning on X fast bike..." The problem is people like you, try to convince other people it's a good idea. Because YOU survived, doesn't mean they will. You never hear about people who failed, becuase they're DEAD, or don't talk about it.
*snip* flat slides,*snip* you probably could have paid for a 1100 or 1150 motor and then once you tame that beast, you can upgrade that with bolt ons.
You can't get flat slides for the 83-86 gs550's. Your only bet at bigger/smoother carbs are finding a set off a KZ1300. And that's a longshot at best. If he went the 1100 route he'd end up with a bike that's 100-130lbs heavier than the ride he's got. Life isn't about straight lines, and a lighter bike can be quite nice.
