finding my youth again 77 GS550 cafe build

[firsty]

High All I've been hanging around here for a while and I think it is time to start a build thread

this thread will be running side by side with a thread that I have started over at GS resources as I'll need all the help I can get (twice the input can't be that bad)

I'm going back to my youth, haven't owned a bike for about 30 years and don't have a current licence but not going to let that stop me

while wasting time on evil-bay I came across this

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this was the description with the add

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didn't mention the twin disc front end swap that has been done

though "I can handle this" even though I don't have the tools any more (good excuse to re-stock)

so as it was only half an hour away I went and had a look, its not as nice as the photos show
I brought it anyway there and then straight into the back of the van and home

.... more to follow

 

[firsty]

the seller said it was a project bike when he brought it and the PO had cut off part of the rear frame (parts are in the box if I need to weld them back on)
he also said he had put a kit through the carbs (will have to check that)

got the bike home and started having a decent look at it

• has had a front end twin disc wheel/forks/brakes installed by a PO
• brand new Battlax BT-45 tyres front and back
• most of the wiring not installed
• front brake fluid full of gunk
• rear brakes only half worn
• lots of miscellaneous bolts and nuts missing and those that are there are only finger tight
• the seat is completely rusted out and unusable
• new battery

so first job it to see if I can get the motor running before I start any major work

..... more to follow

 

[firsty]

the first thing to do is get the ignition checked to see whats not working since the Dynatek Dyna-s ignition went in

pulled the cover off the pickups and found that the advance was locked up solid and the only way to free it up was to loosen the bolt holding it onto the end of the crank, it looked like the rotor magnet was to long (great he has fitted the wrong unit)

Here is the problem

after a little research over on GSR it turns out there were 2 different makes of ignition fitted to the early GS's - Kokusan and Nippon Denso
Dynatek also make 2 versions of the Dyna-s ignition for Suzuki GS's , one for each type and of course I have Kokusan and he fitted Nippon Denso

that left me with 2 options, try and get the correct Dyna rotor or finding a Nippon Denso advancer for a 37 year old bike
I'm sure I could get a new rotor but it would have to come from the US. but first off I tried to find an advancer from a wrecker here in Sydney
the first wrecker I tried only held parts for post 1990 bikes but said that the previous owner had keep all the pre 1990 parts and sells them out of a shed at the back of his property
after a quick phone call it was off to "Old Golden Motorcycles"
man it is in a big shed with hundred of barn find bikes and racks and racks of parts and some beautifully restored bikes, an absolute goldmine of stuff

he took me to a row down the back and said you look like you don't mind a bit of dirt, you "might" find what you are looking for here pointing to about 30 large plastic boxes, if not we may be able to pull something off one of the bikes

I spent nearly 2 hours looking through the boxes, as well as old parts the boxes were sprinkled with brand new OEM parts (you would need part numbers and a lot of time to find anything) after a few false starts I finally found in a dark greasy corner of the 25th box what I though I was looking for

My Kokusan on the left and the one I found on the right

it has ND stamped on it so it should be right (all the early 550, 750 and 1000s use the same Nippon Denso advancer

and with the dyna rotor fitted

till I get the motor running I won't know for sure

.... more to follow

 

[matthryan]

Love seeing Aussie builds on here
Im currently building a 1977 dt250 and live in Queensland

Definitely keen to see progress!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[caferay]

http://www.fastbikesmag.com/2013/12/10/suzuki-announce-vintage-parts-programme/

This may help.

 

[firsty]

@ Caferay: that looks like it will be a good site, but I wonder how long till they have my bike there

the next stage this weekend was to get the electricals working and see if the motor would run

since the wiring is all over the place I made up a basic total loss system with fuse / kill switch / starter / oil pressure warning light (once had a GSXR 400 race motor delivered without the oil pump drive pin installed, not getting caught out like that again) / power for the the Dynatech ignition and coils
with that all setup I static timed the ignition, before adding fuel I pulled the plug on 4 to check for spark and then the one on 3 to check the other coil, good solid sparks on both

as I went to put the number 3 plug back I noticed a small bright mark on the end and wondering what cause that I grabbed torch and had a look in the plug hole

could not get a shot down the hole but this what I saw

the bore seems to be ok, nothing that a quick hone won't fix
at this stage I don't want to spend a lot on the bike so I plan to replace just the one piston and rings as the rest are in reasonable shape
I have to wait for the shops to reopen from Christmas/new year holidays

I hadn't planed to strip the motor, but I'll have to do it now just to clean out anything that may have ended up down there
hope I can find a way to flush the big end bearing as I had one of these let go 5 hours and 40mins into a Castrol 6 hour race back in New Zealand

off to check online for a complete gasket set

.... more to follow

 

[firsty]

while waiting for piston and rings for the motor I got a little carried away and started to pull the bike apart
haven't been able to remove the swing arm bolt as it seems to be fused to the spacer, Once I get the motor out I'll lay the frame on it's side and fill it with some sort of penetrating fluid and see if that will help.

so I started on the seat
I'm on a bit of budget so I'm trying to use as much of the bike as possible at this stage till I have it running and legal so I can register it. then who knows what I'll end up with

I have seen a few bikes that used the standard rear cowl , but on a cut down and shortened seat they look to big and don't flow with the bike

I think it needs to sit lower and be made to look smaller but still leave room to put the battery inside

drilled out the rivets and removed the base to lower it

cut it to change the angles

starting to look better

not having any welding gear I'm making the base out of aluminium and rivets

laying out the shape of the seat

slotted the side angles and bent them to fit the shape

then after working out the battery compartment I dropped the plate on and riveted it up before trimming off the excess

underside of seat, I still have to put in a cross brace/locking bar, there will a strip of rubber under the angle sides so the seat can sit directly on the frame rails

the top showing the battery box base

the seat base fitted to the bike

as you can see the battery base has been angled down so I can use the existing mounts on the frame and still keep enough space for the battery

when the cowl is removed the whole seat pivots up so you will be able to get to the wiring tray that will be underneath there

the cowl fitted to the base

there will be a rear to the seat pan that sits against the cowl, I have removed the leading lip on the cowl so it will sit flush
the cowl will be held on by some quick release fasteners so you can easily lift it off to get to the battery

the battery area

sitting lower with what I hope are more flowing lines along the top

the part masked up will be removed to make it into a small cowl and make it line up with the bottom of the tank and seat

I need to rase the rear of the tank and the front of the seat slightly to allow for the slight dip in the frame

where the rivet is sticking out I left a small part of the cowl lip that I have tucked in behind the side angles for the front fasteners, With 2 more fasteners coming in from the back where the number plate will go

.... more to follow

 

[rundown]

Too bad about the piston, I suppose it is always something. Looking good so far.

 

[firsty]

parts are in

GO

TURN

STOP

just waiting till it cools down here - 39 deg C (102 f) and bloody humid out in the garage

 

[firsty]

finishing off the seat this weekend

added the back and braced it to the battery frame

cut the rear cowl down and fitted it on

I think the lines worked

added some padding and shaped with angle grinder (may have to change to a softer foam)

I'll run it like this for a few weeks before I cover it (once I get the rest of the bike done)

I found a old Leather lounge beside the road the other day and cut all the leather of it
it's old weathered dark red-brown (more red) so I have enough to cover a few seats
also there was a tan leather chair which I cut up for practice leather

as I said I'll wait till I have ridden it for a while before I cover it

.... more to follow

 

[alzcbz]

I like the way the original rear cowls look on these bikes and wasn't so sure when you had it tilted at an angle. Once you cut and shaped it, it's really looking nice.

 

[Daeouse]

Very nice work on that seat pan indeed! Using the rear cowl for a battery box is a great idea! 8)

 

[rundown]

I will be watching how you do seat upholstery. It seems that is one of the hardest things for most people.

 

[firsty]

A little more progress

worked on the front end this week

fitted new steering head bearings, stripped and cleaned the forks and fitted new fork seals, then painted them satin black

fitted new front wheel bearings and painted the whole lot satin black

cleaned up the brake rotors

I'm picking up bearings for swing arm and rear wheel tomorrow

so the rear should be finished some time next week

the paint is only a temporary rattle can job to make the bike presentable for it's rego test, the plan is to bead blast the lot and get a proper powder coat job done at a later date and the colour scheme could well change

.... more to follow

 

[pacomotorstuff]

The early GS550's were great bikes and an excellent choice for you to get back into motorcycling - super reliable and harder to break than an anvil. I can't imagine for the life of me, how the DPO would have holed a piston - maybe the carb intake had a crack and let it run lean? I had over 38K km on mine when I took the motor apart to fix an oil seal leak behind the points (a common ailment here in Canada for some reason) and the pistons looked pretty good...
I put tapered steering head bearings, Marzocchi piggyback shocks and a Micron fork brace on my '77. Those old 35mm forks are pretty spindly and the fork brace made a huge difference. If you're going to push the bike at all, I'd suggest you do the same.
Your lower bars are a good idea - my DPO put superbike bars on mine and they're 10 times better than the stockers.
Its a heavy bike and the second disc install is a great upgrade. I took a road racing school on mine (30 years ago) and was running out of front brake even though it'd been rebuilt with first cabin bits, so I'm going to upgrade to duals or hang a big single disc on it.
Looks like you're putting your bike on a "diet" - another great idea. I have a CF front fender, removed the electric starter and big battery, have a 4-1 race pipe with an alloy can and laced up alloy rims; hopefully, about 40 lb lighter when I'm done. For now, I've kept the stock seat but "scooped" it ala the superbikes from the '70's, but I'm considering a different dual seat down the road (I'm getting a lot of requests for "rides", so should have at least one bike with a dual seat).
Thanks for the tip on the ignition system. When I put my pointless ignition in, I'll check that I bought the right one.
I'll be watching your build for tips and ideas - I'm getting my bike back together, after almost 30 years...
Pat

 

[Macbethpoe]

Hey had to check your build out after your input in mine, looking good man. I must say, say it some great vision and creativity that came together on that seat, looks good.