Suzuki GS550E — Replacing The Clutch.

EBC Heavy Duty Springs.
So after a few rides on the old 550, it soon became apparent there was a bit of clutch slip when used hard in high gears, but the main issue (for me) was the clutch lever was just too light. To the point that when you were trying to get away from the lights, especially uphill, the clutch just wouldn't bite fast enough.

So Wemoto quickly sent me some new springs, and a Slinky clutch cable in case the old one couldn't take the pressure. These guys are amazing, great prices, very quick and efficient service!

GS550E Paint — And Now The Lacquer.

2000 Grit Wet & Dry
After a good flatting with soapy water and the old P2000 grit, the paintwork was looking smooth and, well, dull. Taking care on the curves and edges not to rub through the red, you're aiming for paint that is uniform all over without any orange peel. 
The scary part is taking your nice shiny paint finish and ruining it. 
But if it worries you, just run water over the paint and watch how it shines again — that's what the lacquer will do.

GS550 - Fitting New Points and Condensers.

Fitting what?
Contact breakers, remember them? It appears that many of the younger mechanics coming through don't really know what points and condensers are. Maybe they don't teach them the basics of ignition systems in college anymore, maybe they take no notice because they've never had to fit any.  Probably the latter.

Maybe I'll start with how they work.

To get a spark to fire across the spark plug's air gap, we need a pretty high voltage (20,000 - 30,000 volts), for which we use a coil. Everyone's familiar with those, but just how do you get a spark out of one?  Without electronic jiggery-pokery CDI and transistorised ignition systems?

Suzuki GS Engines — Checking Valve Clearances.

Basics — why do we need clearance?
In an ideal world, the combustion chamber in an engine would be completely airtight during the compression stroke. However, due to basic mechanical inefficiencies, there will always be blow-by somewhere. But by keeping this to a minimum, your engine is able to produce good power. 
Possible ways for the air/fuel mix to escape could be via the piston and rings, through a failed head gasket or the valves in the cylinder head. Because we're dealing with valve clearances today, we'll stick with those. 
In modern engines, the poppet valves in a four-stroke engine are either machined perfectly to form a seal against the 'seats' in the head, or lapped in with grinding paste to match them together (older engines). Springs then hold them tight against the seat and, voila, no air leaks. 

Suzuki GS550E. In this pic you can see the two camshaft lobes above their respective bucket and shim. The cam cap is removed because some clown (previous owner) stripped a thread — in fact they mullered a few of them and decided to replace them with some coarse-threaded bolts! Marvellous.