Suzuki GS Series — Clutch End Float.

Low speed rattles?

There's a few common places that annoying rattles can resonate from on ye olde GS. One of them being the clutch.

It's a heavy unit to be spinning around on the big needle roller bearing and you will always see and feel the [normal] movement when you get hold of the clutch basket. Considering that the huge helical gear around the outside of it is being driven by the crank itself, movement isn't what you want. That sort of freeplay doesn't really matter, for instance, if the clutch is being driven by chain or belt as there is more flex. Gears don't exactly flex, but they will wear. 

On top of this, there is a gear sat behind it, driven by the basket, which then drives the oil pump. A lot going on for something that only has one bearing. 

Now a couple of the intelligent folks at GSResources forum removed some of the play by machining a little off the bearing hub that runs on the inside of the needle roller bearing. In effect, this removes a little of the end float and holds the basket at the angle it was designed to run. Thereby keeping the gears at the correct angle, and reducing some of the noise inside. Sounds good huh?

That's the back of the clutch basket. The large gear is driven by the crankshaft. The two slots in the back of the clutch centre drive the gear that, in turn, drives the oil pump. The springs you can see are for cushioning take up of drive as you let the clutch out to pull away etc. These sag slightly with age and, ideally, need replacing because they start to rattle. Or, as I was about to do, you can shim them with washers to quieten them down.

So this unit has a few jobs to do. Probably best that it spins as it should instead of flopping under its own weight...

Suzuki GS550E — Steering head bearings.

Wandering Aimlessly...

Since the new Metzelers have been fitted, there has been a slight weave at low speed. I hope it's a steering bearing issue and not a trait of the new boots. Being as it was on the list of to-do's for along time, I ordered a genuine top bearing from Suzuki, as there doesn't seem to be an equivalent generic part number, and the old "32006" taper roller from the local bearing shop for the bottom yoke.

While it was apart, it would be time to clean up and paint various parts on the front end. A month and half later and I'm still waiting on the springs to come from America. Postal service is struggling as they're waiting for flights!

Anyway, back to the clean up. The main things on the list were the yokes/triple clamps, headlamp brackets, indicator brackets, and maybe the speedo surround and headlamp itself.

Suzuki GS550E 673 — Stripping the Engine, Decking the Barrels.

And skim the head!

The next thing on the list was the broken fin on the barrels. I cut out a similar shape from some old aluminium that was lying around, then filed it somewhere near. I wanted the barrels to be hot before welding to avoid cracks etc., so a trip to the oven was in order. Half an hour at 150 Celsius was perfect and the liners slid straight out. This was even better because No.4 sat slightly proud before I started.

Roughly shaped, let's take a look.

RPM Moto Nerang — New Chain and Sprockets for the GS550E.

Suzuki GS550E — I'm attached to this little bike.
It's nowhere near restored or concourse, and likely never will be, but looks pretty good considering the condition it came to me in. I'm always doing little jobs on it, and enjoy the odd ride out even if the seat is as hard as wood.

The chain and sprockets were well worn, in fact the chain I was using came off my Gixer1000 years ago. So when I saw a NOS standard rear sprocket for next to nothing on eBay, I snapped it up (obviously a fifty tooth sprocket for a GS550 is not a common item now). The gearing on the 550 was way over the top before, and was fitted with a 43T on the back. I'd always thought it had the wrong chain guard on it because of the huge gap underneath, but that wasn't the case. Standard size was seven teeth bigger.

So now I needed a front sprocket and an O-ring chain to go with it. A quick look on eBay and there was a shop selling both, with different sized fronts if need be. I decided to go for a 16T to give the GS a sightly more relaxed time (15T is standard). The prices were superb, and with a little more investigation I found out they were actually on the Gold Coast.

So I popped in...

Gilbert's Cylinder Head Service — Gold Coast.

Skimming, guides, seats, porting... 
Having had several car cylinder heads overhauled by Paul Gilbert since being in Australia, I knew the service and quality was exceptional. That's no bull, they come back like a new part, and I was pretty amazed — especially for the cost.
So when I needed a couple of shims machined on the GS550, I dropped in to see if he could do them. No problem he says, come back in a couple of hours and they'll be ready to go. 
Once we got talking I realised he did a lot of motorcycle work too, and he showed me some of the heads he was currently working on.

This is one of two Rocket III heads that were being ported, one for a supercharger. He said that although he has a flow bench, the ports are now so big on this 2.3L engine that he's had to use someone else's larger version to check the flow. That's going to be one quick Trumpet!

How to change your camchain... or timing chain if you prefer.

I'm picking on the GS550E.
This bike was a very cheap project and, although I should ignore it for the time being, I keep delving in and doing different things to it. I already made up a good set of carbs for it, got it running, rebuilt the rear master cylinder because it was dripping etc. and then I decided to check valve clearances. Oh, and also bought a camchain for it because it sounds like it's stretched to buggery. 

So rather than strip the engine and, consequently, end up replacing all of the worn or moving parts, I'm treating it as a "repair as necessary" to get a better idea on engine condition — hey, it might yet be useable. If money is no object to you, just rip it apart and make it as new, but if you're doing things on a budget, then this could be ideal for you.

Mikuni CV Carbs — Great Tip For Seized Pilot Screws!

The GS550 needed carbs...
A previous post of mine described the making up of a bank of carbs from a spare set I bought. My originals had been broken by a previous owner and laid out in bits in a cardboard box. The carbs I got hold of were from a GSX750 — same bodies, but the pilot system was slightly different and the jets, obviously, were all the wrong sizes. But no matter, it proved that the GS would run... just not very well.

Because I want to put it back to standard, using the original airbox and filter, a good set of carbs was still on the wish list. And a couple of weeks ago, a bargain on eBay saved the day. For seventy bucks delivered, I had a very clean set for a GS650 on the way to me. Could not believe my luck!

It got better too, because once apart, the jets tell me that they were off the 550 after all. A strip, clean, new o-rings and we could be in business.