Okay, got most of the bike back together but no spark GT550

[bobotech]

Also in the process of all this, I cleaned up the seal area, cleaned up the collar that the seal rode on, buffed it til it shone (was nasty) and removed the o-ring (still good) and cleaned up that area til nice and shiny and smooth.

[bobotech]

I now have a dumb question. How do I set the point gap? LIke I said, I haven't ever had a points in years and don't remember how to set the points.

I have now assembled everything. I have the points plate back in place and everything is cleaned up and polished as best as it can be.

I polished the propeller so that it would be easy to read. I didn't polish off screw marks that are on the points plate though. I'm referring to the screw marks that show where the points plate was mounted to the side cover. I figure that should at least get me in the ballpark without using a dial indicator since everything else is still the same (engine hasn't been opened or anything).

So at this point, I have the points plate mounted and tightened down to the original location that it was before I started working on the engine. I have loosened up all the points and cleaned them off and got rid of any corrosion present. I didn't move the outer 2 screws on the 2 movable point plates but rather just removed the single screw holding the points to the plate. I didn't want to mess with the timing, just the gap.

I still have the spark plugs out of the engine and they are grounded to the head. If I spin the engine, the plugs DO fire just fine however I KNOW i have the point gaps wayyyyy wrong, I just eyeballed them.

How do I set the static point gap at this point? Do I just line up the propeller and adjust the corresponding point? I really am not sure at this point. This bike should be getting ready to run at any time now.

[tz375]

I'm not sure I remember how to spell points, let alone set them, but let's try.

Ok the propeller is supposed to mark the exact point at which the points START to open and make the sparking thing happen.

So you rotate the engine past that point until one set of points is fully open. Then you adjust the gap as required. Rotate the engine another 120 degrees and set the next set. If you go too far, no worries, just go round again.

It's really simple. When the points gaps are all within limits which is something like 14 to 16 thou, but check the book for the right numbers. Do all 3 and then see where the points are opening - after the gaps are all in spec.

[Coyote]

Firstly, do not confuse point gap and timing. Both have to do with the points, but they are not one in the same.
First you gap all the points. With the fiber heel on the highest point on the cam, loosen screws 'A' and adjust the gap to .012 to .016. If you don't have a feeler gage, a match book cover is about .013 and will do in a pinch.
Now that the gap is set correctly on all three -- we move on to the timimg. The left set is first. Some sort of tester is required so you can tell when they 'break'.
Line up the the L on the propeller to the mark on the casting by rotating the engine in a clockwise direction. Loosen the 3 screws that retain the plate. rotate the plate in either direction till you find the spot that the points are just beginning to open or 'breaking'. Tighten the screws.Then move on to the center set. The center and right are adjusted with screws 'B'. So line up the C on the propeller with the timing mark on the casting. Loosen screws 'B for the center set, then snug them but do not tighten them completely. Use a flat blade screwdriver in the slots provided to find the breaking point, then tighten the screws. Repeat this for the right set.
It should run,

[bobotech]

Got it, that makes perfect sense now to me.

I am not touching the B screws, altering the timing at this point. I left the B screws alone when I was cleaning everything up, I didn't want to mess with the timing at this time. I will work on that later on after I get the bike running. I figure it still should be reasonably close since it wasn't messed with since I got the bike.

[Coyote]

It is probably off a little if you used emery paper to clean the points or removed any material off the cam.
The good news is the cam is still available. If your points plate is the same as the one pictured above, its a Nippon Denso. The part number is 33310-34010. If your condensers are mounted perpendicular to the plate, then it's a Kokusan. Cam part number for that one is 33310-34020.
These were not available when I was building mine. I had to get one from Norway (Kokusan). Suzuki must have made another run. According to Motor City Power Sports. both cams are available now. That's where I got the part numbers from.
You might want to start with a little premix till you are sure your oil pump is working correctly.

[Coyote]

Have been giving the oil pump a little more thought. It is possible that what is left in the lines is jelly. It would be worth your time to flush those lines before starting the motor.
To do so, dismount the pump by removing the three screws that retain it. Lift out the pump and be careful not to loose the cross pin that drives it. Unscrew the six banjo bolts at the motor and remove the lines. Fill an oil can with alcohol (regular old isopropyl) and pump it through all six lines to flush them out. This is done from the manifold end under the pump. DO NOT USE COMPRESSED AIR! THIS WILL DESTROY THE CHECK VALVES.
When all the lines are flowing freely, fill the lines with 2-stroke oil.
Before you remount the banjo bolts, put a few drops of oil into their corresponding holes. Now remount the pump. Then bleed off the air between the oil tank and pump and tank by loosening the screw at the top of the pump that faces you. This gets rid of 95% of the air in the system. There will still be a few air bubbles in the lines, but they should go away after 20 minutes run time.
When the air bubbles have gone, ditch the premix and put in regular gas.

[bobotech]

Well I haven't done anything yet with the oil lines. I'm just tryign to get this beast to fire up.

I got everything back together tonight. Hooked up the carbs and used an umbilical 2 liter bottle with premix gas as a feed for the carb. No gas is pouring out of the overflows so I am pleased about that at least.

Tried to fire the bike up and it did start for a second but wants to die right away. I just can't get it to stay running at all.

Took the plugs back out of the heads and grounded them to the heads and cranked. Still getting solid spark on all 3 spark plugs. However these are the original B8ES NGK plugs from the early 80s. I cleaned them up so they are clean. Should I replace them?

I double checked the colors on the points wiring harness connecting to the main harness, everything is kosher there.

I tried to start it with and without the choke and had the same problems. Will start to start up then sputters right away and dies.

[smoketriples]

Having just been through this with a long disused GT750, I can pass along two things before trying to get her running:

Set the timing.
Clean the carbs again, making sure you can blow air/cleaner through all the places that it should. Some of the passages are small, I had to use one strand out of a 10 gauge stranded wire to push through a couple of passages before I could get air to blow through, and that was after a week of the carbs immersed in a bucket of carb cleaner.

From two years ago when I restored a GT550.....do not skip the timing step. I holed a piston in less then ten miles on that bike and ended up giving myself a lot more work to do.

e

[Coyote]

Those are the correct plugs and should be replaced. Sometimes old plugs will spark fine in the open air but fail under compression. But this sounds more like a fuel delivery problem. Are the plugs getting wet with fuel? Did you block off the vacuum line? If yes to both, pull the carbs off again and remove the bowls and floats. Remove the pilot jets and make sure they are clean. Hold them up to the light and make sure you can see through them. Use high pressure compressed air and blow through the hole where the pilot screws in. Do the same for the mains. Reassemble and have another go.

[bobotech]

Okay, got the bike running. Well sort of. If we choke it, it will run. If you take the choke off, it won't run for long andyou have to keep the revs up then it dies. Sounds like a carb issue.

I took the oil pump off and cleaned it out as best as possible. I didn't remove the lines though. I also removed the oil tank and cleaned it out as well.

Put new oil into the tank and let it bleed out of the hole. The old oil left in the plastic clear lines is a pale red color, the new oil is blue so we should be able to see it pumping.

started the bike up but could see no movement of oil though the lines.

Guess at this point, its time to remove the carbs again and check them out.

Also, I am going to fix a broken stud. One of the studs on the head by the exhaust was broken off and I wonder if that leak would be enough to cause problems.

[bobotech]

It runs and runs pretty well finally. See new thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4882" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[smoketriples]

Wait.....u used an ez-out and it worked????

I'm astounded. I only use ez-outs in order to break them inside the item I wanted to remove, thereby presenting myself with an undrillable bit of hardened metal.

I then disassemble the related parts and take it to the machine shop where they laugh at my broken off ez-out and charge me $50 to drill it out with their commercial grade press and bit.

Seriously though, the only reason I'm pulling the barrels off of my project '74 is because PO broke off a head bolt and two exhaust bolts. It had great compression and no seal issues, he just didn't realize he needed fuel+spark for it to run so decided to take it apart.

My barrels will be going to the machine shop to drill and put inserts in....I'm not even going to try ez-outs...they are evil...evil!!!

e

[bobotech]

I used a small cobalt drill bit to drill directly into the center of the broken bolt. I do not use HSS or "kobalt" or "tridium coated" or other words when it comes to drilling into big deal items.

Using a cobalt bit allows me to drill about 1/4 inch deep into the bolt and then I tapped the ez-out into the hole and I got lazy and used a channel lock to back it out.

Worked great.

[smoketriples]

Buy a lottery ticket....now!!!