Resurrecting a GT550: List of problems

[jmcgill89]

Today I got my first chance to take my new GT550 out on the road for a decent ride.

First thing I did was to change the oil in the trans....some really disgusting yellow oil came out of there...I ended up flushing it twice.

Once I got it started up, it really didn't sound good at idle. It really pops and sputters and makes some racket when it's not revving. It almost sounds like an intake leak, but I really don't know...all I know is that it sounds like it's about to blow up when at about 1500 rpms. At speed, it has great pickup and accelerates to 40 very quickly.

Aside from the racket and popping, it REALLY smokes....smokes like an old outboard motor that hasn't been run all winter. I checked the oil pump setting, and it's spot on to the Suzuki manual. At idle it smokes visibly, when I rev it, I get a serious fog...doesn't seem awful when I'm riding, but I'm moving so I can't see it too well.

I'm fully expecting that I've got bad crank seals and some sort of other major malfunction with the motor.

Anyone have any ideas about the possible intake leak and/or causes for the smoking?

Thanks,

Joe

[Barry S.]

Intake leaks make a motor rev up and run lean, does it do that? Does it have 30 year old oil in the pump?

[Suzsmokeyallan]

You need to take this in stages and solve the problems in order so work accordingly. Since I cant see or hear the bike from here its hard to just say its 'this' or 'that' to pinpoint any issues you may have.
I will say that the smoking you speak of may be a lot of residual oil sitting in the crank case and pipes, something you can blow out by some brisk rides once you get the noises solved.
Did you remove the baffles in the pipes to check their condition for carbon buildup and oily wetness?
The 550 gurus will have to step up about the little issues these bikes have and the fixes needed to solve them rather painlessly. I dont think you have any serious seal issues if the bike will start and idle as easily as you say.
The plastic timing gear may be the source of some of your noises, it certainly needs looking into.

[jmcgill89]

I took some WD40 and sprayed it around the intake boots, and I didn't get any real change.

When I start it up from cold, it will idle roughly at about 2k rpms. After I take it on like a 3 minute ride, the idle settles at like 3K rpms...so there are definitely carburetor issues.

As best I can describe it, when it starts up, the "pops" or "bangs" i get from the bike are when it lets out the most smoke...the smoke is considerably less when I start it up than it is after it idles for a minute or two.

Tomorrow, I'm going to check the timing and start working through issues.

I haven't taken the baffles out.

[jmcgill89]

Oh, and the oil is not old, and the bike has been run on and off for the last year or so before I got it.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

From the last post you just added about the carbs, I'd remove them and clean them completely and replace gaskets etc as required.

[jmcgill89]

Got it!

I just took the points cover off, and I can detect no movement of the points when I rotate the motor with the kick start. Unless I'm wrong, the gap at the highest point on the lobe should be at .4mm, right? I should see some movement there shouldn't I?

However, if the points never opened, the bike wouldn't start....I'm getting confused.

[Arne]

Got it!

I just took the points cover off, and I can detect no movement of the points when I rotate the motor with the kick start. Unless I'm wrong, the gap at the highest point on the lobe should be at .4mm, right? I should see some movement there shouldn't I?

However, if the points never opened, the bike wouldn't start....I'm getting confused.

I think the gap is supposed to be 0.35mm for the GT550's, but .05mm won't make a difference in my opinion.

The gap between the contact on the points needs to open and close to get spark, note that it may be running on two cylinders or be just bumping the points to get spark on all three.

Set the gap and time per the setup procedures in the manual and go from there.

I often pull all the spark plugs out, set the plug thread to ground, turn the ignition on, and watch the spark as I hand turn the engine over to see where each plug is firing.

Good luck - Arne