My New GT550 and a Question

[ukfan4sure]

First, hello to everyone. I am obviously a Newbie here.

I just purchase a 550K bike with 7700 miles. It is Lime Green Metallic and in very restorable condition. It will need about a grand to get it streetable including carb work, a battery, tires/tubes, petcock rebuild, paint, and the tank cleaned out. Whew. Now that said, the rest would simply be cosmetics and the other stuff that is bound to crop up which is usually electrical issues.

My first of what will probably be MANY future questions is this: How were the side cases finished on these bikes? I'm looking at these and it looks like they were coated with the same silver paint as the jug heads. Well, for the most part. It seems the painted portion tapers off as the cover progresses from front to the rear of the bike. Is this just my imagination? Or was this someone else's hack job? If indeed it is clearcoated natural aluminum, is is a brushed finish or a polished finish? From the pictures I can find online, it's still indecisive. Most appear to be a slightly brushed finish, not polished to a deep shine.

Can anyone advise on this?

Thanks!!

[rngdng]

I'm pretty sure the engine side covers were clear-coated originally. Many of us now-a-days, remove the clear, polish cases to desired appearance, and just polish occasionally. I don't clear-coat them.



Lane

[Alan H]

http://www.kettleclinic.co.uk/kcforum/d ... &mode=view" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The original J/K had a laquered almost gunmetal finish.
Most folks just polish.
Depends how original you wish too be, but a shiny finish is easier to keep nice.
Good luck with the bike. The 'worst' problem withb hese old bikes that haven't been run for many years, is that the crank seals dry out and fail when run.
I lifted the head and barrels and filled each crankcase with diesel then turned the engine over slowly - alot! - and drained the diesel out. Did that a couple of times and the bike runs fine 3000 miles on.

[ukfan4sure]

Alan;

I noticed that the bike you posted had a blue stripe over the lime metallic? Is that your bike or just a picture you had? I've never seen the blue stripe before. From what I've read, the green and the blue bikes all received the green stripe. I've found no mention of a blue stripe anywhere. Suzuki should could put some "interesting" color combos together.

So just to be sure I've interpreted you correctly, you removed the head, lifted each jug, an poured diesel fuel into the crankcase? then manually worked the kickstarter? Can you elaborate on this for me? I'm not sure how long this bike had been sitting, but I think it was for a few years from the looks of it. It's dry and clean, but the petcock is frozen for example.

Thanks for the initial replies, guys, about the case finishing...

[Alan H]

I got the tank from a donor bike (same year and model) and it had a blue stripe - proper decal too, so I kept the colour as I think the green stripe is just too much green!
The tank and all the other painted bits are done by a local(ish) guy and he painted the blue and also the stripes on the tank. A first class job.
Whether someone had put a wrong decal on some years ago, I dunno, but I like the blue and it upsets the purists too!
The original build thread is HERE and the original tank looked like
There's a good explanation of how I did the diesel work in the thread.
I've done it on my 550A that I'm currently stalled with too - I chopped a finger end off a few weeks ago and find it difficult to work in the garage currently. I can't even pull the bloody clutch in!