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'74 GT550

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:13 am
by pig9r
I thought I would show off my latest. This is my first smoker so I really appreciate all the info here. It just turned 5300 miles. Crank seals replaced, mastercylinder, forks and caliper rebuilt and some new tires and it was ready to go.

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:19 am
by Zook-e
Nice looking ride. :up:

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:04 am
by Cliff
She's SWEET!! There's been a lot of work put into her to be in that shape!
The link below is my bike! She's got somewhere around 150,000 miles on her now! I sent johnakay some pics of her with his new rack installed and he posted them here!
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1422&p=84339&hilit= ... ike#p84339" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Cliff!

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:22 am
by T350guy
Nice.. :up: :D

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:25 pm
by Suzsmokeyallan
Those two bikes look great for sure, then theres this owner in the UK somewhere who has this example.
Now this is a "super clean" bike, definitely a museum quality restoration.

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Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:43 pm
by Cliff
That UK bike is good looking too!
Did Suzuki use different signal light lenses in different markets in the 1974 model year?
And different colour reflectors in the rear?
Where is the speedometer cable in the bottom pics., and the brake hose looks to be too short?
Why is the arrow going the wrong way on the front tire? I don't think my bike came with directional tires from the factory. But that was 37 years ago when I took her out of the box. Maybe the memory is going!
It's hard to tell from the one pic., but I can't see the "S" embossed in the back of the mirror.
Ok, I'm just jealous!! That UK bike is just too damn clean and shiny!!!!

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:14 pm
by pig9r
Cliff wrote:She's SWEET!! There's been a lot of work put into her to be in that shape!
The link below is my bike! She's got somewhere around 150,000 miles on her now! I sent johnakay some pics of her with his new rack installed and he posted them here!
Cliff!
Wow that is impressive. You are a loyal owner. Sorry to say, I don't have that much work into mine, with 5300 original miles a little bit of semichrome polish is all I needed. :up:
Suzsmokeyallan wrote:Those two bikes look great for sure, then theres this owner in the UK somewhere who has this example.
Now this is a "super clean" bike, definitely a museum quality restoration.
That has to be better than it was delivered from the dealer.

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 3:06 am
by MikeH1A
pig9r - that's a neat looking bike with supe low mileage. How on earth do you guys keep finding these unmolested bikes??? Where I'm from, a bike with 45000 on it is considered a good catch - and we look at the speedo suspiciously even then :)

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:31 pm
by Suzsmokeyallan
Cliff you saw a lot of things as I did with the missing cable and the arrow on the tyre. I personally dont think that UK bike gets ridden much.
It may very well be a 'queen' of some sort for display purposes, but since I know nothing about it other than the pics I may be wrong.
AFAIK there were no directional tyres fitted to the GTs in 74 so thats a recent tyre for sure and you can see its new by the centre colour stripe.
In the end its what you want to make of it and any bike can be a sweet ride if you lavish enough time and money into it. Some of us just have better luck at finding very decent old bikes to start with.

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 12:12 pm
by z1rider
That is near perfect ! Could be sitting on the showroom in 1974, but I don't they looked that good even then.

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 2:02 pm
by tz375
And that is a very good point. That UK 550 appears to have been completely rebuilt to a much higher standard than original. Chrome and paint are examples of where attention to detail is possible in a rebuild that is not consistent with stock/OEM.

I have done the OEM type rebuild and the better than stock approach, but now I prefer my bikes to look like they are ridden.

There's a level beyond which it becomes a huge liability and work to keep it looking fresh and better than new that I am no longer interested in making.

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 2:53 pm
by Cliff
Yes my looks like it has been ridden!!
That UK bike has the springs on the exhaust. "L" model year didn't!!

Re: '74 GT550

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 4:09 pm
by Alan H
Remember that directional tyres fitted to front are the 'opposite' direction if fitted to rear.

It's pretty, but mine will be riders, so I shan't be going to the 'nth degree' of originality like that, I'm afraid.