Carb slide placement

[trschulte]

Hi,
I have what I believe to be a 1973 Suzuki GT 550. It has the three individual VM carbs that are not on a rack. I was ordering float bowl gaskets (the ones that came with my rebuild kit did not fit correctly as they were a tad too big) and I noticed that two of the tree slides are the same and one is different? I got the bike together and noticed that the one slide is shorter? is this an adjustment issue or is one truly shorter and if so does that go on the left cylinder? The bike has been ratted/cafe converted and the serial number plate has been removed when the previous owner painted the frame.
Thanks!

[kawonda750]

According to the parts fiche the left slide is different from the centre and right.

https://www.oldjapanesebikes.com/mraxl_ ... /index.php

[Alan H]

Check that the three carb bodies are similar as between the J & K models the carbs changed from high top to low top types.
J model - https://www.oldjapanesebikes.com/mraxl_ ... les/page-6
K model - https://www.oldjapanesebikes.com/mraxl_ ... les/page-7

All three carbs should be the same type (check the numbers on the carbs, which should also be marked L, C, R.
Also see Alpha Sports details with exploded drawings and part numbers here - https://alpha-sports.com/suzuki_parts.htm for 1972 J & 1973 K models.

You didn't expect this to be easy and straightforward did you?!?!
I've had several GT550s since my first J in 1972, and learn stuff every time I work on them - currently 3 runners in the garage & another in resto.

Here's a pic from 2017 - work in progress.....

550s in a row.jpg

[karl pa]

The left slide is different from the middle and right, the left carb has the idle screw on the left side and the middle and right carb has the idle screw on the right side, the slide has a notch where the screw contacts.
Also, some don't care for kits, the parts aren't exact match parts, and cause tuning issues.