scott-s

So in other words, as long as I don't remove it, leave it alone!

Can someone walk me through the cam chain tensioner? I picked up a manual and it only covers the removal, disassembly, reassembly and installation. Surely there's just a normal adjustment procedure? Or, does the adjustment require removing it? That seems a little out of the ordinary to me. What's the normal "tune up" adjustment for the cam chain tensioner?

2000 Teapot 750 When I got the donor bike for my current project, the story I got was that the carbs got dirty and caused running issues (and there's evidence of that). He said he burned up the starter trying to get the bike going. The bike had a battery in it with not quite a full charge. The lights would come on and I could hear the solenoid click when I hit the button, but that's it. I've now pulled the engine. I can confirm that the engine spins free and is not stuck. There is only one wire going to t he starter. I've charged the battery. If I want to test the starter and see for myself what's going on, do I just connect the POS to the starter wire and ground the NEG to the case somewhere? Looking at the diagram, it looks like the starter is grounded and gets power when the contact is made.

While I have the engine out, there's no better time to adjust the valves. Do you replace the valve cover gaskets and the four gaskets under the spark plug holes every time? I watched a video online and he smeared a thin coat of sealant on the gaskets/sealing surfaces. Thoughts on this? I also removed the oil cooler to pull the engine. Should I always replace the two o-rings and crush washers? Any other tips or tricks while I'm in there?

Is there a source for online service manuals? Been looking around the site and haven't found them yet. Need one for a 2000 Teapot 750. Mostly for fork seals and servicing, valve adjustment, maybe a wiring diagram.

Yeah, I understand that. Just looking at options or suggestions for something that fits the GS550 frame a little better, if there is such a thing.

OK, so some of the Bandits have 8 or 9 row coolers....how about those? EDIT: Looks like the Bandit 6 has about 8 and the 12 has 10 rows.

Yeah, I see nice aluminum oil coolers on that auction stite for a 1000cc bike that are much smaller. Here's a nice one for a GSXR 1000 that has the fittings in the right place, is clean and is only about $44 shipped. Plus, there's a hydraulics shop right by my house. I get all my braided s.s. brake lines made there. I have no doubt that they can make me custom hoses to fit my build. If you think this cooler will work, I'm gonna snag it. It's six rows but obviously thicker.

Picked up a '00 GSX750F to use as a transplant donor for my '80 GS550E. The oil cooler is rather substantial at 13 rows. The GSX was a fully faired bike and I suspect it's shaped the way it is mostly because of packaging requirements. I see some smaller oil coolers on the auction sires; 9 row, Bandit 600, etc. The GSX-F was the "milder" version of the GSX-R. Think fitting one of the smaller oil coolers would be an issue? Just trying to figure out where to place things on the '80 frame.