Poldark

A new friendship blossoming on OSS. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Seriously though, it is good to have local people to ride with. Today I went riding with my friend, not a OSS member though, he was on his Bandit 1250 and I was on my gs550e. He had to go easy on the throttle. It was a good day.

If the carbs aren't too dirty, you may be able to get by with removing the carbs, removing the float bowls, and spraying out the passages with carb cleaner spray. If really gummed up, they'll need to go into dip or ultrasonic bath. American gasoline (petrol) is generally 10% ethanol and breaks down very quickly. Some fuel stations are selling a 15% ethanol; please don't put that into your bike. Most fuel here is rather low quality, but it is WAY less expensive than what our friends across the water are paying.

Apparently I have dug myself into a deep hole, I'll just drop it now.

I may be mistaken. Many "shed" pictures I have seen on here look large enough to park a car in it. In order to eliminate confusion we could begin using the term "auxiliary utility building adjacent to dwelling".

"do you have a shed?" "i have a shed in the back but im using my garage for lighting." Even though we all supposedly speak English, there are translation issues. "shed" in UK = "garage" in US. Same with "garden" and "yard". Now back to the discussion....

It's a large chain of auto parts stores in the US. They likely don't care if they loose a little on a few bike batteries. They want you back in the store frequently, buying stuff there.

Not pigeons, sea gulls. He's on the Florida gulf coast; very sandy and salty environment. Have you done anything to the throttle cable lately? If it's routing has any tight bends, it could be binding. Has the bike sat for a long time without running; might have dirty carbs.

Cruizin Image has the piston kits; can be ordered directly from them or on E--ay. The 740 kit requires a larger bore head gasket, which is supplied making the kit $170.

The requirement not to use the 650 camshaft sprockets, applies when using engine parts from a shaft drive 650. You should be fine with the engine from a chain drive bike, but of course you should count sprocket teeth to be sure. You could just transfer the whole 650e engine into the 550 frame (my first Suzuki was such a combination) but you loose 6th gear. Exhaust ports are different sizes between 550 and 650. For $120 you can get a set of oversize pistons to take the 650 to 700 or 740. Depending on what year 550 engine, it may need the upper case relieved to accept the 650 cylinder block.

In the mid 1980's, the US government at the request of H-D (the only remaining US motorcycle manufacturer at the time) placed import tariffs on motorcycles 700cc and larger. The piston diameters on most imported 750cc were reduced to make them 699cc or less. US 700's should have parts interchange with non-US 750's. 700 could be bored out for 750 pistons. $800 seems a bit much for two non runners. You could give the seller your name and number and tell him to give you a call when he's ready to take $500.

I don't think a gs750 engine will fit into a gs550 or gs650e frame. His location is Ohio, "free" is not free if you have to pay shipping cost across the ocean. Oil cooled 600's are cheap and plentiful here in the US. The larger ones less common and more expensive. Some people don't like the look of a radiator or large oil cooler on the front of their bike. He can either build an air cooled 740 or install an oil cooled 750 with similar end results. One route requires engine work (internal) to be done, the other requires fabrication (external) such as engine mounts, cooler brackets, and wiring modification.

Welcome aboard, Please slow down a bit. Maybe quick introduction about yourself and your background with Suzuki motorcycles. Start with brief overview of what the vision is for your project. ( I want this engine in that frame with those wheels and suspension). After that, your many questions can be addressed. But the first thing is to read the rules, the moderators take them seriously in order to keep the forum focused.

I'm getting confused. Here you are asking about the GS550 wheels; in another thread you said they were worn out and you wanted to run wheels left over from your slab-side project. Most later multi-piston calipers don't have enough clearance for spoke wheels. There a number of dual disk, but non-floating and single piston, which you could easily use. If you want to run the slab-side wheels, should be easy to run complete slab-side front end. Maybe another member has run an interesting setup you want to use.

I would strongly expect your Canadian GS750 to be nearly identical to the same year US GS700 of the same year (engine bore size would be slightly smaller on the 700). The 700 was to get around the US import tariff on bikes over 700cc during the mid eighties. If you use info for 83 GS700 you should be fine, but wait for a second opinion on that one, it's possible there were some other differences between US and Canadian models. Do any of our Canadian members have any advice?

Youngkidoldbike's profile shows he's in Nevada, US. We don't have a national "mot" like the UK. Each state sets its own requirements. Some states are strict, some states have no inspection at all, and others are somewhere in between. Even if a state doesn't have an inspection requirement, open exhaust may still be illegal and the police can issue a citation for it. Nevada has a lot of desolate areas; you could ride all through the desert and mountains and no one will care, even if illegal. Regardless of state or local laws, hitting the throttle hard with open exhaust while in town is the "cops are bastards" shirt, drawing unwanted attention.

Not Stock, When it's just those of us upon the North American continent speaking in private, the name "Katana" may be used casually to refer to Suzuki's sport-touring bike with the oil cooled engine. To our friends across the ocean, the sacred name "Katana" ONLY refers to one motorcycle. It's a bit of culture shock to us in the US and Canada; but "when in Rome".....READ THE RULES!

Don't build the bike you want to build; do what everyone else tells you to do. Seriously though, it's your time, sweat, and money going into it. Your project. There are some very knowledgeable people to help you through it.

Don't see how it's wrong. Bandit or GSXR would be better, though. If he gets the parts at a good price, and he gets his project done, it's good.

I am an American, my house has its own septic tank, and I keep it filled up. Thanks for noticing. But what does that have to do with re-engineering old Suzukis????

On the chain drive GS650, the frame is nearly identical to the 550. Shaft drive GS650 frame has a few differences: tank is shorter but wider and engine mounts are difference as it uses different engine cases. I have all three frames and can take measurements if you need them.

I live on the east coast now but in a number of ways I wouldn't mind moving back to the middle part out where you are.

Drinking buddies, and your profile says Kansas City, MO. Make that a Boulevard with a slice of orange.

Wow! Looks like the 550 I'm working on, even same red and black color pattern. I should get some photos up. Mine doesn't have the bespoke wood piece, though.

Exhaust pipe adapter/reducers from auto parts store might work. Example: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-41855/overview/

How about "can of tuna"?