ProducerBill

The original petcock did have a handle. It was tiny, but there was one. It is true the replacement is a bit larger, but it fit. Maybe it will not fit a 1000E because the engine might be larger, but the 550L had more then enough room for the replacement. Here is a picture of an old from one at a show. Here is the replacement on mine. Wish the pictures where more straight on but this is the best I have on hand.

I replaced my 1981 GS550L petcock with: https://www.Eblag.com/itm/292730824423?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1V4YqbfPfQ7SMg-BvYRYsvw76&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=292730824423&targetid=&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9017453&poi=&campaignid=20394363341&mkgroupid=&rlsatarget=&abcId=9317265&merchantid=101499179&gclid=CjwKCAjwxOymBhAFEiwAnodBLE6g5tp_oqQGXci5qTgkh1_8HsJapdCJWZ7eghnEuZYYGb505dgdmRoC1uoQAvD_BwE Didn't cost an arm and leg and worked just fine. Vacuum function works correctly. Good luck on getting it on the road my 1981 GS550L adventure has been fun. Here is my sister learning on it. Also if you need/want a LED headlight upgrade idea let me know.

My 1981 GS550L CDI box was faulty and I replaced it with a EDI setup. From the motorcycle rumor mill seems the early 1980s CDIs where not 100% reliable and could lead to misfiring. After fumbling around and misunderstanding how the EDI really worked it has been rock solid. That all said I also had a corrosion issue from the main loom to the coils. I started up the bike and then fiddled with the connections and randomly all the cylinders would fire and die. After I replace the connectors that corrected that issue.

Battery reading was 11.5VDC and heading up. We had been starting and stopping the bike so I guess I just accepted that it might be below 12VDC.

Well I am the big dumb-ey on this one. After reading the comments I went back to the start and re-measured. After testing everything at 5k rpm I found stator output was almost 100vac but DC at the battery was still at 11 vdc and going down. Thank god for my buddy who asked the question "Is the rectifier grounded?" Bingo! My dumb ass had used the rectifier mounting screw as a ground. One continuity check later and no connection to chassis ground was found. After relocating the ground to a better suited location and bang we are online. DC voltage at 11.5 and going up. Thank you all for your help and thoughts. Someday my dumb ass phase will pass, but at 42 I am starting to wonder if that will ever happen.

Thank you I will double check the ac output.

Completed drop test per NIST Handbook 44-2020 subsection 3.40. Now I have acid burns on my arms, face and genitals. According to expected results it passed. And the worst thing of all is my bike still will not start.

The battery is less than a year old. However over the winter as I worked on the bike it was drawn down to the point that it was unable to turn over the engine. Also now that I am riding it around it is being drawn done to a point it can't even really like a tiny bulb. So drawing it down to that point over and over can't be good for it, but if it has been 50 times do you think that could damage it?

The voltage might have been higher. I will double check. All I can be sure of right now is that it was better then the old regulator.

My 1981 Suzuki GS550L was having trouble keeping the battery charged. It would go from fully charge off the battery charger to not enough power to start the bike and even barley light the turn signal indicator in under 30 min. I checked the AC output from the stator. All three lines showed greater then 24 vac. However, the reading at the battery at around 5k rpm was ~9.8 vdc. So I replaced the regulator. After installing the new regulator the voltage at the battery is now greater then 13 vdc. Sadly this didn't seem to resolve the issue. At best it has extended the run time to 60min. In the process I have replaced the headlight with an LED light to reduce the load. The original H4 would draw 65 watts. The new LED maxes out at 45 watts. So not really sure what direction to head in. Could the battery be damage? If so the charger bad battery light isn't lighting. If its parasitic I am not sure what is could be as there is nothing like power for phones or anything. If anyone has any ideas I would grateful to have them.

Finally made it to road testing. But have noticed that when I give it gas the engine responds, but it doesn't really translate to speed. It speeds up but kind of slowly. We are talking like 2nd 3rd gear here, nothing to crazy or near top speed. Engine is also reving to like 4-5k rpms for like 40mph. I feels like the clutch might be slipping. So I was wondering if that feeling combined with very little clutch lever friction zone could I need new clutch plates?

You first.

I have tried setting the fuel idle mixture. I followed the instruction of writing down the turns count when rebuilding the carburetors, but sadly I seemed to have messed it up. So I turned to the shop book for a mixture adjustment/set procedure, but there isn't one in my book. So I turn to this brain trust to see if they have any good ideas for adjusting 4 carbs. Thank!

Noticed something, but figured that was fuel exhaust. I am still learning what to expect.

Bike was on the center stand.