Weekend Riding

[Lucasind]

The weather was great for getting them bikes out on the road over the weekend ! I finally got around to finishing the fuel tank on the 1981 Suzuki 550,and after re-doing the carbs on it,it is on the road again. This clean ol' bike has only 11k on the clock ! My friend Lem is now the proud owner of this bike as he has been helping me with a lot of yard projects around here ...so I just gave the bike to him . We went out and put a hundred miles on the bikes,and he is happy to be riding again after 20 years of "no bike syndrome"



I chose my 1300 for this days ride (man I love riding that bike !)
My buddy asked if we could trade bikes for awhile after we got out in the country ? I said NO !

[krasmu]

Tony, you genorosity is refreshing.

[trikebldr]

Tony, your generosity is REASSURING! And, well founded! A huge difference between that little 550 Suzy and that monstrous Voyager. More than twice the power! And weight!
You've got my support 100%!

[cushman eagle]

The picture of that GS550,reminds me of my GS days 1983-2009 and a total of 87000 miles on GS Suzukis.I don't miss the valve adjustments or stator and regulator/rectifier replacements,but I would do it all over again

[Mr Jensee]

I used to have a 79 GS1000LN I painted red. That bike reminds me so much of it. Thanks for sharing.

[Lucasind]

With only 11k on the clock , I doubt if that bike had EVER seen a 100 mile day ,as we just rode !
As soon as we got back ....I ordered a 40 tooth rear sprocket to replace the 49 tooth sprocket that I guess was stock on the bike.(after snooping around on-line,I could not find stock sprocket sizes) It runs at such high RPM's that it darn near wasted a whole tank of fuel in no time ! Turns 6200 RPM at 65 MPH,but NOT for much longer ! ! ! but it is a great little bike , starts right up and runs fine ....and my 57 year old friend is like a kid with a new toy at Christmas !



Big sprocket will be gone by this Saturday,and on Sunday morning we will go out for another 100 mile ride. No purpose in having a engine running at high RPM's to accomplish nothing.

[trikebldr]

Dropping from a 49 to a 40 should drop that 6200rpm down to 5000. 6200 does seem way high for 65mph. My new 1100 Spectre is exactly like my Voyager, doing 4000rpm at 70mph.

We'll get that Voyager down to 3200 rpm at 70mph soon!

[Lucasind]

I was a bit surprised when I put the bike on the center stand... blew some brake cleaner on a rag,and started wiping the side of the sprocket,looking for numbers,and found 49 T 530 stamped in it !
I realize the national speed limit was only 55 back when this bike was new, but that is ridiculous !

I will have to look around the workshop for my chain breaker tool ....as the chain will need some links removed. I have not used that tool in quite awhile !

[Lucasind]

So the new rear Suzuki sprocket came in on Friday ....and then Saturday morning out to the workshop at 7:00 to put er on. I told Lem to stop by around 9:00 if he wanted to be here when the job gets done.,by the time he got here ,I had it done.



Here is a side by side shot of the old and new sprockets.



The clutch release mechanism did not feel right on this ol' bike , so I took the left side of the engine apart an disassembled the traverse screw clutch release mechanism,finding it dirty and dry. After cleaning and lubricating it ,I power lubed the cable and the clutch is working smooth as new now.
Lem had to go to work,at noon ....so I took the bike out for a test ride, riding a bike without a windshield sure beats ya up, and I did not like that !
So back to the workshop and remembered that I had a brand new in the box windshield from the 80's that needed a home and a job ! ......so after locating it, I installed it on the bike,and out for another ride I went. MUCH better... but folks...."It aint no Voyager !




Looks pretty good on the bike , and I'm glad to have found it a home ! Lem was sure surprised when he came over this morning to see that I installed a windshield on his bike, We went out for a short 30 mile ride,and back home to start on the honey do lists for this day !

[trikebldr]

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! My only honey-do was to take her for a ride this morning! Did about 45 miles in the hills around us. Just got too humid to be comfortable at only 87 degrees.
That old sprocket looks too big for that bike. If you look at how close it fits the chainguard, it doesn't look original. Do you have a manual to tell you what was stock? Yep, that shield does look good on that bike. Like you said, I am leaving the Vetter fairing on my new 1100 Spectre. Anything more than a Moped needs something against the wind. And bugs!

[cushman eagle]

The windshield looks good on that GS I did not remember how much a windshield did, until I got the Cushman going! Even with a top speed of 62 MPH it makes a difference.

[krasmu]

Looks good Tony. he will really like it. The sproket looks like it belongs on a dirt bike. Do you know how many rpms you dropped. Must have been quite a difference.

[Mr Jensee]

Amazing how much that bike looks like my old GS. Posting a picture of it with the windshield on it.

[trikebldr]

Tony and Mike, the pipes on both of those bikes looks identical to what's on my "new" '82 1100 Spectre. Are they exceptionally loud, too?
I learned today that the pipes are a better attention getter than the stock horn on my Spectre! A lady stated to change lanes toward me so I pulled in the clutch and gunned it a couple of times. I thought she was going to flip her mini-van from how fast she corrected!

[Mr Jensee]

When I acquired the GS from a friend it was a mess. The pipes were gutted. No baffles at all. I managed to find and purchased on the internet a set that looked brand new. These pipes were quiet. I restored the entire bike from years of surfing Ebay till I found everything. It was more a journey than a destination.

[cushman eagle]

Tony,how does the 550 like the new gear ratio?My GS1100 was geared to run 4500 at 70 and as hot as the engine ran,if I had been running very hard, and tried to give much throttle at that RPM, it would detonate unless I dropped a gear or two to get the engine over 7000.It was a very octane sensitive engine ,wanting more than 93 octane.I was tempted to remove the ignition pickup and slot the screw holes to retard the timing slightly,but bought the voyager instead.

[trikebldr]

Tony,how does the 550 like the new gear ratio?My GS1100 was geared to run 4500 at 70 and as hot as the engine ran,if I had been running very hard, and tried to give much throttle at that RPM, it would detonate unless I dropped a gear or two to get the engine over 7000.It was a very octane sensitive engine ,wanting more than 93 octane.I was tempted to remove the ignition pickup and slot the screw holes to retard the timing slightly,but bought the voyager instead.

"...slot the screw holes to retard the timing slightly,but bought the voyager instead."
Wow, and I thought I took radical steps at solutions to problems!

[trikebldr]

Loren, Tony set me off on my search for a solution to the 1300 Voyagers turning 4000rpm at 70mph. The Hondasaki drive will drop that to 3200rpm. Then, I recently picked up my KZ1100D Spectre and it also turns 4000rpm at 70mph. And now you are saying your GS1100 turned 4500rpm at 70mph. Wow! At 70mph I can crank my 1100 up and it takes off like a rocket without dropping a gear. Not sure just how fast those things will go, but probably won't even try to find out with this one. (WOW! That's a first for me!)
This is interesting to learn just what other 1100s turn at 70mph! I'm sure that a LOT of folks that I pass on the freeway wish mine was turning much lower rpms because 4000rpm is right at the pipe's sweet-spot for resonance (spelled "N...O...I...S...E").

[Mr Jensee]

My old GS1000 ran 4200 at 70 mph. Never ran hot though. I installed an electronic ignition on it.

[cushman eagle]

My old GS1000 ran 4200 at 70 mph. Never ran hot though. I installed an electronic ignition on it.

My GS1100 was a GKZ ,which meant full factory fairing,trunk,and saddlebags.I am not sure that the fairing design did not negatively effect cooling,and with it being an '82,it already had electronic ignition,with no factory designed adjustment of timing.