Mail me to talk
about your GT, or ask me a question, even send me a pic!
I've got myself a Suzuki GT550, the dream bike of my youth. It's been very much bought as a running project - it's all MOT'd etc and I'll run it 'till the Winter when she'll get restored (not too concours, I'm not that fussy) It's a GT550B, but it's gonna be sprayed in Metallic Black and Gold Pinstripes. The picture below is exactly as it is now (July 2002) when it was still at the dealer. You'll see updates as and when I do stuff....
This is how I bought it... Doesn't show the knackered pipes, chain etc - how the guy ever got it MOT'd before he sold it to me. (I bought it unseen from 'oop North)
Sept 2003: Latest: The GT is in a garage for now, new battery has made a world of difference, but, she still won't start from a long stand without a can of Easy Start to hand. Jobs for winter: I've got a set of expansion chambers to put on now so that should make it a whole lot lighter and probably a bit noisier! Also a new lockset, clock binnacle, headlamp ears, mudguards, horn and numberplate. Respray, polishing, and electronic ignition to do over winter now that I've got a garage that I can strip it in..
So, it's back in the Garage at home now, with a set of Gibson Race expansion chambers - what a noise!
....and this is how it looks (all running) January 05. Note the shiny cases - I'm so glad
I bought that polishing kit!
Update 11/2/05: The only recent addition has been that of (hooray!) a Tax Disk, yup, she's taxed and tested for the first time in 3 years.
It's been a slog mind - the biggest problem has been the ignition, finally solved by fitting a Newtronics unit - even that didn't go easily - somehow 2 of the cylinders had got swapped when it was made. Took me 2 weeks to discover that one, fixed it by swapping the plug leads.
It's well worth making a Dial Timing Gauge if you are going to undertake this sort of project - I bought an ordinary engineering type and hollowed out a spark plug to fit! You'll find if you take the timing rotor off that it's not actually keyed to the shaft.... I believe you can time it off the end of the clutch, but it looks mighty fiddly to me.
I've even been riding it, taken March this year - freezing cold too!
Waiting on the pinstripes and badges now, got new ones for the tank, one NOS sidepanel badge, the sidepanel stickers and new Ram Air badges are in the post somewhere.
Costs to date: Bike £650, Rear tyre £50, Ignition £160, exhausts £150, miscellaneous parts (eBay!) £200, pinstripes and stickers £75, MOT (inc Chain and Sprockets) £145. No too bad, still more to do - looking for quotes for the paint job now, I want it in a metallic black, like the GT550A had (so I've ordered the Gold/Silver pinstripes to suit). I know it will offend the purists, but it'll probably be the Ford Metallic Black (unless I can find something with a more metallic flake effect) Hmmm, I could have probably bought something more restored for that, but it wouldn't have been so much fun....
Just finished the respray - all in aerosols (never again - for what I spent in paint I could've nearly bought a compressor and used a professional spray gun, live and learn) New badges all round, it's starting to look a lot tidier, gonna get my spare mudguards (fenders), chainguard, grabrail and exhaust collars chromed over the winter, the wheels still need sorting, but then this is an ongoing project - I want to ride it too! I have just put K&N filters in the airbox and rejetted for them and the pipes (100, 97.5, 100) and it starts first push of the button every time.
Mail me to talk
about your GT, or ask me a question, even send me a pic!
I do have more web pages...