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The Suzie GSX550 project

Discussion in 'Other Projects - Other Bikes (non 250's)' started by cal, Jul 19, 2014.

  1. cal

    cal Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    since i have been in WA i started to miss my zxr250. So, after little thought i started seeking project bikes on the cheap.

    first i will cover is my 1983 Suzuki Gsx550.

    after negotiations, i ended up with this bike for $1000 running and rego'd, engine sounded smooth and had little noise to worry about, and only 50k on the clock. It seemed like a well rounded project with a good resale promise being a 550 4 cyl that it LAMS approved.

    My goal was to build it into a cafe racer style machine cheaply as possible while improving its overall safety
    (i cover its main safety issue later). Then sell it for cost price + a couple of hundred for my time.

    so here it is!

    550.JPG

    now don't be fooled!! this is a VERY good pic of the bike, it looked much, much worse when i collected it!!

    Teardown time.

    This phase was nice and easy apart from engine and airbox removal due to the silod one-peice steel frame
    that fighted me every step of the way, its harder than i thought to slide that bulky oil cooled engine out the R/H side :oops: without breaking other stuff...

    worst thing i found were the front brakes, extracted a grand total of 25mls brake fluid when vac bleeding :confused: it would seem the previous owner had a massive fail attempt to change the fluid and left it...
    and what come next made me count my lucky stars, as i did ride this bike home down a highway.

    10386371_10204365516447368_7876608710679979913_n.jpg
    what remains after years of neglect...

    What i want to know is how in hell did this bike even stop at the lights when i rode home!:help:
    the key lesson here is something we all preach; never trust a secondhand bike when the previous owner had *serviced* it...

    but i cleaned them up, scrubbed those rotten pistons and resprayed them with red caliper paint. Now the front brakes bite nice and hard :dance2:

    Engine & frame

    this part was fairly time consuming, getting the engine out for starters and sandblasting it, then goofing around stripping ancillaries off that dreadful one piece frame...
    the Engine scrubbed up very well and should really make this racer a stand out :)

    10487274_10204365607809652_2307331365342724909_n.jpg

    the rocker cover is also decorated with "TSCC" embossing (Twin swirl combustion chamber),
    some enthusiastic 80's styling i notice on many bikes in this era. this will be highlighted gold against the red. This engine also has other crazy 80's tech such as a crankcase blowback system that sends air up through the cam chain space and back into the airbox..... crazy engineers:crazypilot:

    so once the frame was sprayed in a standard silver, the engine back in compression tested + vavle check with all my brakes restored to a surprisingly powerful state, i had some serious progress to view...

    it's coming together!

    10525840_10204365615849853_8085194826030162794_n.jpg

    looking far more aggressive!

    finishing touches include some custom fibreglass side covers to hide its wiring harness and frame.
    cut/polish the tank until i get my gloss black shine, then apply my "Suzuki" tank decals... and finally 3 layers of UV safe clear coat.

    As usual the bike looks far more aggressive and tidy in person, my phones camera does it no justice.

    i'll post more pictures as it nears completion!!





     
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  2. Th3_Huntsman

    Th3_Huntsman Senior Member Contributing Member

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    Man that thing looks great so far!
     
  3. Phil

    Phil Senior Member Contributing Member

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    Hi Cal, gsx550 is looking good. Curious what sort of paint you used on the rocker cover and brakes.
    The Bandit rocker cover has faded and have been thinking of repainting also. Let me know mate:thumb_ups:
     
  4. cal

    cal Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    hey phil, i have used VHT ceramic engine enamel.... applied about 3 layers, man i hope it does not fade :(

    - for the brakes i used a gloss red caliper paint ( not the same as the engine enamel)
     
  5. Phil

    Phil Senior Member Contributing Member

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    Thanks mate:thumb_ups:
     
  6. cal

    cal Well-Known Member Premium Member

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  7. cal

    cal Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    sorry guys never really posted a finished product on this thread! heres how it ended up :) was a good result!!
    10646944_10204972706706745_1261986278261820079_n.jpg
     
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