Suzuki 2 Strokes

Here are some photos of the restoration road. Picked this thing up back in May/June of 2014. I tried to walk away but my son was on me hard as we walked back to the empty trailer. He said "Your gonna regret it" you've always wanted a GT550. This could be really nice. Well he won, we pushed, dragged the bike into the trailer. So it started. Figured I'd just do a mild restore, then my addiction to somewhat perfection took over and well the rest is history. Pulled this thing down to nothing. After had all dismantled, bagged and tagged, the bead blasting , cleaning started. Chrome was redone by Browns plating in Kentucky. Paint work done by DB customs in Brownsburg, IN. Crank and cylinder work done by Bill Bune ent. in MN. I did the rest. Countless hours of sanding and polishing all the aluminum on the bike. Just about all the parts replaced were nos Suzuki. Paul Miller Suzuki was a great help also. So to this point I'm just waiting on a set of Higgspeed chambers to show up. Then we will see if all this work has paid off!! I have no doubt she'll scream to life!! Thanks for the help of some members on the forum along the way.

Before photo, fresh off the tailer.



Yummy,, years of old gas,oil and water


99% done

Very nice!

Looks like you have a few other nice yellow vintage bikes too.

Awesome work, lookin minty!

My favourite 550 colour - I had one just like that in 1972!!
Keep the standard exhausts, it will be worth a lot more.

I really wanted to use stock exhaust. When I started cleaning it up the bottom pipes couldn't even budge the baffles. Poured some parts cleaner in and shook around and a bunch large chunks came flying out. Possibly the bulk heads.. figured at that point they would be nothing but a r rattle mess. But I will for sure hang on to them..

Sweet!
I wish i had you skill. I'm rebuilding a 72 GT550 that was in the basement of a house i bought. It's been a long road. Did you replace the lenses on your instrument panel? Mine have yellowed out. Know any tricks to get those lenses out without busting the all the plastic.

Any suggestions, much appreciated!

Beautiful bike. Very nice job on your restoration. Always wanted a 550 and I someday hope to try what you have done.

kcgt550 wrote:Sweet!
I wish i had you skill. I'm rebuilding a 72 GT550 that was in the basement of a house i bought. It's been a long road. Did you replace the lenses on your instrument panel? Mine have yellowed out. Know any tricks to get those lenses out without busting the all the plastic.

Any suggestions, much appreciated!

I had to break the lenses on the 550K clocks I did, then dremel out the last bits carefully. I fitted 2.5mm glass discs that I sealed with a thin smear of silicone sealer. The original lenses were heavily scarred and one was broken in any case.
If the original lenses aren't too bad, they can be polished with toothpaste or jewellers polish. Maybe even with silver cleaner which is also mildly abrasive.
I'll be doing a similar job with the 550J clocks that will be in the queue after the 550A that I'm currently doing.
Sucker for punishment ain't I?

2strokelove wrote:I really wanted to use stock exhaust. When I started cleaning it up the bottom pipes couldn't even budge the baffles. Poured some parts cleaner in and shook around and a bunch large chunks came flying out. Possibly the bulk heads.. figured at that point they would be nothing but a r rattle mess. But I will for sure hang on to them..

Plenty of bottom exhausts about for the 550, it's the top ones that are rare. I got a NOS left top some time ago, but need a right top for the K that I'm running. The A has a 3-1, but I need a good set for the J when I get on with that.

My lens were pretty bad, couldn't really see through them. I disassembled the gauge package pulling the gauges out. I was able to use wet sand paper starting at 600 grit and going to 800,1000,1500,2000 and finally 3000 which feels like plain paper. Then used some plastic polish. They are about 98% clear now. Gave me a chance to clean the housing and remove all the spider webs out of the gauge package holder also and replace all the rusted screws. I have seen some that would probably be completely lost and only option is full replacement of the lens. But nothing to loose to try first.

As far as exhaust goes, I've looked for some original bottom pipes but afraid I'll just replace what I already have. I had a gt380 with the same Higgspeed chambers and always loved that sound and look. So the quick fix was to just go with those for now. I'll always be on the hunt to rebuild my original set.

I also went with the black powder coated rims due to the chrome wasen't that great on the rim. To expensive to rechrome or replace with nos. I thought the black with the gold ring would look cool, for me it does . Black is a good cover up!! Went with polished stainless spokes from Buchanan and off course polished out all the hubs, the front was not easy!!

I put a stainless rim and stainless spokes on the back. Looks good and will never rust.
No-one has noticed that it doesn't say 'Takasago' and the coded date of manufacture on it yet!!
A lot of the nuts and bolts were poor too, so there's a lot of SS on the bike.
It's the sort of thing that was done in the 70s, so as far as I'm concerned it's a 'period' mod!
Must admit, I never had spannies on my original 550J as they weren't available for the first couple of years, and by the time they were available, I was starting to get into cars and family life.
I'm better now though!