More HORRIBLE News

[Vintageman]

If pump is pumping oil- push engine in gear (have some young guy do it ...it gets your heart beating real fast) plugs out throttle wide open watch pump feeding lines) then air is entering oil lines

some causes for air getting into lines is

O'ring at oil lines spider under pump is leaking?

Check Valve in oil line banjo bolt stuck open. So one cyclinder is able suck oil backwards through line with open check valves. As it does suck oil backwards it brings in air too. I just fixed this later issue on one of my bikes. The line with open check valve starves for oil more than the others.

[Coyote]

It only gets worse. Got the left outer muffler off only to be presented with a huge hole on the underside. Something else to repair or buy.
Will have the jug off in an hour or so. Looking through the exhaust port just reveals major scoring on the piston,

[Coyote]

Any question about low compression now? I'm surprised it had any at all. Some aluminum welded itself on bore near exhaust port. Back side of piston looks similar except for the presence of rings. A little emery cloth and it will be fine

[Ebayru]

On the bright side: You should have the good starter clutch.

Is the cylinder scored or are there just aluminum deposits? I can't tell from the pictures. As ugly as it looks, it could wind up to not be as bad. If it's the oiling system and you get that sorted out, it could just be that one cylinder, which could be cleaned up, plus a piston, rings, etc. You can do a leak down test to check the crank seal before you rebuild to decide how deep you want to go on a rebuild. You can always get your money out of it parting it out if you decide to bail.

Fingers crossed.

[tz375]

Ouch. Try Muriatic acid and apply it sparingly with cotton swabs to the bore to remove the aluminum.

Next step is to inspect that left side oil seal and the carbs

[Suzukidave]

I would be a bit worried that some of the metal bits didnt make it down to the crank bearings and seals .

[Coyote]

I just pulled the alternator cover off. There is a tiny puddle of oil in there. Maybe 2 or 3 drops worth. Cleaned up with 1/2 of 1/2 q-tip.
Richard, PM me and outline the other steps I need to do to this POS.. Thanks

[Coyote]

Unfortunately, Cruzin Image does not make oversize pistons for the 550. Standard only. Paul Miller is selling a first over set of Wiseco piston, rings, wrist pins, bearings and clips for $300. I need to do some soul searching and decide if all this is worth it. Have to make up my mind pretty fast as he only has one set left. Is that set worth the money?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Suzuki-GT550-1s ... 3f&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Suzukidave]

A bit of a gamble http://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Suzuki-GT5 ... 1a&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Vintageman]

Did the intake side have any issues like the exhaust?

Does seam lean out but the lack of oil in line did not help either (got hotter and hotter and eventually top melted since that's normally the hottest spot. I think the intake side would have same signs maybe not as much if lack of oil

If lean my money is on the jetting (given only a few drops of oil seen). I would check all jets: pilot -main for plugging and float height too For example even if you run small throttle with if that cylinder lean since it pulled along by other two will get real hot if lean

I would think your crank is OK from metal debris. lack of oil... depends how long you road like that. Check rod side to side shake.

[pearljam724]

Wow, that's bad. Good news, you should be able to rebuild the top end yourself and it not looking financially as bad when this started. Had you been looking at the crank. But, like Dave said. I'd be a little concerned with what dropped down into the crank. Perhaps flush the bottom end a hundred times, then rebuild the top. Most shops charge on average of $70 bucks per cylinder to rebore. Call Wiseco, they perhaps can make the over sized pistons for a cheaper cost if they don't supply them. I looked on their site and found that they supply over sized pistons for the 750. If you can get the correct sized pistons at a reasonable cost. You should be able to skate through this not having a lot invested into the repair. I'm thinking $400-$450 if you do it yourself. No reason you can't. The other option would be, buying used cylinders. But, if you can't find the correct sized pistons for those used cylinders that possibly need rebored. What good are they ? Like the one's Dave posted. That could be a route, but, those definitely need rebored. Or you can resleeve and start at stock bore and be able to easily obtain the correct sized pistons. I called LA Sleeves a few weeks ago and they quoted me $160 per cylinder for sleeves on a 2 cylinder. That may be your best and cheapest option considering how bad those cylinders are scored and the bigger bore pistons not easily obtainable. Something tells me the guy you bought it from, new quite well that something major was wrong. What did he tell you, prior to buying it ? If you're going to rebore, you need to take your cylinders to that shop first to find out how much larger of a bore that it's likely going to need. They should have an idea on what bore size it's going to take to fix them. If you could obtain a larger piston set. It would be best to take that piston set to them first. But, you need to show them the cylinders and explain the whole availability of pistons sizes to them so you don't go spending without knowing what can or can't be done. You can run different sized pistons with no concern, if only one cylinder is needing repaired. That would be the cheapest scenario. A good shop will know what to do.

[Coyote]

PJ. I've known the seller for 35 years. He bought the bike from a friend of a friend. The bike had been idle for quite some time. Got it started and rode it home. Hasn't hit a lick since. He told me the bike ran enough to get him home but it did not run well. Sadly, he did all the cosmetics first. New seat cover and painted tank and side covers, The seller owns the Kinetic Playground. It's an independent motorcycle shop that works on ALL bikes. He said he bought the old stroker for nostalgic reasons. He definitely did not try to pull the wool over my eyes. He only rode it e few miles home and he told me it doesn't run well. Mechanically he started with the carbs and that's as far as he got. He wasn't even looking to sell it. It was me that kept buggin him to let me have it.
Lets call the left cylinder #1. it's toasted beyond repair. #2 and #3 are near perfect. My hopes are (if the crank seals are OK) is one oversize piston and just have #1 bored oversize to fit. That would be the most economical way out. No reason to fool with the other 2 if I don't have to.
The Kinetic Playground does not do 2 stroke work as a rule. Other than an occasional dirt bike, every thing is much newer an all 4 strokes. They do not do any major machine work, so he farms that out. The man that does his bore work is the man that bored all 3 on the late RedZone. All he does is keep a lot of racing bike going. So I know where to get it bored - no problem. OS pistons show up on ebay from time to time. Need to check the cranks seals first though. I'm getting ahead of myself.

[Cliff]

Or you could take a chance on something like this: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-motorcycle-parts ... nFlag=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pearljam724]

Easy approach then. Rebore one cylinder, have the other two honed. That's getting off fairly cheap. Or better yet, buy one used left cylinder that has no scoring and ask the seller to verify it's bore size. You should be able to obtain one left used cylinder that only needs the next oversized piston from stock bore worst case scenerio. That way you can obtain the piston. I'm guessing your cylinder is way beyond 1 oversize once it's rebored. But, your guy should be able to verify that. You're fortunate it was only one. At the cost of only reboring one cylinder and replacing that piston. It won't hurt to risk the condition of the seals. Because you payed very little to repair the top end. As a precaution, do a leak down test. Not a lot involved there. The exhaust, carbs, etc. have already been removed. The dirty work involving the leak down test is half done. I'm glad you found, what you did. Did you find the cause of the lines drying up ?

[Coyote]

I assume the lines are dry because of bad or stuck check valves -- plus 8 years of time. It does look however that the left went dry of oil. After extracting the wrist pin I found the top bearing dry and rough. Almost burned. Most of the rollers won't even turn. As a matter of fact I need to check the con rod top bore. Anyone know what size that is?