Kwak GT550 engine

[Baffler186]

I'm about to take my engine apart before I rebuild the entire bike. It had 41000 on the clock and has been standing for 17 years. The engine turns over freely. Is there anything that should definitely be changed given it's mileage and 17 years outside?
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Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[pepperami]

When you say take it apart, how much apart do you mean?

Top end only ?
Fully apart?

If fully apart , you might as well put new bearings in it, and new seals as well.
Seals can go hard and fail after a long period of standing.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Robby]

The question suggests a lack of knowledge.

You're either rebuilding the engine to fix a problem, or to make sure everything is within tolerance so it will last another 40k.

You won't know what needs replacing until you have the engine stripped and various wear items measured and checked against the workshop manual.

If there is nothing wrong with it, don't pull it apart. You'll cause more damage by disturbing a good engine - usually through mistakes in the strip and reassembly, like not getting gasket faces clean enough or using too much gasket goop and blocking an oilway.

[stinkwheel]

What's a kawasaki GT500?

Presumably you either have a Kawasaki GT550 or a Suzuki GT500?
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Bhud]

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

I have one or 2 incomplete old bike engines laying around for when I want to tinker. I wouldn't pull apart an engine from a working bike without very good reason. There's a lot that can go wrong, and even if nothing goes wrong, it can get expensive.

[Shaft]

[kgm]

[Polarbear]

Another for not pulling apart unless it's buggered.

Even if you don't damage anything, seals and gaskets aren't going to be cheap.

Just not worth it unless you are doing it to learn about stripping engines and it doesn't matter when you screw it up.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[-]

[.Chris.]

Presumably you're talking about a GT550?

I understand the temptation but as others have said above, it's probably better to try and get the engine running before deciding whether to strip it down. Ideally, if it runs you'd take the bike for a ride in order to assess the state of the gearbox, and if any issues (like a smoky exhaust) emerge when the engine gets hot. Obviously this is not possible if the rest of the bike is in bits, unless you leave the engine until last.

At the very least make sure you do a compression test, and check the valve clearances before you strip the engine down. You need to be able to rotate the cams in order to check them, which you don't be able to do with the head off. Adjustment of the clearances is by shim under bucket, and requires the camshafts to be removed in order to adjust them, so it makes sense to set them correctly if you're taking the head off for any reason.

If you do decide to strip the engine and split the cases (which you should only do if you're absolutely sure what you're doing), make sure you replace the cam chain and primary drive chain. Due in part to having no effective tensioner, the latter is a known weak spot on these engines - not in terms of the engine blowing up, but they get loose and cause a rather unpleasant rattling sound, especially at idle. Oddly the primary chain is quite a bit cheaper bought from Kawasaki (~£45) than the aftermarket ones I've seen (~£120). The same goes for the cam chain. I don't know if there's a quality difference.
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Chris
1985 Kawasaki Z550F

[ZRX61]

First step:

Pull the plugs, put a squirt of MMO in each pot, replace plugs & walk away for the week.
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They're not one night stands, they're auditions.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Baffler186]

[Baffler186]

[MarJay]

Engines last far longer than suspension components, bushes, bearings, linkages, brake parts, tyres, seats, grips, peg rubbers... I could go on forever.

Chassis first, then engine.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Baffler186]

[bikenut]

gt550 stood for 17 years.......

get a manual and you know of cmsnl for the exploded views.

study the exploded views.........

How far down have you stripped the engine and i hope you have been careful about the buckets and shims.

Any stuck valves and how is the clutch basket ?

How is the transmission drive chain and cam chain and rubbers ?

some special tools needed and be carefully with the flywheel and clutch basket centre nut.

Sometimes its prudent to slacken some engine nuts/bolts with the engine in the frame,using the back brake, which is why you enquired probably.

Oil leak, oil seal deformed??
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nuts about bikes

[redeem ouzzer]

[Teflon-Mike]

Didn't the GT550 have air-shocks on the back, with a notoriety for deflating? Or was that just the 750?

ISTR that it was aggravated by the Schrodinger valve and folk pumping them up to tyre pressure and more, like 30psi, when they were only supposed to take maybe 3 or 6psi...

I also STR that as a favoured dispatch-hack, there was an infamous bodge to the shocks that involved a push bike inner tube and or repair kit...

Shaft crown-wheels, I also seem to recall were something of a pain, especially on high-mile London dispatchers, where up-down the box riding the whole time, didn't so much see the pinion's prematurely wear, but the shaft bearings and knuckle joints, which if not tackled properly, 'then' would knock out the pinion.

Ergo... on a GT550... I would suspect whatever the mileage, and 40K would seem suspiciously low for that model, personally, I would be a LOT more concerned about 'other-stuff' than the motor, which as mentioned tended to be pretty bullet-proof. Given the age and duration of deraliction, I would have some concern over anything rubber, and be watching for oil-leaks every-where... but, unless it was leaking like an incontinent old dog, or making more smoke than an 80 a day inmate in the care home; I would be inclined to leave the motor as much alone as I could, for the time being.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[stinkwheel]

The biggest issue will be the electonic dash. It will also have rusted out the tank behind the two plastic kawasaki badges.

But OP is no longer reading.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Bhud]

Oh, he's reading all right.

I suggest joining kzrider.com, reading everything they've got, introducing yourself and asking lots of questions. That's what I did when I got mine.

[bikenut]

I am going to start negging every single post where you mention CSMNL.

why??

A wonderful free resource, not everyone knows about it.

It will even show you whats involved replacing the engine output shaft, if you dont already know of course.

Spread the gospel, get prices and part number etc. etc. etc....go do gods work for me, there's a good chap.

No i don't work for cmsnl but really appreciate the exploded views and even get parts from them from time to time.

Long live cmsnl.

There are other sources of info as well but cmsnl is usually my fiorst port of call, for info etc.etc.etc.. its up to you......
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nuts about bikes