Kawasaki GT550 rebuild

Kawasaki GT550 rebuild

Author
Discussion

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Tuesday 26th August 2014
quotequote all
New o-rings and oil seals were sourced by the ever-helpful Jenna at Premier Power Products, including this 100+mm diameter oddity. The differential housing was painted and then rebuilt. It would have been good to use new bearings but it did not look possible to gain access to the bearings without the services of a transmission specialist to separate the components. The parts I used seemed perfect and it is not too difficult to change the differential if anything should go wrong. In fact, referring to the "chain versus shaft" debate on Biker Banter, it is easier to change this differential than to change a chain.


Kawastoney

1 posts

114 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Great write up. Thank you for putting the time in to share this with us.

There are a lot of fans of the GT550/750. Search Kawasaki GT550/750 owners on Facebook. You will be more than welcomed.

I noticed you have put the engine in the frame before fitting the head. It is not possible to put the head on with the engine in the frame on the older GT550 (mines a G4). I have never seen a Zephyr emgined GT550 except in pictures, so I don't know if it can be done on yours.




Edited by Kawastoney on Monday 22 September 07:55

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Friday 28th November 2014
quotequote all
Time to restart the thread after a break for summer. In response to the previous post, I took the head off with the engine in the frame so it must be possible to reverse the process.

The rear shocks followed the fitment of the differential. It would be easy to buy new but the air shocks are an important part of the GT 550 look. So, the rubber gaiters were removed and the body of the shocks prepared and painted. The bushes were new about 3000 miles ago so these were not changed. The balance pipe was cleaned as well as possible.



The gaiters were slid back on and the shocks refitted. The bike is almost ready to go back on its wheels.


Private Pile

754 posts

194 months

Friday 28th November 2014
quotequote all
Nice to see this thread back again. I take it it will be back on the road for the summer?
A GT550 was my first big bike, I'll try and find some pictures.

podman

8,849 posts

239 months

Friday 28th November 2014
quotequote all
Nice work as always mate..you'll be out dispatching on her in time for January! biggrin


Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Friday 28th November 2014
quotequote all
It should be up and running by the summer. The only major jobs left are the head and the carburettors. I will be removing all the valves and doing some work on the ports. This will take time.

After the shocks I fitted the starter motor. A number of loose cables are starting to appear because I do not want to fit the main wiring harness until more components are in place. Until it is I cannot be quite sure where cables such as the feed to the starter motor should run.


TorqueDirty

1,500 posts

218 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
quotequote all
First non-learner bike was a GT 750. Brilliant thing. Actually find myself trawling the classifieds looking for bargain examples these days.

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
quotequote all
This looks like a bargain for anyone who wants a challenge:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=...

A complete bike for the cost of a couple of bearings!

Edited by Gareth9702 on Sunday 30th November 15:25

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
quotequote all
This looks like a bargain for anyone who wants a challenge:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=...

A complete bike for the cost of a couple of bearings!

Edited by Gareth9702 on Sunday 30th November 15:26

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
quotequote all
Next on the list was the clutch. The plates were less than 5000 miles old so did not need renewing. The clutch bearing and the clutch centre nut were both replaced with Kawasaki stock components. These were sourced by Andy Taylor at Bridge Motorcycles in Exeter. Andy has happily made a large number of very small orders as this rebuild has progressed.


Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Thursday 22nd January 2015
quotequote all
It has been a long time since I posted. Work has been continuing but very slowly at times. The clutch is in place but the central locking nut is not yet tight. This requires a clutch jamming tool (which I do not possess) or the bike to be put in gear and the back brake applied. I have to use the brake, so the clutch centre nut will wait until the wheel is refitted.

The fitting of the clutch was then followed by the ignition components.



This finishes the bottom half of the engine until the wiring and wheels go on.



Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Thursday 22nd January 2015
quotequote all
The next step is to clean and polish four dirty pistons. Polishing piston crowns is probably not worth the effort on a GT550 but at least they look good while waiting for the cylinder head to be finished.



New oem Kawasaki circlips were purchased. I once re-used a piston circlip in an AP50 and suffered the inevitable failure while crossing the Pennines. Two-up. At night. In winter. We hid the bike in a field behind a wall and went back the next day with a van. Fortunately, it was still there. Never again.



The end result looks like progress.


madasahattersley

1 posts

109 months

Saturday 14th February 2015
quotequote all
Hi Gareth,

Been following this thread with interest, just recently felt compelled to join up and reply. I bought my GT550 from eBay for £339 and began flailing about in the dark trying to do a full engine rebuild (mostly for education/interest than to actually restore it to like new condition) and it's fair to say I've learned a lot of lessons the hard way. Turns out stripping the bike into 2000 components on my first motorcycle isn't too wise!

But anyway, I'm now in the rebuilding phase, and what's concerned me about this thread is that you replaced both the camchain and the primary drive chain. Mine had (indicated) 56,000 miles on the clock, and I haven't replaced either chain. It seems like the cost of replacing both (£120?!!) would be just more money for something that in my case might not even work, but you're saying the engine was rattling. I've now rejoined my crankcases so splitting them again would be a major PITA but as you've clearly got more experience than me and by the looks of things doing a more thorough job, what do you think I should do?

Appreciate your opinion

L

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Saturday 14th February 2015
quotequote all
It would be mistake to assume I am experienced - in this format of engine. I have no idea how many miles my bike has done because the clocks have been changed at some point. The workshop manual should give information on the maximum permissible stretch in the chains. I simply changed mine because the cost seemed reasonable relative to the work.

If you want informed advice you should join the GT 550/750 forum on Facebook. It is very active with many knowledgeable contributors.

Good luck with your rebuild. I plan to post more soon.

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Sunday 15th February 2015
quotequote all
Time to update. The pistons were followed be the studs for the head and barrels. The threads were cleaned and they were locked into place using two spammers and two nuts.

Following the studs is the cam chain guide. This one fits behind the pistons and applies pressure from the tensioner. Care has to be taken at this point to avoid dropping the bolts into the crankcases.




Edited by Gareth9702 on Sunday 15th February 18:15

Gareth9702

Original Poster:

370 posts

131 months

Tuesday 17th February 2015
quotequote all
There seems to be no end to the awkward components that have to be cleaned. The next part for treatment are the barrels. These have a combination of oil, paint, and corrosion for removal. Many hours of scraping, sanding, and degreasing were needed before the barrels could be painted.



The next picture is part-way through the process with some of the alloy beginning to emerge from beneath the grime.


BuzzBravado

2,944 posts

170 months

Friday 9th October 2015
quotequote all
Any updates on this?

pj56

1 posts

86 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
quotequote all
Thank you Gareth - brilliant thread. I have Kawasaki 550 GT [G9] as well and need to do some work on the engine, so your thread is invaluable. I wonder how heavy the whole engine is. I think of buying a second-hand engine as a donor, but will need to work on my own.
Best of luck with your MC!!

Beemer1

1 posts

75 months

Sunday 3rd December 2017
quotequote all
hi. I'm currently starting a project of turning a gt550 into a cafe racer/brat
and I'm having difficulty taking the engine out. do I have to remove the swingarm/shaft or will the engine wiggle out with more perseverance? thanks