Let's open it !

Ok let's start with the cylinder head, it came out pretty easy, the gaskets are not sticking, and i didn't have to hammer the head to take it off.
Maybe it has been done recently :S

Just a quick exam of the compression chamber ceilings :
The left cylinder (on the right on the pic) is cleaner than the other ones, I think it didn't burn lots of mixture cause it was starving !

Ouch

After a lil chat with Jeff, I think the pistons rings are not the issue since the compression in the compression chamber is good.
The issue might come from the crankshaft seal (the one between left and center cylinder).

I might have to open the crankcase.

I don't get it.

Now it's getting weird.

The compression is OK on all the cylinders, the tester shows 80-85 for the 3 of them.
But I still don't feel any vacuum from left and center intakes.

I'm lucky I met Jeff who will be a powerful ally through this, he made an awesome job on his GT and knows his stuff :)

Compression isssue ?

While the carbs were out, I decided to check the intakes, so I put my hand on the manifolds while kick starting the bike : only the right cylinder makes vaccum, nothing from the left and center cylinder :S

Might be dead piston rings, next step will be a compression test to know more.

Carbs

Everything was pretty dirty in there, lots of sand in the bowls and everything was very dry.
The worst part was the needle jets wich were very stuck but I managed to hammer them out without damaging them !

So I completely dismantled the carbs and clean the pieces one by one then put everything back together with 3-in-1 to smooth everything out.

I clean the outside too to give them this nice aluminum shine that i like :)

Note that the main jets are 95 for left and right cylinders and 92.5 for the middle cylinder, this will be useful for later.

Petcock

I took off the carbs from the bike and one of them is dry, it doesn't get any gas so I decided to check on the fuel petcock (I'll check the carb float needle later).
The Petcock is in good shape except the bowl that I can't unscrew.
I dremel a cut to unscrew it with a screwdriver but the bowl just cracked open :S
seems that the only way to get the bowl off will be to dremel a cut trough it's width.

Now i have to re build the bowl with my favorite material : Plunber pipes and fitting ! :)
Works pretty well.

New Project !

I got this Suzuki GT 550 Indy from 1973 for 400$ !!!

3 Cylinders, 2 strokes, 4 exhausts and lots of fun !

She's in pretty good shape but needs a good cleaning and tune up.
Let's start with the fuel line, petcock and carbs, then I'll check the lubrication system (wich is kinda messy on this bike).