No, not a night in Vegas.....

A 1973 Suzuki GT550 Indy.

I bought this off Ebay 4 years ago and finally found the time to get 'er screaming.
Someone years ago filled the cylinders with oil and put it away. The oil was very difficult to remove and would foul the plugs. Eventually it would run but then filled all the exhaust pipes with oil. What a mess! I took off all the exhaust pipes and "cleared her out" in the drive way. It was impressive! The flames shooting out of the exhaust ports in succession and the the smoke was incredible LOL!!

Well it runs great now. Not an easy motor to tune. Three carbs with no linkage and nowhere to add a mercury manometer. Also the head has to be removed to get a dial indicator on the pistons to set the timing with three seperate points. Runs like new now, good snappy power and awesome two stroke sound and smell.

Now that it runs perfectly, I can detail, paint, etc....

Yee haw, Tuna.

 

I had your bikes little brother in 1974.
Mine was a Blue 380 Suzuki 3 cylinder. It looked very much like your 550.
It was the smoothest bike I ever had until I got my 75 Goldwing.
It didn't even have an electric starter because you could kick it over with your hand.
I sold it to a guy who was tired of always having to work on his Harley.
He had it for two weeks before it got away from him and he layed it down.
I really enjoy seeing the old bikes making a come back.
I've noticed a lot more nicely restored Japanese bikes this year than I've seen in the last 5 years.
I hope the trend continues.

 

I had a 1975 2 stroke Kawasaki 750 Triple. It was one mean son of a gun, but turns freaked me out.... What a ride that was. Nice to see you having one of those classic machines.

 

I wanted one of these in the WORST way in high school, but $1800 was outta the question.

Maybe I can find one now...it's the Jap's knockoff of the Triumph twins of that era:

 

Thanks guys, I love the old Asain bikes. So far I have a:
1972 G3SS 90
1973 GT550 Indy (running, needs some TLC now)
1975 Z1
1971 CB750 (next project)

 

Plenty of those 650 Yamis around. Tough bike, hmmm... I do need a vintage Yamaha.

 

I had a Yamaha XS750 SE for about 5 years, LOVED that bike.
List of bikes I owned, in order :
1956 Sears Allstate ( Piaggo )
1962 Triumph Bonneville ( Orange/Silver )
1963 Triumph T-Bird ( Black )
1964 Triumph Bonneville ( Gold )
1977 Ducati Diana
1978 Yamaha Dt1 ( converted into 1/4 mile dirt bike )
1978 Honda CB750 ( First year )
1978 Honda mini-50 ( came free with the CB750 )
1978 Yamaha XS750SE

 

I know, Autotrader and eBay are LOADED with them. I noticed this when I was looking for the Graphite 6 speed!

 

Trying to find a picture of the Ducati Diana??

 

My 1973 Kawasaki H2 Mach 4 was the fastest thing around at the time. It's no small wonder I did not kill myself with that thing. Crazy fast for the time. I've long forgotten how many 750 Honda's I ate up. LOL. Had to watch out for those high speed wobbles in the turns. Remember how the center cylinder spark plug would foul if stuck too long in traffic. Used to keep the spare spark plug holder full of clean plugs. Took literally seconds to change the plug and back rolling again.

 

This is what I used against the H2 750 Kawasaki. It was fun. Gary

 

Well if you could keep the combat engines running and in one piece they were fast. The 850 mk1 could be a bit of a challenge in the hands of a good rider and I was already out of riding bikes by the time the 850 mk3 came along a few years later, so I never really paid much attention to them but I understand they were a really nice bike. Hope my recollection of this correct. A long time ago my friend.

 

Arado, do you still have that Norton???!!!!

 

An H2 Kawi would be a great find nowadays, $$$$$.

 

I never owned another bike since those days. Came close last year, but bought the roadster instead. I think for me it was the right decision.

The last thing we ever thought about back then was how these bikes could be worth anything in the future. We just rode them hard and took care of them.

 

1964 Ducati Diana Mk III - ADVrider

 

Is that a Norton Commando? That was an awesome classic.

 

Yup and That is a current picture. This is one I am building out of my parts. Ready by spring. gary

 

Oh man, I took it for a spin and it goes ok. It's not very fast at all. My Z1 is way faster. I don't think it could pull the front wheel. But, it's not running right yet, one exhaust pipe is crushed in and missing a baffle in the other. So I'm riding it home and one muffler underneath comes off and it's WICKED LOUD! LOL! I'm trying to milk it home through my neighborhood in 5th gear bogging and it's sounded like if you hit a goat's ball's with a ten pound mallet. HA! It was %$^%$&%$ funny! Muwaaaa Muwaaa. Still laughing, Tuna.