Following on from my previous post on my Suzuki GT550 rebuild, it seems that luck is in short supply as I am still waiting for a couple of seals to arrive. For whatever reason, there seems to be an inordinate number of basic things just not available for this specific model – like an o-ring for the starter motor for example which Suzuki has rather unkindly discontinued ! I have one coming from an NOS parts supplier in Toronto, and while I likely could also have matched one up from an industrial parts catalogue if required, it all just adds time to the process.
While waiting for things to either be located, or if located for them to be shipped I have gone ahead and assembled most of the engine – while doing so, I noticed that in addition to revamping the clutch assembly Suzuki had also changed the gudgeon pin design. The piston failure in the centre cylinder seems to actually have started with the gudgeon pin cracking in half, and so I was pleased to see that the new pins had a much thicker wall, as can be seen in the photo to the right. Presumably then, the failure my engine had was not an isolated event !!
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