Service
Info RG500 Specs: |
Suzuki waited
11 years before releasing the square four RG500, a brilliant half-litre
sports two stroke, thus capitalizing on an immense amount of development
in the premier class of Grand Prix racing. The fact that the
street version of the GAMMA is as potent as the 1976 world championship winning RG is quite astonishing but sadly these 153 kg weapons arrived on our shores just as the government legislated them out of existence. Stringent emission and noise standards allied to the introduction of unleaded petrol into Australia made 1985 the last year RG500 GAMMAS (and Yamahas RZ500) scored compliance plates. The GSXR-750s kept the GAMMAS at bay on the racetracks which, perhaps, gained them a greater marketing impetus but the RG is an extremely rapid and well balanced machine that a great number of experienced riders missed out on. And if you are lucky enough to own one they are not that difficult to service either. So lets
take a look into what exactly is involved in keeping the 70 kW power plant
on the boil! One major pain these days for mechanics is the lack of centrestands
on bikes like the RG. A pair of car stands can be purchased and I recommend
taking the bike for a ride prior to service in order to warm up the gearbox
oil and the chain. If the chain is dirty and somewhat neglected, its advisable
to wash it with a brush and kero beforehand - don't use harsh Firstly
there's the usual amount of undressing to attend to and I guess that owners
who are keen on 100 percent machine detailing will be familiar with the
fairing removal procedures. It is simply a matter of removing the Wait a minute
or so and remove the plug on the face of the clutch cover. If no
oil runs out you should add a little at a time until it begins to do so.
Next items to be dealt with are the fuel system and spark plugs. The replacement Spark plug
replacement and air filter service can actually be accomplished without
actually removing the tank as there is provision to tilt it backwards and
prop it in place after the fuel tap has been unbolted. I prefer to have The air
cleaner is found nestling in an impressive container formed by the steering
head casting. The element is made of washable foam that Suzuki recommends
be oiled with two stroke oil every 3000 km although this For once
vacuum gauges wont be necessary to synchronize the four throttle slides!
But before we go into that there is preliminary work to be attended to,
like removing the plastic inlet tracts leading to the carburetors and You can
use a thin piece of wire or a drill bit as a gauge for synchronizing the
slides at idle (about 0.5 mm is a starting point but this doesn't mean
that the idle speed will automatically be correct) and its simply a matter Large stop screws designed to be grasped by human fingers (average sized ones at any rate) feature on the two rear carbs but Suzuki apparently doesn't concede that an owner may be able to perform four incremental adjustments, so the front pair have semi hidden screws (adjacent to the fuel inlet pipes) that require a screwdriver to turn. In other words they only want you to turn the idle up or down on the rear cylinders which is not conducive to my brand of tuning! Now look at the slide and you'll notice a dot in the center. The next step is to somehow wedge open the throttle grip (I use a strip of rubber) so that the top of the dot aligns exactly with the top of the carburetor bore. Simply, if the slide heights are found to differ its a matter of determining the one that is opening the least, lining it up with the bore and lowering the others by giving the cables extra free-play. Snap the throttle open and closed a few times, re-employ the ingenious device you have come up with for locking the twist grip and re- check the adjustment. Hopefully, at the finish, the cable play wont exceed 1.0 mm because too much play will prevent the slides from opening fully. A bad value situation for against the stop types! Now that the dots are aligned perfectly, leave the throttle in that position (for chrissakes close it before attempting to fire the thing up!) and proceed to check the oil pump al alignment marks. The pump resides above the countershaft sprocket. If the mark (a line) on the control lever doesn't exactly align with the fixed index mark then adjust the pump control cab cable to suit by loosening the lock nut and adjusting the outer cable length by turning the threaded body. Don't forget to tighten the lock nut. That's about it for the fuel and oil systems, but the automatic exhaust control (AEC) cables can be checked while delving in the vicinity. (A few drops of oil for all the cables - clutch, throttle and AEC - is recommended every now and again too.) The specifications require each of the four cables to have a slight free-play of 0.5 mm but they probably wont need attention. The control unit is electronically activated so that between 7500 and 7800 rpm the actuator pulley instantly rotates the valves (via the cables) which closes off the exhaust sub chambers thus effectively decreasing the exhaust header volume. From that point on she's on the pipe so to speak by virtue of the fact that the reverse sine pressure waves arrive at the port sooner causing a more efficient induction of fresh mixture. The whole setup is basically maintenance free and you would be made well aware if a problem did occur. Final servicing
tasks may include clutch lever free play (2-3 mm), chain tension (20-25
mm play), tire pressures, general electrical check (bulbs etc.), and charge
rate (13 .5 V -15.5V @ 5,000 rpm). The coolant is supposed to be Before closing,
a word on the 6,000 km recommended interval for de-coking the exhausts
and cylinder heads - you'd have to be keen! Firstly, it's completely
unnecessary and secondly, there's a considerable amount of work Service
Data and Specifications Service
Intervals (As per service manual recommendation P/N99500-14000-01E) |