Motorcycle Repair: Gears on 550gs, suzuki gs550, valve clearances

Question
Hey mark. I recently recieved a 79 Suzuki gs550 as a gift from an uncle.  It stood in his garage for 4years.  I took it to a guy who claimed he knew what he was doing to see if he could get it up and running again!  Well that cost me about R4000 (+-$700). He claimed to have cleaned the carbs and put in new rubbers between the carbs and enjin.  Since I got it back I have spent another R4000 on a new rectifier, new plugs, new tyres.  Atleast its going now?  I have 3 questions.  I know the bike came out with 6 gears but mine only seem to have 5 how would I go about checking why my gear shifter doesn't want to go nto 6 or if I even have a 6.  and how loud is the enjin supposed to run.  theres a high pitched clicking coming from it.  Lastly how do I set the timing and change the points and can you please give me some info on this.  I realy appreciate you helping me.

Answer
Hi Cor,

Q: how would I go about checking why my gear shifter doesn't want to go nto 6 or if I even have a 6.

A: Your MC has six gears. I would need to examine it to diagnose the problem. Have a local tech look into it.


Q: how loud is the enjin supposed to run. theres a high pitched clicking coming from it.

A: The sounds could be from excessive valve clearances. They make a ticking sound. Again, I would have to hear the sound.


Q: Lastly how do I set the timing and change the points

A: I refer you to purchase the service manual for this task. It's an easy job, but there's too much to the  process to explain it here.

Respectfully,
Mark Shively