Just got my yellow 04 500f!

[04yellow500]

i have been waiting so long but yesterday i finally left the lot with my new bike. this is my first bike and despite what all my experienced friends told me, this 500 is perfect for me. I even get all excited to see my feet touching the ground ( i am a pretty small female).  Just wanted to post my news to the board.  One thing i would like to do however is get rid of that disgusting rear fender on the bike.  I know there is a tutorial posted on this site but are there any other alternatives?? How did you guys approach  this. Any other advice on what i should do during these first miles of the bikes life?

[treybrad]

Well first off.. congrats on the new bike! A tutorial for getting rid of that ugly fender, along with lots of other mods can be found here, on the main page.

Here's a link to the fender: http://www.gstwin.com/fenderectomy.htm

Advice for the first few miles is just take it easy, for your sake and the bikes. Get to know each other a bit  :kiss:

Is this your first bike, or just the newest? Anyway, i'm sure people will chime in with lots of break in advice, welcome to the board and good luck with it!

trey

[pantablo]

Congratulations Yellow!
Great first bike choice.
Have you taken MSF course yet? If not you should. Also recommend reading "Proficient Motorcycling" (dont know the author) and  "Twist of the Wrist II" by Keith Code.

Lots of variations on the fender chop (fenderectomy). Here's mine http://pantablo500.tripod.com/pablosgs500page/id48.html
Also, somewhere on the for sale forum there's a full fairing kit that has an undertail available separately...

Lots more useful stuff on my site as well as on the home page here at www.gstwin.com .

[Dima26]

Congrats! Take it easy at first and keep the rubber side down. Read a few books and take MSF course. The author of Profficient Motorcycling is David Hough. That's a nice book (my favorite one).
I wanted yellow too but then went with the blue/white scheme. Yellow is prettier but blue is faster

Are you going to post any pics? Especially after the fenderectomy...

Dima.

[04yellow500]

yeh i have taken the MSF course. It was awsome.  I noticed today just how small our bikes tries really are. Are there bigger ones that can fit the bike? or is this it.  I will try that rear fender project this weekend.  I think it will look so much better.  I will post some pics this weekend too.  This is my first bike ever by the way. someone had asked me that earlier.  But i think in about a year i will be trading it in for something bigger. The gs 500f would be perfect if it was just a tad bit faster.  Everything else is perfect on it, size especially since i am a short woman.  Anwyas let me know what you think guys.  Also one more thing is it normal for the gs to have a little trouble starting and idling during the first start of the day.

[Dima26]

I do not have any starting or idling problems but the climate is warm here in AL Are you using the choke? The choke on my bike seems to be very-very touchy, it is either on or off, there seems to be no middle position

[treybrad]

I noticed today just how small our bikes tries really are. Are there bigger ones that can fit the bike? or is this it.

You can fit a wider tire, but I think you'll find pretty much everyone here will tell you it's not beneficial. On the stock rim, you pinch a wider tire such that it's hard to get to the edge of the tire and take advantage of the extra width. Pablo has a how to on fitting a wider rim (B400?) on his page, which you can then take advantage of a wider tire.. That said, yes, I think you can fit up to a 150 without modification on the stock rim, is it advisable... probably not.

Also one more thing is it normal for the gs to have a little trouble starting and idling during the first start of the day.

Yep, our little air cooled twin is notorious for being a cold-natured beast. Search around, or I think there's a couple topics on the first couple pages, you'll find lots of stuff. You can rejet and shake some of the quirkiness, but it's still air cooled, it's not going to fire right up like a water cooled 4 banger.

Don't sell the little GS short yet. Ride it for a while and really get to understand what this bike is all about before you make up your mind to trade it in for something bigger. If you're looking for a little more power, there are tons of engine mods or even simple stuff like gearing and timing you can fool around with to get quite a few more ponies out of it. The GS can keep you happy for a long time if you let it!   Lots of the members here are on their 2nd or 3rd GS, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

trey

[lee67]

yep al lwise words trey, good luck with your new gs..they look well nice in yellow..alltho black is best lol.......as for tyres i have a 140 rear alltho i havnt noiticed any diff to a 130......fitting a performance exhaust and k&n's would free a few bhp making the gs even better...good luck and hope u have many happy miles like we all do.....p.s i have had many   a bigger bike..but i still think the gs is fast enough....

[ollie357]

Yeah. Thats the problem with the GS's carbs. They take a long time to warm up. The bike from the factory is set up to run too lean, from what I gather from the pros on this site. I have one last mod to do on my bike and that is a re-jetting to larger pilots/mains/mids. That should make the bike start quicker. Also get Progressive front fork springs, the stock ones are crap. Although you can get by with them for the time being. Dropping down to a 15 tooth front sprocket will also get you more "oomph" when taking off ( stock is 16).
-I think that about covers it for the ESSENTIAL mods every GS owner must perform. They should just write that into the bike's manual.

[bikenut]

I, too, have a yellow 04.  You don't really wanna go faster.  120mph should be fast enough for a newbie.  I think you meant that you want a quicker bike.  One that will go 0-60 seconds in under 3 seconds.  A major advantage of the 500 is that you have time to think about 120 mph while you are getting there.  An FZ1 gets you there so quickly that you don't have time to get off the throttle, and B4 you know it you are going way too fast.

Your bike is faster than any cage out there up to 70mph, why do you need to go faster/quicker?  To be cool?  To impress strangers?  There are times I want more power, but never have I needed it.  I purposely got a "slow" bike so I wouldn't tempt myself.  I don't know if my right wrist will ever be mature enough.