Intro...New Member

[Kzin]

Hello Everyone!  Very informative site you have here.

I just picked up a 99 GS500 for my wife last night since she was not comfortable on her SV650.  The lower seat height, upright position and lower CG of the 500 should suit her perfectly.  Very similar seating position to her TTR 125 dirt bike.

I think I got a pretty good deal on it.  $1300 with 3800 miles.  It's gonna need some work since it's been sitting for over a year.  It runs, but the carbs need going through, the fork seals are leaking like crazy and there's some minor cosmetic damage, but overall I should be able to get her running great for <$250.  I did ride the bike, and I am sure I'll get some fun out of it too  

First things to do...
Clean the carbs, change the pilot and probably the main jet...I may pickup a uni filter for it as well.  Any suggestions on jet sizes for stock exhaust/Uni air filter?  I saw in the faq for uni/k&n with aftermarket exhaust but not with stock exhaust.  Also if you know of any online places to purchase the jets I would appreciate a link.

Progressive springs, 15w oil and new fork seals....any tips on the fork seals would be appreciated.

It needs mirrors, so I have to locate something to use...I was thinking of barends, but a low wide mirror might look good too.  Also looking for a good place to get a flyscreen or maybe buell lights/flyscreen.

Later on I will be swapping my SV shock for a GSXR or ZX6R unit and will probably put the SV shock on the GS.  I noticed a few threads that implied that the SV shock will fit with minor mods to the cleavis (cut off and redrill).  To those running the SV shock, any problem with it hitting the swingarm yet?

I'm planning to fab up a new tail light as well, with round led lights and a mounting that is flush with the tail rather than the big square light...will probably make it eliminate the fender as well.

Anyway, great site, looking forward to talking GS's with you guys.

Wes (aka Kzin)

[raylarrabee]

welcome to the site!  You got a good deal on that GS and I'm sure your wife will love it.

Abuot the shock:  many people on this board claim that the SV shock does not provide any performance improvement over the stock GS shock (unless your stock shock is blown, of course).  Common upgrades include 1990's katana 600 shocks (direct bolt on), older gixxer shocks (some modification/fabrication required), etc.  Search around and you will find a ton of info on the precise shocs that will fit the GS.  You can likely get a katana 600 shock for around $20-$30, shipped, from ebay or elsewhere.

As for the jetting, I'm sure Srinath or one of the other carb experts will chime in.

[tdan553527]

welcome to the best GS500 site ever, tons of great info here. Not sure what size jets you need, but someone will chime in here soon with that info. You can get your jets from www.sudco.com

[starwalt]

Greetings and welcome indeed. Try the search engine with Boolean filters and you will find much information here. GSTwin is a large community with many talents.  

[Kzin]

Hey thanks for the warm welcome and the link.

tdan, which jet's are the correct ones?  

Is the main the large round?  pn 004-190
And which is the correct pilot jet?  They have several #40's and I don't have the bike apart yet to compare pics?

[tdan553527]

tdan, which jet's are the correct ones?

Is the main the large round? pn 004-190
And which is the correct pilot jet? They have several #40's and I don't have the bike apart yet to compare pics

Not sure on the pre 01 bikes, maybe srinath ( the carb guru) will chime in and help you in this situation.

Check this link.
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12929

[scratch]

Welcome, Wes!

With the stock replacement Uni filter, you'll want the size 40 non-bleeder type pilot jets (the ones without the holes along the shaft), and size 125 mains. Don't forget to shim up your needles with #4 washers (one each, should be .5mm thick) from your local hardware store.

Edit: large, round, slotted (for flathead screwdriver) Mikuni main jets, size 125.

[Kzin]

Think I've sourced the jets, but they come in a 4 pack so I'll have spares if anyone needs my extras.  How about some tips on the fork seals? any idea what size PVC I need to use as a seal driver?

[treybrad]

I'm about to do my fork seals too... so I have lots of saved threads handy..

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7084

http://www.geocities.com/inline_four/team_smelly/diy/fork_seals/

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9684&highlight=

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16318

hope that helps.

trey

[Eqlsp]

WELCOME!!! I'm new too!

[Jenerator]

Welcome to both of you (to the wife as well hehe)...but I would suggest that she try the bike before 'souping it up'.  I haven't changed a thing on my GS other than to put new OEM parts on and it's perfect for me.  She may be perfectly comfortable on it as-is and you can spend that money on nice new tires or something like that.

[raylarrabee]

yeah, no reason to spend any money untill you dislike the handling, etc after giving it some time.  For me, I'm so big (read: tall and fat) that the stock suspension just didn't hack it.  Most women, however, likely weigh at least 100 lbs less than me, so there's (cough) slighlty (cough) less "fatso preload" on the bike.

[callmelenny]

Welcome to both of you (to the wife as well hehe)...but I would suggest that she try the bike before 'souping it up'.  I haven't changed a thing on my GS other than to put new OEM parts on and it's perfect for me.  She may be perfectly comfortable on it as-is and you can spend that money on nice new tires or something like that.

Welcome.

If you have a the carbs apart you might as well replace the pilots even if you leave the others. This will greatly improve cold performance and requires less choke work early in the ride.

[Kzin]

callmelenny hit the nail on the head.  I've gotta tear down the carbs anyway and the forks to replace the seals, so I may as well go ahead and rejet while I'm in there.  Besides the jets cost like $5.50 so it's not like its expensive or anything  

As for the springs...they are way soft.  .54 stock and recommended for my wife's weight is .74.  The stock springs are probably good if you weigh less than say 120.  

Besides part of the fun of owning a bike...especially one like this is making it what you want it to be.  The GS seems to be really easy to work on compared to other bikes I've owned.  

I brought her home last night, and it wasn't quite as bad as I thought.  It's gonna make a great little bike and it fits her perfect.  I've got some nice cosmetic mods in mind that I'll hopefully do a writeup on.  For example...cat eye short stalk blinkers, fender eliminator that replaces the tail light with dual round LED tail lights.  Custom fabricated flyscreen and possibly replacing the headlight with a dual setup like a lightning or a SP4.

May repaint during the winter too, don't know yet, I've gotta get her all cleaned up and see how she looks with a little elbow grease applied.