Newbie couple short questions

[gs500fpower]

Ok I started riding my bike last 2 months, well I adore my bike and thats all I think about its a new 2005 GS500F whenever or wherever but anyways, I have or had a tendacy to stop really hard on my brakes, and now the rear brake pedal kinda vibrates and sqeaks in the front, I am guessing I need brake pads already, well thats one question and I leave it at my dads house for about a week and ride it on the weekends so should I leave it on the Prime for the gas because I havent and it hasent done nothing to my bike yet, and my last question I only have 200 miles on it, when would it be a good idea for putting aftermarket parts on? Thanks GS Folks I appreciate the help!

[Cal Price]

I doubt very much that you need new pads. The discs do squeal a bit at times particularly the rear disc. This tends to wear off, often rainwater or condenstion plays a hand.

Your braking technique should be mainly front brake, some say 90% of the stopping power, some say 75% and at least one member says 100% of the "stop" should come at the front. This may leave you wondering why then did Mr suzuki put on a rear brake at all. The answer is that front brake mainly for stopping and rear for holding position. At a light you should, ideally be in gear, clutch-in, right foot on rear brake and right hand on throttle ready to cover brake if required. Left foot on the deck. This will allow you to get away very quickly if someone comes up behind you too quickly. Also this is the ideal set up for hill strarts. Over here the advanced riders and club riders are taught a technique where they use very slight rear brake on tight turns to stop "swan necking" or going wide, I find this very useful on our many roundabouts but generally you don't want to be braking as you corner, brake into a bend not on it untill you have a lot more miles under your belt.

Leave to fuel chicken in the "on" position, long periods on PRI could leave to leakage, "ON" should suit just about everything.

Lastly, aftermarket parts, fit what you fancy, it's your bike but the prudent advice is probably to get a few thousand miles on it to sort out your priorities before you spend your cash, unless you have unlimited cash but if you had you would probably not be riding a GS!

Good luck with it, have fun be visible.

[Superman55]

Welcome! 1st thing you wanna do is hack the rear fender off. I have an 04 and it came off the second day!! And the rear brake squeal is common on the 04/05 bikes. Good luck      

[GeeP]

couple of tips:

When coming to a stop apply the brakes with the intent of using a light and constant pressure on the lever until you come to a stop.  With practice you will find yourself making very smooth and controlled stops.  Doing so also makes fork dive less annoying.

Just before you come to a complete stop, reduce your application pressure very slightly.  This will prevent bobbing.

[BUZZIN]

Wet a clean rag with Brake Cleaner, and then wipe the rotor vigorously around the entire disk on both sides.  Don't spray the Brake Cleaner directly to the disk, as you'll get overspray on painted surfaces.

PRIme is only for starting a bike that hasn't been run in along time, or after draining the carb float bowls.  Leave it in the ON or REServe positions.