worst designed features: GS & others

[lumpoffire]

my nominations for the worst designed features on a GS500E:

-fuel tap screw with hose routed right in front it

-sealed instrument faces making it hard (to say the least) to clean the bezels

-white wheels on early GS's, whose idea was this?

other models:

-any bike that has a seat that requires the use of tools to remove, so that you can get to the tool kit.

now excuse me while I go out to the garage to clean my white wheels.

[rangerbrown]

narrow wheels
poor brakes
shitty suspension
crappy seat
needs to be fuel injected for crying out loud what year is it?



edited-beer made me spell wrong

[pnaberhaus]

Fuel petcock----->fuel line----->carb----->breather hose(s).......ARGHHHHHH What a pain to remove the tank and disconnect/re-connect ALL these lines! When I started riding in the '60s, I could pull a tank  on my Honda  or Triumph in about 60 seconds and reinstall it and reconnect the fuel lines almost blindfolded! I realize some of this plumbing is there to meet regulations, but there's gotta be an easier way.

Things I really like about my '89 GS.......the WHITE wheels and the clip-ons.

[chrisalberts]

my nominations for the worst designed features on a GS500E:

-sealed instrument faces making it hard (to say the least) to clean the bezels

Well wouldn't there be even bigger problems if they weren't sealed. 

-white wheels on early GS's, whose idea was this?

It was the 80s dood - era of big hair, bad shoes and white wheels.

My pet peeve is the frickin' petcock.  Impossible to reach as it's behind my leg and bike always starts its low fuel stutter at the wrong time.

C.  <-- happened to me this a.m.

[lumpoffire]

My pet peeve is the frickin' petcock.  Impossible to reach as it's behind my leg and bike always starts its low fuel stutter at the wrong time.

C.  <-- happened to me this a.m.

Good point.  I guess there wasn't enough room for one petcock with the twin spar frame and tank design;  maybe they should have used one of those big old petcock dials on the side of the tank, like the old (80s)Honda Interceptors had.  And I still haven't read a definitive explanation for the intermittent fuel starvation issue.

[Dorianfes]

yeah the suspension sucks, but it's marketed as a "beginner bike" right?  the fuel starvation isssue is annoying, but w/ practice switching on the reserve, or to prime has gotten almost reflexive.  I think my biggest gripe would have to be the oil drain screw.  It's just so damn easy to over tighten it.  I haven't yet, but after reading the horror stories from eveyone else everytime I change the oil I'm scared of over-doing it.

[My Name Is Dave]

My pet peeve is the frickin' petcock.  Impossible to reach as it's behind my leg and bike always starts its low fuel stutter at the wrong time.

C.  <-- happened to me this a.m.

The petcock isn't hard to reach. Practice it at home with the bike off so that when you're needing to flip it at 70 MPH, you're able to.

Dave 

[galahs]

Mine is the supersoft front suspension.

[mike_mike]

the infamous squeeling back brake no one can ever seem to truely fix   

[CirclesCenter]

PETCOCK!!!!!!!!!!!! IT SUCKS.

Sorry bout that.... but it does.

[lumpoffire]

almost forgot:  the tank petcock that has the outlet tubes so close together, it's nigh impossible to reattach both of the spring clips or zip ties, at least with decent aftermarket fuel line (like the 5/16ID Motion Pro lines, soft and supple compared to the hard and brittle stock ones).

And motorcycles should have sightglasses, not dipsticks.

[hmmmnz]

my gripe is that the exhaust pipe is 45mm instead of everyother motorbike 50mm. it just makes it triky to get a slip on or bloody expensive

[Queso]

the infamous squeeling back brake no one can ever seem to truely fix   

Awe, MAN... I got some new brake pads thinking that might solve the problem... Looks like I'm just going to have to deal, huh? That freakin squealing is as embarrasing as the backfiring (but at least I'll be able to fix the backfiring...)

[domas]

the infamous squeeling back brake no one can ever seem to truely fix   

Awe, MAN... I got some new brake pads thinking that might solve the problem... Looks like I'm just going to have to deal, huh? That freakin squealing is as embarrasing as the backfiring (but at least I'll be able to fix the backfiring...)

Back brakes squeel because they are not used enough. Thus not using them because they squeel, makes the situation even worse. To stop squeeling (not talking about worn-out pads) try stopping from 60 mph only with back brake in neutral (just dont skid). After couple of such hard usages of rear brake it should stop squeeling (if the squeeling is caused by reduced brake usage) .

[lumpoffire]

the infamous squeeling back brake no one can ever seem to truely fix   

Awe, MAN... I got some new brake pads thinking that might solve the problem... Looks like I'm just going to have to deal, huh? That freakin squealing is as embarrasing as the backfiring (but at least I'll be able to fix the backfiring...)

Have you tried a bit of lubricant behind the pads (not on the pad surface, of course)?  IIRC, this was mentioned as a solution in MotorCyclist or Cycle World. 

[Phaedrus]

Luckily I haven't had to fool witht he petcock much, but my limited interaction with it has been alright.  I think the worse designed feature is the seat. I've sat on park benches that are more comfortable than my '04.

[galahs]

I find the 04-06 seat comfortable.

obviously you haven't compared it to a long stint on a CBR250RR

[monopoly]

Luckily I haven't had to fool witht he petcock much, but my limited interaction with it has been alright.  I think the worse designed feature is the seat. I've sat on park benches that are more comfortable than my '04.

I think the seat is very comfortable! Try sitting on a newer gixxer 1K or a Ducati 749 ...I like it cause its both confortable when your upright or crouched.

[CirclesCenter]

Try riding pillion on a ducati Monster. I did that for FOUR minutes yesterday and I STILL HURT LIKE HELL. (little GS ran out of gas.)

[corndog67]

No one has mentioned the carburation yet.  It definately sucks.  And it is not just a one time bolt on fix.  Take'em  off, put 'em on, take 'em off, put 'em on, take 'em off.......over and over, the weather changes, the carburation changes.  Touchiest carburettors I've ever had the displeasure of working with.  My old Bultaco Astro with the Bing carburettor was more consistent than this.