New to the Forum - Questions

[gironamo]

Hello everyone.  I'm Nick from Seattle Washington and I just purchased my first bike which after a lot of research is a 04 Gs500F.  I'm totally new to riding but its been something I've been wanting to do for sometime.  I've gone through many MANY threads and learned a lot.  I have some questions that to some are dumb but frankly I can't do any of this.  I have a buddy who is coming over tonight to help me out but I thought I would post a thread first.  Thanks for your support and my heart goes out to all friends and family of Rich.

1)  How can I tell if the bike is in neutral?

2)  How do I start the bike?  Ya i know dumb question but I really don't know how to do it.

3)  Is 3 mintues long enough to warm it up?

[ajgs500]

1.  Normally the green light in the dash will come on.  If not it is between 1st and 2nd gear and the bike will roll freely when in neutral.

2.  Put key on the ON position, pull in clutch, and hit the black button on the right handle bar.

3.  Normally yes

4.  Take the MSF course so you dont kill yourself.

[gironamo]

Thank you!  I've already signed up for my course.

When starting the bike, do I turn it to "full fuel" or part.  ?

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

1.  Normally the green light in the dash will come on.  If not it is between 1st and 2nd gear and the bike will roll freely when in neutral.

2.  Put key on the ON position, pull in clutch, and hit the black button on the right handle bar.

3.  Normally yes

4.  Take the MSF course so you dont kill yourself.

The arrow should point down to ON.... when you get low on gas, you'll turn it up to RES... you'll use PRI if you drop the bike, and the fuel runs out of the float bowls... or if you have fuel starvation on the highway (search "fuel starvation" for more info)

[ajgs500]

if you are speaking of the choke, the black lever on the left handlebar, then pull it all the way towards you

[RedShift]

In addition to what AJ has offered,

1)  How can I tell if the bike is in neutral?

• Half shift up from 1st makes the Neutral indicator light comes on.  Oh, make sure the bulb is working.
• Clutch lever can be fully released with the engine running and she doesn't move.
• With the engine off the bike will roll.

[/color]
2)  How do I start the bike?  Ya i know dumb question but I really don't know how to do it.
FINE-C -- Fuel petcock set to ON, Ignition switch ON, Neutral gear (see above), Engine Kill Switch set to RUN, Clutch in, and just to be safe, you're sitting on it with full gear on and the sidestand is up.  Give the bike full Choke and press the Starter.  If all systems are go, she should start right up.

3)  Is 3 mintues long enough to warm it up?
It depends.  if it's 60°F or more and this is the first start of the day, then you can probably get away with it.  When colder or in damp conditions it seems to take longer.  I find that regardless, I need a block or two before I can back the choke off completely.  I usually leave with the choke at 1/4 on.

4) When starting the bike, do I turn it to "full fuel" or part.  ?
Leave it on ON.  No need to put it to PRIme unless you haven't started it for a couple of weeks or longer.

[pandy]

Welcome to the GS family, gironamo! Congrats on your new bike, and welcome to the wonderful world of riding!!

There are a number of GS owners in the Seattle area, so you should be able to make friends quickly for riding! Excellent that you're signed up for the MSF!! No questions are dumb. We *all* started somewhere!  Also, get a manual if you haven't already ordered one. They contain a LOT of excellent information, and you'll be able to wrench on  your own baby! 

If the friend that's coming over tonight is motorcycle savvy, then have them help you with the basics. Please, please don't hit the roads on  your own. As you can see, it's been a tough couple of days here with Rich's death, and we don't want any more of our family here hurt. 

[Yankee Punker]

 Hey Nick, Good to hear about your first bike, and I am sure that ALL of us can agree that you picked a great bike to start on. Most of us love our little GS's so much well never leave them, I had traded my old 92' in last year for a new 05' F model. I hope your getting the owners manual, you should definitely start by reading the whole thing that will help you along the way to learning your new ride. Second always wear riding gear, some people might go on and on about this over that when it comes to what kind of gear to buy, I think something is better than nothing and tend to wear what I find comfortable, its very hot here in Florida so I wear mesh, and always, always a helmet and gloves even if I ride to the end of the street!!This is a great site for all your GS needs, but please use the search first there already is a ton of info there, then start a post if you need help, I always try to help if I can, but some like to blast the noob's..... (P.S. You definitely should have insurance, its so cheap for the GS that's probably why I got a second one.)

[gironamo]

Jesus!!  Thanks for the love guys!

I've been trying to find an owners manual online but I havne't located one yet.  Does anyone have a link?

[Unnamed]

The owners manual is handy, but if you want to do any of your own maintenance you'll want a Clymer guide. The Clymer walks through just about every thing you'll ever do to your bike. I used mine to rebuild my carburators even though I had never even seen a carburator before. I'm sure someone can give you the link, if you buy it on Amazon through this site then some money goes back to the site to pay for maintenance. I highly highly recommend the book, it will save you tons of time and money.

The manual can be found online here, and can be purchased online, but if you're only going to buy one manual, make it the Clymer.