Just bought my gs500f! few concerns though

[tttbyy]

Hi all,
I just got my first bike, a gs500f and had a few concerns. It is a 2k4 with 8 thousand miles, and I was told it runs strong/like new with no mechanical quarks or issues whatsoever. Anyways,
when I turn the bike on it starts fine, but when I put it into first it jumps a little bit (maybe an inch or two).
Second, when the bike is in gear and the clutch is held in, the bike will not roll (I thought having the clutch in was equivalent to neutral)
Also, when taking a look at the battery I noticed a white clear tube coming from the black terminal, and it is not connected to anything on the other end.

edited in: I was getting a feel for the clutch in the driveway, and the bike did something VERY peculiar. It stalled while the clutch was in, and when I started it back up it acted as though it was in first (even tho the clutch was being held in) and jumped forward about 3 or 4 inches and stalled again. Memory is a little fuzzy here, but I believe I then put it in neutral and the neutral light was on, and it did the same thing. It only acted up like this one time, is the related to the above clutch issue?

Are these all normal and if not what could the problem be?

[Alphamazing]

The first two problems are one in the same. You need to adjust your clutch. First start by adjusting your clutch cable via your lever. Rotate the little knurled disc one way (out or in, I don't remember) until you get the play in the lever (the amount of travel it has before it begins engaging the clutch) is a few millimeters. If that doesn't work you'll need to adjust the clutch down near the engine. Come back to us after you adjust the cable at the lever though.

As to the battery tube, that is an overflow tube. Don't want battery acid all over the place corroding your frame, do ya?

Also, welcome to the board and motorcycling. Good choice on a great beginner bike.

[tttbyy]

thank you for the clear reply, and the welcome! I am happy to be a gs owner! There was one other occurrence I forgot to mention, so I will edit the first post to include that.

[Alphamazing]

thank you for the clear reply, and the welcome! I am happy to be a gs owner! There was one other occurrence I forgot to mention, so I will edit the first post to include that.

Read all the stuff you edited in, and again it sounds like your clutch isn't adjusted properly. When the clutch lever is pulled in the clutch plates should engage and disengage the transmission from the driveshaft. However, it seems to me that the clutch plates are not engaging all the way, thus not disengaging the transmission fully which is why it seems like it is still in gear when the clutch lever is pulled all the way in. When you get your clutch adjusted properly it should solve that problem as well.

Where do you live? There are regular members all over the place that would probably be willing to give you a hand if you need some help.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Welcome. I agree with Alpha.. the clutch is not properly adjusted.

[tttbyy]

Man am I glad I joined this board. I've seen so much flaming at some other boards, and it always feels the most at home when you are at a board specific to your bike. I am near Pittsburgh in PA and unfortunately I'll be away from my bike for the next month (even though I just bought it Friday) until I come back from school.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

*insert flaming here*

STFU, N00B!

[Gisser]

(I thought having the clutch in was equivalent to neutral)

Clutch in will never be equivalent to neutral.  Neutral completely disengages the rear wheel from the clutch.   

[ducati_nolan]

that clear tube should be attached to a little nipple on the side of the battery. If the batery overcharges or tips over the acid will go out the tube instead of all over the rest of the bike.

Good luck 

[Alphamazing]

Man am I glad I joined this board. I've seen so much flaming at some other boards, and it always feels the most at home when you are at a board specific to your bike. I am near Pittsburgh in PA and unfortunately I'll be away from my bike for the next month (even though I just bought it Friday) until I come back from school.

The only time you'll see flaming here is when you see someone come on here and act like a jerk/retard/squid/ass/prick/etc. You were none of those, so you are treated nicely.

[Birdmove]

   As above, it sounds like your clutch needs adjusting.Sounds like its not totally disengaging, so you would need to remove some freeplay at your cable adjuster at rhe clutch lever on the handlebar.
    But don't be concerned if, after you adjust it and it works much better, if it acts like this the first time you put it in 1st gear after starting it cold.Many wet clutches tend to have the discs/plates stick together a bit after sitting overnight.I've had two KLR Kawasakis that were really bad in that regard.They were so bad that when getting ready to start them each morning, I would first put them in 1st gear, then hold in the clutch lever, and then push the bike a little bit forwards and backwards a few times until the clutch plates would let loose of each other.That way when I started them cold and did the shift into 1st, the bike wouldn't clunk so badly and lurch forwards.
    jon

[Smokebombb]

There's a video on adjusting the clutch lever here (Thanks Kerry!):
http://www.bbburma.net/Videos/AdjustingTheClutchCable.wmv