Oh no, a NOOB!!!!

[MikeNW]

I am new to your fine site! 
I own a 2005 Concours and old reliable 1997 Shadow Spirit.
I am considering a GS500, as a result of my question on Concours.org site.
The Conk is a fine machine, but its weight of almost 600 pounds seems porky for solo touring.  (I bought it new in 2004.)  I thought a lighter bike would get better mileage, handle easier, etc.  Truthfully, Conks are fine machines, but the bike doesn't stir any passion.  It is a machine.  For example, a Ducati would be an investment in art.  The Conk just does its job.  You GS owners seem to be passionate about your bikes. 

I have a few questions about the GS 500
[color=GreenHow often do you adjust valves?  Does the engine have 4 valves or 8 total?  How much is the shim kit $$$$
How do you get the shims out?  Do you have to remove the camshafts?
How does it perform at highway speeds- say 75 to 80 mph? 
How many speeds (5 or 6)?
Can you buy Suzook hard bags for it?
Does it use regular gas?
How often do you replace the drive chain?
Do most of you do your own maintenance?
Does it have a center stand?
Is it a practial touring machine?

Thank you!  This seems like a good site.  (The white on black type or white on grey is a little hard to read though.
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[cafeboy]

How often do you adjust valves?  Does the engine have 4 valves or 8 total?  How much is the shim kit $$$$
How do you get the shims out?  Do you have to remove the camshafts?
Check the WIKI.
How does it perform at highway speeds- say 75 to 80 mph? 
IMHO just fine
How many speeds (5 or 6)?
6
Can you buy Suzook hard bags for it?

Does it use regular gas?
Yes
How often do you replace the drive chain?
Lube every 600 miles
Do most of you do your own maintenance?
Yes
Does it have a center stand?
Yes
Is it a practial touring machine?
It could be

Thank you!  This seems like a good site.  (The white on black type or white on grey is a little hard to read though.
No prob. for me
[/color]

[pandy]

I am new to your fine site! 

Welcome! 


How often do you adjust valves?  every 4k miles
Does the engine have 4 valves or 8 total?  4
How much is the shim kit $$$$ There are two that float around for free, you just pay for the shim if you need it and it's not in the kit. I paid $12.00 for a shim (yeah, I was reamed, but they had it in stock!)  After you're finished, you pay shipping to the next member.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25823.165
How do you get the shims out?  mine...with great difficulty 
How does it perform at highway speeds- say 75 to 80 mph?  I've only ridden the nekkid model, and it's breezy, but i don't mind breezy!
Does it use regular gas? Yup! The cheaper the better!
Do most of you do your own maintenance? I did my own chain and can do an oil change, but I always tried to bribe my bf (or scratch)when I could Many here, if not most, do all their own work.
Does it have a center stand? Most do...my ratbike doesn't 
Is it a practial touring machine? I think the only complaint I've heard is about the seat not being the most comfortable in the world (esp for boys?)

You can change to a light blue background (which is what I use). I'll go remember how and post up how.

Edit:
Modify profile
Look and layout preferences
I choose the Babylon Theme...it's easier on my old eyes... 

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Main/Maintenance

[nightrider]

valves are easy to check, I did it myself, and I'm a total noob. Expect a skinned knuckle or two if you're clumsy, and some hose wrangling. Check manual for schedule.

Shims are accessible with magnet tool, google "Kerry GS500 Valve" to watch Kerry do it.

75-80 mph is comfortable.

There are hardbag setups, maybe requiring some construction, you can search for it on here. Most GS owners don't have them but it can be done and nicely.

Drive chain varies, it's not hard if you cut and replace with a linked chain. I did it the hard way (removing swingarm etc) after 11k miles with very basic tools. I'm guessing 10-15k.

Touring would be possible. The GS does not come designed as a touring bike and there are better bikes for touring no doubt, but you could take the GS anywhere you take any other bike, the limits would probably be determined by your own comfort with the riding position and its available power. Honestly I'd expect some discomfort on a long GS tour, I know of a naked GS owner who took his cross country in winter and said it was grueling. However it will perform reliably, with reasonable comfort, and sufficient power for most applications.

I do almost all my own maintenance except for hard bits (prying tire off and replacing), I pull wheels at or inside the shop. Oil, chain, valve check, fork/front end, etc are all made easy with this site.

Im a nub. It feels good to answer questions.

[dgyver]

How often do you adjust valves?  4000 miles

Does the engine have 4 valves or 8 total?  2 valves / cylinder or 4 total

How much is the shim kit $$$$  $5-8 each

How do you get the shims out?  Shim tool pushes the bucket down

Do you have to remove the camshafts?  No

How does it perform at highway speeds- say 75 to 80 mph?  ok

How many speeds (5 or 6)?  6

Can you buy Suzook hard bags for it?  Aftermarket are available

Does it use regular gas?  87 octane

How often do you replace the drive chain?  rarely

Do most of you do your own maintenance?  yes

Does it have a center stand?  yes

Is it a practial touring machine?  for some

Thank you!  you are welcome

This seems like a good site.  correct

The white on black type or white on grey is a little hard to read though.   You can change it

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Welcome!

I'd post answers to your questions.... but I've been beaten to it!

[MikeNW]

Appreciate the help!

Why do some people say, the GS500 "Could" be a good tourer?
What is lacking?
I am thinking of a GS500F. 

[pandy]

Fuel injection!  But I'm sure it's a fine touring bike w/o that... 

[dgyver]

For me, it is small and underpowered for long trips. I see it as a commuter and weekend play toy.

[Turd Ferguson]

I'm with dgyver (...he's my hero...).  The bike is a fantastic commuter and toy.  I also enjoy taking trips, but feel that the GS is a bit underpowered on the highway.  It'll cruise at 80-85 all day long without trouble, but it would be nice to have more power when passing.

-Turd.

[gsJack]

dgyver covered it all, I'll just add a few coments. 

I've checked valves every 8k miles rather than 4k intervals in putting 80k miles on a 97 GS and 40k+ miles on a 02 GS.  My valve check/shim record:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/valveclearances.jpg

As far as being a practical touring bike I guess that would depend on the rider.  I've spent a dozen days running 75-80 mph indicated for 400-500 miles and find the GS quite comfortable.  I'm 6' and 240+ plus and ride a naked GS with a Spitfire fairing summers and put on a larger Plexi 2 fairing winters.  Use a Givi trunk and a tankbag to carry a weeks clothing.  My 02 GS parked in front of the motel in the Smoky mtns 600 miles from home:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/burp04gspic.jpg

I average around 60 mpg all summer and never drop below 50 mpg winters and during hard mtn thrashing on trips.  I do all my own maintenance work.

[TarzanBoy]

How often do you adjust valves?  Does the engine have 4 valves or 8 total?  How much is the shim kit $$$$
Some people do it every few thousand miles.  I did mine when I noticed a different engine sound (after 8k miles).  Only 1 or 2 valves were out of spec.  I used the east coast shim kit and did the valves at the same time that SecondGen7 did his.

How do you get the shims out?  Do you have to remove the camshafts?
Lol.  No removal of camshafts are necessary (i've never heard of a bike requiring camshaft removal... how the hell would you measure the clearance at different stroke lengths?).  Getting at the valves on the GS500 is the easy part... the hard part is using that crazy tool to depress the bucket to get at the shim (without it slipping).   There is a GS500 how-to-do-valves video by kerry available for free download.  Very informative. Download it and burn it to DVD like I did.


How does it perform at highway speeds- say 75 to 80 mph? 
It is definitely sufficient.... but it is probably the slowest (in terms of torque) that I would want to take on a moderately busy highway.  The engine does 80mph with little effort... of more concern to me was poor wind protection from the windscreen.  At highway speeds, a GS500 isn't any faster than most of the cars on the road.  I rode it noticeably more defensively (and strategically) than I ride my current R6.

How many speeds (5 or 6)?
Standard 6 speed transmission

Can you buy Suzook hard bags for it?
Yep, but I don't think there are any built-in attachment points for them.  The GS500 is Suzuki's somewhat-ignored, red-headed-stepchild.

Does it use regular gas?
Yep.  AFAIK its a low compression engine so any octane you get from the pump should suffice

How often do you replace the drive chain?
Like any chain,  when it needs to be changed (as can be evidenced from the state of the chain and your sprockets).  This is totally dependent on how the bike is ridden and how well the chain is maintained.

Do most of you do your own maintenance?
Most maintenance tends to be easier and cheaper on the GS than its modern street bike counterparts.  I think probably the same fraction of GS owners do their own maintenance as other bike owners.  Its definitely easier to dive in as a beginner on a GS, though.


Does it have a center stand?
Yes.  They come stock with center stands

Is it a practial touring machine?
Mmm, compared to what?  While the GS is more comfortable than a race-replica sportbike, its not as comfortable as a cruiser or dedicated tourer.  To me, Goldwings, VFRs,  Katantas, Vmax's, etc are real tourers.  The GS is closer to a standard bike.   Drawbacks to 'touring' include: a crappy headlight (at least on the faired model), poor wind protection, an air cooled engine (either good or bad, depending on your perspective), and only one front brake/caliper/rotor.  Personally, I would classify the GS as commuter rather than a tourer.... but I do know riders who have used GS-500s for touring.

[bubba zanetti]

Dude change the yellow text, puuuulease

[dgyver]

Yellow text on a light blue screen is useless. I hate the default black theme and have changed to something easier to view.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

[3

[MikeNW]

There are some bikes for which you remove the camshaft, once you establish the clearance, to get the shims out.  I don't remember which, but I made sure my Conk was NOT one of them!  Thanks for all of your replies.

[pres589]

My two cents:  The GS really doesn't seem like a great touring bike because of the power and gearing, some here seem to think it's alright at 80 but to me it seems a little strung out, and there's not a lot of power available up there.  It's also rather small, I didn't realize this as much until I spent some time on a bit bigger bike (VRF).  It's a pretty decent commuter and with a tire and suspension upgrade it can corner really well.  However, the size is an issue, I'm edging up on 6'6" and my knees don't fit in the tank cutouts, making things a little ungainly.  The stock seat kind of forces me forward a bit more than I'd like, a custom seat (Sargent or something locally done to the stock seat pan) may be a decent fix if you think this could be an issue. 

If I could do it all over again, I would have tried to find a good used Kawasaki ZR-7 or maybe an Suzuki SV-650.  Note: haven't ridden either of these bikes, but I think they would have fit my wants a little better, and perhaps yours as well.

[The Buddha]

There are some bikes for which you remove the camshaft, once you establish the clearance, to get the shims out.  I don't remember which, but I made sure my Conk was NOT one of them!  Thanks for all of your replies.

Concours is threaded adjusters. Heck, we eliminator owners love concourses. The motor parts swaps are the best. Anyway, the GS has a tool called a spoon that you depress the bucket and pull the shim out with a tweezer. The put the tweezer back in your wife's eyebrow kit.  ... Chains are 10-15K depending on quality of chain, luck of the owner and maintenance.
Cool.
Srinath.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Everyone who complains about the GS at 80mph has obviously never driven my 4cyl 2.3L I-4 '93 Mustang. That thing had no balls above 60mph, and since it was an automatic, I was stuck. If you don't like passing in 6th gear.. DOWNSHIFT!

[pres589]

Everyone who complains about the GS at 80mph has obviously never driven my 4cyl 2.3L I-4 '93 Mustang. That thing had no balls above 60mph, and since it was an automatic, I was stuck.

I'm not sure how this is pertinent to the discussion.  You owning a car with not a lot of power doesn't seem to really matter when we're talking about GS500's, right?