Start Up Question

[Ladcar]

Hey all I recently bought a 2001 GS500.  I bought it from a guy who turned out to be much shadier that I thought.  After buying the bike I needed a new carb and a system flush since both the gas and oil gunked up from not being ridden.  After paying $400, a quarter of the amount I paid for the bike, it worked fine.  Everything seemed strong until today.  I took the bike out and turned it on.  It first gave me some trouble starting up and then went on.  I noticed it seemed weak even with the choke on.  It was running at about 5k with the full choke on.  Then when I go to give it some throttle the engine stalls.  It was happening over and over until I killed the battery trying to start it up.  I replaced the spark plugs to see if it worked and nothing.  This is my first bike so I am a newbie but it's becoming more obvious that I got screwed.  Can you guys tell me what to do?  I've only rode it once and I'm starting to lose my patience....and certainly my money.

[frankieG]

where are you? 

[ohgood]

Hi there and welcome to gs land.

Put the 'getting screwed' part behind you. It's a lesson for you about sellers. Let's get on with the fun part instead of dwelling.

The gs has a few caveats:
1) fork seals
2) noisy valves
3) noisy timing
4) the petcock ((it really sucks and starves at high speed) RUN ON PRIME ))
5) it makes _some_ people think they need to buy a bigger motorcycle
6) it's carburated. they need clean gas. end of suckage

You spent wayyy too much to get your ride going. Most folks that can change a tire can clean a carburator, and diagnose bits that need replaced. The gas was gunky, the tank likely has rust in it (big contributor), and the oil needed changing. $400 was about 10x what you could have spent and done it all (i mean all) of it yourself.

I'll bet you have a carb that's out of adjustment, and/or a non-stock exhaust pipe, including valves that need adjustment. Oh, and the carbs prolly need to be syncronised also.

If your choke isn't working proper, or you leave it on too long, the bike will run like crap. If your floats/carbs/sync is off, it will run like crap. If your plugs are fouled, ditto. You checked for good spark on both plugs, right ?

Please don't get discouraged by the initial bits. It's a very very tough bike, the engine is simple, parts are plentiful, and it will serve you with fun for years on the cheap.

Use the 'special' search feature. This would be google + gstwins + whatever-you're-searching-for. It works better than the forum's search.

Welcome again. You've got a little work to do. If you live near one of the members, they might like to help for a beer or three.

I'm in Tampa.

[Ladcar]

I'm in Staten Island, New York which is close to NYC.  I did check the plugs and one of them was fouled.  I replaced it and still had the same problem. I do want to be able to do all of this myself.  I'm just really happy I found this forum.  It seems there are no knowledgable people around here for this type of bike.  I like the size of the bike.  It's all I really need.  It'll take me as fast as I need to go and is really good around the stop and go city.  There is a stock pipe on it and the mechanic said he readjusted the carb.

[Ladcar]

by around here I meant staten island of course

[Suzuk-E]

I feel ya dude. This bike is a luxury. I'm trying to do as much work on it myself as possible...even given my limited experience working on engines.

This forum is EASILY the most valuable resource you'll find for taking care of your motorcycle. 

Well said ohgood!


ps: Betcha don't know where your helmet lock is!

[Ladcar]

Your definatley right.  I have almost no experience with engine mechanics, and have no clue where my helmet lock is.  Is there any type of reading material that's a good "GS500 for Dummies" type of read.  Just tinkering around with it I can notice the release and calm I get, even though I can get really frustrated.  I just want to get it functioning again before the season is over.

[nastynate6695]

The wikki and pablos site are about the only other two "gs for dummies" that i would recomend.
http://pantablo500.tripod.com/index.html
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Main/HomePage

hang in there and you should have answers and problem solved by the end of the week.

[cyno]

I've also recently bought a '01 gs500, but until now everything seems fine with mine, altough I still have to do a full checkup on it...

I've already posted this link but here it is again

Its the haynes manual for the gs500, it contains awesome info and quite detailed! Hope it helps!

[Ladcar]

Thanks for your help I do appreciate it.  Now I just need to systematically check everything until the bike comes alive again.  Now that I think about it I was running the bike with the petcock pointing to ON instead of Prime.  If that doesn't work it's got to be something going on with the fuel line, because it dies when I give it some throttle.

Also my father bought gas for the bike and put 89 instead of 87. Could that be a problem?

Lastly there was a storm that rolled through here last week and my cover blew off.  Could the rain do some damage?

Thanks and I really do appreciate all your help,
Mark

[Absolute Rescue]

Gas and rain shouldn't be the problem...unless the rain got into the gas? Maybe the float height got messed up when the carbs were cleaned, might be another thing to check.

[Ladcar]

So what would you guys suggest my plan of action be?

First I'm going to go home and run the bike in prime to see if it will run stronger.  I still don't understand why it would stall when I touch the throttle.  If it doesn't start what should my next move be?  I know the battery wasn't the problem because we hooked it up to a charger. 

After I replaced the fouled spark I couldn't get the engine to turn over at all.  I really don't want to bring this bike back to the mechanic again.  I got a weird feeling about him since he didn't take credit cards or checks.....somewhat fishy.

[Absolute Rescue]

You say after your changed the plugs it wouldn't turn over at all. Is this after you charged the battery?

[Ladcar]

Yup right after I changed the plugs I tried to start it up again and it wouldn't turn over.  Before I pulled out the fouled spark it would run but very weak.  It would only run at 2k with the choke fully on. 

After I put the sparks in it we tried it and killed the battery.  Then I hooked the charger to it and it still wouldn't turn over.

[Absolute Rescue]

I had a problem with the battery in mine, wouldn't charge after being run dead. Best bet to get a new battery and charge it up. After re reading your posts, you said the mechanic or PO rejetted, but everything motor wise is stock. You may be running to rich and just fouling plugs, might be worth getting the stock sized jets (should only cost a couple bucks from a dealer) and try that. Maybe someone on the board has rejetted has a set of stock ones they would be willing to part with. This seems like the logical place to start to me.

[Ladcar]

Well today I started the bike up and it ran stong.  Much stronger than when the petcock was set to On.  Although the bike doesn't stall out when idling or with the choke engaged, it does stall when I touch the throttle.  The throttle will rev ever so slightly but keeps stalling the bike out.  What's the best route for fixing this?  Going minor adjustments to larger wrench work?

Thanks,
Mark