2001 GS500 Camshaft play question.

[zimlance]

I have been searching for a gs500 for a while in the area I live and have finally found one, the owner is selling it for $500 and claims the reason he is selling it for so low is because the engine stalled and when he turned it back on it started making a knocking sound that he believes is the shims although he admits he knows practically nothing about Motorcycle mechanics. I have done research and see that it is common in certain models of the GS500 to make knocking sounds which is associated with play in the cam shaft. So my question is,  is the 2001 gs500e model a model subject to having play in the camshaft, secondly does this sound like it could be the problem, thirdly how can I identify if the sound is play in the camshaft. Fourthly are their other associated problems that might fit this bill. And Lastly how much does it cost generally to fix the play in the camshaft.

Thank you so much for your advice,

Logan.

[ivany]

Camshaft play is a non-issue. It is a chirp-chirp sound at idle. If the bike is knocking then he probably did something bad with the engine...the camshaft play is rather quiet, chirpy/chippy sound, not a "knocking" by any means.

[sledge]

I buy and sell used bikes as a hobby and tend not to believe anything I am told by someone trying to sell me one, particularly when it comes to unrectified faults and strange noises. If it was simple, straightforward and cheap to repair he would have had it done.....wouldnt he?? $500 is about £255 here in the Uk and if I was offered a 2001 GS5 for this amount alarm bells would be going off..... its way too cheap!

Yeah the GS5 is prone to camshaft float but the noise might not be down to camshaft float, it could be down to any number of other issues and if its a deep engine fault it could easily cost more than $500 to repair which make me think he knows its an expensive fault and that he could be trying to cut his losses and offload the bike.

Pinpointing faults by describing sounds can be very difficult. Ideally you need to find someone very experienced who will look the bike over for you or take it to a dealer and get their comments before commiting yourself to buying it, if the seller disagrees, walk away. You need to be very careful with this, the bike might not turn out to be the bargain it appears to be.