avg. mileage burn out on the gs500

[Susuki_Jah]

So what is the avg. mileage on our bikes before they start having major problems and becoming really worn out?

I have hit 20k on my bike and it runs perfect.

[ohgood]

i think gsjack had >80000 miles on one he donated, i only have 21,000.

depending on how you ride it, a loooong time aparently.

[CBR JOCKEY]

My bike is a 2002 and has only 3600 miles.   I guess it will be awhile before I even change the plugs and air filter.  Yes,  I change the oil every season.

[galahs]

With the GS, I wonder what effect on longevity of the motor occurs depending on how often you change the oil?

[The Buddha]

At 48K mine was significantly noticeable that it was worn. Lot slower top speed (85 or so max), lot less gas mileage 33-35, and much poorer acceleration. I also used a quart of oil in 300 miles without ever smoking.
I maintained it religiously all its life (since 8K).
Cool.
Srinath.

[gsJack]

I put 80k miles on my 97 GS and didn't notice any loss of performance.  It started burning more oil around 50k miles and needed more and more oil as it grew older.  Took a 500+ mile trip to the mountains of upstate NY in 02 with about 55k miles on it and had it up to an indicated 110 mph with a Plexi 2 fairing and 240# me onboard, probably not more than an honest 100 mph at best and I suspect I might must have been on a slight downgrade, hard to tell in the mountains.  Was still getting 60 mpg average till the end in everyday usage dropping to 50 when pushed hard in the mountains on the NY trip and on 600 mile trips to the Smoky Mtns in 02 and 03.  Had about 70k miles on it for that 2nd trip to the Smokies in 03

Gave the 97 GS to JP early last year and he ran it up to 88k miles on that same engine and then put in a low milage used engine, he was using it to commute to work on the freeway and oil consumption was too much at the higher speeds.

I bought my current 02 GS in Sept 03 with about 4.5k miles on it and it now has about 57k miles and still runs as good as new. Unlike the 97 GS which had no major problems, my 02 broke an exhaust valve trying to start it up one freezing cold morning due to a sticking bucket that was fit too tight at the factory.  It had about 20k miles on it when the valve broke.  I repaired the broken valve and it's been as good as new since.

Published quarter mile performance figures for the 02 and newer GS's have increased a full second from the older ones but my 02 feels stronger all the way around than my 97 did in everyday riding and pulls from 3k rpm like the 97 did from 4k.  Only exception is at the top end where the old 97 with 80k miles on it still felt stronger.  The 02 owns the mid range.  I still think there must have been some cam changes in addition to the change from 2 to 3 circuit carbs in 01 but have never been able to confirm that.  I rode both bikes for a short while to compare them and then the 97 sat mostly unused for 3 year before JP started using it so he had to sort out the carbs before it ran decent again.

[The Buddha]

Yes I knew you'd chime in.
I'd also like to add, commute miles are a lot harder on them than highway miles. I had a Kevlar clutch in mine and the first 1000 miles turned the oil pan into some seriously black crap. Of course filter and gravity makes much of that stay out of the bearings, but still commutes are murder on them. You eat up everything with the constant stop and go. And I did Northern CA in the mid/late 90's. Pure death. In urban CA, there is no such thing as highway miles.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Susuki_Jah]

do you guys use the synthetic stuff? I use that synthetic oil in the blue bottle with the british flag on it. I can't remember the name so save my life, I have a bottle in my storage space though. I do a lot of maintaining of the bike and have put a lot of new parts on it as well. the engine has always seemed to preform well. Fedex mike's 2003 Gs or one of those years could never keep up with my 91. the only things that have been done to it are, jetting , k&n filter, and dropping a tooth on the front sprocket , plus the rebuilt vance and hines I did. I just put longer fork tubes inside the forks to stiffen it as well.

[galahs]

I have used synthetic oil since just after break in with the hope it will preserve the life of my baby.

[jp]

My commute actually isn't too hard on an engine. Less than a mile off of the freeway, and in Cleveland the freeways rarely get as backed up as So. Cal. The big problem I had before swapping engines was excessive blow-by at speeds of 70 mph and up. My round-trip was about 75-80 miles depending on which way I took. There are several sections where I run at whatever speed traffic is going, whether it's 35 or 80. On the days when I was going 75-80 for at least half the trip, I was using 125ml of oil per day. My dad used synthetic oil for a little more than half the life of the engine, if I remember correctly. He switched to Rotella T or Delvac 15W-40 after it started burning a little more oil. It's tough to keep air cooled engines from burning oil when they get over 50K miles on them, just because the manufacturing tolerances are looser than water cooled engines.

[frankieG]

04 with 849 miles on her