Bringing a GS500E basket case back to life-with a couple of glitches - Part 2

[hawk73]

For part one of this thread see http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=40265.0

Success!!!!  She starts. She runs. She runs fast.

A brief rundown:

I got a 96 gs500e from a previous owner in sad shape mechanically.

1. Hard to start
2. High idle
3. Idle rev to and hang at 4k
4. Choke not working properly
5. Pop back through carburator

With wonderful information from this site and it's great members list of fixes done:

1. Cleaned carbs  (Multiple times) - Especially Choke/Enrichment circuit (it is worth the time to tear this completely down and clean)
2. Check and swap out valve shims for ones that give proper clearance.
    This bike has 20,500 miles on it and all the shims were to close on gap.  All had to be swapped out to achieve proper gap.
    This made incredible improvements in starting, idling, etc.
3. Replace air filter with OEM filter.  This makes a big difference if your bike has not been rejetted and still has factory exhaust.
4. Synch carbs (Still working on this one a bit)
5. Put in automotive grade clear inline fuel filter.
6. Perform 5 degree advance timing modification. Helped with delay in throttle off of idle and boosted bottom end torque a bit.
7. Carb idle/air mix screws set to approx 3 turns out.

Current condition:

1. Cold start with full choke takes 4 cranks.  Will attain 4k choked idle in approx 1 minute.
2. Warm restart with just a bump of the starter. No choke required.
3. Idles at 1200 rpm beautifully.
4. Great acceleration.  Highest speed so far 85. (Need to change fork seals and refill with proper amount of fluid before anything faster).
5. Still a small bit of lag when snapping the throttle off of idle.
6. Once fully warmed up occasional idle will hang at 3k.  Short let out of clutch with in gear and idle comes back down to 1200 rpm.

Info coming soon:

1. Exhaust pipe temp after fully warm.
2. 0 - 60 time with all fixes in place.
3. Pictures of bike once plastics are back in place and cleaned up a bit.

Accessories looking to add:

1. Smoked front windshield  http://www.jcwhitney.com/Motorcycle-Medium-14-19-Tall/GP_2002601_N_111+1996+200730504+600014140_10111.jcw
2. Tank and luggage bags  http://www.jcwhitney.com/NELSON-RIGG-SILVER-STREAK-SPORT-SADDLEBAGS/GP_2011991_N_111+1996+200730504+600014563_10111.jcw

[beRto]

Success!!!!  She starts. She runs. She runs fast.

Wow, sounds like you've made great progress! 

6. Once fully warmed up occasional idle will hang at 3k.  Short let out of clutch with in gear and idle comes back down to 1200 rpm.

I would say this is when you should be adjusting the idle. Rather than loading the engine, try lowering the idle when this happens. With some fine tuning, you should be able to get the idle just right!

[Toogoofy317]

I have those saddle bags they are great. For a tank bag I love my rapid transit

Mary S

[hawk73]

Things keep getting better.

Fork seals replaced. About a 2 - 3 hour job.  I accidently left a part out and had to tear one back down so it took about 4 hours.  Word of wisdom when taking out the allen bolt at the base of the shock read between the lines of the Clymer manual.  Once you drain the shock reassemble and invert shock on floor applying firm pressure then use an impact to remove allen bolt.  So far no leaks and good feel.

Timing advance of 5 degrees is a very worthwihile mod.  Bottom end torque improves and smoothness of idle improves.

Learned from this forum and experimentation that adjusting the idle screw is pointless until the bike has been thoroughly warmed up, at least 15 minutes with part of it being ride time not just idle.  Once you have let the bike completely and thoroughly warm up then set the idle so the bike idles at 1200 - 1500.  From my experience if you don't let the bike completely warm up and try and set the idle you will have it just a bit to high and it will cause the bike to hang at 3,500 ~ 4,000 rpm when you let off the throttle.

Well with things done so far and several test trips around home of 5 miles or less just in case I got stranded I rode to work today - about 27 miles.  I live in Kansas and it is windy today - 23 - 30 mph. I was very suprised at how well the GS500 handles both head and crosswinds.  It actually handles the wind better than the 1990 Honda Nighthawk 750 I previously owned and it accelerates better.

I will continue to tinker and tweak.  So far, now that I understand better how delicate the vacumme balance for this bike is, I really like this bike.