New to the forum, new to the GS500E and new to carb issues (Calling The Buddha).

[Jerry_]

Greetings all,

This really seems like a nice place to both find and share information.  Just last week, I purchased a 1997 GS500E from a friend at work.  He bought a bigger cruiser and let this sit for a year before giving me an incredible deal on it.  When I bought it, I knew it had some issues with idle and running smoothly, but I believe the majority of the trouble is related to the carbs and the air filter:

Here's the story from the previous owner:

1.  The PO replaced the main jets in the carb a few years ago, and it hasn't run right since.  I don't think the parts were stock.
2.  I know the reassembly more or less overlooked things like syncing the carbs and adjusting the floats.
3.  I know o rings were reused.
4.  Add about a year of sitting to that, and I think the carbs need to be disassembled, cleaned and properly adjusted.

The PO added a K&N air filter and also drilled some holes in the rear of the exhaust.  I would like to put everything back to stock as a starting point.  I have the stock air box, and plan to put that back in place.  I would also like to take the carbs out, clean them good, and ensure they have all of the proper pieces back in place for a stock set up.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good stock set up to start with and I'm a bit carb ignorant.  For this reason, I would like to inquire about Srinath's service to get these things back up to specification.

Here's how it runs now:

Choked, the bike starts every time.  It idles high and eventually you can let off the choke and it will run.  At this point, if I adjust the idle, the engine varys between revving high and stumbling and stalling.  If you rap the throttle, it stumbles at around 4k rpm and comes back down either sluggishly or not at all.  After a while, a little fuel will leak from the carb (from the air intake I think, but I'm not sure).  I've ridden it around the block, but I'm uncomfortable with it since I haven't rode a motorcycle since about 1992, and sometimes the idle shoots back up to 4k or down to a stall.

After reviewing many posts on the forum, it seems that my best opportunity to get the carbs right for sure is to inquire with The Buddha about his service.  I'd really like to take them out of the bike, send them to an expert and have them returned in much better operational condition than I think they may be in.  If this is a service that Srinath offers, I would be very interested to know the price.

Thanks much for all of the information I've already skimmed from the forum, and I'm looking forward to getting things going on this before the end of the riding season here in Michigan.

Jerry

[commuterdude]

Yep Mr. Buddha will set you right again very reasonably.   I'm sure he will be along shortly.

[The Buddha]

$45 for rejet parts and labor, $10 for O ring swap out, labor free with rejet, all other parts either you buy retail if I dont have it (needles are a huge problem of late) or I'll charge you $5 or less for stuff I got - good but used stuff.
Jet pack is $22 if you just buy that, tell me your setup - pipe and filter ?
Cool.
Buddha.

[Jerry_]

Buddha,

Thanks for the reply.  Right now, there is a K&N filter installed, but I will be replacing the stock filter and box.  Also, the pipe is stock, but for some reason, the previous owner drilled holes in the end of it.  I don't know if this was supposed to be a typical mod of some sort, but I can take a picture if it would help to explain.  I'd love to get everything back to stock if possible (unless you recommend anything different).  I can also send over a little bag with a few carb parts that the PO swapped out if it would help.

Your prices seem very reasonable, and I would love to send them over and get the carbs in your hands.  I understand that you will need to see them before you can get to the scope of the project.  Should I PM or email you to work out details?  While the carbs are out, I want to verify the valve clearances, change the oil and perform some routine maintenance to get to a nice solid starting point.  Also, the front wheel seems to hit bumps hard, so I may have to take a look at the forks.  They don't appear to leak, but they don't feel right either.   From the brief opportunity I've had to ride it, it seems to fit me fairly well, and should be fun to ride once everything is running right.

BTW, there are about 15,000 miles on it.  The paint is a little rough, but there aren't really any serious dents or dings.  Here's a pic:



Thanks for the quick reply,

Jerry

[The Buddha]

The bike runs, I'd guess most of the carb is fine.
Yea send the parts over, so I'll put some more in that pile and send it back ... it should have 40/125 in it ... so the stock jets aint gonna help. Jets dont wear. I've seen needles sometimes get a polish/sheen on them ... but never enough to make too much difference especially on a GS. Only things that wear are Floats, and they go high, maybe O rings die from soaking in gas and drying when it sits ... repeat a few 100 times and you will ahve 1 mad set of O rings.

PM me - I'll send you address and paypal ID, and you send me your address too, I'll take pics of the carbs apart and send to you as I work on it.
Now FE ...
My theory is ... the GS FE is near unfixable. All the ones that are putting in progresisves now, will in a year or 2 ... prolly they will sell it and the new owners will either not know they have progressives and try to put new progressives in it, or they decide its worthless and put a better suspension in it. You dont have to agree with me, no one ever does ... they'd rather spend $60-80 on progressives, maybe a disk, pads, SS lines, and fork seals ... and still end up with crappy suspension ... than bite the bullet and get a decent suspension.
GS eats brake pads, disks, fork seals, and the suspension is crappy despite progressives. The exception to some of this ... if you weigh less than 150 lbs fully dressed. Then, just the first 3. OH, GS suspension also twists under braking ... you have to have thicker fork braces ... been there, sold 40-50 of them ... still have a few sitting in my garage.

You have a clunking suspension ... I'd use up the brake pads, and disk will prolly die at 20K on yours (its prolly near about too thin already) and do a kat FE swap. maybe other FE's also can be swapped in, but I have done several kat swaps and only 2 parts need to be modded for an 04+ and 3 parts for an 89-02. You get clip on's with it, and better suspension, better brakes, and it also looks about right. best of all, you dont have brakes wearing on 1 pad and rotors getting chewed up. measure your rotor, if its 4mm or thinner at its thinnest location, you're supposed to toss it and fit a new one. BS I said, I have run them thinner than 3.75 ... but past that you definetly run the risk of having it crack and break under braking. BTW if you have a blue spot in your rotor ... its definetly a high risk. Indication that it heated up there.

I started jetting the way I do now in 98/99. I didn't start doing it for people till 04 or so. I have since pulled over 2 dozen DJ and atleast 3 factory jet kits out. (I dunno 145's supposed to work with factory, those look too much like the stock needles, just a shade thinner) but no one wanted to be the guniea pig. I'd guess I'd be pulling springs out of bikes (already done 2 so far for some of my local people) in a few years.

I have been very very reluctant to post about this, cos its just messy messy grunt work ... but I can seal up forks if they are defect free and free of rust spots, dings or grooves etc etc ... If they are nice and clean and just leaking inspite of doing fork seals ... I have a secret method (mainly cos someone else has a hand in it) that can seal up the thing. But its just work, plain mind numbing work, and magic done by someone else (see how fishy that sounds - yea ... that's also why I am not posing about it)
Anyway, send over the carbs, you seem to need just adjustment and standard rejet.
Drilled pipe and airbox and stock filter - BTW airbox and filter, there is like 20 of the guys here that have taken it off - just pump one of them for it. if I wasn't so lazy I'd remove 1-2 of the plants from inside it and send you ... but you'd then be indicted for receiving illegal substances via mail (I swear I thought it was oregano  )
Cool.
Buddha.

[Jerry_]

Thanks.  Sending PM.

Fortunately, I have the stock air box from the PO.  My gut feeling is to put in the stock airbox and filter just to get things back to some reasonable starting point.  With so many people removing the stock filter and airbox, it seems like it could be a mistake for me to put it back in .  I'm going to try to make some time to get the carbs off tomorrow.  That would put them in the mail by Monday.

Thanks,

Jerry

[The Buddha]

Well, with stock pipe, K&N is harder to get tuned right. So I didn't say much about your decision, it was the better of the options you have. Drilled - may work ... but stock airbox and filter are a sure bet. Just because everyone is doing it doesn't mean you have to.
K&N does have the performance yes, but it also wears the motor faster, and pipe is much more important to riding pleasure than filter.
People do stupid things ... all the time. I wouldn't worry about following them or stopping them or ... heck, we may even encourage them. You say you want to fit a GSXR 1000 motor in the bike ... guess what will follow ... yes, F-18, dodge viper and the nuclear submarine motors will be fitted in the GS. Some one I am sure has a bike with all 3 motors in it at the same time 
Yea, stock airbox+ filter and your stock pipe will all work well. No worries. Do the mods your way, there are always trade off's. Find what you want to do and go towards that.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Jerry_]

Buddha,

Thanks again for the advice.  I'll stick with my original plan and get that stock box back in there.  Not having riddens since about 1992, I'd rather have things stable and reliable at this time.  I took a look at the Haynes manual last night, and removing the carbs doesn't seem too much of an issue.

I tried to send a PM last night, but I got a database error reported back from the forum.  I just sent it this morning.

Thanks,

Jerry

[DoD#i]

If you also want to put your pipe back to stock (more or less), I have a solution. Add a bit of BBQ black and it doesn't look quite so odd.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=42443.msg479098#msg479098

[Jerry_]

Very creative.

[Jerry_]

Well,

I managed to remove, drain and dry the carbs yesterday, so they're off to Buddha this morning via Priority Mail.  While I'm waiting, I'm going to replace the fuel lines that were kinked and or damaged (all of them).  Does anybody have a recommended source or brand for replacing the fuel lines?

Thanks,

Jerry

[DoD#i]

Order about 4 feet of 5/16" polyurethane (and get 2 feet of 1/8" while you are at it) from CRC2 - or see if your local shop has it. 5/16" definitely works better than 1/4" on my '90 (real size is 7mm, 1/4 is under and 5/16 is over, I ordered both and will use the 1/4 on my lawnmower/snowblower.

The 2 feet of 1/8" is the bees knees for hooking up to your carb drains and getting the crud out without spilling gas on the bike - also useful for float height check. I suggest the carb-crud-drain be added to your chain cleaning (every 600 miles) checklist.

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/Index_Main_Frame.htm

navigate to fuel system parts, fuel line and filters. 80c per foot any size, and they are one of the few places that actually has 5/16.

I ordered 5 feet, and used the left over chunk to replace the top vent line over the airbox.

To reduce the percentage of shipping cost, I ordered a couple of other things - oil filters (but theirs come without o-ring), pro-grip gel grips (ordered red, shipped black, nice and squishy, though - and I have had colored grips turn black with time anyway, so not a big deal) and exhaust gaskets, since I had repainting my exhaust on my plate.

[Jerry_]

DoD#i,

Thanks much for the tips on the fuel lines.  I noticed that the existing lines have some sort of jacket over them.  I'm guessing this is either to protect them or keep them from kinking.  Will the fuel line you recommend need this type of covering.

Thanks again,

Jerry

[The Buddha]

Use tygon or similar line (ebay got some - a guy called fuel line guy), no protection needed, some people run clear lines so they know when they got flow issues.
Cool.
Buddha.

[DoD#i]

Thanks much for the tips on the fuel lines.  I noticed that the existing lines have some sort of jacket over them.  I'm guessing this is either to protect them or keep them from kinking.  Will the fuel line you recommend need this type of covering.

Nope. Works fine as is - thick enough wall that it's hard to kink. If your bike was worked over by a mo-ron (mine was) don't slavishly follow their hose layout.

[Jerry_]

Thanks all for the continued advice.

Looking forward to getting this thing going.

Jerry

[Jerry_]

Buddha,

I've followed up with the details of the carb work we've been discussing in a message to the email account you included in your PM.  The carbs should be there very quickly since I sent them Priority Mail this morning.  In summary, the PO disconnected them from each other rather than leaving them together when he re-jetted them.  He also noted that one float felt tighter than the other.

Thanks,

Jerry

[The Buddha]

Float = easy ... but WTF ... disconnected take em off the rack ... that is a disaster.
I'll look at my email and get back to you.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Jerry_]

That's kinda what I was afraid of.  When I looked at them yesterday, everything "looked" like it was functioning properly, but I just don't have the experience to know for sure.  Hopefully, everything is good and he is miscommunicating on it.

Jerry

[The Buddha]

OK lets hope. De racking is a pretty hard task. Atleast 1/2 the bolts will strip, so its a self defeating endeavor, so maybe he didn't.
Cool.
Buddha.