Newbie and the saga of the GS500F

[newbie]

So here i go, i just purchased a 2007 GS500F without the fairing on saturday.  I have a 1977 ironhead sportster in a hardtail and a cb750 honda with 10 over forks so im not new to bikes. I test drove the GS and it ran great idled fine and had some get up. I tell the guy i will purchase it and he has to drive home on get the title to it. So i say ok and i wait while he drive the bike to his house 8 miles on a freeway away. So he come back like 45 minutes later and shuts the bike down. The bike was HOT! I didnt think anything of it cause my harley heats way up like that. So I pay him and jump on the bike and head home. The bike now will not idle right. If it revs to 3K rpms it doesnt want to fall back to 1200rpms until i put the clutch in and relase it. It also is way slow now and feels like its about to explode at 5K. I took it to the suzuki delaer and they have not opended her up yet but are telling me is probably a burnt valve? Does this sound right? He qouted me about 800 bucks for the vavles....ouch!!!!!

[lawman]

So here i go, i just purchased a 2007 GS500F without the fairing on saturday.  I have a 1977 ironhead sportster in a hardtail and a cb750 honda with 10 over forks so im not new to bikes. I test drove the GS and it ran great idled fine and had some get up. I tell the guy i will purchase it and he has to drive home on get the title to it. So i say ok and i wait while he drive the bike to his house 8 miles on a freeway away. So he come back like 45 minutes later and shuts the bike down. The bike was HOT! I didnt think anything of it cause my harley heats way up like that. So I pay him and jump on the bike and head home. The bike now will not idle right. If it revs to 3K rpms it doesnt want to fall back to 1200rpms until i put the clutch in and relase it. It also is way slow now and feels like its about to explode at 5K. I took it to the suzuki delaer and they have not opended her up yet but are telling me is probably a burnt valve? Does this sound right? He qouted me about 800 bucks for the vavles....ouch!!!!!

How many miles?

[alexg]

Are you sure he brought back the same bike?

[newbie]

its got 5k on it so i thought it should be good to go,

i just got off the phone with the dealer and after questioning the valve thing i was told that they think its a valve slide in the carbs and there gonna pull the carbs off and clean them and put them back on and see if that does the trick. I told them while there at it to service it "change the oil and adjust the valves and what ever else it would they think is best............i never thought to ask if they are gonna synch the carbs after they take them off......theyed kinda have to right??

[cafeboy]

I would think so.
They did mine.

[commuterdude]

I wouldn't go near a dealer for those basic services.   Get a manual and check out the wiki here; you can diagnose and repair your bike  yourself.     You should give it a try before you drop a chunk of change on a dealer.

[cafeboy]

+1 for do it your self. 
Mine was under warrenty.

[newbie]

I usally do repairs myself on my other bikes, right now im working like 70 to 80 hours a week and was concerned about the valve thing so i figured i might as well just have the dealer get her in shape right away or tell me whats wrong so i could come back on the dude that sold it to me if it did have a burnt valve.

[omio]

I have an '01 with the same issue, when I come to a stop it drops down to 1200K and then slowly revs back up to 3000K and stays their until I let off the clutch.  Was told by the dealer this was normal.  It has just tripped 6K on the odo.  Is this normal or should something be adjusted?

[Critter]

I had the same problem and i just tweaked the idle adjustment under the carbs and that fixed it right up.

[Paulcet]

I have an '01 with the same issue, when I come to a stop it drops down to 1200K and then slowly revs back up to 3000K and stays their until I let off the clutch.  Was told by the dealer this was normal.  It has just tripped 6K on the odo.  Is this normal or should something be adjusted?

Common, maybe, but not normal.  Something is causing it and it can be fixed.

[newbie]

Well, i picked the bike up today and it runs awesome, it was a sticking slide in the carb i was told and they replaced some o-rings i geuss. Now revs right at 12K and drops right back down.

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Glad to hear that worked out ok. What was the bill from the stealer?

[natedawg120]

yeah, that's common but not usual.  Mine did that to me once and all I had to do to fix it was inspect the choke slide, I slide it from open to closed repeatedly while watching the actual slide on the carb and noticed that it wasn't moving all the way closed.  I lubed up the slide with some high temp grease, just enough to get it sliding freely with my fingers and made sure the cable was adjusted so the choke closed completely when in the closed position and i was good to go.  It didn't go buggy anymore after that but my GS was less finicky than some I have read about on here.

[newbie]

oh man it makes me cringe to think of what i paiid at the dealer for a carb clean and to replace a couple of orings and a carb synch...............if the dude at the dealer wouldnt of freaked me out about the valve thing and i was working less hours i would have done it my self but the over time paid for it i geuss...........well it was $410 for the problem to be fixed and a oil change.......i know i know i feel pretty stupid and ripped off but i got a steal on the bike so it evens out kinda............$1500 bucks for a 2007 GS500F with out the fairing and a sweet front light kit with 5K miles on the clock (and no its not stolen have title in hand), so it runs great now, next summer she'll be up for sale cause the ironhead will be in her new frame by then if i ever get some time off from work!

[The Buddha]

It was lean cos it was sucking air via the bad O ring. That will make it run hot and hover @ idle.

Valve Slides or whatever sticking isn't possible ... why ... cos there aint no such thing ...

Valve guides ? - they said valve guide was sticking ... and they fixed it by cleaning the carb ... they are crooks or morons ... or both, and I really prefer crooks. They were just scamming you, if they were morons and they were tryign to fix it ... I really shudder to think what they did to "fix it.

Cool.
Buddha.

[newbie]

They were concerned it was the valves at first by the way it was acting and the color of the pipe. they had said it had gotten hot it looked like. They told me that the vavles were good. I did make them give me back the orings that came out of the carbs. I geuss i just got this thing so really have not had the chance to even check the carbs out.........i have a couple triumphs (cars) with SUs that have slides in the carbs so i figured it could have them. It runs great now so im not really gonna stress about it. Do these bikes tend to be cold blooded? When i first start her she is kinda touchy until shes warm?