What's up gstwins.com

[Birdmnasrt]

First off let me say that this is  the coolest motorcyle site I have been on. I love how you guys have so much help info it is so useful. My name is Wesley and I reside near Atlanta, Ga. I just purchased my first bike a 1997 suzuki gs500 and so far I love it. I do have a few problems and I want to see if you guys or girls can give a general direction in how to solve it. Ok here we go first from idel till aroud 5k it seems really sluggish. second it will only run with the fuel petcock in prime when you ride it on the fuel setting it seems like it floods it everytime you give it gas. Thanks for any help you can give.
Wesley.

[tt_four]

Hey, welcome to the forum.

How comfortable are you pulling things apart? Sounds like all your problems are carb related. You could start by pulling them off, and rebuilding them with a good cleaning. See if you can tell what size jets you have(a number is stamped into the side) incase it's still sluggish after the rebuild, you might need a different size jet.

The flooding sounds like your floats are getting stuck. hopefully a good cleaning could resolve that, but it wouldn't hurt to go to pepboys and get the $7 case of o-rings, and replace some of those while you're at it. There's a lot of parts so it seems a little intimidating at first, but once you're actually in there you'll wonder why you put it off so long, as it's not really too bad.

when I first got my GS it ran ok, but between 5-6k rpm it would bog out and have no power at all, and when I'd let off the gas the exhaust would keep back firing. I just dealt with it for quite a while, but after the bike sat for a couple years and the carbs needed cleaned anyway, it runs perfectly fine now, so my first recommendation to anyone for most problems is just "clean the carbs". There's a step-by-step picture description in the wiki somewhere.
Good luck!

[Birdmnasrt]

Thanks alot I guess I know what I'm doing today! LOL

Hey, welcome to the forum.

How comfortable are you pulling things apart? Sounds like all your problems are carb related. You could start by pulling them off, and rebuilding them with a good cleaning. See if you can tell what size jets you have(a number is stamped into the side) incase it's still sluggish after the rebuild, you might need a different size jet.

The flooding sounds like your floats are getting stuck. hopefully a good cleaning could resolve that, but it wouldn't hurt to go to pepboys and get the $7 case of o-rings, and replace some of those while you're at it. There's a lot of parts so it seems a little intimidating at first, but once you're actually in there you'll wonder why you put it off so long, as it's not really too bad.

when I first got my GS it ran ok, but between 5-6k rpm it would bog out and have no power at all, and when I'd let off the gas the exhaust would keep back firing. I just dealt with it for quite a while, but after the bike sat for a couple years and the carbs needed cleaned anyway, it runs perfectly fine now, so my first recommendation to anyone for most problems is just "clean the carbs". There's a step-by-step picture description in the wiki somewhere.
Good luck!

[ohgood]

welcome to gstwins ! id start with fixing the petcock, since it is noted to change things in your case. then id rejet a little richer than stock, and just ride. make sure your plugs don't look lean/rich before you start.

got any good roads over there ? lots of lonely ones here. lots !

ride safe

[tt_four]

Yeah, the petcocks have their own problems. They're easy to pull apart though, there's just a spring and a flat piece of plastic inside. Curious why it doesn't flood in prime though if it does on the normal setting. If it's still doing it when you get everything cleaned and back together someone here will be able to tell you. Make sure you clean the jets out well. Get some carb cleaner and let them soak for a little while, and pull a bristle out of a wire brush and poke the holes clean. If you think it runs weak down low I wonder if the idle jet isn't letting enough gas through. 5k rpm sounds high for an idle jet though, but I really don't know how that all works.

[skudman]

Curious why it doesn't flood in prime though if it does on the normal setting.

perhaps his hoses are mixed up??