My '04 GS500F (with a few small mods)

[JEREMY JOCK]

I never really formally introduced myself, or my GS for that matter. I figured it's about time to do that.

So, my name's Jeremy. I live in Pittsburgh, PA. And this is my GS.

Some things I've done include:
Mini Turn Signals
Turn Signal Mirrors
Clip-On Bars
Chopped the rear fender
Repainted the exhaust pipe
Painted the top triple black, to match the black one under it

The pictures aren't the best, but I don't have a nice camera, so my Blackberry will have to suffice.

[tt_four]

Welcome!!

I'm from Pittsburgh too, what part of town are you from? I was just thinking I should make a post to see how many people there are here from the area that might be interested in some rides. I've ridden bikes forever but only gotten back into riding this spring after about 4 years off, so I've lost contact with all the people I used to ride with, nor do I think I could keep up with them anymore on the GS considering I'm extremely slow now.

Let me know what you think, it'd be cool to find a couple people to go do a saturday or sunday ride every once in a while. I'm always getting jealous of the group rides going on in Baltimore.

[JEREMY JOCK]

I live in Crafton, just south of the city. I'm up for riding any and every day, as long as it's not raining or snowing. I'd love to find some people to ride with, too. I just moved here the beginning of the year, so I have no riding pals yet.

[Toogoofy317]

So whaddya think of the mirrors? Did they fit perfectly into the stock ones? How well can you see?

Mary

[tt_four]

Sounds good. I know it's supposed to rain this weekend, but I'll post something in a day or two to see who all is in the area, then we can work on something once we get some nice weather some weekend.

[bassmechanicsz]

Are those the Shock Racing LED mirrors?  I have the same ones on my bike and i find that they have about the same visibilty as the stock mirrors if not a little bit better.  I noticed you left the boots on the mirrors that came with them. 

I took mine apart at the base and actually used the stock mirrors mounting and just bolted these mirrors on to them as i found it to be a better fit.

I have a slight problem with my left mirror that it doesn't stay positioned real well. It will rotate from the vibration around the point mid mirror and after about 15 minutes of riding be aimed just to low to be able to see.  I was wondering if you have the same problem or not and if you figured out a way to fix it without just wrapping it in electrical tape to get it to stay.

[JEREMY JOCK]

I honestly hate the mirrors, haha. The previous owner had installed them. Having signals on them is cool, and they look good. But, they never stay in place, and the bolts that attach the base have actually pulled through the little slotted area, so the bases are loose. I took them off last night and replaced them with the stock mirrors.

[JEREMY JOCK]

Another thing, for anyone that's reading this with some tech knowledge...

I planned on going up to a 45T rear sprocket, but I just haven't gotten around to ordering it yet. I do however, have the longer 114 link chain that I'll need once I do install the sprocket. After a long weekend of riding, I've noticed the chain I have now is really starting to have some stretchy and tight spots, and it needs replaced.

So, the question is, is the 114 link chain too long to throw on there for about a week, until I get get ahold of a 45T sprocket? I know the GS stock chain is 110 links...

[tt_four]

I know this doesn't really answer your question, but for what it's worth.... when I just took the 47t chainring off my bike and put the stock 39t back on I had to remove 3 full links from the chain. That's 3 inside and 3 outside, and I think that pretty much kept it in the same position. If your wheels is towards the front of the axle slot now you might be able to get away with moving it to the back.

If you want to do it mathmatically, figure out exactly how much longer the new chain is, divide that number in half, and see if the rear axle is able to move back that distance. The number gets divided in half because the chain is on top and on bottom, and the additional length gets divided between the two.

Otherwise, if both of your chains have a masterlink it might be easiest just to try it.

[JEREMY JOCK]

I'm assuming the chain is still the stock chain, unless it was replaced by the PO. There's no masterlink on it, I do know that. I'll have to measure it out when I get home to see if it will work out.

[tt_four]

Do you still have the stock 16t front? The 45 on your bike will be able geared the same as my bike is now with 14/39. I definitely wouldn't want it geared any lower. It was 14/47 for 100 or so miles this spring, but then I changed it back as it was a big of a headache any time I wanted to go over 45mph. It's much better now, but can still feel a bit buzzy at highway speeds. I don't miss the extra pull it had with the 47t since I haven't been riding it too hard anyway.

[JEREMY JOCK]

Yeah, I'm running 16/39 as of now. I don't plan on going any lower than 16 in the front, or higher than the 45 in the back. I ride mostly in the city, but I do occasionally hit the highways, so I don't want too drastic of a change.

[tt_four]

The 14/47 was alright in the city. It was like having an entire gear lower than 1st, but I was seriously shifting into 6th by the time 35mph rolled around. It'll be a crazy change someday to get another bigger bike that actually has gears spaced out, and only be shifting into 3rd gear at the same time I shift into 6th on the GS.

[JEREMY JOCK]

I'm kind of anxious to see the difference with the 45 in the rear. Hopefully I like it, otherwise that will be a good bit of money wasted, haha.

Looks like some nice weather tomorrow. Not sure if you do any weekday evening riding or not... Looks like the weather might break this weekend, but I'll be out of town from Fri-Sun. I think getting a GS ride together would be a good idea.

[tt_four]

I'm not sure what's going on for weather this weekend, last I checked I just saw rain, but they change that often enough. I'm gonna try to get out tomorrow night. I want to run to a bike shop to see if I can find a 245-250 shim so I can get to checking my valves, as currently they're all too tight with the 260-265 shims in there now to even get a feeler gauge under. I'm not sure if I'm gonna head up rt. 8 to crossroads or if I'll head up 51 to Moon to stop at that one just past the bridge to sewickley. After that I'll probably loop back cranberry to make a loop around the quaker steak parking lot and see what kinda bikes are there, maybe stop at my parents to play with the dog for a little, then head back home. i've been trying to clean up my mess in the basement some this week so I can pull the GS back inside and get back to work over the weekend. When spring came around I pretty much just got the bike legal and running so I could get some riding in, but now that it's been a couple weeks I've got some things I need to do, like getting the valves adjusted right, putting the clipons back on, changing the brake fluid, seeing if I can get my new seat to fit, clean the carbs again in hopes that my choke will actually work, and a couple other various things. So needless to say, probably no riding this weekend, but at least it'll be GS related activities, and I should be good to go for next week when the sun comes back.


Oh, and I forgot, that thread I made to try and find out who was from Pittsburgh got moved to the Meet & Greet section and was then just ignored, haha. I'll have to spend some time some evening searching old threads to see who's mentioned being from Pittsburgh before so we can get some more people to ride with.

[JEREMY JOCK]

Sounds good man, let me know!

I have to get my valves checked out soon too, I think. I heard the infamous tapping noise the other day, but that's the first and only time I've heard it. Might need a helping hand with that, if you'd be willing. I'm not very experienced working inside the engine. And I'd rather not have to pay $90/hr or anything ridiculous like that at the shop.

[tt_four]

Hey, I can definitely try to help with the valves. I tried calling Bob Tracey's today, I was going to ride out and pick of a thinner shim so I could get to measuring what sizes I need, but they said they didn't have them in stock. I'm gonna try calling Crossroads and Bohns, but I may just end up ordering some online.

Anyway, were you at quaker steak tonight? I saw a blue GSf with clipons and a stock exhaust, I thought it might've been yours but I couldn't remember any other details about your bike to know for sure. If it was I wish I would've thought to ask if you were going up there. I spend about 45-50 minutes weaving up there on some back roads and got there around 7. I was gonna stop at my parents and play with the dog, but I just decided to come home as it was already getting later than I thought.

Did you see that blue Buell xb9sx?? I was drooling all over it.

[JEREMY JOCK]

Yeah that was probably mine, amidst the sea of Harleys in the side parking lot, haha. I got there around 6ish, walked around, had dinner, then walked around again. That Buell was awesome. I spent a good amount of time staring at the all black Duc Monster that showed up like right before I was leaving. I'll probably start going up there every week. Seems like a fun time, and gives me a destination to ride to, as opposed to just cruising around downtown, haha.

[tt_four]

Don't think I saw the monster, must've come after I left. I feel like it was almost a mistake going there. I like the GS, and think it's a good looking bike for what it is, but when I park it there and wander around the sea  of super nice bikes, and then go get back on mine I just feel sad. haha. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if the Buell wasn't there. I'll see how long it takes to bounce back before I decide if I'll be good to ride up there with you sometimes, or if I'm just gonna avoid bike night until I find another bike. Heather always goes out and does her moped stuff Thursday nights, so it is a convenient hole in my schedule for motorcycle stuff.

Which way did you go up there? I took some back roads the whole way up, but around 7:30  I was ready to be home so I just hopped on 279, which was really fast, but definitely not my bikes strong point, haha. 7-8k rpm tucked down with my elbow sticking out to the sides because of the dirtbike bars. I swore it was so hot when I was getting my gear on, and then after 4 blocks of riding I was nothing but cold for 2 hours.

[JEREMY JOCK]

I know what you mean, about getting back on the GS! haha

It's all good fun though. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. Next spring hopefully, I should have something a little more fun to show off. I hadn't been up that way before, so I just rode 279 to 79, so I didn't get lost, haha. I'll probably get a little more adventurous next time though and hit the twisties.