New GS Owner with some issues (shifting + others)

[ameen]

Hi all,
I just recently purchased a 2001 GS500 with aprox. 23k miles. After riding it around for ahwile i have come to realise some of its 'quirks'.  This is my first bike that i have really gotten a chance to seriously ride, so i dont have to omuch to compare too.

Problem #1: Shifing in to first. I know that sometime at a stop you may have to roll the bike a little to get it to engage but my problem is when i am moving.  When i am moving (say anything over 20 mph) with the clutch in and am going to come to a stop i try and shift down to first it makes a grding noise and will not engage.  I know my clutch works, so what could be the problem? or is this just normal operation.

Problem #2: hanging revs.  After the engin is hot, the revs take ahwile to  come down ( sometimes just stay at 3k or 4.5k). I adjusted the ilde after the bike is hot.  I have not gone over the carbs and the valves yet.

Also how much power should this bike have?  around town it seems fine (could use a littel more low end power) but on the highway it doesnt seem to have very much 'get up and go'.  Say in 5th gear, how long does it take to get from 50-70? i am 5'10" aprox 170 lbs.


Thanks

[pandymai]

i doubt motorcycles have the same mechanisms, but i know in most cars there's a "gate" for first gear that wont allow you to shift into it when going too fast. personally, i dont like shifting into 1st if i'm still over 20 because the high rev from the downshift and the engine breaking at that point are pretty pointless to me.

as for the hangin idle, it could be a number of things. vacuum leak, float height, valve clearances, carb tuning. good luck finding the issue.

[ameen]

I am not acctually going in to first.  The clutch is still pulled in, i am just shifting down in antcipation of my stop.

[pandymai]

if youre not engaging the gear than you could just wait a bit longer before putting it in gear? it's still the same concept considering the gears are still all spinning, just not engaged to the driveshaft because the clutch is in. the gears are still spinning against eachother ever so slightly.

i could be wrong though. but no manual shift vehicle i've ever driven has liked high speed shifts down into first, even with the clutch engaged.

[ameen]

that sounds logical. i just wanted to make sure nothing was broken.  It is really hard to sfit in to first even after stopped.  I will change the oil and see what happens

[twocool]

that sounds logical. i just wanted to make sure nothing was broken.  It is really hard to sfit in to first even after stopped.  I will change the oil and see what happens

Do not shift into first unless less than 9 mph.   Clutch or no clutch.   Actually manual says depress the clutch below 9 MPH when coming to a stop.

My GS has plenty of power in any gear....from about 3500rpm  on up

Cookie

[kman]

you can blip the throttle to rev match.  The drag of the wet clutch even disengaged should help it mesh.  I routinely shift into first at 25-30 when I 'need' acceleration.  First makes the biggest clunk of any of the gears.  Be definitive if you really want it to go into gear

there should be very little acceleration at 50 in 5th (or in 5th at all).  You should take a few downshifts and get the revs up if you want to accelerate.  You should be able to run 3rd to 70 or 80 I believe.  Any gear higher than that and you are just wasting motor.  You gotta make her scream

Careful you don't go over the redline on the downshift.  It is not likely to be a major problem if you are in one gear up to and a little over the redline since the valve float will stop you from going too far over.  The biggest danger is downshifting until the matching rpm would be 13K or 15k and the engine spins way too fast on releasing the clutch.  Take downshifts one at a time when you are on the highway and give it some gas to get the revs up before you let the clutch out to make the shift smooth.

There is no point judging any bike on its way low end torque (below 5k or so) since they are not made to ever need to run there.  If you want great gas mileage, you might not use the good part of the curve.  The peak torque of the motor is around 7k with the peak power up around 10k.  This means that you'r rpms should be between 7k and the redline if you want as much acceleration as you can get.  If you don't need as much you don't need to wind it out so far and you will save some gas and engine wear.

[Deros514]

#2 is a common quirk for the GS. When it's warmed up, blip the throttle. It will hang. Reach under and tweak the idle to bring it down to ~1200. Give it another blip. It will hang but not as high. Repeat until it no longer hangs or you're satisfied. That will usually solve it unless there's a bigger issue with the carbs or valves as some people have said.

[twocool]

you can blip the throttle to rev match.  The drag of the wet clutch even disengaged should help it mesh.  I routinely shift into first at 25-30 when I 'need' acceleration.  First makes the biggest clunk of any of the gears.  Be definitive if you really want it to go into gear

there should be very little acceleration at 50 in 5th (or in 5th at all).  You should take a few downshifts and get the revs up if you want to accelerate.  You should be able to run 3rd to 70 or 80 I believe.  Any gear higher than that and you are just wasting motor.  You gotta make her scream

Careful you don't go over the redline on the downshift.  It is not likely to be a major problem if you are in one gear up to and a little over the redline since the valve float will stop you from going too far over.  The biggest danger is downshifting until the matching rpm would be 13K or 15k and the engine spins way too fast on releasing the clutch.  Take downshifts one at a time when you are on the highway and give it some gas to get the revs up before you let the clutch out to make the shift smooth.

There is no point judging any bike on its way low end torque (below 5k or so) since they are not made to ever need to run there.  If you want great gas mileage, you might not use the good part of the curve.  The peak torque of the motor is around 7k with the peak power up around 10k.  This means that you'r rpms should be between 7k and the redline if you want as much acceleration as you can get.  If you don't need as much you don't need to wind it out so far and you will save some gas and engine wear.

Right on!   Nice explaination of gear useage, torque and horsepower......

Cookie

[ameen]

Thanks for all the great help guys.

I rode the GS again lastnight on the highway with some fresh gas and kept in the higher RPMs.  Altogether im pretty happy with the bike.

One other thing that came up, when in first gear loping through traffic, the engin/power seems to be really jerky (not exactly sure how to explain it, but sort of revs down then up around 2-3k rpm).  Im thinking this could be the lean stock jets from what i read (im not really sure what lean vs rich would acctually feel like).
What jet are recommended for a stock 2001 bike?


Thanks again!

[kman]

First gear is always the jerkiest.  At that low of rpm the lash in the chain make it hard to smoothly stay at one speed or smoothly accelerate or slow down.  For that kind of thing you may want to mostly hold in the clutch and slip it when you need to move or speed up a little.  It is much more jerky than in any kind of car somewhat because of the better power to weight ratio but also because of only having two cylinders. 

Glad to hear you are exploring the power band

high revs are not needed for cruising at a constant speed or even gradual acceleration, but they are a must for any kind of hard acceleration or passing.

[twocool]

there should be very little acceleration at 50 in 5th (or in 5th at all).  You should take a few downshifts and get the revs up if you want to accelerate.  You should be able to run 3rd to 70 or 80 I believe.  Any gear higher than that and you are just wasting motor.  You gotta make her scream

My bike has  plenty of acceleration from 50 MPH even in 6th gear!     Runs right up to 70 with no problem, even up hill.....  Sure downshifting to 5th or 4th puts you in the power band, for even faster acceleration, but still good acceleration in 6th.........50 MPH in 6th is about 4000 rpm..........accelerate up to 70 and its about 6500 rpm.....

Cookie

[ameen]

I changed my oil today and i may have filled it a little high (3 quarts with a new filter???).  it is either right on the full mark or above it, cant really see it too well.  It seems to shift a little smoother but i didn't get a chance to really try it out.

After my short ride i took some pictures of the spark plugs:



The white on the tip mean it is running lean, right?

[twocool]

Manual says 3.1 qts at oil change...........this assumes that you fully drained the oil in the crankcase and new filer at each change......

A tiny bit above or below the line on the dipstick is meaningless......can vary if the bike is not perfectly level front to back or side to side when you check.....

now, like 1/2 qt extra is no good!!!!!!!!!

I check the mixture by looking at the ceramic insulator on the plug.......not the ground part of the electrode....

Should be light to medium tan color.........White is too lean.......running hot due to lean.......

Mechanic at my dealer said the GS 500 are set lean by the factory....for emissions standards....he recommends setting a little richer, but says fuel economy will go down.........He said that factory setting was not so lean as to cause damage, but less than optimum power.....

Cookie

[pandymai]

Just make sure you are checking the oil without twisting the dipstick in. The level is read by dropping the stick in and letting it rest instead of turning it in. Just a friendly reminder