Just My Bike - 2009 Suzuki GS500 (Review & Journal)

[Zacharia_11]

Just joined the forum, it appears to be the most useful sight on the interwebs for the GS500.  Just picked up my bike yesterday, its a 2009 Black GS500 - the 'naked'? version.  Rode it home in the rain and dark.  I plan to use this thread to talk about my bike, post my pictures of my bike, and record some of my ideas.


Need to improve the headlight a bit if I am going to do more riding in the dark outside of the city.  Tank bag would be nice.  Some kind of otter box to store my insurance and ownership in the tail... I am also trying to get it in for service.  It has 10,500 km's and no service history was available.  The PO seemed responsible, but who knows, I am mainly interested in a valve inspection and carb sync as I don't have the tools or manual yet and want to get out and ride before the weather turns.  Once I have the manual I'll do more servicing my self.

Previous Bikes:

2008 Kawasaki Vulcan 900C
2008 Harley Crossbones
2010 BMW F800GS

What I wanted with this bike:
Cheap to buy, cheap to own, reliable, fun to ride (light, peppy & agile), easy to work on (I like a little wrenching during the non-riding season).  Bike will be used for 90% commuting, 10% jaunts out side the city and some minimal 2 up riding - a trip for coffee or ice cream on the weekend.  I hope this bikes turns out be be what I wanted.

[Zacharia_11]

Ok, so I have about 90km's on my new to me bike so far.  That basically consisted of riding from the PO's house to my house.  It was dark and raining.

I just came off an F800GS - adventure touring bike - Long travel suspension, enduro styling.  I almost immediately hated the GS500, I felt cramped and the bike was less responsive than I anticipated.  I had a chance to sit on the bike and ride it up the block prior to buying but this was my first real ride.

So, after riding for a few minutes I start to get used to the 'new' bike.  The seating really isn't cramped (I am 6'2") it's just different.  I got used to my foot angle and the shifting and braking quickly.  And I found I needed to keep the rev's a little higher to get the bike to perform how I wanted it to.  With the rain and it being a new bike I was overly cautious in the corners but I could tell the bike will be much better than any of my previous bikes for the corners - can't wait.  My @$$ began to hurt about after about an hour, but that's standard for any bike I've ridden - I get used to it and it won't bug me.  Oh - and my rear brakes squeal...

Overall impression so far is that this bike will be a great bike for bombing around town - exactly why I got it. 

Edited: For crappy spelling.

[Zacharia_11]

A few Pic's from the PO's ad to sell the bike.





Edit: to fix links

[cbrfxr67]

Welcome!  I'm always interested in what people have to say about the gs versus their other bikes.  Looks good too.  Glad to have you on Zach. 

[Zacharia_11]

Thanks cbrfx67,

So I got home today and took a look at the bike.

Project 1: Sticker Removal... hmm no easy button... well a gold star will have to do.   

I really can't ride around with the stickers staring me in the face


So, I've done this project a couple of times before and thru trial and error I've come to trust the results I get with a hair drier.  A buddy of mine at work did this sticker removal using 'means unknown' on his Bandit and basically has white sticker residue now, instead of the sticker.  I would hate that more.  The trick with the hair drier is to let the glue heat up enough that it turns sticky again making the sticker easier to peel.  I just want to start the edge and pull - not scratch it off with a finger nail.

Hurry while the wife's not home...


One down, one to go


Those stickers had been on their for close to 4 years I imagine.  A little window cleaner to clean up the edge lines and now its as if they weren't there.


They might have came off fine with out the hair drier, but this method hasn't failed me yet.

[Zacharia_11]

First 2 up ride & the first time the wife got to take it for a spin.


2up:  Better than all my other bikes!  Bike one had a Corbin gunfighter seat, bike two had a Corbin solo, bike three had a Renazco Racing seat (dirtbike style).  The wife says she was comfortable and we aren't taking it touring so that is a score 1 for the GS500.  I am still getting used to how close the ground is when I put my foot down.  Small hiccup at the first stop sign - nothing major but I would have looked rookie-ish. 

Wife's ride: 'It's ok' was the common theme.  I even got a "Well it's not my bike".  Clearly not going to be a hand me down...  We went over to the big church parking lot in my neighborhood so she could get used to it.  Basically she doesn't like that it leans you forward, she wants it to be more straight up.  I am kind of agreeing with her right now, but its only day 2 and I have only owned the bike for just over 24 hours.  I won't do anything 'major' until I have had some real time on the bike and can experience it like it is stock first.  I think it would just take some risers or different bars right now to come upward and back - kinda Triumph Bonneville style?

[codajastal]

Welcome to the forum. Bike looks nice and I am sure you will love it (I am biased as I have 2 of them)

[iclrag]

Welcome to the next addiction of your life. anyways, i like how you can sit both upright and leaning forward on the bike, definitely not a cruiser but not a sport either, it's a good combination of the two in my opinion

[Zacharia_11]

Just a quick update.

Rode the bike thru town up to the dealership to get it serviced.  The PO gave me no service records and its close to 11,000 kms now.  I dropped it off Saturday morning and will pick it up Monday after work.  I asked to have the valves inspected and adjusted if necessary.  The ride thru town made me (and anyone else around me) very aware of my squeaky rear break.  I'm pretty sure my next 'project' for the bike will be to see if I can kill that.  From some searching on the web I have decided to try the following things to see if I can solve my problem.

• Ensure proper alignment of rear wheel
• Inspect & replace rear pads if necessary
• Apply some anti squeal to the rear of the pad

I really don't want to apply the gunk to the back of the pads cause I will feel kind of defeated if I do that.  I am really hopeful that my alignment is out and that once its realigned the squeak goes away.  I will see about picking up a manual when I pick up the bike tomorrow after work... else I am sure I can find rear axle torque values somewhere on this sight.

Here is a link bookmark for myself: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25892.0
And another http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=30163.0


I am also semi researching some rox risers for the bike.  No where near ready to pull the trigger on that yet, looking to get a little bit more of a sport touring feel from the GS.

[knowles]

if its like mine the the last person didnt change the pads, and the rear rotor has some groves in it. if those things dont work look at the rotor itself.

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Welcome to the site!

Love the bike. That all black is killer!
I have a set of black 1" up and back risers on mine. Can't remember the brand though. They ran me around a hundred dollars.

[Zacharia_11]

Welcome to the site!

Love the bike. That all black is killer!
I have a set of black 1" up and back risers on mine. Can't remember the brand though. They ran me around a hundred dollars.

Thanks.  Ya, there were a few for sale in the area when I picked this one up.  Many blue/white ones a gray one and this all black one.  Went out of my way to go and get it, meant I had a nice inaugural 1+ hour ride home thru many back roads.  I thought maybe I would paint one of the blue ones, but decided if I got the black there would be no need for that.

[Zacharia_11]

if its like mine the the last person didnt change the pads, and the rear rotor has some groves in it. if those things dont work look at the rotor itself.

Thank's, I'll check that out too.

[Zacharia_11]

Got the bike back from service this afternoon.  Asked about a manual, they only have the 'real' service manual and apparently it's expensive and you have to order it and wait.  I think I'll just get an aftermarket one from one of the other shops.  I will recommend TriCity Cycles (in Kitchener ON) for there friendly staff, they really didn't want me to do the valve inspection.  When I emailed them I asked to get one, when I dropped it off we went out to the bike and fired it up - he said he would do the inspection but didn't think I needed it.  Then this afternoon I got a call from the service department making sure I wanted the inspections because they didn't want to waste my money.  Cool, but I did want to have them inspected on my new to me bike.

The did do a chain adjustment - so that would mean the rear wheel would have had to have been realigned.  My ride home was almost squeakless from the rear brake, and the 2 or 3 times I heard it, it was really faint.  I am going to check the alignment this evening and see if it's off, but I am hoping to put the squeak to bed early in my ownership.

Picked up 2 items for the bike this weekend and got a chance to get them on the bike this afternoon.

The first item is a Pelican Case (model 1010) to hold my insurance, ownership and small odds and ends in the tail of the bike.  The case itself was $13 from an outdoor supply store - the kind that sells camping gear and such.  Its water tight and small so I figured it was up for the task.






Here I give you an idea of what it can hold.  That is my library card - same size as a credit card.




It takes a twist of the wrist to get it in, but it fits fine with out much fuss.  I may try and get the strap holding down the tool kit to go over top.




Next up was a tank bag.  I had one for my F800GS and loved the convince.
This one is a Gears I-Wire tank bag.  I chose it because its compact but can hold my lunch and pretty much anything else I would want for the day.
It is a magnetic tank bag so it can be easily removed.
Here is the link:  http://www.gearscanada.com/products/details/77/5/i-wire-tank-bag.html






I put my garage door opener in where the iPod is supposed to go... ipod...




The ride home was great, I am really starting to warm up to the bike.  It reminds me of the bikes we had in my first training course: small, light, nimble and just plain fun to ride.  What a great bike for bombing around town!

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Good work! Keep it up!
You planning a fender-ectamy

[jdoorn14]

Suzuki shop manuals pop up on eBay all the time, usually for around $40 USD. Check there if you really want one.

[Zacharia_11]

Good work! Keep it up!
You planning a fender-ectamy

I don' think there is anything wrong with the fender.  If it ain't broke...

Not much of a 'project' thread for this little GS.  Just a thread about my bike.  I did a ton of stuff to my x-bones when I had it.  Sunk a bunch of money into it - it was fun, but talk about pissing money away.   I don't want to do that with this bike, I am looking for a comfortable, cheap, reliable ride that is fun to get out on and easy to service myself.

My old bones:








Here is what it looked like stock:

[Zacharia_11]

Suzuki shop manuals pop up on eBay all the time, usually for around $40 USD. Check there if you really want one.

I think the Haynes or Clymer will be just fine.  I wouldn't not get the Suzuki shop manual, but I saw a Clymer on the weekend at one of the dealerships I was at.  I didn't pick it up because it wasn't my model year (89-02).  I checked it out on line and apparently they didn't make one for my model year and that manual should be just fine.

[jdoorn14]

Here is what it looked like stock:

Nice! Looks lots better than stock.

[mister]

Nice write up so far.

Coming from a F800GS you will notice the different posture, seat height and torque for sure. But you will quickly come to handle the posture without needing to adjust the handlebars - I'm also 6'2 and my bike (also a black 09) is totally stock and I have no issues whatsoever.

The rear brake squeak is standard. But you'll soon learn how to combine front and back together so no squeak is heard. I'm still on my original brake pads and am over 56,000kms on the bike now.

Welcome to the club 

Michael