Engine turns off with clutch pulled in.

[GSbadger]

Hi everyone,
I have a 2007 GS500F with 22,000km. The bike runs well as long as I'm in gear and moving. If I'm coasting to a stop or stopped at a light with the clutch pulled all the way in the engine will just die like I have hit the kill switch. This also happens when the bike is in neutral. I have watched the rpms they look to drop a bit to 1000 or 900 (idle at 1200rpm) right before the engine dies. I thought this might be a clogged idle jet so I had the carbs cleaned hoping that would fix it. Ill try and post a video of the problem soon but if anyone has had something like this in the past let me know. thanks.

[Kerry]

This has happened to me many times ... after riding a good number of miles with the choke still ON. 

If you've been turning the choke OFF appropriately, check to make sure the "fuel enrichener circuit" plungers move through their full range when you move the choke lever back and forth.

[bombsquad83]

Could be a symptom of a valve clearance problem.  They are past due if they have never been checked.

[GSbadger]

Could be a symptom of a valve clearance problem.  They are past due if they have never been checked.

Better late than never right!?

Sorry for the old post but I wanted to clear up the issue in case anyone else comes looking for a solution .

bombsquad83 hit the nail on the head. Valves were extremely tight! Got everything in spec now and it been running like a champ. No more stalling!

Thanks!

[FreshGroundPepper]

Just to reiterate in case someone reads this thread and needs it:

I too had to keep the choke on basically all the time otherwise it would run poorly. It would stall OFTEN when I pulled the clutch in (and did so a number of times while driving ~60mph on the highway!)
I then changed the shims and now I only need the choke on for a minute or two and no more stalling!

[bombsquad83]

Thanks for reporting back, and glad your problem was fixed with the new valve shims!

[DoktoroKiu]

Hi everyone,
I have a 2007 GS500F with 22,000km. The bike runs well as long as I'm in gear and moving. If I'm coasting to a stop or stopped at a light with the clutch pulled all the way in the engine will just die like I have hit the kill switch. This also happens when the bike is in neutral. I have watched the rpms they look to drop a bit to 1000 or 900 (idle at 1200rpm) right before the engine dies. I thought this might be a clogged idle jet so I had the carbs cleaned hoping that would fix it. Ill try and post a video of the problem soon but if anyone has had something like this in the past let me know. thanks.

I had EXACTLY this problem before I did my valve clearances.  It would die as I coasted to a stop or while waiting at a light.  The RPMs would dip below 1000 and it died unless I manually gave it some throttle to keep it going.  I actually got into a habit of revving as I coasted to a stop, and fortunately I've gotten over that one.  My valves were very tight at only 10,000 miles.  After the change it takes me 20-30 seconds of choke to warm her up and we're good to go (just like the manual says, interestingly).

I was wondering how I missed your post until I noticed it was over a year ago.  Did you just now attempt the repairs or have they worked for a year now?  I'm also curious if you had the factory shims in there (least significant digit on the shim number is not 5).  If so you were about 5 times overdue for them being checked.   

I think we should make a sticky/FAQ for valve clearance maintenance information, since it seems to be popping up all over now (this is like the 4th or 5th recent thread on it).   I'm betting that GSbadger is not the only one who unnecessarily tore into the carbs for idling issues that are rarely attributed to clearances.  I think the first response to "My GS idles poorly and dies" threads needs to be "Check your goram valve clearances".

I know that before I bought the GS I read an online review of it that noted that it takes a long while to warm up.  Several commenters also complained of GS500s that took forever to warm up and were difficult to start.  I wonder if all of these criticisms were coming from people with tight valves?

[mustangGT90210]

I think there are an ample number of valve clearance threads/information available. I think we're running into so many fresh threads due to fresh riders that are still learning how to maintain their possibly new GS's. Biggest thing I think this site could do is really, really highlight how easy the shims on these things truly are. A lot of people hear "take the top cover off the motor" and immediately put it out of their head as being past their capability. I know I did for the longest time until finally I got bored one day and decided to try it. It takes more time to take the tank off than to check/adjust valves!**


*granted, my bike was still down for 2 weeks waiting on shims because my local dealer sucks so many different kinds of ************************************************** that they didn't have any in stock for any year GS500.