"New" GS 500E, introductory post.

[bluebiker3500]

Hey Everyone, the name's Somie. I've been reading this board for about  a month,   and can now officially declare my ownership status.

Well after wanting a bike for years, I finally have one. It's a 2000 Suzuki GS500E.  Love the sporty-bike look in the rear and the big no-nonsense headlight (havent been night-riding as yet)
It has about 2700 miles on it, and only option was the windscreen, which dosent look great, but is functional. Bought it from Neville (manager- great guy) at Action Motorcycles on Sunrise Blvd for $2500.
One of their service guys even helped me to load it on my truck and followed me home to help unload it! Now that's service! ! !
Took it for a spin around the block a few times and it was HARD for me to park it  . It's lightweight and thin, so its easy to ride and I'm not scared to toss and lean it. (although I do respect it)

Tomorrow I'll wax/seal the painted areas.



Looking forward to riding it once my full gear comes in.  


A few concerns :
I've looked at older GS 500s and notice the frame/bolts and other components corrode rapidly, any recommended ways to prevent this from happening? I'm looking for a GOOD anti-corrosion spray that will not eat up the clear-coat/paint on a lot of the parts? Also I wouldnt want it to get dirty (dirt sticking to the anti-corrosion spray)

The bike takes long to warm up - about 10 minutes before you can set 0 choke and it wont stall (even in neutral) Is this normal? I've read that the air-cooled design is a bit picky when cold but wasnt expecting this.

Also I noticed today, at the front of the engine, there's a gasket thats leaking some oil onto the cooling fins. (thats what it appeared to be) Should I tighten the allen bolts that secure this top cap? (PIC 3) (I've wiped up some of the oil)


Also whats the difference between the GS500 and GS 500E's?

Thanks in advance for any help, and I look forward to being here a lot more often.




the leak

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[TheGoodGuy]

warmup issue can be fixed by rejetting it.. its running lean. Searching for rejetting..there are tonnes of stuff or check pablo's site (gstwin: pantablo).

As for the leaking gasket, you can try tightening down the allen bolts.. i found that was my cause.. but I have to replace mine, cost about 25 bucks at teh suzuki dealer. I will replace it when i get around to doing a valve job.

There are no differences in the model names.. there are differences in model years. The 2001+ are totally redesigned body wise, engine wise the 1989-2002 are the same (for the most part - carbs on the 2001 are different).  The 89 came with clipons the 90 and above have the standard bar. The 96 have different brake calipers if im right.

By the way welcome to the site

[pantablo]

Welcome out of the shadows and congratulations on your new bike!

1) Long warm-up is caused by lean carberation from factory (to meet EPA). You'll have to rejet the carbs to fix it, 125/40/2.5 [or thereabouts] is the formula for main jets/pilot jets/air screw turned out respectively. See the following two links for "How-To's"

http://www.angelfire.com/mt2/mikesgs500/rejetting/

and from our own JeffD:
http://electrovw.tripod.com/welcome/id17.html

2) Corrosion-best preventative measure is GARAGE. Otherwise you just have to be careful to keep it dry and clean...my 01 sits under a cover in a covered carport and it doesn't look nearly as good as Chimivee's '99 that has been garaged its entire life.

3) Bike looks good but you'll have to do SOMETHING about that rear fender...Holy crap. Clean that tail up!

4) Yeah, not the best looking screen but you'll come to appreciate it on highway trips.

Check out my site for lots of useful info [if you havent already] and also the links from the home page here at gstwin.com ...

Enjoy!

[scratch]

Welcome to the site!

Keep the fender and chuck that fairing! No, wait...just remove the fairing in the summertime.

[The Buddha]

OK oil seepage from the valve cover is not the end of the world... if the valve cover bolts are loose yes by all means tighten them... but do not mercilessly crank down on them... that will strip the threads in the cam cap... and that is bad. Much worse than a spot of oil.
Cool.
Srinath.

[snapper]

OK- the fender-yeah-needs to go.  You also need to think about a different fairing.  That one would be cool in the winter up here in the cold lands, but you there in Florida should be able to go more stylish!  

Welcome aboard.. and enjoy!

[asung]

Hey,
Nice Bike.  Your bike is exactly the same as mine, even with the same wind screen!  Congradulations on your purchase.

[JLKasper]

Hey Bluebiker, welcome to the board.  You'll find a lot of information that will help improve your enjoyment of the GS (follow the rejetting advice-- it works!).  I'm personally envious of your climate down there.   Is Nick's bar still open on Hollywood Beach?  It's a good place to drink if you don't mind the snowbirds from Montreal...

Don't listen to these guys who want you to cut those fenders off!  I have spent a little time in South Fla., and know how quicly those thunderstorms roll in.  

Regarding the rust-prone fasteners...   With your climate, I'd recommend replacing  the chrome, cadmium or zinc plated fasteners with stainless steel. You can find some of the sizes you need at the hardware department of Home Depot, Lowes, and the like.   I haven't found stainless allen screws at home stores, though. I recently bought a kit of stainless allen engine cover bolts for another bike on eBay from a guy who has made it his business.  His name is Burk Henschke, and his email address is either burk or iburk@netgap.com.  He was very professional, and I will probably seek him out for a set of them for my GS.

Again, welcome, and have a gin and tonic at Nick's for me!

[JohnNS]

I like that fairing  

Congrats on the purchase, and welcome!    

[JohNLA]

You may want to check around that tach cable for your leak as well. That was were one leak showed up on my bike. A little plumers tape around the threads fixed it.

[500rider]

An ignition advancer can help with the low end torque problem (which worsens the long warm up problem).  Fix the jetting first though.  Up here in Canada, we get the 40 pilot jets stock.  

There's lots of mods you can make.  I have progressive springs in the front.  These are extremely easy to put in.  Just prop the front end up, remove the fork caps and replace the springs.  You will have to cut the spacers down with a hacksaw.  The spings make a huge difference in handling.  The stock springs are just too wimpy and dangerous if you ask me.  

I recommend you ride it for a while first before you make any mods.  Then you can pick and chose which are right for you.

Rob

[yamahonkawazuki]

regarding the oil seepage, can you see it coming out?, if so, turn the bolts ever so slightly, and see if that helps, or just bear with it, until the valve job/adjustment, you are not too far from it, about another 1500 miles or so, (if memory serves me), and replace it then. the last thing you want to do, is strip those fasteners out on the inside. then that $25 gasket, turns into that, plus what the dealer would charge you to repair the damage.   but in anycase, welcome aboard

[bluebiker3500]

Whoa, thanks for the comments / tips and links guys!

I didnt get to even touch the bike today, but will definitely look into the re-jetting issue. One question - will rejetting it cause the mileage to drop? The reason I'm asking is that I usually do 60+ miles of driving a day, and the bike would have reduced the fuel bill a bit (hurts when you have to feed your truck $10/day). Also I've read that the range on this thing is about 200+ miles on one tank?

Pablo - Thanks for the advice and I've been reading your pages. Especially love the CBR footpegs and the Ducati Monster fairing. The fairing looks OEM and fits the bike perfectly (compared to this sheet of lexan/plexi that I have). However I have taken the bike up to 45mph and can definitely NOT feel any wind on my chest, so it is working. just a bit on the unasthetic side... Hopefully I'll find a cleaner one soon, or remove it for now.

As far as storage, most likely it'll be stored in a screened room, not as much dust as outside.. But I would want to ride to work, so I KNOW the bike is going to get wet frequently (almost daily in summer).

JLKasper- Not sure if Nick's bar is still open,  I dont drink much, but I'll check it out for ya. Definitely will check out the Stainless fastner replacement though. I just wish they did it right the first time.

The rest of you - You guys just want my rear fender huh? lol .. I'll look into getting it cleaned up, but may want to keep it because (again the constant rains in summer) it may prove to be useful.

yamahonkawazuki - The pic showed the area after I cleaned it up, but you could definitely see oil/dirt around the area of the gasket so I think that's most likely the culprit. Will also remove the tach screw and apply some plumers tape on the thread (thanks JohNLA)


I'm trying to round up some $$ for good gear. Want to get the Shoei X-11 helmet in axis yellow, a FirstGear Blade leather jacket for primary riding and a  Rev x for hotter days. Motoxoutlet.com has the best prices for those so far. Still havent decided on a pair of gloves, overpants or boots. Prefer to buy good quality things that will last a long time, rather than having to constantly replace things. Yeah it's a lot of gear, but we dont exactly have slow streets here and the stop signs are far apart, so a lot of people speed. Just preparing for the unexpected.

[Hi-T]

I purchased my jacket and gloves from Motoxoutlet... it's a local shop in the Salt Lake - UT area.  They were fantastic and I would highly recommend supporting them.

[pantablo]

cheaper than newenough.com?