the questions begin...

[dumont21]

hi guys, fellow gs500 lovers...

ok, so... my bike idles like a demon... tried today to get the idle down to approx 1400 ish got it to happen wth the white idle knob. then gave it a swist of gas to see what it would do... went up to 4000 and stayed there... tried to give it another hit of throttle about 30 seconds after the first one and it came down to 3500 ish and then would do little spikes... to up to 4000 just dancing a bit... so i thought id putit into 1st gear to see what it would do.. (was sitting on center stand). the engine quit then a gunshot of a back fire... what the heck do I do now??


thanks in advance..

mike

[lucas]

sounds like you might have two different problems going on.

the high idle might be related to the carbs. If there is a crack in the top cap or a missing o ring, etc, the carbs can't develop the necessary vacuum to "un-choke".  That is one cause of high/hanging idle.  Run the engine with the air box removed and visually confirm that the black plastic slides are rising up.  If they are sitting still then the intake is choked, causing a rich air/fuel mixture.

The backfire + no power might be a dead cylinder.  If one cylinder is dead that can cause the engine to have basically zero power.  It also cause fuel to be pulled into the dead cylinder and pushed (un burnt) into the exhaust manifold.  That fuel then can be ignited by the live cylinder and then bang!  Check that you're getting spark to both cylinders, if you have an infrared thermometer point it at both exhaust down tubes and see if one is much cooler than the other.

[Bluesmudge]

Be sure that you are adjusting the idle when the engine is fully warmed up. If you set it when the bike is cold the revs will easily start racing as the bike warms up and you give it throttle.

[Flameeater]

Also, my bike has a kickstand kill swith (whatever the real name is). Anyone know if the centerstand is the same??? Perhaps that is what killed it?

[Bluesmudge]

There is no kill switch for the center stand.

I would not recommend putting the bike in gear on the center stand. You could easily hurt yourself or the bike if you let go of the clutch and the rear wheel found traction.

[dumont21]

thanks for all the info guys... and i am a noobie to all this..

i haven't touched the bike in about since my first post.. and because i am dumb i do believe i had both the center stand and kick stand out.. therefore i think your right.... the kick stand kill switch kicked in...


thanks for all the replys guys... much appreciated.

this forum has taught me alot.

i watched the video for changing my own oil..

gonna give it a try soon.. like i said. even an oil change is a big project for me..
lol

thanks again..

mike

[ShowBizWolf]

Welcome to the forum dumont and good luck with all you do!

Don't worry, we all started out as newbs !!  This place will help a TON with pretty much everything