Potentially The Death of My GS500 Project: Input Needed

[tch973]

Hi All,

Last time I posted here was VERY early in the summer and I was having an electrical issue with my 2002 GS500. A friend and I worked the rest of the summer to get it on the road again. We went through all the wiring to solve the issue of it not turning over at all. Basically came down to a bad connection at the engine cutoff if I remember(this was months ago). Also the rear brake switch was fried so I got one for $9 on eBay. When we fianlly could get it to turn over it wouldnt start. After fiddling for a few weeks I finally took it to a Suziki guy. Turned out there was an air leak by the carb and he sorted a few little things like the fact that I needed a new choke.

Got it back from this mechanic and rode home. Tried to ride it a week later from my friends garage (where I was storing it) and it wouldn't start. Turn over just not start. After countless checks of the usual stuff turned out the gas in the tank was bad. Fired up fine one the tank was flushed. Got in a nice 40 mile ride to my apartment and I wish this is where I could let the story end.

At this point it's early September. I've finally gotten it to my apartment after having worked on it at my friends garage. I'm hoping I have a month or two left to dial the bike in before winter. I try to go for a test ride and, even when giving tons of throttle, the power response was terrible. At first I think its the maybe to do with the bad gas and I need to adjust he mixture. I did fiddle with that a lot in trying to diagnose what ended up being the bad gas.

Anyway I don't think much of it and figure I'll try some adjustments the next day. The next day I put it in first and it will not pull away. Put the bike in first, clutch out and it just idles;no movement. After doing some digging I chalk it up to a clutch issue. I did have the cable fiddled with when I got the new choke put on and also the bike sat for a year. I figure even though I changed the oil perhaps the clutch plates stuck.

Get it to a mechanic and he agrees:lets rebuild the clutch. "That's what it is 99 times out of 100 given your symptoms."  He calls me Wed with the bad news. I'm the 1 out of 100. Rebuilt the clutch, changed the clutch cable and that's not it. Its down to the transmission which he advises me against doing because the cost of parts and labor would basically equal what the bike is worth. In my heart I know this-the mechanic guess about $1000 all in and that's prob what the bike is worth. It has 22,000 mi, has been 3 peoples first bike before me and is definitely no beauty queen.

Still I'm pondering options and I'd really value the the input of all you guys.

Option 1- I think I can get a full transmission from a parts bike at a reasonable price. If I can I'm gonna call the mechanic and ask if I gave him a FULL transmission to swap in if this would save me a bunch on labor. My hope is he factored in time to diagnosis and OEM part cost. I'm hoping if he just swaps 1 for 1 that saves me on hours and if I get a used but quality part I can save big there too.

Option 2- I potentially get the parts and do the swap myself over the winter. I have to admit I feel this may be a little beyond me so anyone that's done this I would certainly appreciate your insights into how difficult it is.

Option 3- Decide the time and effort may, in all reality, not be worth it even though I don't want that to be the case. Cut my losses and start saving for a new bike in the spring.

[mr72]

If you want a project and an adventure, you could probably swap in a different engine easily enough that would give you transmission, clutch, and potentially the rest of the engine in better condition than the one you have. Not a huge project, frankly. You should be able to find a reasonable engine for $500. Or a whole bike to take parts from for $500, including the transmission/engine and whatever else you need. You could swap the engine at your buddy's place in one Saturday if you had help and planned ahead with tools, parts, etc.

If you were a rockin' mechanic you could do trans repair yourself (that is, just replace the busted part in the transmission that's in it) probably for a lot less money but you'd need a consistent place to work on it and be able to tear the bike down for a week.

Or you could sell the one you have for $500 to make it someone else's parts or project bike, then put another $500 or so with it and likely buy one that will work. Maybe not an '02 but you can get a GS500E pre-2000 for $1K or so in running/working condition with 20K miles if you look. I have one in my garage that I paid $900 for.

Up to you whether you have more faith in the bike you have, or you are more likely to trust something entirely different. It's really an emotional decision. Money-wise, probably about the same either way.

If I were you I'd repair the one I had, likely swap another engine. I trust my mechanical skills and the known quantity. But I've been doing this kind of thing for decades. Just bear in mind any $1-2K GS500 is going to potentially wind up with some problem that's as bad as the transmission problem you have. The truth is, you need to be able to do most of this work yourself. You'll go broke quickly paying a mechanic for every little thing... and on a GS500, short of a complete engine overhaul, everything is a little thing. If money is no object, buy a new bike rather than paying $6K to a mechanic over the next three years trying to keep an old one running. IMHO.

[Janx101]

You needed a new 'choke' ?... define this better please? ... choke lever? Choke cable? .... choke butterfly? Hmm?

You trust this mechanic? .. not saying they aren't any good.. could be a legendary wrencher!... but your sequence of events reads like a 'milk the customer till he bleeds' manual!?

A mechanic that rebuilds the clutch... only to 'find' afterwards that the transmission is fried? ... questionable diagnostic methods for a qualified licenced mechanic! ...

Give them a ring and say you've had enough of the whole thing! .. see if they immediately offer to 'take it off your hands' for a really lowball figure! ... betcha they could fix it easy after they own it!

Mind you I'm sick with cold/flu at the moment and my normal cheerful cynicism has gone decidedly down into the murk!

Where on the planet are you located?

[tch973]

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it. I do trust the mechanic; he shot straight with me, I agreed with his diagnosis and he gave me a VERY fair rate on parts/labor. If anything he kept me from spending a ton of money (and potentially a ton of my time) on a bike that had really seen better days and was not worth the effort in my case.

I decided to let the bike go and it was taken away yesterday. A tough decision to be sure but I think the right one at the moment. I'd already sunk a fair amount of time and money into the bike and, at each juncture, more problems presented themselves. I know I could've done the engine swap for about $500 but given that I kept having problem after problem I came to the conclusion that I had a bit of a lemon. Even if I did the engine swap my GS500 was not taken care of very well by previous owners and, as mr72 said, in the coming years I'd be in for numerous more small things. Though I feel confident in my ability to tackle small jobs the benefits of swapping the engine and effort involved did not outweigh the headache for me. This was complicated by the fact that I'd need to rent a trailer and find an engine in good condition (more cost). Plus my friends garage is not heated and does not have electric running.

That being said working on that bike was a fantastic experience. I may only have ridden it a sum total of 50mi with all the issues I had but I had a blast. I gained a new friend, many bike maintenance skills and plan on saving during the winter for a bike that was a better taken care of by the previous owner.

[the_63]

Sorry to hear it was a bust dude. I hope that your next bike brings your the joy you (like the rest of us) are after.

Be safe

[jeZZa]

sorry i didnt see this thread earlier, i have oads of gs 450 and 500 gearboxes (identical except 450 has a bolt on sprocket)
... could have solved your prob, also the most likely suspect id say is the selector drum or a bent fork, not the gearbox

[iamhiding]

sorry i didnt see this thread earlier, i have oads of gs 450 and 500 gearboxes (identical except 450 has a bolt on sprocket)
... could have solved your prob, also the most likely suspect id say is the selector drum or a bent fork, not the gearbox

my bad for resurrecting a dead thread  sorry to hear about the bike man, at least you've learned where to cut your losses... doubt i'll ever mature to that point

yeah just curious Jezza, the old 450 countershaft is definitely a match for the 500e's minus is using a nut on the sprocket? sounds like it could it be be a viable alternative to the 500e's daft circlip setup for sprocket retention. problem being the availability of parts nowadays.

[Watcher]

yeah just curious Jezza, the old 450 countershaft is definitely a match for the 500e's minus is using a nut on the sprocket? sounds like it could it be be a viable alternative to the 500e's daft circlip setup for sprocket retention. problem being the availability of parts nowadays.

What's so daft about the circlip/snap-ring?

It takes half a second to install/remove with snap-ring pliers and no threads means it won't ever come loose...

[jeZZa]

sorry i didnt see this thread earlier, i have oads of gs 450 and 500 gearboxes (identical except 450 has a bolt on sprocket)
... could have solved your prob, also the most likely suspect id say is the selector drum or a bent fork, not the gearbox

my bad for resurrecting a dead thread  sorry to hear about the bike man, at least you've learned where to cut your losses... doubt i'll ever mature to that point

yeah just curious Jezza, the old 450 countershaft is definitely a match for the 500e's minus is using a nut on the sprocket? sounds like it could it be be a viable alternative to the 500e's daft circlip setup for sprocket retention. problem being the availability of parts nowadays.

since posting this i have rebuilt my gs, i puled her apart to change the oil seal on the output shaft and found some scary stuff inside that endid up with me replacing the crank, bearings, counterbalance shaft, primary and secondary transmission shafts and pistons and barrels and conrods, the head was new alredy so was left alone lol
but in my adventure iv found that the 450 and 500 share the following
cams (exact)
counterbalance shaft (exact)
counterbalance bearings (exact)
crank (exact)
main bearings (exact)
conrods (exact)
big end bearings (exact)
selector drum (exact)
selector forks (exact)
gearbox (close) the shafts are physicaly the same and will fit but the sprocket bolts on to the 450


pistons and barrels are different due to the 450 having a smaller bore

also the crank and counterbalance bearings in the 450 and 500 can be used on either the crank or counterbalance shaft, they share a part number

to sum it up
everything in the botem end of the 450 and the 500 can be swopped around, the difference is in the barrels and pistons and the head, but the cams are the same
the starter and idler gear are different but you can swop the 450 starter into the 500 if you use a 450 idler gear. starter clutch and flywheel are the same

[jeZZa]

if anyone needs help or has any questions feel free to skype me

cooper.troopers-mk5