Bike dies when clutch is released.

[T-Rex]

Hello everybody,

I'm new on forum,and I'm new in world of bikes.
I got my GS500 last week and I'm having issue with it.
First,i manage to ride it only once and that was the next day after i get it.
It ran normally,I had couple of tries until i manage to ride it.
However,since that day I'm having problem with taking off.
I started engine,then i added a bit of gas (sidestand is up btw)and i started to release clutch,and BAM,bike dies after i release approximately 50% of the clutch.
It just shuts off,and i need to start it again and when i repeat everything the bikes dies again.
I was searching on internet for solution,and i read it could be sidestand switch.
Since i don't know almost anything about bikes,i would like to ask you guys,how can i disable sidestand switch (if that's problem that is)?

Another problem I have is gear shifter.
I can shift gears normally,but sometimes gear shifter is just stucked,and i can't shift gears.I can only shift it a few millimeters-do you perhaps know what could be the problem?

Anyway,i have no experience with mechanics,and i don't want to spent more money on mechanic,so i would be VERY grateful if you could lead me step by step how to disable sidestand switch and pictures would be awesome, if that's the problem when releasing clutch that is...
Is it possible for me to do same thing that guy in this video did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ja2zLl1Pes

It looks simple,but will it work?

Thanks for having time to read and i hope you will help me.

EDIT:i forgot to mention that when i put bike on center stand and shift it into 1st gear,rear wheel start spinning normally,and it doesn't die when i release clutch..

[user11235813]

You might need to adjust the clutch but I wouldn't worry about that just yet, sounds like you're not revving enough, or when it starts to bite you letting the revs drop.

Practice this: in first gear (obvs) rev to 3500 - 4000 and with both feet on the ground, let the clutch out super slowly, as you feel it engage and move forward a little bit, pull the clutch back in, do this a few times let it out just enough to feel it engage and then back in till you get a good feel for it. After a few minutes of this take off, by revving to 3000 let the clutch out slowly and as it engages make sure the revs do not drop.

If you're still having problems after this post back.

[philward]

If the problem was the side-stand switch the engine would die as soon as you selected first gear.  Not as you release the clutch.

...oh and also you don't want to go disabling the switch - it's an important safety feature (especially if you are a novice rider).  Riding off with your stand down will eventually end in tears (or at the very least a fright).

[Watcher]

If the problem was the side-stand switch the engine would die as soon as you selected first gear.

This.  It's not the side-stand switch, likely either you're releasing the clutch too quickly and/or you're not giving the bike enough power (rpm) to move without stalling.  Or you're not in the correct gear.  You should make sure you're attempting to launch in 1st gear.

Especially because:

I forgot to mention that when i put bike on center stand and shift it into 1st gear,rear wheel start spinning normally,and it doesn't die when i release clutch..

When the bike is up on the center-stand the engine just has to turn the wheel, not move the whole machine plus rider, so it doesn't need anywhere near as much power and isn't as picky about what gear you're in.
If you want to be doubly sure, an easy way to rule out you as the culprit is to have a trusted somebody ride your bike and see if they experience the same issue.

Another problem I have is gear shifter.
I can shift gears normally,but sometimes gear shifter is just stucked,and i can't shift gears.I can only shift it a few millimeters-do you perhaps know what could be the problem?

I'd assume if you can't even get the bike moving you're just trying to "static shift" the bike.  This usually doesn't work with sequential gearboxes, the gears don't like to mesh when there is no movement.  You can try either of these things:
- When sitting on the bike, engine off: squeeze in the clutch and while putting pressure on the shifter with your left foot use your right foot to push the motorcycle forward or backwards a few feet.  You'll feel the shifter move and likely hear the gears shift.
- With the bike up on the center-stand, engine off:  Squeeze in the clutch, rotate the rear wheel by hand (or by foot if you can't reach), try the shifter, repeat as necessary.
- With the bike up on the center-stand, engine idling:  Squeeze in the clutch, attempt to shift, if it will not slowly release the clutch until the rear wheel starts to spin (if you're in neutral the wheel might not spin but the procedure will still work).  Squeeze the clutch back in, attempt to shift again.

Get back to us with your findings.


If you haven't already get yourself in a motorcycle safety course.  It'll teach you everything you need to know about operating a motorcycle, and will make it so that "rookie mistakes" happen in a controlled environment and, perhaps most importantly, on someone else's bike 

Practice this: in first gear (obvs) rev to 3500 - 4000 and with both feet on the ground, let the clutch out super slowly, as you feel it engage and move forward a little bit, pull the clutch back in, do this a few times let it out just enough to feel it engage and then back in till you get a good feel for it.

I would do this first without using any throttle.  Just get a feel for getting the bike to move without letting it stall.  Best way is to let the bike roll back until you're on your heels, then, by letting the clutch out slowly, let the bike pull you forward until you're flat-footed.  Once you're flat-footed, squeeze the clutch back in and roll back onto your heels.

As you get more comfortable with this start to add a little throttle in to feel how it wants to pull, then start to walk the bike along without fully releasing the clutch.  Don't push it, let it pull you, this is called "power-walking".  Go ahead and power-walk from a stop a few times, focus on that clutch control.  If you're going too fast to walk comfortably, squeeze in the clutch a little.  If the bike is too slow, let the clutch out some more.

Once you feel comfortable power-walking, start adding more throttle and trying to get moving a little quicker.  When the bike feels like it's stable go ahead and pick your feet up, it should only take 2-3 steps.  By now you should have the clutch all the way out, and you should add just a little more throttle to help stabilize the bike.

Congratulations, you just made it through MSF BRC exercise #2    Only 11 more to go.

[T-Rex]

Thank you guys for answers!
I will go out tonight and practice with power-walking.
I was reading on few forums that some bikes can go without using throttle and just using clutch in friction zone,so i would like to know is GS500 capable of doing same?
I also watched video on youtube in which guy went in friction zone just by different sound of revs-can i hear that on GS500 too?
I'm practicing on empty parking lot at night,so it may be the cold engine too?
I warmed up bike for 30 second,is that enough?
Thanks one more time

[mr72]

If you start the bike with it parked after sitting cold, with choke, and only let it warm up 30 seconds while sitting on the side stand, then it will require care to keep it running at/near idle when you get underway.

Your GS will not likely pull itself away from a stop without adding throttle. If you are very careful with the clutch you can release a tiny bit into the friction zone and the bike may begin to move without throttle like Watcher pointed out, but unless you have done some carb tuning (jets etc.) it's unlikely to be able to really move the bike+rider unassisted without throttle. Once you release enough clutch for it to begin to move it'll more than likely stall, especially if it's not fully warmed up.

I wholeheartedly second Watcher's recommendation to take the MSF course where they'll teach you all this stuff and let you practice on motorcycles that are a bit easier to handle than your GS. IDK where you are located though. Where I am, MSF class is required to get your motorcycle license anyway.

The thing is, once you get this skill of getting the bike moving under your belt, the next things are exponentially more difficult. On a GS, despite what the internet "experts" may say, it has more than enough power to get a rote beginner over their head taking off from a start in first gear. Those little GROM 125s they used in my MSF class are truly forgiving and small enough that you can easily catch them, but too much throttle coming out of a turn in first gear can turn ugly really fast on a GS500... a 125 simply doesn't have enough power available to get you in too much trouble too fast.

Everyone talks about how great of a beginner bike a GS500 is but I can tell you the 8 hours I spent riding a GROM in the MSF class was like gold, and I was not a beginner, and I had also been riding my GS around the neighborhood quite successfully for a few weeks before my class.

[Kookas]

To do that you need to have enough torque from the engine that it can overcome the bike's inertia at partial clutch. I doubt the GS has that at idle, it's not got the most torque in the world and what torque it does have is up at the top-end of the rev range. I'll try it on my own bike and see if I can do it, though.

Where are you from?

[T-Rex]

Hi guys,
@mr72 i once tried to warm bike for 1 minute and 30 seconds,and i thought it enough-can you tell me what is ideal time for warming up bike?
I wanted to buy bike first,then go to MSF,because i wasn't sure which category should i will take-either bigger or smaller bike.
I heard GS500 is good for beginners,but it could also go at decent speed.
To me,speed isn't everything,i more go for easy maintain,good look,cheap registration,and easy to operate.
I was thinking about few bikes,which had 250ccm-600ccm,and from what i heard and see,GS500 seems like a best decision.
As for MSF,it is indeed required to finish in order to ride a bike.
However i have unexpected financial tax that i need to cover,before i can go to MSF.
Since i don't have license i go at night on empty parking lot to practice.
And for info,i do have license for moped that i rode for a year,but that was smallest category that's available,and it only had 2BHP so...
GS500 is different game,it's 3 times heavier,bigger and it has much,much more BHP,so i need new category license.
PS is in Croatia.

@Kookas OK,once you try that,come here and share your experience.
I'm from Croatia,small country east from Italy.

[mr72]

A GS500 is not fully warmed up until you actually ride it for about 15-20 minutes. But it should be warmed up enough to run with the choke turned off after 30 seconds of running with the choke on. It can still be a little bit troublesome at or near idle before it's fully warmed up so that's why I mentioned it.

The GS500 is a perfectly fine beginner motorcycle and you will not have any lack of speed. It blows away most cruiser type motorcycles and will also smoke nearly all cars on the road in terms of acceleration. But to get it to run that fast requires revving to 9K rpms between shifts, and if you shift routinely like I do at 6K or so then it's pretty docile and easy to manage. But it is still a 400 lb machine that if you lay on the throttle coming out of a turn, like say turning right after a stop, you can find a way to get in trouble pretty fast. I'm not talking about "it will kill you" kind of trouble, but you might lay it down at a low speed and bruise your pride and break off a mirror. For the very first times learning to use the throttle and clutch, I think a smaller-displacement and lighter motorcycle is just much better. You'll feel much more capable with the GS after spending a day on the driving range in the MSF class, I guarantee. 

[Watcher]

I was reading on few forums that some bikes can go without using throttle and just using clutch in friction zone,so i would like to know is GS500 capable of doing same?
I also watched video on youtube in which guy went in friction zone just by different sound of revs-can i hear that on GS500 too?

I'd almost say that any bike can be launched with no throttle so long as the rider is REALLY good at using the clutch.  If you're slow and smooth and can keep the bike from dying eventually you'll have the clutch fully released and the bike moving.  That being said, at idle RPM while moving the bike will be very luggy, which isn't the most gentle on the drive-line and is really unstable, so I don't ever advise doing this.


As far as hearing the RPMs, yes, you can totally do this.  My Ducati doesn't even have a tachometer, many motorcycles don't, and you have to go by sound/feel.  Truth be told I think the tachometer isn't really necessary for normal riding, and is only trivially useful in some situations like getting to know optimal shift points when racing or trying to stay away from the "red-line" when riding really aggressively.

[user11235813]

@T-Rex, seriously mate, you're overthinking this. Give it some wellie, let the clutch out and be done with it.

I think you're going to be happier if you adjust the idle speed knob to be 1300 when it's cold and been running for a couple of minutes. It will likely creep up to about 15-1600 after 20 mins, but don't worry about it nothing will break. Turn it down to 1200 when fully warmed up in a few weeks, I think this will make things work a bit better for you.

[Kookas]

I was reading on few forums that some bikes can go without using throttle and just using clutch in friction zone,so i would like to know is GS500 capable of doing same?
I also watched video on youtube in which guy went in friction zone just by different sound of revs-can i hear that on GS500 too?

I'd almost say that any bike can be launched with no throttle so long as the rider is REALLY good at using the clutch.  If you're slow and smooth and can keep the bike from dying eventually you'll have the clutch fully released and the bike moving.  That being said, at idle RPM while moving the bike will be very luggy, which isn't the most gentle on the drive-line and is really unstable, so I don't ever advise doing this.


As far as hearing the RPMs, yes, you can totally do this.  My Ducati doesn't even have a tachometer, many motorcycles don't, and you have to go by sound/feel.  Truth be told I think the tachometer isn't really necessary for normal riding, and is only trivially useful in some situations like getting to know optimal shift points when racing or trying to stay away from the "red-line" when riding really aggressively.

My old GS500 had a broken tacho. Problem was, it was also my first manual bike (not the first time I had ridden one as I had to for my licence test). I had absolutely no idea what revs I was doing and was afraid of overrevving it so I probably didn't take it over 5000 the whole time I had it. I felt like that sounded like I was overrevving it. The first time I took my current F over 5000, I was afraid of pushing it too hard. Then I realised how much more torque and sound is up there and was shocked at how much I had missed out on with the previous bike!