Gs500e 2 month roadtrip (help!)

[Mikzr]

Hi! Currently about 2 months from leaving on a 2.5 month roadtrip from denmark to tajikistan and back.

Its around 20.000 Km full trip and i bought my 2002 gs500e with 20.000 km's on it back in January...

i've tried to learn as much about the bike as humanly possible the last few months but as a fairly inexperienced rider (4 months of riding currently), My main concern is that something might go wrong with the bike that i cant fix on the road... so far ive dealt with a leaky front fork, oil change, chain and gear change along with some smaller adjustments. Its my first bike and ive never touched anything mechanical before other than my old toyota aygo which also is quite simple. so far ive planned to change the oil the halfway mark and we are bringing enough tools to do simple repairs and adjustments along the way, i chose the gs500 as it seems reliable and is a lovely simple bike.


My main question is!

Is there anything i should be worried/concerned about as far of driving that far, are the any known faults that i should be aware of and need to plan for?

[mr72]

That's a 21 year old motorcycle. Every part you have not yet replaced is 21 years old. And since you have only been riding 4 months, my guess is you have not owned it for the past 21 years, so you are not positive about the service history or how it was treated. Unfortunately, the real fatal flaw with GS500s is that they are seen as cheap motorcycles and often owned by beginners who abuse them (myself included), so by now any one you buy likely has an undocumented history of abuse, neglect, and improper maintenance by a series of beginner owners.

If you really want to get more prepared, here's what I'd consider: The most likely thing to leave you stranded that could happen at this juncture is a broken clutch cable, and you can carry a spare, or just proactively replace it and put the one you take off in your bag as a spare. Electric/starting issues are far and away the most common problems, but you can buy batteries, relays, fuses etc. along the way. I had to replace my starter at about this age, but I don't know how common that is. Still, it's not a prohibitively expensive part and would be smart to change it before you leave, just in case. The regulator/rectifier is a common failure point on these bikes at this age, and if it were me, I would replace it with a MOSFET unit before leaving on a trip like this. These are all of the predictable things I can think of. Mostly it's that you are approaching the service lifetime of some of the parts of the bike, even if they were not abused or neglected. You are risking one of them failing while on the trip, so may as well replace them ahead of time.

If you can DIY then the clutch cable, starter and MOSFET reg/rect should set you back less than whatever the Danish equivalent of $300 USD is. If you have to hire someone, well the MOSFET reg/rect is off the table since that requires wiring mods, but then you are going to be spending real money on these preemptive repairs, which IMHO would be better spent by selling the GS and replacing it with a 2-3 year old CB300R or Ninja 400. That would be a bike with virtually no risk of major problems happening during your trip, like broken cam chain tensioner or starter clutch etc. which do happen to GS500s with alarming regularity and often have serious collateral damage. Plus you could then sell the Honda or Kawasaki when you get home and recover the majority of your expense, and then buy an old project bike if you want after that. GS500s are a dime a dozen.

[Bluesmudge]

The nice thing about the GS500 is that any mechanic in any country can work on it and figure out a way to get it running. The bad part is that it's not the most reliable bike in the world. It's basically a late 1970s design, which was a time when most cars rarely made it past 100,000 miles and a bike with 30,000 was considered high mileage.
I've never gone more than 15,000 miles on mine without some sort of major repair, but I've also never had an issue getting parts or finding someone who could fix it. The GS500 is a good bike if you pay attention to it and learn what your specific GS500 needs. Most will do okay with regular oil changes and valve clearance adjustments.
The issue with a new bike is that it will probably do the whole trip without issue but if it does have a problem you might have trouble finding parts and someone to work on it.

What goes wrong on your GS500 can't be predicted. Mr72 says the regulator but I have almost 60,000 miles on mine and have never had an issue with it. I've had the signal generator go bad, but some people have gone 100,000 miles on a GS without ever even learning what that is.

I would just learn how to change the oil/filter (and do it every 4,000 miles max but check oil level each fuel stop until you learn your bike's oil consumption at various speeds). Learn how to adjust the clutch cable. Learn or have someone else do a valve clearance check right before you go (valves should be good for the whole trip but Suzuki says to check them every 4,000 miles). Make sure you have a fresh chain/sprocket/tires and carry a tire plug kit with vulcanizing plugs and a bicycle pump so you don't get stopped by a simple nail in the tire or a worn out chain. Learn how to adjust the chain slack since it needs to be done often. And ideally have a chunk of change in case you need to pay a mechanic to fix the bike along the way. You will be riding on roads, and roads have other people who can help you get your bike to a mechanic if something bad does happen.

[Bluesmudge]

ooops double post

[mr72]

What goes wrong on your GS500 can't be predicted. Mr72 says the regulator but I have almost 60,000 miles on mine and have never had an issue with it. I've had the signal generator go bad, but some people have gone 100,000 miles on a GS without ever even learning what that is.

Yep. And this is because all of the parts are 20+ years old, so there is a bell curve for time to failure, and there are some on the left side of the curve and others on the right, so you never know. But if it's a unique part, hard to find (signal generator is a good example), cheap and easy to replace, then I would proactively replace it before doing a 12k mile trip on a bike that already is 20 years old with 12k miles on it. That's just how my risk tolerance goes, given I can afford to fix stuff and have good tools and decent mechanical ability.

[Bluesmudge]

A new signal generator is expensive though and unlike the regulator/rectifier you can't swap in a low mileage one from some newer bike. Its specific to the GS500 as far as I know, and even one of the few parts that's very year specific. I think there were 3 versions.

It's also one of the hardest electrical components to test when it does go bad since it usually tests ok while cold. I had one signal generator fail randomly at 20,000 miles for absolutely no reason and another fail because I pinched it in a crash bar but it took several thousand miles after installing the crash bar for the pinch to cause issues so when it happened I was on the side of the highway in 100 degree heat in Nevada with no clue as to what was wrong.

I love when people can say their bike, "never left them stranded." Ha. I've lost count of how many times my GS500 has ended up on a trailer/tow truck. But it has been to both Mexico and Canada, so you can road trip on it.

[moe_tunes]

For such a long road trip I would make sure the brake pads are new, the disks are in spec and the fluid has been changed. That's just me, I like stopping when necessary...

Sounds like a fun trip.

[gruntle]

Hey Mikzr   
Big respect, don't let these miserable old farts put you off your adventure! Here's what I'd take based on a 3000 mile (a lot more in Kilometres) trek to Poland and back with a different bike: 2 x Clutch levers, set of Clutch and both Throttle cables, Indicator, Stop and Headlamp bulbs. You'll probably need an oil change so an oil filter too. If you are short of space (hahahaha) then just the clutch lever(s) [you can thank me profusely when you get home again "grin"] I'll buy you a seriously cold beer when you get to Tajikistan, just tell me the name of the bar to send funds to - All the very best of Luck on your journey old fruit (and don't forget the clutch levers whatever else you forget!)    gruntle

[gruntle]

Read your post again and felt some further notes needed:
Your trip will be seriously smoothed by regular Oil (and Filter) changes: 20,000km is a lot of road and your bike's engine will really appreciate good lubrication. You can get engine oil anywhere, but you will definitely need to make sure you have good oil filters so take them with you and be peaceful.

You WILL break at least one clutch lever (and a brake lever too) and you will curse like billyho when you can't get one for 2 weeks in the desert - carry at least 2 levers, they cost less than 10euros each.

Your chain and sprockets will need to be in tiptop condition before you set out - if they aren't then you will very definitely need to replace at the very least a chain (get a split link for the chain if you can, much easier to change).

Cables are important too, make sure all of them are not frayed or worn, methinks a set of Clutch & both Throttle cables are essential on a journey this length.

There's shedloads to possibly carry, but the items listed above will very definately be needed and don't take up much space or weight. Above all, pace yourself and DO NOT GET VEXXED - take it easy and sail thru' the obstacles.

All the very best of luck on your journey Old Fruit, gruntle 

[Bluesmudge]

If you put dirt bike style aluminum bark buster hand guards on your bike you will be unlikely to ever break a lever. I put them on all my bikes ever since they saved my hand from a Jeep Wrangler backing into me. You also want them to keep the wind off your hands when the temperatures drop.

[Mikzr]

Already loving this community, I thank you all for some very needed advice!

currently in the process of ordering all of it... it's surely gonna be a challenge and an experience to remember wether we make it the full way or not.
The bike has had 2 owners, the first being a young girl who lowered it to height but sold it to go up in CC... the second owner got everything service and rode it 500 miles then fell Ill and sold it to me for 1500 dollars.

I've got a good list of the work the bike has had done and nothing major has failed so far (not sure if that's a good sign as it could be around the corner) I'm going to be changing the brakes, chain, oil, air filter and do a full carb clean before I leave on the trip just to make sure... I'm already planning on picking up a 90's Africa twin or a 90's transalp once I'm home!

I'll take you up on that offer of the cold beer!

[pliskin]

It's not what the bike will need....it's what will your back side need? I would ride mine all the time and the seat never got any more comfortable. Dictionary of definition of pain is the azz with a picture of the GS seat. The stock riding position was brutal for me at 5'11" with 32 inch inseam. Legs got cramped as well as neck and back. Take a big bottle of painkillers. As far as the bike goes bumpy back roads will wreck havoc on the front suspension. I think someone already said this but you'll probably need to adjust your chain at some point on a long trip like that.