Help with new bike - Carburators

[Bautitz]

Hi everyone!

I recently purchased a 2008 GS500 (in March). I'm from Brazil, we don't have the 500F model.



Mine is just like this one.

Has anyone used the carburetor repair kit from AliExpress?

I'm thinking about opening my carburetor to see if it is ok. The carburetor will turn 17 years old.

[karlhoffman_76]

Hi everyone!

I recently purchased a 2008 GS500 (in March). I'm from Brazil, we don't have the 500F model.



Mine is just like this one.

Has anyone used the carburetor repair kit from AliExpress?

I'm thinking about opening my carburetor to see if it is ok. The carburetor will turn 17 years old.

Is there a specific issue with your carbs at the moment, or you're just curious about what condition they are in?

I would avoid cheap Chinese knockoff parts if I could help it. Always purchase genuine seals, O-rings and gaskets at the very least.

[Bautitz]

Hey, sorry for the late reply.

Actually, I wanted to open it and get an overall look. I can't find any original parts here in Brazil—Suzuki doesn't manufacture them anymore. Some parts they can't even import. I've found a few old parts in storage, but people sell them like they're gold.

I'm thinking of buying them on eBay. Do you know any other way to get original parts or good-quality aftermarket ones?

[karlhoffman_76]

Hey, sorry for the late reply.

Actually, I wanted to open it and get an overall look. I can't find any original parts here in Brazil—Suzuki doesn't manufacture them anymore. Some parts they can't even import. I've found a few old parts in storage, but people sell them like they're gold.

I'm thinking of buying them on eBay. Do you know any other way to get original parts or good-quality aftermarket ones?

I can't help you with that unfortunately. There is CMSNL (cmsnl.com), but they'll screw you on shipping, and they ain't the cheapest either. If you're not doing it as a project and don't wanna fork out for shipping, and just need a daily rider, you're *probably* okay to use cheap Chinese stuff. But there's no guarantees that it'll work or last long, just bear that in mind. If you do go down the route of using the cheap stuff, be sure to report your findings here for others who may be interested.

Regarding tearing down and cleaning your carbs, it's likely the screws holding the float bowl and the top cap onto the body will be difficult to remove (they tend to stick hard if they haven't been removed in a long time). My advice, instead of striping the screw head trying to get them off, use a small pair of vice grips to break them first. This works a treat on stuck screws without stripping them. Some people opt to replace them with hex socket screws, though I've never needed to do this.

While your in there though, check your jet sizes and make sure they are the same in both carbs. If you have the stock airbox, make sure that you are using the stock jets and don't overjet without removing the airbox and replacing it with a lunchbox filter, or you'll be running way too rich.

[Armandorf]

yo can use yamaha parts for models that hace the same carburetor: raptor 450 ATVs for example. look for other models that use the same carburetors

[cbrfxr67]

I use all kinds of stuff from aliexpress for the gs and whatever else I'm working on

[Bautitz]

Thank you guys for the advice. Sorry for taking so long to respond!

[Armandorf]

Well, I used orings from the hardware store and they are cracked and dry, died in two years, so.
Many options
1 nothing will ever be as good as the original
2 you finfd an excellent aftermarket fabricator/provider
3 you try to get some oring from other bikes, with some patience a good bike shop seller should be able to help you. Other bikes with same carb or same sized spares
4 chinesium, if it is cheap is good enough, at least for now
5 if you find oem at decent price go grab it

Anyways at this point of time you will have to take apart carbs every couple years.

Alcohol in gas is a problem for these rubber pieces