New owner general questions

[bmagnant]

I just bought a 1997 gs500e off this forum.  i have been looking for one for a couple years but couldnt find one.  found this forum on a wednesday and had a bike on friday.    I have a couple questions.  It runs alittle rough til it warms up.  And I see that it is common to rejet the carbs on this bike.  How much is a far price for a dealer to do it.  I'm at school so i have no tools or place to work on it.  I would have to wait til june to go home to do it myself so i was wondering if it would be worth it.  Also would a drop in K&N filter help me.

thanks for any info and thanks for the great forum.  just a note should make this forum a little easier to find on google or yahoo.

thanks
bob

[The Buddha]

Forum on wednesday, bike on friday... wowee... we are good aren't we...
Anyway re-jetting is nearly mandatory... as is chopping that fender off. Dealers charge a bundle of $$$ and dont do the part that is needed most. Anyway you could buy tools and do it for less than what a dealer will hit you for. I will start you off light and easy... some wrenches (metric only) and screwdrivers will let you take the tank off and the tops of the carbs off... Put in a pair of those #2 washers under each needle... Open it slowly and when there is plenty of light... dont lose the O ring... and remember the parts that came out and in what order and put it back in the same way. Your needle will help the mid range a lot, and help the low end a little and top end a little. Make sure carbs are clean... running 2 tank fuls in rapid succession usually take care of that, and air filter is clean... the paper unit can be immersed in gas and sloshed around and it cleans up. I slice the top off a milk bottle and use it for these things.
Cool.
Srinath.

[The Buddha]

Then if you are more confident... you can use the same tools to put in 40 pilots, 125 mains and take out the brass cap off the air screws. Forgot to say that.
Cool.
Srinath.

[gsJack]

<<< It runs alittle rough til it warms up >>>

I put almost 80k miles on my 97 without rejetting.  Runs poorly till warmed up, but I had an old Honda I used in the winter.  Now that the 97 GS500 is my winter/bad weather bike, I'll be rejetting it before next winter.

It's hard to tell what exactly you mean by running rough, but when my 97 had a tight valve it would run rough till warmed up and then smoothed out.  Valve clearances increase as the engine warms up.  Be good idea to check the valve clearances soon as you can.

<<< re-jetting is nearly mandatory... as is chopping that fender off >>>

I know the fenderectomy is real popular around this board, but I would not do it living in NE OH.  Probably OK in southern California.   :lol:  :lol: I never did it on the 97, but the 04 that I bought slightly used last fall already had it done.  Boy does the bikes rear end get sloppy running in the wet and I use my bikes in all kinds of weather.  A lot more splash on the rider's back too.  Guess they put those fenders on for a reason.  

[aslam]

Oh yeah no problems with chopped fender in SoCal.  

ASLAM.