Power?

[Ziggy_37]

Hi all.
My son is looking to buy a new bike next spring he is looking at the EX500 and the GS500F. He is 17 120 pounds 6' he now rides a XT225 this will be his 2nd year on it. The xt225 is a very tame bike and very easy to throw around. So l would like his next step up to be mildly comparable not a screaming crotch rocket. So how is the GS for power can it do a throttle wheelie just by cracking the throttle wide open? What is the top speed? How does it handle at slow parking lot speeds (heavy)also how does it handle at fast speeds. What does it cruise at,will it cruise at 60-65 all day long. How is it for long rides comfortable (riding pos) and how's the seat? Does the fairing do a good job for wind protection. Does this bike have any known problems that need to be addressed? l have read posts here concerning over heating in traffic is this common or isolated? Any thoughts or opinions you can give us on this bike would be great!

[dorian chapman]

I just got this bike earlier this fall.
I live in Victoria, and have yet to have a problem with the overheating, altohguh it only gets to be about 25 C in the summer, and have yet to ride it during the hottest months july/august.
As for the fairings, Mine as well as the majority of other owners on this site are models without fairings.
Parking lot speeds, sometimes I find it a littel heavy, but your son is 6', where i am about 5'10" he may find longer legs balance it better. (we're both around the same wieght)
It cannot do a throttle wheelie, although I am not 100% postive, i am sure people on this board have been able to figure it out.  But it is definatley not just a snap of the wrist up she comes.  I have popped the clutch in 1st off stop's and never brought it up (althoguh i wasn't really trying to).
I went for a highway ride the other week for the first time, and not sure if the fairings would have helped, or if it was just my light weight, but I found i was getting blown around a fair amount.  In Victoria it gets really windy though. (enoguh it knocked my bike over while i was at work one time, the cover was on and helped act as a "sail")
Top speed...never came close, others on this board will know.

Comfortable...I have always just been too excited to be riding to notice any pain ! although sometimes after longer rides (especially if i have a passenger) my neck will hurt later that night. Probably cause I'm trying to avoid my GF hitting her helmet off mine !

But it is definately a great choice, and i am extremely happy with my choice, i wouldn't choose anything else. Great bike for learning too.  I rode dirtbikes for fun for 10 years, and go this, and have definately caught myself making possbily hazerdous mistakes  if i were on a bigger/faster bike.

[GRU]

i'm sure he will love the GS....

no, the GS can't wheelie with the throttle   ....i will wheelie in 1st if the clutch is dropped so you get the picture....it puts about 40hp to the rear wheel and that's less then the ex500 which has about 12 more hp...top speed is around 185 or 200 on the speedo because of the error....the gs outhandles the ex and is very light and easy to control...i have never riden a ex but i hear that you can't even compare the handling of a ex with a gs.....also i hear that people say the enigne is bulletproof so it will run all day...there was  a race in england couple of months ago and i belive it was 4 hours long, the gs didn't have any problems...the rider possition is a little "cruiser like" which i don't like but because of that the rider is more comfortable....

problems: jetting is the only big problem the gs has....most of us have rejetted our GS because the stock is lean but many people here have a stock GS and have no problems.....another problem is the suspention but your son is light and it will NOT be a problem.....i'm 200 lbs and i have no problems

[pantablo]

i'm sure he will love the GS....

...top speed is around 185 or 200 on the speedo because of the error....

you MUST be speaking of km/h! LOL. I've seen 125mph on mine but it needed time and lots of work to get it there. The bike is light around town and a great bike. The ex500 is a comparable bike and the gs usually beats it in mag comparisons on value alone, they are that close. However, one thing the ex500 doesnt have is any real internet support like this site. THAT is a big bonus.

The gs needs fork springs as they are a weak point. I'm 120# and I needed to upgrade them. Otherwise you bottom out on driveway aprons, and hard braking? forget it...serious bottoming. Canyon carving pretentions? Definitely get the springs and replace the rear shock with a late model katana 600 shock-direct bolt on.

The bike is a standard riding position, commonly referred to as sit-up-and-beg. The seat on the 89-00 were hard but the 01-04 are very comfy. I'd done about 400 miles in one ride, of canyons, and was only getting a little sore in my neck on the last 40 miles or so. There are people here that do long touring on the gs.

Rejetting the carbs because they're lean from factory is good to do but not absolutely necessary. It will speed up warm up times and engine will run a bit cooler. Engine does not have a history of overheating, unless you'relow on oil. They do tend to burn a bit of oil so you do need to keep an eye on it.

Fairings? cant comment-the 04 is the first year the US gets a gs500 with fairings.

Good luck and welcome to the site. pop into my site as well for lots of compiled info and mod ideas for the gs...

[Lukewarm Wilson]

The GS500 is a great little bike easy to ride good to learn on and not to powerful.
No wheelstands under throttle, very comfy well for my 56Kilos it is have done 500-600 ks in a day no real pain, top speed well Ive seen 170kmh but backed off at a guess 185kmh but others will tell u more or less, high speed handling (if u call it that) is good if your smooth otherwise front is a little soft.
Cut a long story short your son could do no better then buying a GS and at least you know on a GS he will be as safe as he can be (bike wise) the rest will be up to him and not the bike  
also reliability is not an issue they are bullet proof
P.S cant comment on faring as I dont have one but I have a Givi screen and am very happy with it