I'm new to the wonderful world of motorcycles and have decided the GS500 is the way to go.
I prefer the "naked" bikes (up to 2002??) but need advice on evaluating used bikes. Other than rust in gas tank and leaking fork seals, and a bike that obviously hasn't been abused or raced, I don't know what to look for. What do the experts out there suggest?
Is there a certain maximum mileage I should routinely avoid? Are the years 01-02 best? Or are later bikes better buys and less likely to cause problems (it is the naked LOOK I like).?
THANKS to all of you out there and I'm looking forward to "joining the club"!
Ed
Hey, glad you decided on a GS500 as your first bike, I'm sure you'll find it a very inexpensive, yet fun and capable bike.
As far as prefering the naked look, I wouldn't shy away from the newer models. All you have to do is take off the fairing and add a headlight and it's a naked bike.
Mechanically there are VERY few changes made to the bike since its introduction in 1989, so I wouldn't say any year of the bike is better than another, it mostly depends on how well the thing is taken care of. Of course newer bikes will tend to have fewer problems, because time hasn't taken it's toll.
Problems to look out for, other than the forks and the rusty tank, mostly look out for corrosion on the frame and other components. This could indicate that in general the bike wasn't too well taken care of and there could be corrosion in the wiring, which is never fun to sort out. Also after sitting for a while the carbs may need to be rebuilt.
If the bike otherwise looks good, I wouldn't shy away from high milage bikes. I've heard of these things racking up 100,000+miles. It seems with these bikes (as well as many others) many of the problems arise when the bike sits unused for long periods of time.
My bike is a 1999 and I ride it regularly as my main transportation. The only thing that has gone wrong with it is the forks are leaking, which I haven't gotten arround to replacing. The only other thingsl I have needed to replace on it are, tires, brakes, and a chain. Normal wear items, It's a great bike
Hope this helps :cheers:
Quote from: soul40 on September 20, 2006, 11:01:08 AM
I'm new to the wonderful world of motorcycles and have decided the GS500 is the way to go.
I prefer the "naked" bikes (up to 2002??) but need advice on evaluating used bikes. Other than rust in gas tank and leaking fork seals, and a bike that obviously hasn't been abused or raced, I don't know what to look for. What do the experts out there suggest?
Is there a certain maximum mileage I should routinely avoid? Are the years 01-02 best? Or are later bikes better buys and less likely to cause problems (it is the naked LOOK I like).?
THANKS to all of you out there and I'm looking forward to "joining the club"!
Ed
I bought my bike with 24k miles on it and it suffered greatly from rust. I was able to replace most of the rusted bolts, new chain, new handlebars, repainted the exhaust.
It's really not hard to fix up and old GS500. As long as the engine and tranny are working fine it should be easy enought for any novice to maintain.
Things to NOTE as a new GS500 owner.
1. DO NOT over tighten AT ALL the caps for an oil filter during an oil change. Knowing this ahead of time and what an easy mistake it is would have saved me hours of headache. Finger tight only then maybe 1/16 or 1/8 turn past that.
2. With old bikes be wary of seized exhaust bolts in the header. If you try to take the exhaust off, and a bolt won't come out, don't force it. You CAN snap it off in the header. Not fun times.
Things you will want to perform ASAP on a newly purchased used bike regardless of what the owner says are
1. Valve adjustment
2. Clean carbs
3. Float height check
4. Clean/Chain lube
5. Change oil
6. Check chain tension
All of those tasks are very easy for ANYONE to do and will basically fix 95% of problems with the GS500.
Good luck on your purchase and welcome to the board :cheers: :cheers: :thumb:
Welcome!
You are correct about the year ranges, 89-00 are pretty much the same and 01-02 brought updates for the bike. 01-02 are not necessarily better, though some may say the body work is prettier and it does hold a little more gas. I don't know from experience, but it sounds like the 01-02 carberation might run a bit smoother with it's 3 circuit carbs (vs. 2 circuit for 89-00). Given that the 98-00s can be had cheaper than the 01-02s, I would (and did) lean towards the older bikes; the updates weren't enough for me to shell out the extra cash back then.
Acceptable mileage on the bike is not as big of a concern as how it's been cared for. But by nature a bike with 30,000 miles will have had more opportunity to be ignored or neglected than a bike with 5000 miles.
Here's a very complete motorcycle buying guide: http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html
Make sure you memorize it. :bs: