I have an 08 GS500f has 20,000 miles on it and has all its routine maintenance but for some reason it it giving me a real hard time starting. It will crank and crank and crank and sometimes I have to leave it sit for 15 minutes and then it will start. Any ideas? Thanks...
Veronica
OH PS I posted once before and you guys were an awesome help :)
This happened to my friends Harley, what it was is a couple of the relays were corroded and not making good connection, Im not sure if you live in an area with corrosion problems but maybe you can go through and check your connections starting from your battery and ending at your spark plugs.
Also check your battery. I've found on my GS that if it doesn't turn over after the first one or two cranks, but does later then the battery definitely needs charging (or its really freaking cold out).
you using the choke? sorry gotta check the basics here
use choke if you don't.
how are the carbs? clean? check for clogged jets, especially pilot jet.
how does the bike run when it finally starts? is it behaving normally?
check your spark plugs. check connections as mentioned earlier.
post back with results. cheers
+1 on your battery status, definitly use the choke. Mine starts with barely a bump of the starter, provided I use choke. No choke means it might start, after almost flooding it with throttle, on cool mornings.
an '08 with 20k miles? that has to be some kind of record. :o I'm in Roanoke, maybe we could meet up this sunday afternoon and figure this thing out
i got the same problem but i just use the choke and it works sometimes. Mine is an 06 with 3500 miles
Aside from "use the choke" there's also "check that the choke is actually working" - ie, that movement at the handlebar control is translating into movement at the carburetors, and enough movement is happening - someone had a frozen choke cable and thus had ~1/4 inch movement of the lever, with essentially no movement of the mechanism at the carb, with similar hard-to-start behavior a few months back. The only times I've had plenty of crank and no start have been with forgetting the choke, or forgetting to prime if carbs had been drained. Hmm - might try turing to prime for 10 seconds or so before turning back to on and cranking - perhaps you have a slow leak/drip at the carb drains dropping the fuel level, if the choke is working OK.
Something wrong on the electrical (spark) side would be the other option, but that seems less likely given that it eventually starts and runs.
Hi sorry, I have been out of town and didn't get to check this. The choke has to be on for it start when it is running like this. I will have someone check the spark plugs but everything mentioned has been checked. The person in Roanoke? Thanks for offering. Would love to meet up and ride. I am in Roanoke often. Just let me know when is good. Thanks everyone :) Appreciate all the answers...
Veronica
OH The 20,000?? LOL I LOVE my bike and I take it everywhere I can. I took it up to NY in the spring and many trips to Virginia Beach this summer and last. Thanks again. Love this site....