Alright so this is my first post! I'm the proud owner of my very first motorcycle, which happens to be the amazing GS500 8) I bought a 2005 GS500f with 1400 miles on it in early May. Just took my MSF and got my license. Everything has been pretty fine and dandy up to a few days ago.... Ill get back to that... My very first problem that I thought would be easy to fix was that when I was trying to hold the revs at about 2k they would drop then come back up and make sort of a little cough noise from the left side. I figured it was old gas since the PO had it stored all winter and hadn't done anything with it since. I drained the tank and put fresh new gas in with a little fuel stab for good measure... Problem not fixed :cry: It kept doing it and I figured it might just work itself out or something since it was fine holding at higher revs... So skip ahead a few weeks, shiny new license in hand and ready for my first legal ride, I set off on what became a (mostly) amazing ride. I rode for about an hour and a half and I had a blast! Everything was perfect!.... Until I was about four miles away from my house... I'm coming up to my turn and the bike starts lugging, i get closer to said turn and the engine dies... I go over everthing i can sitting with a dead bike that wont start in a turn lane... Wont start.. i pop it into neutral and push it to the side of the road, hop back on and it starts up like nothing happend :dunno_black: I ride a little more, almost the same thing happens.. Bike starts lugging except this time when i try to give it throttle, nothing happens, revs drop and idles while I'm coasting to a safe spot while still trying to give it throttle then dies... This happens about three more times til I can get home. The next day I try to start it, it has trouble starting, but I manage to get it going with full choke. I slowly let the choke out like always but it dies everytime. I let the choke out half way and it will hold around 3k, until I try to rev it and it kills the engine. Oh and when it does hold at 3k its backfiring every so often... Tried new spark plugs cause the old ones didn't look too good but it didn't help... I really don't know where to start. I'm throwing my problem to the very helpful souls of GS-twins in hope of some expert advice. Thanks in advace!!
oh yeah! Bike pics! (http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k547/Slagie90/Zuki.jpg)
Wow, posted almost 5 hours ago and still no help. That's very unusual for this forum :o. My suggestion is to start with the simple stuff first. Put gas in the tank even if you think you have enough...seriously. I worked on my 4 wheeler for hours just to find out it was almost out of gas. I could even see gas in the tank at the time. If that's not it then try putting the fuel petcock on PRI. Maybe someone who knows more about the GS will chime in as well.
kinda had a similar issue with my 04 when i got it. first step... get a small cup or some small tubing and drain the carb bowls (small screws on the side of the carb facing out with a 1cm long male fitting sticking out) if theres crap in the fuel that came out... you probably need to clean the carbs out.
next step if 1st came out clean. open the fuel door and turn the petcock to pri and see what happens when it idles. if it runs then you need to clean out your fuel cap. (search is your friend here)
before any of that is done I would take a small mirror and put it under your carbs to see if the brass plugs are still in place, if not then your PO did some carb tuning. You might need to dig into the carbs to see what he did before we can accurately diagnose anything...
take pics and upload and we can help diagnose more, learning to tear into your carbs is very handy if you plan on keeping the GS for a long time... read as much as you can and use the search its the best way to learn whatever you want...
Slagie:
What you describe sounds Exactly like a lack of gas. Looking in the tank is NO indication of how much gas you have left. The petcock's hiehgt juxtaposed with the tank's configuration mean, it looks like heaps of gas but it is not enough to cover the petcock in sufficient volume to feed a running engine. Solution = fill her up. Actually...
Fill her up
Reset trip meter to zero
Every 200 miles fill her up again and again reset trip meter.
So in your case, flick to Res and ride to a gas station first. Fill up, reset trip meter, flick back to main, ride off. :thumb:
Michael
Thanks for the replies guys! So I drained the bowls a little while ago and it seemed pretty clean... A couple of specks here and there but that could have came from the tube i used to drain it. I filled it up and it seemed pretty thirsty so maybe I was just low on gas :dunno_white: it ran fine after I took the choke off this time and it didn't die when I gave it gas. It would be nice if that was the problem lol ill need to play with it some more before I can be sure though. The revs still drop at around 2k, Ill post a vid so you guys know what I'm talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1GXi0V55FA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1GXi0V55FA)
I had the same issue.Your bike is backfiring through the carbs.That is what the faint popping sound is.You need to clean the carbs and check the carb intake boots for cracks and leaks.Some people spray WD-40 on the intake boots while the bike is running.If the bike revs up there is a leak.Replace the intake boots and o rings.If not,it is probably a clogged jet or mix/pilot screw.
Here is my write up on cleaning a gas cap just in case.Takes about a half an hour when you tank your time.Pics
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41061.0
If you suspect a bad petcock,it's cheaper to upgraded it.The original ones are to blame for a lot of running issues.Someone else came up with the replacement part.I just did a how to on the conversion.Pics
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=56352.0
Welcome Slagie!
Thanks for the welcome and all the help guys :bowdown: so I'm not too familiar with carbs and stuff like that but I'm more then willing to learn. How hard of a job would it be to clean them and check the boots like you said?
Quote from: Slagie on June 22, 2011, 10:59:18 AM
Thanks for the welcome and all the help guys :bowdown: so I'm not too familiar with carbs and stuff like that but I'm more then willing to learn. How hard of a job would it be to clean them and check the boots like you said?
It's not hard at all.Takes me about two hours.The first time it took me an afternoon.Pick up a Clymer manual for your bike will help.
Here is a how to.
http://gstwin.com/carb_work.htm
An how to check your carb float level.
http://gstwin.com/float_height_check.htm
Take pics and label where stuff goes.Don't rely on memory.