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Main Area => General GS500 Discussion => Topic started by: Poggman on April 13, 2014, 05:02:47 PM

Title: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: Poggman on April 13, 2014, 05:02:47 PM
So I bought my bike a year ago it's a 2004 gs500f with about 3,500 miles on it.

My problem is that it takes ages for the bike to get to a point where it will run decent. I cleaned the carbs out by hand last year, took them all the way out and cleaned them. I searched for a vacuum seal leak and there was nothing. I can't diagnose the issue which makes it a lot harder to fix..... I play with my idle screw a lot to get my bike to not stall out when I pull the clutch when I stop. Also the "friction zone" or whatever you call it when you start is very small and I can't leave it rolling for long without it dying out like I can on other peoples bikes. It takes about 5 minutes to warm up full choke, and will become "cold" again after about 30 minutes and this whole process will go over again, the problem is persistent in every temperature and I've read a billion of the forums on here and they just don't seem to match up or fix the problem. It did run slightly better when I cleaned them but the issue is still prevalent.

Any advice?

I'm going to rip the bike apart this weekend if anyone has some good ideas I will try them out.
Title: Re: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: bombsquad83 on April 13, 2014, 06:10:50 PM
First thing to check would be the spark plugs to see what your mixture is.  Also, have you checked your valve clearance?  It would be a little early for the clearance to be off by a lot, but good thing to check.
Title: Re: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: robfriedenberger on April 13, 2014, 06:24:22 PM
You bike sat for a long time it if it only has 3500 miles on it, you need to have them cleaned in a ultrasound machine , or boil them in lemon juice, or leave them in carb cleaner over night


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Title: Re: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: jdoorn14 on April 13, 2014, 07:20:54 PM
Part of your description makes me think that your clutch cable might need adjustment, like your comment on the friction zone. Have you checked that out at all?


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Title: Re: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: Poggman on April 13, 2014, 09:35:36 PM
I have not done anything with the clutch cable but my the bike was on storage awhile, next time I clean my carbs I'll leave the jets to soak overnight.... I will look into the valves when I break the bike apart, any other suggestions?
Title: Re: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: jdoorn14 on April 14, 2014, 05:40:08 AM
All I'm saying is that clutch lever and cable adjustment is a regular maintenance item and it might be contributing to the symptoms you're experiencing. Definitely quicker and easier to check than tearing into the carbs again. :)


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Title: Re: Poor idling, hovering idle, long warm up
Post by: The Buddha on April 14, 2014, 06:09:36 AM
This bike is lean, and it is lean from the factory.
Yea you may have a tight choke cable, a tight throttle cable, intake leak, exhaust leak, air box hoses ripped, tight valves etc etc etc and have all your symptoms ...

Or then again, you can have all those in spec and still hover and take 3 years to warm up and run right and when it is running right it will run the plugs ashy white ...

Check and fix the first set of conditions.

If that is done, rejet for the second.

Cool.
Buddha.