OK guys, after working with her a bit I got her running. She kind of spit at me a bit through the carbs at first. After a long warm up, that stopped, and I could see the slides (I think that is what they are called) thumping up and down in the carbs happily. She still does a lot of popping and cracking. With how she was running, and her throttle response I feel comfy taking her out for a few test hits soon, which brings me to.....
OUR FIRST DATE!!!! Now I know some of you "players" on here are going to chuckle a bit, but help a guy out here. Tell me about your GS's personality. What are reasonable expectations one should have when dealing with this lady or one of her sisters? Some useful info would be how long do you let her warm up before jumping in the saddle? When you choke is 4k RPM normal until she gets warmed or what do you prefer? How much popping and cracking is normal, and when is it a sign she should see a doctor? When you take her out to the local gas mart for drinks is there anything special your lady responds best to (someone is gonna say diesel, I just know it)? What should her normal idle be 1500, more?? Any other things a fella should look out for? Thanks a bunch guys!!
:woohoo:
My bike takes choke to get started and I leave the choke on for maybe five seconds. After that I'll either keep the engine spinning by cracking the throttle if the rpms drop or I will ride it straight away. If I ride it that soon I will just take it real easy for a minute or two to allow things to get warmed up. During this warm up period I will hear some pops and coughs, not sure the cause but I think they are coincident with misfires because the engine torque will drop suddenly.
I have a straight through exhaust and on deceleration with the throttle closed the exhaust makes a delightful crackling rumble noise.
4k idle on choke is normal. I think 1.5k idle is normal, not sure what other people run here. I have my idle set a little higher to reduce engine braking when the throttle is closed. But that's just my preference.
As far as fuel goes, just get 87 octane or whatever the low octane stuff is in your area. There is no performance gain to higher octane fuel. If you had an engine that had high compression ratio you would need the extra octane to prevent pre-ignition or "knocking."
QUARK:
A quark (/ˈkwɔːrk/ or /ˈkwɑːrk/) is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei
QUIRK:
noun
noun: quirk; plural noun: quirks
1.
a peculiar behavioral habit.
"his distaste for travel is an endearing quirk"
synonyms: idiosyncrasy, peculiarity, oddity, eccentricity, foible, whim, vagary, caprice, fancy, crotchet, habit, characteristic, trait, fad; informalhang-up
"they all know his quirks
The GS500 has both! :whisper:
Cookie
Quote from: Flameeater on July 01, 2016, 09:00:51 PM
OK guys, after working with her a bit I got her running. She kind of spit at me a bit through the carbs at first. After a long warm up, that stopped, and I could see the slides (I think that is what they are called) thumping up and down in the carbs happily. She still does a lot of popping and cracking. With how she was running, and her throttle response I feel comfy taking her out for a few test hits soon, which brings me to.....
OUR FIRST DATE!!!! Now I know some of you "players" on here are going to chuckle a bit, but help a guy out here. Tell me about your GS's personality. What are reasonable expectations one should have when dealing with this lady or one of her sisters? Some useful info would be how long do you let her warm up before jumping in the saddle? When you choke is 4k RPM normal until she gets warmed or what do you prefer? How much popping and cracking is normal, and when is it a sign she should see a doctor? When you take her out to the local gas mart for drinks is there anything special your lady responds best to (someone is gonna say diesel, I just know it)? What should her normal idle be 1500, more?? Any other things a fella should look out for? Thanks a bunch guys!!
And yet you told me of neither LOL. fixed it!
For me I'd put my jacket on and head outside, fire it up choke on, and then fit my helmet and gloves. Throw leg over, smack choke down to half-ish, side-stand up, and on the road. A few blocks down and I can usually set the choke all the way off, and we're good to go from there.
Idle should be set ~1200 RPM.
As far as choked RPMs, 4k sounds about right. The higher the revs the faster you'll heat up, but also consider how loud your bike is and where/when you're warming it up. 4am in an apartment complex running a Vance&Hines maybe keep the revs a little lower by using 3/4 choke or something.
On full choke mine would have a pop that would "shake" the idle every once in a while. If it was in a fit maybe 1 or 2 in the whole time it takes me to finish gearing up, zipper check, pick music, and then toss a leg over, sometimes none, never really was frequent. I always chalked it up to condensation in the carbs or something, I never really garage kept my GS. If it is doing it on the regular I might be concerned.
I always used the "regular" 87 octane or whatever in it. Never noticed a boost in performance or fuel economy when using premium 93, but there's a definite drain on the wallet. My current Honda calls for minimum 91 in the manual so I use 93 in it, but I don't remember the GS ever having a minimum octane statement.
I ran a few tank's worth of Torco 112 octane through it at some point. Smelled great! Other than that, I don't think it made any damn difference. Lucky for me that fuel was free, I'd be damned if I'm gonna put $40 worth of fuel in that tank!
Let us know how she treats you! Take it easy, don't pressure her into doing anything too physical right off the bat.
If you find out she likes you to wring her neck while she's being ridden then enjoy that kink to your heart's content, but be warned that if you're too rough she might stand up and run and make you walk home alone... (Twist throttle, wheelie, bucked off the back, you get it :laugh: )
Date night had to be postponed due to weather. I did get her all back together so I am ready to go once everything dries up.
The popping is pretty consistent. It happens after I rev the engine up and the revs are coming down. I am curious if it may be the muffler. It seems that the PO had drunkenly tried to make it louder with a chisel. Hard to explain so bear with me here. If you are looking into the muffler, you have an opening for the exhaust, around there I believe are supposed to be tiny holes, then the outer ring of the exhaust. It appears that someone tried to chisel out where those tiny holes would be. It doesn't sound horrible, but not what I would like. I may, at some point, either get an aftermarket, or lightly used stock muffler. I doubt very much this one can be repaired. I will try to take a pic of what I am talking about soon.
(http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc)
http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc (http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc)
Added pic and hyperlink. I think this was someones attempt at "beating out the baffles". Correct me if I am wrong.
I suppose another thought may be that she needs a valve adjustment, which I have never done, and know nothing about. What better time to learn, right?
The GS500 is an absolutely magnificent machine - but you have to scream the effin' balls off it to get it to be exciting, ie ride it like you stole it, but if you do ride it that way then you'll neeeeeed to check the valve shims VERY VERY VERY OFTEN 'cos the exhaust one's wilt massively under extreme useage megafast. If all you want is a mild mannered plodder then never revvit past 6000 and don't worry 'bout yer valves everafter.
This beasty is crap on corners but will forgive your wallyness experimenting, it's forks are appalling but hey, you have to start learning somewhere, and don't even begin to start riding it hard until you've replaced the utterly ridiculous rear shock...
but, riding a slow bike fast is SERIOUSLY more fun than riding a fast bike slow...
MASSIVE GRIN
:D
Quote from: Flameeater on July 03, 2016, 06:40:03 AM
(http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc)
http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc (http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc)
Added pic and hyperlink. I think this was someones attempt at "beating out the baffles". Correct me if I am wrong.
:cookoo:
That's quite a literal hack job, Jesus! I feel sorry for you...
That could be the cause of your popping, if you say it's when revs are falling, unburnt fuel in the exhaust is common enough but not always audible with factory silencers.
If it's popping at idle or at steady revs then it's no bueno.
Any chance you can get a video?
Quote from: Flameeater on July 03, 2016, 06:40:03 AM
(http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc.jpg)
http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc (http://imgur.com/eZ3Naoc)
Added pic and hyperlink. I think this was someones attempt at "beating out the baffles". Correct me if I am wrong.
Wow that is really sad.
The embed on that image didn't work because there is no .jpg extension. Idk why imgur does that. Also when I fixed the embed on your image it was super humongous. Imgur will allow you to link to smaller versions of your image.
Well the first date was a short one. It went better then I expected, not as well as I had hoped.
She did great at first, had more power then I expected from takeoff (felt like more power then my old Radian 600). Ended up in very slow moving traffic, barely got it out of 1st.
After a few min. she developed the high idle that almost everyone around here seems to be complaining about (I think there is at least 3 or 4 current threads about a high idle). Some poping and cracking. I could let her rest for a little while, and would get a normal 1500 idle but as soon as I would blip the throttle she would just hang at 4k and stay there until I shut her down. If I were to guess I would have to say it seemed like she was choked. I did nothing else, just loaded her up and took her home.
At this point I believe I have a few ideas what to do. Please let me know if there is anything I miss.
1. Check the idle screw
2. Check for vacuum leaks
3. Check for leaks around the carb boots
4. Double and triple check for leaks (vacuum and carb boot)
5. Check slide movement
6. ????
7. Profit!