I just bought a 2004 GS500F with 1000 kms on it and remaining warranty. When I brought it home I heard a knocking noise that was somewhat intermittent.

If I put the bike on the kickstand the knock would become louder and constant.  :x

After getting fed up with dealers saying it was "normal engine noise" and after reading posts about camshaft endplay... I decided to e-mail suzuki canada.

A few hours later they sent me an e-mail that read:

Thank you for contacting Suzuki Canada.

We forwarded your message to the District Parts and Service Manager. He advises that he has contacted the dealership and provided them with part numbers of parts to order to correct your problem. They will contact you about an appointment for next week.

We trust this information is helpful.

Was I relieved!  

It turns out that they needed to replace both camshafts, four shims and some washers!

I had the repair done a week ago and to this day there has been no noise whatsoever!


So if any of you proud 2004 or 2005 GS500F owners have this knock, send Suzuki an e-mail and they will fix your bike as this is NOT normal and can reduce the service life of the engine in the long run!

What e-mail did you use? I have a 2005 and have an engine knock.

The e-mail is customerservice@suzuki.ca if you are in canada.

If you located else where go to the Suzuki website for your country and hit "contact us"

You should get this fixed asap.

Cheers,

Corey

Mine does it, but a lot of other people on here say theirs does it too.

I had the noise start about a week after I got the bike and I took it back to the dealer where they had it for 2 months. They replaced the head and some bucket shims but the noise still is there. They told me to just ride it for a 1000 miles or so and it should go away. Well, it has not and it sucks listening to it when I'm idling at a stop light. I now have 3000 miles on it and I don't want to take it back because I am afraid they will have it for another 2 months. I guess I should take care of it but I don't want to be without my bike. These damn shops are so hard to deal with I just wish that I could fix it myself.