Hello fellow GSers,
I hope your Thanksgiving was better than mine: I just got bad news from my mechanic about my '01 GS500 needing a major rebuild of one of the two cycilnders and wanted to check with the board about hints on how to handle this.

Background: this is my first bike (over 50cc) and as such is passible to have suffered from my being a novice at tending to her, but I got it serviced regularly and always garaged it. Even though I am in a fairly warm climate (San Francisco) it always needed long warm-ups (5-10 minutes) before being able to not die at red lights; this was a known behavior and I just lived with it.

Up to three months ago I used it to commute to work (~26 miles each way), so it was used regularly and never had any issue. Since then though I changed job and now I use it only a little (< 10 miles) on Sundays.

Things were running fine, with the exception that starting it on Sundays mornings became increasingly hard. I thought it was the battery giving out as the short ride was not wnough to get it recharged, and when I began to need to push-start it, I decided to get the mechanics to look at it.

He came back letting me know (I could not speak to him yet) that one of the two cylinders has very low compression and needs to be rebuilt (he used a specific term like "a new top" or similar).

This will cost me about $1500. When I asked the person on the phone (not the mechanic, unfortunately) why this happened the mentioned that it scould be low oil (but it did not seem low), a burned valve and that "sometimes these things just happen" ( :x ). I shold talk to the actual mechanic tomorrow and hopefully he will give me a better answer, but am now wondering whether or not to go through with the repair.

Do you know if one such repair will get the bike (9200 miles so far) in a good state for a long life (say anoter 30,000 miles) or if the engine is now just too compromised?

Do you have any idea if, fro what I said above, I was doing something wrong or something was wrong with it from the start (I get service from the dealer and bought it at 400 miles)? Any tips to avoid this in the future (nbeside getting looked at as soon as the starting gets flaky again)?

Thanks, I hope to be riding again soon...

Running lean will cause it to warm up slowly.  It also causes high combustion temperatures.  Depending on how lean it runs, it can sometimes cause combustion temperatures to be high enough to burn the exhaust valve.

Talk to the actual mechanic and get as much information as you can.  Have him show you the engine, and what lead him to his decision on the problem.

Good luck!  Sorry you've had so much trouble.  Surely they will help you fix your problems and your bike will feel completely different when you get it back.

-Danimal

Adjust your valves. Then get a different mechanic. heck if I was in CA I'd have checked it myself and told ya what is what.
Cool.
Srinath.

Who did you take it to?

MotoJava is in SF and can be found on MotoJava.com, he is reputable and honest. You can also find him on BayAreaRidersForum.com.

Did you check the oil level after a ride, every week, once a week?

Ja, if all the guy did was measure the compression... a too-tight valve will give you low compression and make the bike run shittily, too.

Pulling the heads is not difficult. As the folks said, try adjusting the valves and specifically, look for a tight exhaust valve. Then recheck the compression. If the valve burned, that would require removing the head and having the new valve installed, along with a valve seat (if possible) and maybe a valve guide.

Just removing the head yourself and getting it to a good shop would save you big money, well worth investing in a shop manual and basic tools.

And, when you have the top off, then you can inspect the cylinders for scoring or wear, if any.

I think they were trying to fleece a newbie.  

A 4 year old bike with less than 10K miles shouldn't need a top end rebuild, no matter how badly flogged it was.

Check the valve clearances yourself (plenty of guidance on that to be found here)  and see if that fixes it up. If it still behaves dodgy. Take it to another shop as a second opinion.

Yeah, something sounds fishy here.  Let's hear what the mechanic has to say.

Thanks for all the help!
Given the amount of time needed to learn how to open up an engine I am not going to do it up myself (bad attitude, I know, but I learned in the past that I just need to find the right people and then trust them with the care of what I can't do myself... sorta like with dentists   )

scratch:
they are  Golden Gate Cycles. I think I saw some good references for MotoJava on BARF indeed.... not expected to need 'em so soon, though!

I'll see what the actual mechanic says...
and then bring it somewhere else

One more thing: since the bike is running (once the warm-up is done), would I risk braking it [more] by riding it to the next service place?

Thanks again!

It shouldn't cost that much anyway even if it needed to be rebuilt.  I had a new rod, new piston (both on the left), new rings, hone, new head, three angle valve job, carbs cleaned, etc., for half that amount.

Mine actually needed it.

I don't know if you've been payin' attention to any of the news on Barf, but there hasn't been any positive postings on GGC, lately; all negative.

How is the bike running now?

I paid 1500 for my whole bike and engine w/ 11k. for 600 you could get a ebay semi new engine and bolt it in yurself.  its so easy my dog could do it.

-ash

Quote from: scratchI don't know if you've been payin' attention to any of the news on Barf, but there hasn't been any positive postings on GGC, lately; all negative.

Yep, I saw that, but from what I can tell it was mostly about their sales people. And so far the service dept did not gave me any grief and the jobs they did in the last years seemed fine.

Quote from: scratchHow is the bike running now?

As I said, once started and warmed up it runs fine (for what I can say, being a novice), only slight low mileage compared to what I sae on this board (I get around 42-44 mpg).

Quote from: ashmanfor 600 you could get a ebay semi new engine and bolt it in yurself.

That's exactly the kind of things I cannot do... probably, had I known how to do that, I would have avoided this whole issue altogether...

Allright, since it seems to be running allright, expecially since you have been having all the routine maintenance done regularily, I would take it to Paul at MotoJava to get a second opinion; maybe even pm him on Barf (he's MotoJava). And, who knows, he might even quote you a better price to do the work.

Running when hot = tight valve ... dead giveaway, I have posed that in detail in the past ... ofcourse also a lean motor ... carbs are definetly one to check into as well.
Cool.
Srinath.

bribe scratch or bob b. with beer and cash to come fix it.

Or davipu as well ...  :lol:
In fact ... get on the list for the shim kit, get yourself a copy of the video (cut by our own kerry ... extrordinary instruction Video) ... and look at it. The rest should be like ... damn its that simple. I should never take it to a mechanic again. BTW ... my brother used to take his bike to Spears enterprises when he lived there.
Cool.
Srinath.

has anyone heard from kerry lately to get his permission to Dub his CD?