Well, newbie to the GS500, not to bikes.  My brother has been wanting buy a bike and  learn to ride.  I picked up a 2002 GS500 off E-bay last week for him.  Paid $2500 and it  only had 741 miles!!  He has some experience but isn't really polished yet.  He's excited about it.  I told him if he didn't like it I would keep it and make a commuter bike out of it.  My 2 rides are a 2000 ZX-12R Ninja and an '05 Softail.  Kind of one extreme to the other. 

Anyway, just wanted to say hello.  Nice site you guys have here.  I learned a lot before I went to pick the bike up.  Also, ordered the Clymer manual thru your Amazon link.  Hopefully it will be here today as the bike needs a little TLC.  It had been sitting for about a year and a half.  It will crank and idle fine but bogs down when you open the throttle.  I suspect something is clogged up in the main jet or the emulsion tube.  First thing I plan to do is drain the old gas and pull the carbs to check for crud.  I am thinking that if I pull the carbs without seperating them I should not have to sync them upon installation.  Is this correct?  I hope so as I don't have any mercury tubes to perform this operation.  I'm sure the manual will cover this procedure when it arives.

Thanks,
~gymply
Current rides:  2000 Kawi ZX-12R, 2005 HD Softail 
Old rides:        1983 Honda V-45 Magna, 1994 CBR1000F, 1998 HD 1200 Sportster, 2001 HD Road King Classic       

welcome to GS land!! 

does she bog down after she's all hot and bothered?  THese bikes are notorious for slow warm up.

I would check the electricals before pulling the carbs. sure she was sitting for a good long time and you should rebuild the carbs just for the hell of it, but I just bought an 01 that sat for a yr and she started right up.
My 99' had a similar issue and I rebuild the carbs twice, and no change.  turned out one of my ignition coils had a open.

oh well.  Welcome and good luck.

correct, if you don't seperate the carbs then you shouldn't have to synchonize.  Assuming, of course, that the last owner had them set properly.  Check out this thread for an easy, cheap tool to sync them up:  http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=3521.0

Welcome to the board!

-M

Welcome to the nuthouse! It sounds as though you got a great deal! 

Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome and tips, guys.  My Clymer manual came in today so I'll be pulling the carbs this weekend.  I'll post what I find. 


Thanks,
~gymply
Current rides:  2000 Kawi ZX-12R, 2005 HD Softail 
Old rides:        1983 Honda V-45 Magna, 1994 Honda CBR1000F, 1998 HD 1200 Sportster, 2001 HD Road King Classic
 

Welcome gymply,
Where do you live?
Just ask if you need help with anything.
Best wishes,
Todd

Thanks.  I am in Fort Wort Texas. 

Thanks,
~gymply
Current rides:  2000 Kawi ZX-12R, 2005 HD Softail 
Old rides:        1983 Honda V-45 Magna, 1994 Honda CBR1000F, 1998 HD 1200 Sportster, 2001 HD Road King Classic

??Fort Wort??   That should read Fort Worth.

Edit:  Ok.  Now I see the "MODIFY" button after I created the new post.  I'm learning.  LOL.         


~gymply
Current rides:  2000 Kawi ZX-12R, 2005 HD Softail 
Old rides:        1983 Honda V-45 Magna, 1994 Honda CBR1000F, 1998 HD 1200 Sportster, 2001 HD Road King Classic