I'm sure that this subject has been gone over millions of times ... (I know cause I've looked in the forums) ... but I didn't see one that really matched my issue, so I thought I'd throw it out to the masses.

First off I'm VERY new to the world of motorcycles, but I'm catching on very quickly. I'm also a "first-time poster" this evening (yea!) I'm pretty mechanically sound and have ben working on my Jeep for the better part of the past few years. (I hate repair shops!) I have a '98 GS, and I LOVE IT ... but lately its started having issues ... hence the post...

When I start the bike it starts just fine ... but that's about where it stops. It will idle well into 4k RPM and won't come back down ... even after it warms up. It sounds crazy but I'm a little intimidated by working on the bike. (It sounds crazy because I'm used to working on the full V8, so the 500 shouldn't scare me, right!?! ... Anybody else fine small things creepy?)

Anyways, like I said before I've been reading past postings and things like cleaning the carbs, checking the vaccumm lines for leaks, and cleaning/ rejetting keep coming up. Are any of these things on line with the problem I've got. Maybe I'm just being hard-headed, but I'd like to do this job myself ... again, I hate repair shops!

Any and all help/ advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Scott

Adjust your idle screw?

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS FAST!!!! I've only been on for about 3min! Thanks, ajgs. We'll give it a try in the morning ... I'll post how it turns out. 

can you walk though your general starting process.. perhaps you're leaving the choke on by accident?

the idle screw, as mentioned above is super easy to get at and adjust.. you don't need any tools, other than your hands and maybe gloves on a warm engine.

I'm starting the bike at full choke. I'm leaving it at full choke until it warms up (@ 3mins), during which the idle sits at about 1200rpm. As soon as I start backing off the choke, the rpms want to spike. Does it still sounds like an idle adjust problem? Thanks again.

Where do you have the lever at full choke???

Quote from: ajgs500 on April 09, 2006, 08:19:41 PM
Where do you have the lever at full choke???

I think that I just figured out the problem ... could it be that I've been working the choke-lever in the wrong direction? (I'm retarded...)

I've been starting the bike with the choke on (with the lever all the way forward) and then pulling back as it warms up.

Am I just being WAY retared? Should I go ahead and place the FOR SALE sign on it now!?!

Yeah i think that is it....... and by forward you mean all the way toward the headlight right???

yep ....

Remember that "FARSIDE" cartoon with the kid pushing against the "pull" door ... yea, that was me. 

Well it happens to the best of us... numerous times I have tried to start the bike with the kill switch on

DAMMIT!!! That was my next problem!!! (j/k) Thanks again for all your help!!!!

Welcome!  Hopefully all your bike relate problems will be this easy to solve   If not, I'm sure we can fix those too.  Don't be scared of the 500, buy a manual (use links on gstwin to buy the Clymer at Amazon) and just work on one thing at a time.  You'll have the whole thing figured out in no time!  Hope you enjoy your GS

I've been on this website for less than a week, and I'm already hooked! Everybody here is SO helpful! THANKS AGAIN!!!!

make a mental checklist/ritual for getting on, starting, and riding away on your bike.

I've been riding motorcycles since i was really young, and i still go though the basic checklist in my head just as i did when i was 10 years old       its helpful to prevent the 'oops' moments such as kickstand mishaps.

Quote from: mike_mike on April 09, 2006, 08:49:44 PM
make a mental checklist/ritual for getting on, starting, and riding away on your bike.

I've been riding motorcycles since i was really young, and i still go though the basic checklist in my head just as i did when i was 10 years old       its helpful to prevent the 'oops' moments such as kickstand mishaps.

I don't suppose that you would mind sharing said-checklists?

Quote from: cyclin-scott on April 09, 2006, 08:52:07 PM

Quote from: mike_mike on April 09, 2006, 08:49:44 PM
make a mental checklist/ritual for getting on, starting, and riding away on your bike.

I've been riding motorcycles since i was really young, and i still go though the basic checklist in my head just as i did when i was 10 years old       its helpful to prevent the 'oops' moments such as kickstand mishaps.

I don't suppose that you would mind sharing said-checklists?

i decide if i should ride a motorcycle first of all, becuase there's days when i raced motorcross and made some really stupid painful errors becuase i probably was too tired or upset to ride a motorcycle. I imagine its different for everyone.. but for me, hunger, headaches, etc. all really affect me when i ride.

i decide if i need to check tire pressure, gas, etc. before hand based on when i last checked it, then i go though gas (doesn't apply to GS, but i check anyways out of habit that its not on reserve), choke, neutral check, start bike

when i'm ready to go and the bike is warmed up,is the choke off (some people may ride with it on, but i always wait until the bike is warmed up before i go... needless to say, with the stock GS i do some serious waiting sometimes!!) , kick stand up (the GS won't let you make this mistake), pocket check (this is a new one for me being pretty new to road riding! check for those open jacket pockets!)

when i stop, put it into neutral, turn off engine, get off bike with a hand on the front brake or at least on the lever, then apply kickstand, crank the bars to the side and then put the bike on the kickstand and think about if the surface is stable or not before i get go of the bike or leave it there for a more than a few minutes


this is what i do, in a nutshell, your results may vary, this is just stuff that has been engrained into my head for the past 10 years.