I went over to paul's place this afternoon to have a look at my GS500 and the vibration problem.

We have definately solved a part of the vibration problem, I didnt complain of aches on my hands like i did earlier this week. However I still have to track down the other vibrations.

This is what we did today.

* Put in a brand new Suzuki Airfilter (Bert's Mega Mall - $31) - Old one was really dirty.
* Bought Progressive Front Springs (Chapparl - $47 - yet to install)
* Drilled out the "mixture" screws under the carbs.
* Took pictures of certain parts of the carbs so ppl can have a better understanding of the carbs (ppl = ppl like me)
* Measured the Shims under the Tappets
* Sync'ed the carbs.

I woke up early this morning and ran to Chapparal (about 60+ miles away). I was there a bit after 8 but the progressive front springs were in the warehouse and i had to wait past 9 before i got the springs.

On the way back i called Bert's Mega Mall for the airfilter and they had a few peices so I picked that up from there rather than drive to suzuki of van nuys.

I reached home changed into the riding gear and took off. I got there at pauls place just past 1. We immediately got down to business (not before paul tested out the bike).

We took off the fuel tank and then paul expertly took off the cables to the carbs, if I were him I would label it (and I am sure i am goign to have to do that the next time around). I removed teh airfilter and we drilled out the brass plugs and used an EZout on it.

Once we got access to the screws paul looked to see what the 2001 factory mixture was set at. It was set all the way in. So we turned it 3.5 turns out. We then disassembled the top part of the carbs. We were planning to put in some washers under the needles. Unfortunately the 2001 carbs on the inside are slightly different. We couldnt figure out how to get the needles out and finally we yanked them and it came out. The stock carbs had one washer already and we couldnt find a compatiable washer in his tool kit so we left that one washer in there.

We also unscrewd the bottom screws (they needed to be hammered a few times before they actually opened). We took a photograph of the 3 jets. Stock jets are 127.5, 17, and 60. Once we did that we measured the float heights at 5 (ofcourse we only did this on one side oh well).

We then took apart the valve cover and measured the clearances. All 4 of them were TIGHT. We could barely get in our 0.0038 feeler gauge in (smallest we had).
The following are the shims on bike: A(285 - got to check), B (.111 (micrometer - paul what's teh conversion on this?), C (262), D (262).

Since I didnt have shims to do the shimming job we left it as it is. Tightened things down and then reassmbled the carbs on the bike. This took a while cause we had to figure out the cables.

We then sync'ed the carbs. The carbs were quite badly out of sync (according to paul). Once they were synced the bike not only sounded better but definately felt better at idle.

We reset the idle at 1200 RPM and I got ready to take off.

On the way back i happened to look down and notice that the petcock was in PRIME and we hadnt changed it since we synced it. So I moved it to ON and the bike promptly started to chugg.. so i put it back at prime. I brought it home in prime and then found teh error. We forgot (well either i forgot or it came out) to put in the vacume hose. I just put it in (yes at night - easier to work when the engine is cold). I again reset the idle at 1200 (when i got back from paul's place) and tommorow morning I will know how she holds.

Test Ride & Conclusion:

The bike definately feels a lot better. Part of the vibration is still there but there is a distinct part that's gone. The throttle response is really good. It now pulls from 1K to 10K in one straight line. I have bob's ignition advancer in there and prior to getting the carb synced I noticed that it pulled hard until about 4.5K rpm's and then it became a bit sluggish. However I noticed now that it actually there is no longer a sluggish feel to it. Also the flat spot at 4.5 - 5.5K is gone. It feels totally different. Now I wish i could get rid of the other vibrations. Which I think might have to do with the shims on the bike. Its smooth if I pull the clutch in at speed and cut the throttle, so its the engine that's making that vibrations.

In the end I have a whole new understanding on how the GS works. I feel i can take upon this work the next time around. Forget the clymer manual nothing beats working with someone who knows what he is doing. Hands on experience wins here.

The only other things we did is tighten a few things and adjust my sticky throttle (bar end was sticking on the throttle tube).

Anyway I am off to bed. I will test out the bike in the mornining. I reset the idle to 1200 rpms this afternoon when I got back and I just connected the vacume line. I hope having an open vacume line didnt put my engine and carbs into harm (60 miles of 90mph + riding - yes I know, but the bike really feels good it pulls strong).

Anyway pkasso (paul) will send me the pics and then we can all see parts of what we took pictures off.

Once again thanks paul.

Manjul

G'nite.

any issues with an open vacume line? that is now closed. (rode 60+ miles like that).
I am about to go for a ride..

Well its sorta like riding without an air filter or with a dirty filter. It can suck on some crap via that. However there is so much crap that the engine itself produces like carbon flakes and other stuff it hardly makes a diff in the short run. Of course if the line was open or you ride without a filter for 10,000 miles who knows what you'd ruin.
Cool.
Srinath.

I think one aspect of the problem has been fixed..

The heat has gone down. I took it for an extended ride and when i stopped finally it actually was cool running. It ran really cool. I was able to bring my hands close enough to the fins and it was not even that hot in the heat getting out. Even so the left cylinder (when sitting on the bike) seems to be running a tad bit hotter than the right.

The bike's throttle response is excellent. The buzziness has gone down considerably and the V8 shake is almost gone.

Next up: Valve adjustment (check first post for the shim sizes) .. Then maybe the progressive front forks..