Hey, got my GS500E a while ago and just been riding the past 2 days (65 miles woot!) its a great bike, no wonder this thing has such a following. anyway i have a couple questions:
1. the PO of my bike had the exhaust taken off completely, there is just a pipe. ive never ridden bikes before (other than MSF) so i have no judgement of sound. does this make the bike to loud? i really dont want to attract any attention from the local law enforcement but if its no louder than an aftermarket system i guess i wont really worry about it
2. is the feul petcock needed? the PO also removed that but i didnt think it was critical. just wondering if it would cause the carbs to flood the bowls or anything.
3. my wheels have 12K of road crud caked on and they are white which makes cleaning impossible. can i take them off and power wash them or do i have to worry about getting water in the bearings?
thanks everyone. 

Welcome!

1. Never having heard how loud the bike could be, I'd imagine that it's louder than an aftermarket muffler.
2. As long as you have a shutoff valve that's accessable without removing the tank.
3. You do have to worry about getting water in the bearings.

thanks for the quick response, but no i dont have a shut off valve and why do i need one? (no sas, i really dont know  )

You really don't want to rely completely on your float needles (in the carburetors) to stop the flow of gas into the engine (you could flood the engine, get gas in the oil).

You can also end up totally flooding the cylinder with gas and hydrolocking the engine... it is rare, but it can happen... and when it does it can break things.

There is also the added fun of the fact that you will have no idea aside from mileage as to when you are going to run out of gas. It will just die and that is all folks... get ready to push.