I have a stock 2004 gs500f.  I have made no modifications.  The bike has been running fine.  Yesterday I decided to splice the electrical line to the headlight to attach an additional light.  The additional light works fine.  I have since removed the additional light so the wiring is back to stock.

When I tried to start the bike, the starter wouldn't turn completely.  My guess was a dead battery.  So I push started the bike.  The bike started, but the engine pitch sounded much lower than usual.  Rolling on the throttle resulted in very slow acceleration, and RPMs would stay below 6K.  I figured it was some "low battery" issue so I rode around for about 20 minutes.  The problem did not go away, so I killed the engine and noticed the top of my exhaust was burning -- emitting smoke that smelled like burning plastic.  The smoke was coming from the circled part in the picture below. 

Any ideas?  Is there an electrical component that I may have shorted that could affect engine performance and/or result in a burning exhaust pipe?? 

Thank you for ANY suggestions.

OH SHITE!!  Don't ride the GS anymore...

It sounds like a fried piston ring.

Come to think of it...





















What's a piston ring?

give her a good wash, charge up the battery, and try again tomorrow....

Ok...  now to be serious and helpful.



BULLSHITE!!









Ok... really...  now I'm gonna be helpful...

Adding additional lighting to your GS isn't worth it...  I'm not sure what kind of additional lighting you added, but if it's additional driving lights...  TAKE THEM OFF NOW.

I tried this...  The additional draw from those lights KILLS the battery SOOOOO much faster...  I'm talking like a day or two of normal riding.

The burning smell is another issue.

Thanks for the help guys.  The inside of the exhaust was glowing red also.  I've never looked inside my exhaust after a ride so I don't know if that's normal.

Quote from: Smokebombb on December 24, 2006, 08:09:49 PM
Thanks for the help guys.  The inside of the exhaust was glowing red also.  I've never looked inside my exhaust after a ride so I don't know if that's normal.

you know... I've never looked either... but uh... not impossible I guess???

No that doesn't sound Normal.An Exhaust doesn't get that Hot.Sounds like you have a Blckage of Some Sort.Got Kids?  Maybe a Toy has Gotten Lodged inside.

Glowing exhaust should NOT be normal. I've seen glowing headers (not on a GS).. scary...

I know the bike runs lean stock, and therefore a little warm.. but glowing exhaust is bad, methinks.

Also Pull your Plugs and See what they look like.
You can see where the Top of the Exhaust was Getting hot in that one spot.The Burning Plastic Smell may have been the Finish on the can getting hot.

Quote from: annguyen1981 on December 24, 2006, 07:19:26 PM
I'm not sure what kind of additional lighting you added, but if it's additional driving lights...  TAKE THEM OFF NOW.

I tried this...  The additional draw from those lights KILLS the battery SOOOOO much faster...  I'm talking like a day or two of normal riding.

The burning smell is another issue.

chill An. On my gs I ran additional line for the heated vest (talk about a big draw) and I had no issues with the battery charge.

Quote from: Smokebombb on December 24, 2006, 08:09:49 PM
Thanks for the help guys.  The inside of the exhaust was glowing red also.  I've never looked inside my exhaust after a ride so I don't know if that's normal.

thats not normal.  I second the blockage idea. Check to make sure something hasnt been stuffed into your exhaust pipe, either by your children, or if single and childless possibly by a vandal.

If all you did was connect and disconnect a light that would not have any reason to cause what you are describing at the exhaust. Could possibly be the battery and a separate issue for the exhaust.

Merry Christmas all, and thanks again you guys.  Here are some pics of the spark plugs, exhaust header port, exhaust pipe, and valve cover.

First thing I noticed was the right side spark plug is coated in oil (see pic).  So I took off the exhaust pipe and noticed that the right exhaust header port (in the engine & inside the pipe) was coated in oil while the left side was clean (see pics).  Then I inspected the engine valve cover and spotted some leaking oil on the front right side (see pic).  I checked the valves and the clearance is within specs.

Any ideas what causes oil to coat a spark plug, inside of exhaust header, and inside of pipe?

I'm not an engine expert, but my guess is a bad gasket or o-ring somewhere.?

OK it looks like the Lower Baffles in your Muffler is Probably Plugged up.From the way it looks your Running a little too Lean on your Left Side and your Right side well..... It looks like you may need some new Valve Seals or a Head Gasket or Rings.Actually I'm going to go with a New head Gasket.The left is Pulling in Air Causing a lean Condition and the Right Cylinder is Pulling in Oil from the Center.
Then Again if everything in the Right Cylinder is Gummed up as the Pictures Show your Rings are More than Likely Gummed up too.

Yep, it looks like the right cyl has an oil problem.  Doesn't look very bad though.  Interesting that it showed up so quickly.  I would be interested to see a leakdown or compression test on both cylinders.

Do you have a mouse problem?  Live out in the cornfields like me?  Just for grins, take out your air filter and have a look at it.  I have had mice work their way through the air filter on my tractors before.  Makes an interesting sound when you suck the whole family through the engine on startup. Also wreaks havoc with the top end. 

While you're in the airbox, check the airbox for oil.  Have you dropped the bike lately?  It's possible for oil from the crankcase vent to migrate into the airbox and through the engine.  Depending on the location of the vent opening into the airbox, the oil may favor that cylinder.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  Oh, shine a light into the oily exhaust port, let's see that valve.

Also the reason I say it could be the Head Gasket is Because of the Oil Coming out of the Valve Cover.It looks like you may Have Compression Blowing the Oil past the Rubber Seal.When those Valve Covers Seal they seal Very well and Unless the Hold down Bolts have Backed out it shouldn't be leaking like that on a 2-3 Year old Bike.

Hi guys.  So I discovered my problem.  In the process of pulling on the wires on the right side of my bike in my attempt to splice one of the electrical lines, I inadvertently pulled out an electrical plug that delivers power to the right spark plug  (see pic).  This resulted in the spark plug not firing, hence the right cylinder not firing.  I guess unburned fuel was being passed all the way through to the exhaust pipe, which was a very dangerous situation since the exhaust pipe was getting so hot it could have caused a fire 

After reconnecting this electrical plug & riding around for about 20 minutes everything felt fine, plus the exhaust pipe wasn't glowing red anymore 

Thanks again for all your help.  You guys helped me narrow down possible sources of the problem.  Merry Christmas! 

Ahh!  I figured it had to be something simple, considering how quickly it reared it's head.   That would certainly explain why your exhaust was red hot!  The fuel was combining with free air in the pipe!

Glad to hear you got it fixed.   

Ah Ha No Spark.

Quote from: Smokebombb on December 25, 2006, 07:23:02 PM
Hi guys.  So I discovered my problem.  In the process of pulling on the wires on the right side of my bike in my attempt to splice one of the electrical lines, I inadvertently pulled out an electrical plug that delivers power to the right spark plug  (see pic).  This resulted in the spark plug not firing, hence the right cylinder not firing.  I guess unburned fuel was being passed all the way through to the exhaust pipe, which was a very dangerous situation since the exhaust pipe was getting so hot it could have caused a fire 

After reconnecting this electrical plug & riding around for about 20 minutes everything felt fine, plus the exhaust pipe wasn't glowing red anymore 

Thanks again for all your help.  You guys helped me narrow down possible sources of the problem.  Merry Christmas! 

Couldn't you tell it was only firing one cylinder? I should have sounded like BLAP---BLAP---BLAP---BLAP---BLAP---BLAP---BLAP---BLAP