Gentlemen,

Lately i've been working on my '89 GS500E to get it in shape. One of the things i had to do was change the fork seals because they were leaking badly. I changed the fork oil with 15W but i havent got a clue to how much oil to put in the forks. I stopped at 150 cc for each fork but it feels pretty soft. How much oil goes in each fork?

Second, i've got a carb problem (i think). After warming up the engine and riding it the idle rpm gradually climes to +/- 3000 rpm. Throttle response is normal in this situation. Where do i start? Is this an air leak somewhere or a sticky float needle?

Hope you experts out there can help me on this one.

Thanks,

MArk

377cc for each leg.

A gradually climbing, as it gets warm, idle makes me suspect the valves.

When was your last valve adjustment?

check the choke is turning off properly and if it always moves up to 3k warming up then adjust your idle screw b/w the carbs.

Ah, thanks CndnMax, I shall expand on your idle screw idea!

Set the idle to 1200-1300 after a 10-15 minute ride.

And, only check your valve clearances on a cold motor.

Haven't checked valve clearance yet, but i will do that. I found the "how to" on this site.
370 cc per leg?  ok 150cc is waaay to low. I'll correct that to.

I started the engine just this morning and idle seems good right now. a steady 1300 rpm with good throttle response.
Choke seems to work properly.

I'm gonna spend some more time adjusting and correcting and post results here.

Thanks a lot guys!

And here i am. Spent all afternoon fiddling with the engine.
Valve clearance checked and found ok. Choke circuit = ok.
Took a look at float levels and found that left float was about 3 mm higher then ride side. Adjusted that, tested and all is back to normal.

Oh and filled up the forks to specs. . Now the forks actually work !

Great!

I'm no gentleman, but welcome! 

Good work... Welcome to GStwin!

Thank you, thank you. 

To continue the "newby questions". Who has info about the fuel economy of this bike?  MPG or ltr/km. I bet it's quite good but can it be improved by changing jetting and/or ignition ?  Just curious about what's possible and what's not.
My GS5 is stock, no mods whatsoever.

btw, after last day's fiddling i'm surprised by the way the engine is constructed. It's a real treat to work on. I might start to like 4strokes after all 

Thanks,

MArk

SuzukiFuel.com claims the GS500 gets 58MPG... Depending on how you ride, this isn't too bad for our little bike!

Cheers,
J

I'm new here too and found this post quite helpful.  You guys are great. 

Quote from: MArkRD on August 06, 2007, 12:53:15 PM
I might start to like 4strokes after all 

Me, too! LoL! 

Welcome from another EU member
Mine is a 2001, stock, bought used last March. 29000 kms currently.
My fuel economy ranges from 17 to 19 km/l (=circa 50-52 MPG), usually shifting at 6-7000 rpm, in town and outside.
Anyway, I'm planning on a valve check and will probably clean the carbs soon, so I expect things to improve (except if I mess something up )

Lamps!

Bought mine new in 2005 "F" style. I see abot 200 miles a tank before I hit reserve, if I'm not flogging it out. About 160 if I am

Refueled the GS today. I got an averaga of 1:22 (lts/km). It took about 270 km to get the tank empty.

I re-adjusted the float's today. Again ! I still have trouble with idle rpm.
The left carb kept overflowing. after adjusting the float 4 times it turned out the o-ring that seals the float needle housing was leaking.
After replacing o-ring things went better in a hurry.

Question: Are overhaul kits available for the carbs?