Aloha!

Background: I just bought a 2004 GS500F with 3,400 miles on it. The bike had been garaged for about nine months and hadn't been ridden. The body was flawless (but it's my first bike, so I already dropped it and it's not quite as flawless now) and the owner was a genuinely nice guy, so I think it was taken care of very well. I don't have the owner's manual, so forgive me if some of these questions are answered there.

Problems: The bike has poor pick-up and a tendency to stall when going from first unless it gets a lot of throttle. My dad says the carburetor probably needs to disassembled and cleaned. I brought it to a Suzuki dealership and they concurred, and said it would probably cost $400 plus parts to clean the carburetor. Also, the oil light comes on when I have the key turned in the ignition, but the oil is perfectly clean and is filled to the correct level.

Questions:

1a) For lack of other available evidence, am I correct in guessing (as an initial hypothesis) that the poor pick-up and stalling is probably a result of the bike not being driven for nine months, and not something more serious?
1b) Is $400 a reasonable price for having the carburetor cleaned? (It seems kind of high to me, but I've never brought anything to a mechanic before.)
1c) I'm fairly good with cars, but I've never worked on a bike so I'm curious whether cleaning the carburetor is something I could reasonably attempt myself without ruining my bike?

2a) What other things should I check/tune-up on the bike, considering it hasn't been driven for nine months?
2b) Which of these can I do myself, and which would be advisable to have a mechanic do?

3) Should I continue to drive the bike before I get all these tune-ups performed? (For example, to bring it to get inspected, and to buy the necessary parts for the tune-ups.) Or should I let it sit safely locked to the side of my apartment and take the bus just a little longer?

4) Does the oil light always come on when the ignition is on, or is it an indication of a genuine problem? (Aside: I can tell you a long story about a knocking Nissan Pulsar engine, my misdiagnosis of the water pump as the culprit, how it was actually a clog in the radiator, and how the engine promptly seized during the test drive after replacing the water pump, which was then followed by a long week installing a new engine. Needless to say, I may be unreasonably terrified of the engine seizing — at least, thank God, this thing is air-cooled and doesn't have a nefarious water pump.)

All input and assistance is much appreciated!

Cody

I think u could do it dude , its just a case of making sure you dont lose any O rings ,does sound like clogged jets
400 bucks is Obscene, even if u didnt want to do it , maybe a local board member could do it alot cheaper

Drain the gas , and use fresh gas , change the oil , the filter , Spark plugs * They mght be dirty so that might be your problem , my bike all of a sudden , just started running on one Cylinder , changed the plug and worked fine

yep . the oil light comes on to let u no that its working

Good Luck!

I would continue riding it, gently, and use some sort of carburetor cleaning fuel mix-in. Something like Seafoam, etc, available at any larger auto parts store.

As for the oil light, the oil light lights up when there is not sufficient oil pressure in the motor, so when the bike is OFF, there is 0 PSI of pressure and the light is ON. The light should turn off quickly after starting/while cranking. If it turns on while running, shut the motor off immediately to avoid damage.

Ahh, that makes sense -- engine goes off, oil pressure goes to zero, light goes on.

Someone else mentioned to me that I should get a fuel mix-in to clean the carburetor, but I'm always (perhaps unnecessarily) suspicious of stuff like that. It seems too easy. Would using something like that do just as good a job as taking the carburetor apart and cleaning it manually?

Thanks!
Cody

Quote from: codynotes on September 29, 2007, 10:17:34 PM

Someone else mentioned to me that I should get a fuel mix-in to clean the carburetor, but I'm always (perhaps unnecessarily) suspicious of stuff like that. It seems too easy. Would using something like that do just as good a job as taking the carburetor apart and cleaning it manually?

Thanks!
Cody

It should clean them up the same, the results will not be IMMEDIATE however. If you really don't know what you are doing, stick to using a mix in and see if that works. You may end up causing more problems and getting frustrated if you open up the carbs and don't really know what you're doing. Might as well try it, if it doesn't consistently improve, it may be time to take the carbs apart.