I have a 94 gs 500. It has an intermittent idleing problem. I usually let the bike warm up for like 10 mins at between 3-4k rpm. After this the bike normally idles fine at 1300 rpm. After riding for awhile, holding the clutch all the way in, or I think going into neutral, the rps drop below 1,000 and eventually so low the bike dies. In order to prevent this I generally see it is happening and just rev the throttle. Was hoping anyone had any opinion on what might be a better permanent fix. On a related note, when the bike is kinda messed up and after this happens, while in neutral at around 1000 rpm, the bike will not shift into any gears, same fix for me is to rev the throttle before shifting.
I would raise the idle, but the bike usually starts off correct at around 1.3k. ANy help appreciated. Thanks.

As a further diagnosis today, I let the bike warm up to like 3-4k rpm with the choke on full, in its normal resting position with the kickstand down and the handlebars turned left. As soon as I straightened out the handle bars it dropped to 1k rpm. Im not really sure if this is related to my other problem or a separate problem.

does the bike lurch forward when you have to rev the bike to shift into gear?

The handle bar issue is common with sticky cables throttle/choke.  Will happen as well with no choke if you full turn the bars full left or full right the rpm's will jump up and then settle once bars are level.

May be a stupid comment but is your clutch adjusted properly and not too slack?  As Josh asked if the bike lurches forward when clicked into gear I would bet money your clutch is not adjusted correctly.  10mm of play only. 

OR your clutch could be worn and need replacing.

From your description it sounds like the engine is trying to stall while coming to a stop and you're revving it to prevent stalling. I agree with the other posts that the clutch needs to be adjusted propertly first and go from there.

The bike doesnt lurch forward when I have to rev it as I always have the clutch pulled in. I have no idea if the clutch is adjusted properly as it is my first bike and I can mainly just do siimple diagnoses or repairs. Thanks for the advice, I will try to look into seeing if the clutch is ok.Although the bike also sometimes has the problem of low rpms when in neutral, so I thought this may mean it is not necessarily the clutch.

If you've got a service manual, just check the section on clutch adjustment. It is pretty easy. You will adjust both the clutch lifter mechanism and the cable tension itself. Nothing terribly hard.

I'm still struggling to understand exactly what your problem is though. If the bike is idling low, turn up the idle. If you are having trouble shifting from neutral to first, you should first of all almost never be in neutral (like only ever in neutral when parking, not ever at lights) and secondly, the bike's transmission is designed in such a way that it is occasionally necessary to roll it a small amount to get it to shift gears. You only ever notice this when getting out of neutral from a stop because all the other times the bike is moving already. Revving the bike up is likely a red herring when you're really letting the tire roll a bit. This isn't a problem at all, it is just how the transmission works. Also, what do you mean let the bike warm up for 10 minutes? That is a crazy long amount of time. Like long enough that you're likely to melt your front fender if you haven't already. It should warm up enough to ride in under a minute and be completely off choke in under a mile of riding in temperatures that aren't below about 50...

I never ride off with my choke on?  Have never had to on any of my bikes.  My warmup times are about 3 to 4 minutes (or as long as it takes to put gear on) and my choke is off about 30 seconds after starting the bike.....Please explain to me why so many riders leave their choke on for so long and ride off with it on.  It gets bloody cold over here in Australia as well in the winter but I have still never had to use choke when riding off?

As a rule I ride off when the engine cooling fins are warm not hot but warm (about 3 to 4 minutes)

Last bike I had (KLR650) I asked the guy who sold it to me how it starts in the cold....."Yea no worries mate just go full choke then after about 10 minutes of riding turn it off"........WTF

maybe I have been doing it all wrong the last 19 years and many bikes later.

Quote from: 08GSSteve on April 13, 2009, 02:24:16 PM
I never ride off with my choke on?  Have never had to on any of my bikes.  My wamup times are about 3 to 4 minutes (or as long as it takes to put gear on) and my choke is off about 30 seconds after starting the bike.....Please explain to me why so many riders leave their choke on for so long and ride off with it on.  It gets bloody cold over here in Australia as well in the winter but I have still never had to use choke when riding off?

As a rule I ride off when the engine cooling fins are warm not hot but warm (about 3 to 4 minutes)

Last bike I had (KLR650) I asked the guy who sold it to me how it starts in the cold....."Yea no worries mate just go full choke then after about 10 minutes of riding turn it off"........WTF

maybe I have been doing it all wrong the last 19 years and may bikes later.

I only leave my choke on as long as needed. I start the bike when I start putting my gear on, but if the bike still won't idle when I start to ride off, I just leave the choke on for a bit to let it warm up all the way. It is not always possible to ride my bike after a couple of minutes of idling when it is really cold out without choke, it will just stall out at stop signs, which is annoying. Probably has to do with bike age and mileage. My '94 has 88,000+ miles on it and probably takes a bit longer to warm up than a brand new bike with no miles would...

one bad spark plug can cause a similar problem. i rode for days with this issue trying to figure out why my rpm was low and i had to keep on the throttle to shift / keep it from dying. then, i pulled the right side wire off the plug and there was absolutely zero difference...bit aha moment.

Thanks for the spark plug advice, I have not tried to look at those, will do.
In regard to the warming up, I seem to always have to let the bike warm up with the choke on for a few (10) minutes or it doesn't ride well or idle properly and will stall. I am in the northeast so it generally has been about 55 degrees outside when I do this.

You have a sticky cable ...
You also may have a very high float or other wise over rich idle circuit ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: danhynes on April 15, 2009, 05:53:09 PM
Thanks for the spark plug advice, I have not tried to look at those, will do.
In regard to the warming up, I seem to always have to let the bike warm up with the choke on for a few (10) minutes or it doesn't ride well or idle properly and will stall. I am in the northeast so it generally has been about 55 degrees outside when I do this.

Yeah, listen to Buddha and figure out what is wrong. It is in the 50's here every morning when I go to start my bike and it fires right up and doesn't need choke anymore after a minute or so. My bike is a '94 with more than 88,000 miles on it, so there aren't too many others out there that could possibly be much worse if they are tuned right...