Hey all,

I'm obviously new here so i think first its only polite to introduce myself.

I'm KC, i live in leeds and i'm 22yrs old. i've recently bought a 97 GS500e in blue and i've been riding since jan this year so i'm new to all this.

down to business i suppose.

like i say i have a 97 GS500e just short of 40k on the clock. I was out on friday night (only having the bike for about 10days) and it started to kangaroo just a little bit despite me being quite consistent with my speed and throttle. then all of a sudden it started to lose revs and speed. i tried a little more throttle but nothing helped and eventually i had to pull in at the side and try getting it started again. i managed to get her started, pulled into a petrol station just before the same thing happened again. i checked the fuse on the starter relay but this was fine.

the same problem happend about another 5 times while i tried to get home and eventually gave up, pushed it about 1mile to my grans and stuck it in her back garden for the night (it was midnight at this point)

over the weekend i've charged the battery (as i thought this was the problem but not sure now) i even got a battery and alternator test and apparently thats fine. i have had a multimeter on that and its generally between 12.4v - 13v. i've also checked as many wires between the battery and the starter relay as i could and these also seem to be fine.

i then changed the spark plugs and this got the bike started again but it is still cutting out in the same way as described above. after getting it running between 1min and 5mins and it cuts out.

I'm lost and tempted to take it for a diagnostic at a garage but thought this my be a cheaper attempt and figuring this one out.

anyhelp really would be appreciated.

thanks

-KC-

OK you check the oil ?
You check for gas flow ?
You check well check these and post back.
Cool.
Buddha.

welcome to the GS family  
garage or motorcycle shop may not be your best friend... they charge like crazy and sometimes are useless.

you will be much better off by working on your motorcycle by yourself. at first it might seem complicated, but GS is quite simple motorcycle, so don't get intimidated.

you said you pulled off to the gas station. did you actually fuel her up? GS500 has flat bottom tank and it may look like it's full of gas, but there may actually be almost none. so make sure she is full of gas.
also the older model of GS (before 2004) has old fuel-petcock design and there is fuel starvation problem - use search, type in "fuel starvation" and you'll find many posts related to this problem, fix should be easy.

you may also want to check the valves. there is excellent video made by Kerry and the link is in the WIKI: http://wiki.gstwins.com/
EDIT: here is the direct link to the video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2015554469142545363

that's all I can say at the moment
wait for others to chime in, but in the meantime you can also check for any rust in the tank and read wiki on how to clean the carburetors. you may need to take them apart and clean the jets and other internals. - it sound harder than it is so don't give up!!

good luck!!
KML

firstly thanks for the rapid response guys! your quicker and happier to help more so than my uncle who's had 30+ years with bikes haha

well i've just got in from work so i think i'll chow down, go get some better tools and take your advance and look at this myself = )

i'll keep you posted.

thanks again

-KC-

ok, here are my findings

1, i had to put the rubber cushions back under the tank for the bottom screws as the bloke who sold me it forgot to put them back on lastweek...while doing this though i noticed the pipe under the tank(i assume it was the tube which lets air into the tank) had a kink in it and looked as if it had been trapped between the tank and part of the engine. could that possible be the fault?...it had been running for about 4days since the tank was last off.

2, when i put everything back together it wouldnt even turn over(or click on the relay). i got the multimeter and battery/alternator testor out and according to them the battery is fine. there was however nothing going between the possitive on the battery and the starter relay, so i changed it for a new halfords one i had and only got 2days ago. still had the same problem. put it on the left and right side of the relay and got negative volts across them (not sure what they should be. and i got roughly 12v between the left side of the relay and the positive on the battery.

dont know if this info gives any more indication to the problem but any further ideas would be awesome.

oh and before i forget i couldnt get the cap off to check the oil as i'm a freakin weedy wuss lol

-KC-

Quote from: Iron-Man on July 06, 2009, 10:45:30 AM
ok, here are my findings

1, i had to put the rubber cushions back under the tank for the bottom screws as the bloke who sold me it forgot to put them back on lastweek...while doing this though i noticed the pipe under the tank(i assume it was the tube which lets air into the tank) had a kink in it and looked as if it had been trapped between the tank and part of the engine. could that possible be the fault?...it had been running for about 4days since the tank was last off.

2, when i put everything back together it wouldnt even turn over(or click on the relay). i got the multimeter and battery/alternator testor out and according to them the battery is fine. there was however nothing going between the possitive on the battery and the starter relay, so i changed it for a new halfords one i had and only got 2days ago. still had the same problem. put it on the left and right side of the relay and got negative volts across them (not sure what they should be. and i got roughly 12v between the left side of the relay and the positive on the battery.

dont know if this info gives any more indication to the problem but any further ideas would be awesome.

oh and before i forget i couldnt get the cap off to check the oil as i'm a freakin weedy wuss lol

-KC-

pinched fuel hose can cause alot of problems like the ones you were having

im not sure about your relay... umm, check the run/kill switch? if you want to just test the bike (minus starter relay)  jumpstart the bike by turning it on, then applying a booster cable from the positive on the battery to the positive on the starter motor. ride it around, and dont stall it

Quote from: Iron-Man on July 06, 2009, 10:45:30 AM

oh and before i forget i couldnt get the cap off to check the oil as i'm a freakin weedy wuss lol

-KC-

Put a rag over it to keep from getting scratched, and just untwist it with a big adjustable wrench.

its started to rain and i'm worried if i'm take bits off its going to get sodden so i think for now my best bet is making sure theres a good charge in the battery and then tomorrow if theres no more rain i'll get on with the things you guys have suggested.

i'm just hoping the fault has been down to the air vent pipe getting trapped under the tank.

i'll definatly keep you posted though = )

-KC-

OK its not air vent ...
GS vents through the cap. The vent in the cap can get clogged, but it only happens after sustained speeds. not 1-5 mins.
If you had a kink in a fuel line - yea maybe. Is it one of the hoses comming out of te tank petcock - on the left of the tank as you sit on the bike ?
Cool.
Buddha.

Well if that doesn't work just pack it up and sell it to Buddha?

if it vents through the key hole then i suppose thats not the problem.
but a fuel pipe was definatly kinked and because i didnt have several spare hands i'm not 100% its not kinked still (i've got my father coming over tomorrow so i'll have another look under) the pipe was coming from the front slightly left side of the tank.

well i went out as it had stopped raining and realised my idiot of a cousin thought it was normally to hit the killswitch every time its turned off, so that explains why it wouldnt turn over.
i managed to get it started almost straight away, had to give it a little throttle like.
i left it stood with the engine on and it was idle at about 1,500k rpm revs (i think thats normal) it was like that for near 5mins and then it started to slowly drop off and the engine sounded almost like it was struggling and missing a beat i suppose you could say. then eventually it dropped so low it cut out. then it was near impossible to get it started again and when i did it almost imediatly cut out if i didnt constantly rev it. tried altering the revs for when its idle but it stayed at that point for about 20seconds then dropped almost instantly and cut out.

there is another pipe above the gear shift and its not connected to anything but when i took the fuel tap off to make sure it wasnt missing one all the pipes there were connected and this one thats not connected to anything isnt leaking anything. from the fuel tap the main fuel pipe (i think) has been replaced with an almost clear green on and i could see air bubbles in it which only went when i pulled on the throttle.
sorry my posts are all so long....-KC-

if it's the front left of the tank then it is def the fuel line.  Have someone keep an eye on the lines while you're remounting the tank to make sure you're not pinching them.  they don't have to know anything about bikes or engines, just as long as they know what a kink is.

make sure that you have 2 lines coming from the tank petcock (left side) down to the frame petcock and then one fuel line running to the carbs and possibly a vacuum line running to the carbs from the petcock as well.  if you don't have all of those things than you can have fuel/carb problems.

Quote from: tripleb on July 06, 2009, 02:00:35 PM
if it's the front left of the tank then it is def the fuel line.  Have someone keep an eye on the lines while you're remounting the tank to make sure you're not pinching them.  they don't have to know anything about bikes or engines, just as long as they know what a kink is.

make sure that you have 2 lines coming from the tank petcock (left side) down to the frame petcock and then one fuel line running to the carbs and possibly a vacuum line running to the carbs from the petcock as well.  if you don't have all of those things than you can have fuel/carb problems.

my father is over tomorrow so i'll get him to keep an eye.
but so i've got this straight all fuel pipes should be connected to something? there shouldnt just be one sat doing nothing?

Sounds like you just ran out of fuel, Did You fill it up or try to turn the petcock to reserve? The tank looks like you have fuel sometimes when its to the reserve level.

their is one hose that is just an overflow drain hose.  Located near the center of the bottom of the tank.  It is the one hose that is seperate from the other two hoses.

Welcome to the board!  Like bassmechanicsz said, the hose that's hanging by the gear shifter is the water drain from the tank.  It allows the area under the fuel cap to drain so the tank doesn't take-on water when you open it.

If you run the bike with your petcock on PRI instead of ON or RES, you will help to assure fuel flow from the tank by by-passing the vacuum-operated fuel valve.  If the fuel valve is acting-up and not opening all the way, it can make your bike starve for fuel.  So can a clogged vent in the fuel cap.  Just return the petcock to ON or RES when you park it for safety.  This will probably be a cheap and easy fix, don't worry.

Morning all,

i've not had any luck yet but after reading your suggestions on the fuel tank and possible lack of fuel i'm starting to think i might just be a jackass.

i think when my father picks me up i'll get some petrol in a jerry can and give that a try.

only thing that makes me think its not the level of fuel is that i have tried it on all three positions when i managed to get it started yesterday, but i'll top it right up and see how we go.

thanks again guys, i'll keep you up dated

-KC-

How you doing with this problem? 

Had some fuel starvation issues with my 98 GS not long ago - solved with a new frame mounted petcock (can recommend a good source for these and next day delivery in the UK!)


I am in Staffordshire so not a million miles away, if you find yourself heading down this way PM me and we'll ride out.

Morning,

Sorry i didnt reply lastnight. my broadband connection has gone down at home so had to wait till work this morning = (
good news though, i came to work on my GS = D

i feel really stupid but the fault was me misgauging how much fuel i had in the tank. who would have thought you have to fill them up more than two times really! 

so thanks for all your help and suggestions guys, i owe you one. and hopfully some day i'll know enough to help others on here = )

thanks again

-KC-

Good to hear your all sorted.

Have fun with the GS!