Hello, GS500 riders.  Come next spring I'll be in your ranks, as I picked up one of these last Friday.



I guess you could say I picked up that specific one last Friday.  I'm new to motorcycling in some ways as I've only ever ridden a sidecar rig (2008 Ural Patrol) so an '02 GS500 should be a nice way to break myself into the two wheel world.

You'll see me back to address these questions anyways, but I wasn't able to find anything on search.  Couple of things I'll have to do...

Modify seat/peg arrangement.  A wee lady rode this bike before I bought it (for all of 1300 miles  ) so 6'2" me is going to need to modify the seat and peg arrangement if I'm going to be able to ride.  I did see the post about long-legged riders just now.

I'll have to drain the tank... she's left gas in there for four years!  I don't know how bad Suzukis will rust out inside, if it were my Russian rig I'd be looking at POR-15, sanding, etc... anyone have a gut feeling on this?

I'll have to clean the carbs, which is no problem to do but it looks like the tank has to come off before I play with them.

That's all that comes to mind, for now.  I'm sure I'll have loads of questions, it's always nice to find a forum community for things like this, so thanks in advance!

Peace,
Syzygy

The tank might be rusted i know the older tanks are prone to rusting but seeing as it isn't that old you should be fine.  Once you drain the tank you will be able to tell if you have rust inside the tank or not.

Yes you do have to remove the tank to get to the carbs and cleaning them and taking them apart is a fairly simple task.

Bike looks nice and clean.

While you are in the carbs i would just check the jetting to make sure it is correct since i notice it has a V&H pipe and don't what air filter the PO was using.  Any questions about the jetting can be found on the wiki.

Why are you waiting until next spring to join the ranks? There's plenty of people here who have only gotten their bike recently. Not to mention people like me who own a bike, but either have it pulled apart, uninsured/uninspected, or whatever else that just makes me more of a GS owner and less of a GS rider at the moment.

Anyway. If the tank is full enough that you can't see if the tank is rusty you might be in good shape. It would only have rusted if she parked it with barely any gas in it. I just por 15ed mine, but that was due to 4 years of being parked with no gas, so drain yours and see how it looks.

She might have put lowering links on it to bring the seat down if it's really short. I'm sure if you ask around someone has a pair of normal height links they would sell you cheap. If you want to lift it even more, a lot of people swap out the rear suspension for an sv650 or a gsxr shock to lift the seat about 2 inches, plus it helps the ride.

If the inside of your tank is in good shape, it sounds like all you'll need is one weekend to clean out the carbs and you'll be on the road!

@ one time only one of the admins had a GS. TGG ... if I recall. He's never left that gs out of his sight ...  but ... well in my defence, I always had enough parts to build one ... or 7 GS'es ... but not 1 complete one.
Cool.
Buddha.

I am 6'1" I think you saw my post about ebay footpegs.

I like the GSXR shock in terms of firmness and height. But riding a stock GS isn't too bad. That one doesn't look lowered.

I bet you will have to drain the tank, yank the carbs, and drop the float bowls. While you are there, replace the too small pilot jets. And probably the mains. Buddha has a nice kit. The bike runs SO MUCH NICER that way.

Install an inline paper fuel filter (see my signature).

You might need to POR-15 the tank. I just have an orange fuel filter.

Good luck!

Quote from: Syzygy on August 24, 2009, 08:07:10 AM
Hello, GS500 riders.  Come next spring I'll be in your ranks, as I picked up one of these last Friday.



I guess you could say I picked up that specific one last Friday.  I'm new to motorcycling in some ways as I've only ever ridden a sidecar rig (2008 Ural Patrol) so an '02 GS500 should be a nice way to break myself into the two wheel world.

You'll see me back to address these questions anyways, but I wasn't able to find anything on search.  Couple of things I'll have to do...

Modify seat/peg arrangement.  A wee lady rode this bike before I bought it (for all of 1300 miles  ) so 6'2" me is going to need to modify the seat and peg arrangement if I'm going to be able to ride.  I did see the post about long-legged riders just now.

I'll have to drain the tank... she's left gas in there for four years!  I don't know how bad Suzukis will rust out inside, if it were my Russian rig I'd be looking at POR-15, sanding, etc... anyone have a gut feeling on this?

I'll have to clean the carbs, which is no problem to do but it looks like the tank has to come off before I play with them.

That's all that comes to mind, for now.  I'm sure I'll have loads of questions, it's always nice to find a forum community for things like this, so thanks in advance!

Peace,
Syzygy

the size of this bike doesn't seem to bug me. I'm 6'4" and I just suck it up, but im pretty flexible.
infact, my bike is lowered front and back so my 5'4" girlfriend can ride it, and I dont have problems.

Though when I look at myself on the bike I think perhaps the bike should be riding me given the size discrepency between the two of us.

Are you interested in selling the V&H exhaust? I would love to take it off your hands!!

Oh, Syzygy, nice find man.  Good luck with it!

Quote from: The Buddha on August 24, 2009, 12:28:42 PM
@ one time only one of the admins had a GS. TGG ... if I recall. He's never left that gs out of his sight ...   but ... well in my defence, I always had enough parts to build one ... or 7 GS'es ... but not 1 complete one.
Cool.
Buddha.

Wait, wut?  You mean yet right? not 1 complete one yet?  

lol! Hmmm, guess i shouldn't give you a hard time since, you know, you could still tell me to go jump in a lake.  

I'm 6'2" and have no issues riding the bike stock. Comfort doesn't seem diminished to me. And I've been on some long rides without ill effect.

Before you mod the pegs, spend some time riding it. You may just find it's quite alright as it is.

Michael

Hey folks,

thanks for the words of welcome.  I'm really looking forward to taking a crack at this bike.  A fuel filter should be a good idea, I'm sure I can install an in-line one for pennies.  I will give the bike a chance to see if I can get a good riding posture on the stock frame.  I'm really looking forward to the rides, it seems like a really good balance of performance and responsibility.  My other ride is this

and in actuality it handles like an ATV rather than a true motorcycle.  Speaking of, it's beautiful weather here in DC, I'm going to go check out the GW parkway  

Peace,
Syzygy