According to my old 97 GS owner's manual the ignition timing was 12* BTDC @ 1200 rpm and 40* BTDC @ 4000 rpm and the  California models were 5* BTDC @ 1000 rpm and the same 40* BTDC @ 4000 rpm.  I assume my current 02 GS is the same as the 5-40 California models.  Unless this is a typo in my old OM the bikes are both the same 40* advance from 4000 rpm to redline, anyone have any different info on this?  I've always considered 4-9k rpm to be the usable range of revs on a stock GS engine.

My bike starts and runs really well I'd like to pit it against someone's local 500E to see how it does....anybody got a GS500 near Wilson, NC and want to compare?

Quote from: gsJack on February 03, 2010, 01:54:33 PM
According to my old 97 GS owner's manual the ignition timing was 12* BTDC @ 1200 rpm and 40* BTDC @ 4000 rpm and the  California models were 5* BTDC @ 1000 rpm and the same 40* BTDC @ 4000 rpm.  I assume my current 02 GS is the same as the 5-40 California models.  Unless this is a typo in my old OM the bikes are both the same 40* advance from 4000 rpm to redline, anyone have any different info on this?  I've always considered 4-9k rpm to be the usable range of revs on a stock GS engine.

I think your correct, I heard that before too. And if the manual says it, I would be inclined to believe it. And yes 4-9krpm is best on stock bike, but when modified the power range is substantially  increased to around 3500-10500rpm. And when I advanced my timing on top of the other mods it made the engine smooth and powerfull enough to even go down to almost 3000rpm and upto 11000rpm redline (actually my power peak moved from 9400 stock to 10000rpm, and I make more power at 11000rpm now than I did at peak 9400 stock). so my guess is another 5* or so on the bottom end would smooth it out enough to cruise in 6th at 2500 or so to cut down on high-rpm-vibes and get even better gas mileage.