I got a 2007 GS500F. It is brand new with 38 miles on it only. The battery has died twice now and I did not leave any lights on or anything like that. I can not get it to recharge with my recharger either. Secondly the bike has a lot of trouble starting. I have to choke it and sometimes turn the idle up to 4000k until the bike gets going and then I can bring it back down. When it is dying from idling it sounds like it is not bringing in enough air or something and makes the sound it does when you are trying to start it but it won't turn over. I love the bike but I am so sick of this and I have put in fresh fuel, it does not need oil as it is brand new and so is the oil. I have to keep it at 1600 rpms in order for it to run once I get it going. This is ridiculous though. Has anyone else had problems like this with this bike. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

OMG OMG OMG!

Dude, relax.  It's probably sat for the last 3~4 years without having the battery charged, and now it's completely sulfated. 
Take the battery to Auto Zone, have them test it for free. 

if it's a 2007, and the battery is original, the battery may just be dead if it wasnt tended correctly. get a new battery if you havent already and try that out.
also, start procedure should generally be to always use the choke. the following is MY startup procedure, different people have different ways of doing the same thing.
1. full choke
2. start bike
3. let revs hit 4000
4. lower choke slowly
5. if the bike idles without choke, i ride off sedately.
6. after about 10 minutes or so, i'll adjust the idle if necessary.

these bikes are carb'd, not fuel injected, so unless youre in the perfect environment for a cold start, youre going to need the choke.

also, how sure are you of the oil? if it's the same oil that's been sitting in the bike since new in 07, that too is a few years old. the filter and oil should both be changed unless you can verify that they were done so right before or after you bought it.

i'd say start there for now. go through a decent start-up procedure and adjust as necessary. if the bike's idle cant be adjusted to run at 1200 then there may be another issue (dirty carbs from older gas sitting in them for a long time)

there are also a few other things you should check considering the age of the bike (i.e. brake fluid, fuel lines, brake lines, air filter condition, tires)

good luck friend. considering it's a new bike, im sure the issues you have are purely due to improper storage and (please dont take offense) some of the bike's characteristics that come up when youre new to the bike.

I am sorry I was not clear in my post fellas. The battery was changed after the summertime. It ran fine but randomly died a few weeks later. I left no lights on or anything. I got a new one from napa and it ran but died just yesterday lasting a few months. I did not leave a light on. I know how to choke and I know its carbed. I have been riding my whole life I got my wife a 500 and have been breaking it in for her as she is a bit nervous to ride it.

Do I need to take the bike wires off the battery when I charge it because I can not seem to get my battery to charge.

I have a schumacher automatic battery charger and it does not seem to charge my damn battery. Does anyone know if this is a good charger?

Do you have it set to 12V or 6?  

Edit:  8:07 PM
If you've been riding for a while, I assume you know the difference.
Have your battery tested before you just run out and buy a new one.  Plus, they can deep charge it for you, for free.  Takes most of the oxidation off the anodes, if it's still good.
Test your charger with a multimeter. 
If it's all good, start poking around.

12v

Your battery is likely toast. Fully drained batts frequently need a real charger, rather than a tender; but 38 miles in the last 3 years will almost certainly kill a battery. Only exception is if it's sat on a tender that whole time. Also check the level of the fluid in the battery, there is a good chance it is low.

I have the exact same model and year of bike.  After 40,000kms the only issues have been electrical soon after I got the bike.  First the horn was stuck constantly on due to some cross wiring issue I couldn't resolve (but I created a new circuit for the horn).  Then, soon after, I was getting the exact same symptons and the battery did not recharge until eventually the bike completely died.  I could push start it, but everything was out of rythm misfiring and it died again.  So I turned to a professional and the cause was a short circuit deep inside the bike somewhere.  Two wires exposed and touching each other.  It was repaired and the bike runs well, and so does the still-original battery.

I'm giving some thought to rewiring the whole bike.  I don't like the way its all bundled and taped together and over time I think I'll have the same issues.  Otherwise, very happy with the GS500. 

Just an idea, but could be some exposed wire somewhere taking power out of the circuit, as it was for me....

Quote from: Eric_in_OR on June 23, 2010, 05:46:26 AM
Your battery is likely toast. Fully drained batts frequently need a real charger, rather than a tender; but 38 miles in the last 3 years will almost certainly kill a battery. Only exception is if it's sat on a tender that whole time. Also check the level of the fluid in the battery, there is a good chance it is low.

I understand, I have a schumacher charger not a tender. It gives a yellow light meaning it is charging and then never flashes green which means it is fully charged. This is not a 3 year old battery and should not be drained. I will check the level of the fluid in the battery but literally got it a month ago tops.

bump

Ok I charged the battery fully I thought. The bike lights come on but it will not start. What else could be causing this? My charger will automatically tell you if the battery is not good and won't even go into charge mode. It is supposed to flash green when done and then goes back to yellow to keep it charged. I have not seen it flash green but I charged it for 12 hours so I may have missed that. Please help. I love this bike but I am going to sell it and get something else if this is going to continue

i would say get the battery checked at autozone or something. with an industrial machine to check the battery's condition. they'll usually do it for free.

if the battery is dead, whoever you bought it from should have a warranty for it. get a new battery if that's the case..

also: if it keeps blowing through batteries than there's another issue that's underlying.. i wouldnt know where to start though. try checking the grounds and fuses?

personally, i wouldnt go through the trouble of selling a bike that you know has an issue and then trying to buy another bike which will likely just cost you more overall.  like anything you buy, there can be defects no matter what age it is.. getting another bike may fix the current issue, but things wear out. everything requires maintenance and as a long time rider that should be pretty simple to understand. ( i have no intention to offend. im just envious cuz i dont have the ability to just sell and buy a new vehicle whenever the current one has an issue)

and just to ask, have you ever connected a bad battery to prove that the charger can differentiate?

Yes I tried to charge my old battery and it flashes yellow which means it is not chargable. Also this battery came only partially charged so i know if can charge a battery. It will turn the lights on now and click but not turn over to start. Autozone does not test moto batteries I will have to see if NAPA will. I have to figure out why they keep dying though and it should charge after 12 hours no problem not just be a little charged enough to turn the lights on. I am not offended at all I just would rather have a FI bike at this point with all of the trouble I am having and I know no one that can work on a carbed bike they all have FI. I would love to keep it trust me I am a big fan of it.

I'll buy your worthless bike, how much? 

Still sounds like the exact same issues I was having and described before (plus we have the exact year and model).

Quote from: Eric_in_OR on June 23, 2010, 08:44:44 PM
I'll buy your worthless bike, how much? 

Its only got 38 miles looking to get 3500 for it, it is brand new. Let me know if that would work for you.

No, you can't get off the hook that easy.  You actually have to try some stuff... like run jumper cables from a car and try running the bike, does it still die? Try charging the battery outside of the bike, etc. Seriously if you were local (and maybe you are), I'd buy your "worthless" bike for something ridiculously low, put a new battery in it, and sell it for a thousand more the following week. Batteries and fiddling are cheap, and you'll learn a lot about your bike. If you want something that "just works," sell the GS and buy a Civic.

check the charge voltages of the bike if the regulator is broken you will cook the battery. this will explain why you are having this problem every couple of months. ..... OR it could be your charger has gone to a better place and it is frying your battery.  Not seeing the fully charged indicator on the charger may mean that its not shutting down and once again hurting your battery.  Its not black magic work through the possible faults and always start with the simplest thing first (loose battery terminals ) and only change one thing at a time so you can see if it helps.  My bet would be you are killing batteries with one of those 2 things .  3 if you count the terminals.

Marc

sounds like there may be a short somewhere draining the battery and prventing it from charging while on the bike. remove the battery and try to charge it, if it charges off the bike then id bet on a short on the bike.
if it wont charge off the bike then either your charger is dead or the battery is dead.