Hello!
I am both new to motorcycles and this website.  I have spent the majority of my 17 years on horseback, and am excited that to get a motorcycle!  I'm getting a 1990 GS500E from a guy up the interstate for $1000.   I've put a few hundred hours on tractors, and have driven across the continental US pulling 5 horses and cowboys, buy my motorcycle experience consist of a few trials on dirtbikes. 

SO. unto business

Excuse my lack of a thorough search, but is there a comprehensive carburetor cleaning guide on the site?  The bike has been sitting for a year, and i would imagine that this and maybe even a tank cleaning are going to be necessary.   I have never disassembled a carb, let alone an engine, but i have gotten several pickups running again and i am very confident in my ability to learn, follow directions, and improvise.   

Alright well i guess i will keep you guys updated, and i'll post some pics of the bike this weekend

Hopefully we don't get as much snow as fore casted
only in Nebraska will it be 65 on Wednesday and call for a foot of snow Thursday night 

I look forward to get to know all ya guys!

Success!

All of your guys' advice and 3 months of some part time work got her on the road again.
Since i started on here I've also revived a 1973 Yamaha Enduro.  I learnt pretty quick on it, putting 200 miles in a week.

Picture of the two


National Geographic worthy phone picture. What you see is a "controlled burn" 20 miles from my house. They were supposed to burn 30 acres, ended up burning 1000. Blue sky country for ya


Thanks for the assistance guys, and this plethora of information and both worthwhile and ratarded conversations.
I plan on being a pretty active member on the forums, if not posting stuff, and least reading youi guyses funny Sheit.

Im gona go have myself a keystone 

Never mind I have a track meet tommorow.

I will tommorow night

f%$k i have a date tommorow night

Maybe Marie likes beer....

Welcome! The weather has been crazy here as well 

If you're good with any kind of machines I'm sure you'll figure the GS out in no time. There's definitely a guide on here with pictures for cleaning out carbs, I just don't know where it is. I remember using it when I cleaned mine out the first time. The first one takes a little  bit of time because you want to be cautious, but after that cleaning them out is a breeze. Hopefully the tank was full when he parked it, you may get away with dumping the gas and refilling it. If it was empty you may have some rust to take care of.

Good luck with the bike!

no carb cleaning directions here. For cleaning tho. don't use anything OIL BASED. if anything Diesel bath your carbs. Buy a whole box of q-tips < You'll need a whole box, plus im sure the wife/girlfriend don't want you to use up all their fancy q-tips. Also remember to remove any rubber/orings as possible. as things like carb cleaner or diesel might destroy them. Idk about the diesel as ive never tried, but I know for sure carb cleaner does... makes them all "Puffy"

Also are you planning to take an MSF course? If you haven't you should go do that.. learn some good info, Listen to what ever the teacher tells you. LISTEN its not hard, and you will pass..

I'm also new to engines, I'm also young so experience with life isn't on my side. But I'm learning quick, as long as you stay determined to get that little VTwin working again, you will get it working.

Thanks for the support guys! I'm getting the bike this weekend if the weather holds up.

I would really like to take a MSF course but the nearest one is over 200miles away!  There's alot of unused blacktop around our ranch I should be able to learn on, 1 step at a time of course lol.  I'll go get my license next week, and hopefully, be driving across the county in several weeks!

I cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck to you.

so wait your 17? or you've been on horseback for 17 years? if so. YAY! IM NOT THE YOUNGEST ANY MORE!

I finally got it!

After a long week of selling video games and cleaning stalls at the vet clinic, i bought my first motorcycle!  It runs well in the condition it is in right now, but it is facing some cancerous issues that, if left unchecked, could prove malignant.

1. For starters, the current gas tank leaks, alot
2.The Carburetor needs a rebuilding, (it idles pretty low)
3. There's a nail in the rear tire. Ya, a nail
4.While not as terminal as the other poor parts, the tac no longer works as well

Ok, i will propose my planned fixes to my issues, then proceed to ask you guys some advice!

1. The Gas Tank

The guy i got my GS from gave me this tank he got from ebay. It's only problems are purely aesthetic, but i may por15 its innards as well.  The tanks colors do not match the rest of my GS, and if you look closely, there is a fairly large dent where it says SUZUKI on the left. My plan to repaint it is to brush the rest of the paint of ( very tedious btw, but i have the time), and paint it myself, hopefully replicating the original as much as possible. As for the dents, i've been told to tack weld a finishing nail in the center of the dent and pull the dent out. Im sure i could do this, as my welding skills are pretty proficient, but i would like to leave this as a last resort. 


2. The Carb
I have never dissasembled a carburetor before, but im know i can.  From what ive read (and seen), PartsNmore.com seems like a great place to get parts for our GSs.  Would you guys recomend i get a carb rebuild kit from them?  I'm assuming i will need to order 2?

3.The tires
OK. Ive changed dozens of tires, ranging from ones on Neons to freightliners, but have never had to change a motorcycle tire. Im sure it would be cheaper if i ordered/bought them and put them on myself, but i may have to stray from my DIY roots for this one, at least for the first time i see it done. Do you guys have any tires you would recomend? The farthest i would ever travel on my cycle is up to 350 miles (to omaha), so i dont need crazy touring tires, and i'm never going to be a racer, so i dont need critical performance tires. Just something that can wind me through hills on the way to town and stop for the occasional tractor/deer.

4.Tachometer. im not worried really at all, but if you guys have any ideas on what could be wrong, please shoot them my way 

Ok, well that about sums it up.
A little info on me.
I don't have the largest budget for things, but I nvr take the easy path to get a job done right (unless of course the easy pass is the right way )
I appreciate everything you guys do on here! except the tard farm stuff haha
and ya im 17 j_walker

Here's an upclose picture of the original gastanks flaw (its the same on the other side to)

Welcome, Rubicon. It looks like you have a decent bike there!

Here is what I can offer in the way of carburetor help: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=56601.0

That is the old generation of carburetors - you'll find it to be exactly the same set that's on your bike presently. While it doesn't necessarily give an in-depth cleaning process, it does give you some detailed information about the carburetors, common problem areas, and essentially what you're getting into.

Here is a general cleaning guide specific to the GS500: http://gstwin.com/carb_work.htm

There are a few things to note when taking apart the carburetors:

-The parts from each carb should be kept separate.
-The screws holding the float bowls on are JIS screws, NOT philips. The key difference is, well, you'll likely end up destroying the screws trying to remove them. An impact driver may work, it may not. You may also need to use a pair of vice grips. Everyone has their own method of removing them but the general consensus is that they are one-time use only. If you'd like, I have an extra set of replacement, stainless steel hex-head bolts that I will give to you for only the cost of shipping (about 3-5 bucks?). They're a bit hard to come by in the stainless steel variety - most Home Depot and Lowes stores have the mild steel kind which will rust eventually.
-The floats themselves are held in by nothing more than a single o-ring and good fortune. To remove, you simply pull them straight out. Be gentle with them, though!
-It's a good idea to replace the following items: float bowl gaskets; float needle seat o-rings; sync port o-rings, float-stem (part that attaches the float to the carb) o-rings, and the emulsion tube o-rings.

Many of us here, myself included, have taken our carburetors apart more times than we care to admit. So, if you have any specific questions on what to do, please feel free to ask.

As far as the tachometer not working, it could be something as simple as the collar around either end of the cable being loose to something as annoying as one of the gears inside the tach being stripped. The tach cable is the one that sticks out of the front of the motor above the exhausts.

Hope this helps and, as always, good luck!

Thanks Kijona!

As for a carb rebuild kit, checked partsnmore, but they are out of stock
Has anyone on here and good luck with the K&L Carburetor rebuild kits?
http://www.bikebandit.com/k-l-economy-carburetor-repair-kit?m=6050#tabtop

I have found the same kit on several websites, but BikeBandit seems to be the most reliable out of all the stores.

I'm guessing i will need to purchase 2? am i right?

I'm gona go beat up a mac 

I have K&L kits. I used 2 on Trey - works just fine.
Shop around. Lots of places on ebay have carb rebuild kits.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=gs500+%28carburetor%2Ccarb%29+kit&_sacat=0&_odkw=gs500+%28%2Ccarburator%2Ccarb%29+kit&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
I think most of the kits sold are K&L.

Actually, I ordered 4 from the bandit. "IN STOCK" 
Says in stock, just means they can order them. They had 3. I ordered 4 - and was told "in stock". My order was held up for 2 weeks. While waiting, I ordered 4 from someone off ebay and got them in a couple days. Week later the bandit order got shipped. Same thing happened when I ordered jets and needed them in 3 days. "In Stock" - said so. Next day checked order status. BACK-ORDERED. WTF? Got from PJ Motorsports in 1 day (Sorry Buddha - would have ordered from you but was in a rush and was ordering carb tools from PJ so added on jets. Remember when Trey was sick?)

That's one thing I hate about most of the on-line places like bandit, superstore, etc. "In stock" means they can order it and may or may not have them in-house ready to ship out the next day. At least from ebay sellers, they need things in stock or their feedback goes to crap.

PS: Yes, you need 2. One kit does one carb unless they specifically state it is for 2 carbs.

Will a carb kit for 2004-2006 work on my 90'?

I hope this is not a rhetorical question   

EDIT: after a little research i now realize that no, they will not work:P

Quote from: Rubicon on February 10, 2012, 10:21:22 PM
Will a carb kit for 2004-2006 work on my 90'?

I hope this is not a rhetorical question   

EDIT: after a little research i now realize that no, they will not work:P

I think you'll find this link useful: http://www.ronayers.com/Fiche/TypeID/26/Type/Motorcycle/MakeID/2/Make/Suzuki/YearID/41/Year/2000/ModelID/6460/Model/GS500E/GroupID/269557/Group/CARBURETOR

89-00 are the same, 2001+ are different.

You can copy the part number from RonAyers and use it in the search on BikeBandit or another site - between the many online retailers, one of them is bound to have whatever part you need. Additionally, parts that have been discontinued on RonAyers, you can click them and it will say it's been superceded by another part. The new part will work.

Alrighty!
I got my other gas tank all prepped and ready to undent/bondo/undent/whatever, but I'm to the point that I'm ready to take the tank off the bike and get to work on the carbs.  Im just gona bring the replacement tank with the dents in it to a local bodyshop and have them get it up to par(emphasis on par) for me.   It's been to dam cold to even take your gloves off the last week, thats why i havnt taken the scalpel to the GS yet.  I'm gona put a little cash into the bank tommorow and order the carb kits of Ebay. They seem to be the most convienient and best priced.  I checked the OEM parts ya linked to me Kijona but i guarantee i would either forget to order something or order the wrong thing 

Here's the tank!


GStwins is the place to be!

Well, it's probably cheaper to order those carb rebuild kits anyway. I opted for OEM parts for mine and it was $15 PER float bowl gasket.

Got a link to the ones you're considering ordering?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/89-00-SUZUKI-GS500E-K-L-Carburetor-Economy-Repair-Kit-721758-/320813411498?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4ab1f82caa

It is a generic picture on there, they will send the correct package (hopefully) when i order it. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to order them tonight.

Also, at about 4'oclock today, i figured i would start the bike up before i started taking it apart. At first it would'nt turn over, then i put a little gas in the air filter and it fired right up. It idled pretty shatty, but im pretty sure once it warms up ( it was only about 36 out) and once i get the carbs clean she should start right on up!

As for my other gas tank, i brought it too 2 different body shops, and they both told me $450 to get it ready to paint. READY TO PAINT. like i said, Im after par, not prime.  I guess i'll try my hand at bondo'ing lol.

When you get your rebuild kit, check the size of the float valve needle against the original.  I had issues with the K&L float valve needle being slightly smaller than the original.  That caused it not to close properly.  Of course I might have been able to fix it by bending the tabs on my floats severely compared to where they were, but I didn't feel comfortable doing this because the float height was reading in the correct range.  I ended up going back to the original float needle with the new valve seat.

All the orings and the float bowl gastket worked just fine.

My K&L kits came with both float needle and the brass thingy with the o-ring that the needle goes in. Must resist - this brings up all kinds of descriptions that would lose their humor due to the word filter. But ass is still not filtered?

It would end up being the float needle, kid of like a pee pee, and goes into the brass thing sort of  like a naughty place and the carbs have internal sex as the pee pee goes in and out of the naughty place letting fuel squirt in. 

Thanks for the reassurance guys! I am ordering right now!~~~

And your analogy really made things clear for me adidasguy!
               ^^^^^
             Thats a pun if i've seen one

I started my way to the carbs yesterday. I had a little downtime so i figured i would do something productive. I didnt go ahead and take them out since it seems like that will only take a few more minutes, and my kit isnt here till next thursday at the earliest so i'll hold off till them.

I found an excellent guide for noobs like myself here: http://www.angelfire.com/mt2/mikesgs500/rejetting/

I decided that im not going to get the dent fixed in my replacement gas tank.  Its not gona be cheap, at all, and i'm going to budget the money that i would have spent on it on functional repairs (new chain, tires) or even a new bike someday. I dont plan on entering any shows with my GS 


Here i covered up the carbs for a week of waiting


How i keep organized!
Note to self ---- never eat muffins at my house again.

I see you have the wrong battery in your bike.
The drain belongs on the right side. When you put the bike on the center stand, your drain is on the low side - causing acid to drain out.
Maybe now is the time to replace that with the correct battery - and maybe a better one.