so first of all, i'd like to proudly display my new (to me) 1996 GS500e. http://www.clan-intrepid.com/perfy/cycle.

next, couple of questions.  i took it out this weekend for a few miles of riding. it's my first bike, so of course i'm not entirely sure where in the rev-range to be riding it. a few times it seemed loud to me, so i went up to the next gear, only to have it feel bogged down at around 2500rpms (IIRC). now, i'm used to my car, where i keep it around 2250 when i'm crusing. obviously i don't do that for the bike, with a redline as high as it is (my car's is 6500).
So where do i aim for when i'm riding in b/w gears (say 40 mph).

secondly, the guy i bought it from said he's not sure if the pitcock works. he filled it up, put the dial on "on" and had it almost die on him. It's currently in the "RES" position and works fine. how do i tell if forsure the pitcock is bad, and how easy is it to fix the problem?

'nother one. (stupid perhaps).
do i fill the reserve tank seperately? how does the fuel part of it work?

Welcome to GStwin!

Your bike looks to be in great condition!

Rpm's should be kept above 4k. You'll get varied responses on rpm's here. I usually shift to second when I hit 5.5k in first. And I don't shift to sixth until 5.5k in fifth. All the other gears I shift at 5k.

Petcock problems may also be varied. If it works in RES...well, I'll let others more experienced with this prob chime in.

The RES is part of the tank. The RES selector draws from a tube that is shorter and closer to the bottom of the tank; while the ON selection draws from a tube little longer, thus higher, in the tank.

The problem is more than likely, and I am not speaking from experience just initial thought, is trash in the tank.  That seems to be the most common occurance I have ran into in the past with other bikes with petcocks.  If it is a big deal, drain the tank and remove the tubes and thoroughly clean them.  Be sure to inspect the tank walls for rust, which coud be the source or your blockage to begin with. And if that is the case and you don't repair the rust, well you just spent the afternoon taking apart your bike to look at it. hehe.  I think they offer some sort of rust stop or restore stuff, but don't quote me on that.  that rust be bad enough that you have to replace the tank, but that's worst case scenerio.  Also, could be trash in the petcock itself, and you can remove it, plug the lines so you don't loose all your gas, and give it a good bath.

 Good luck with it, and congrats on your buy.  I actually just bought mine yesterday as well.  I picked up an 01 in dark blue.  It will be deleivered next weekend and I can't wait. See you around and Happy Riding. keep it rubber side down.

Later,
Adam

welcome...that's a sweet looking GS...i love that color

thanks    the paint is so mint.
and thanks for the gas tank help guys

Welcome!
Shifting...well, around town and easy riding shifting around5-6k rpm is about right. When you start riding aggressively or in the twisties you'll want to keep it in the sweet spot that happens after 7k and up to ~9k....thats where the fun starts. Doesnt really make any power under 3k rpms so dont bother at anything less than 3-4k.

yeah, ..... what the post whore said

I use mine mostly for commuting, so usually I try to ride it as quiet as possible. Above 3000 RPM she will accept throttle willingly, so that's where I keep her when riding in town.

Riding for fun is a whole 'nother story. You have heard the right tips for that.

perfdrug,

Just saw the pictures of your bike.  I noticed that the stock "bar ends" are missing.  You might consider sourcing a pair for 2 reasons:

1) The lead-like weight inside helps to dampen vibration in the handlebars to a degree.
2) If your bike ever falls over, it's better to ding the bar end than the hand grip, especially on the throttle side.

If you don't know what a "bar end" looks like, see the first couple of pictures on my Throttle Retainer page.  (Oh yeah - if you're planning any long road trips, that mod makes for 3 reasons!)

The internal threading on the ends of your bars look a mite rusty, so if you do find some bar ends you may need to de-rust the threads before trying to mount them.

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net.

thanks a lot kerry, i'll look into that