So, looks like a carb tear down and clean is in the future for me if i have any hopes of riding this thing.
I figured now would be a good time to do anything to the carbs now that i might need done later.
My plans are to add a full Jardine exhaust, and a K&N filter. Should i rejet the carbs now? Or wait until i put those things on then do it?

Also, where is a good place to order a rebuild kit from? Anyone have favorite sites they can recommend for parts?

Also, while i'm doing all that plan on an oil change, new plugs, and new chain, fresh brake fluid and clutch adjustments.
So, if i can get all the parts needed on one order, that'd be super.

Aftermarket headers tend to interfere with changing the oil on the GS. Unless you like having to loosen the header every time you want to change the oil, I'd stay away.

As far as rebuild kits, K&L makes one I believe - cheaper than OEM. To rebuild all you need is a handful of o-rings, needles and needle seats, and gaskets. That's for a complete rebuild. I would wait until you have the carbs open to see what needs to be done.

New float bowl gaskets are in your future. As well as stainless steel screws for the float bowls. An impact driver is handy as is a pair of vice grips.

I don't recall what year your bike is. Are you the guy that has the purple "E" with one mirror?

If it's a 90's model, and it's from the US (meaning sold in the US), you will do well to go ahead and put #40 pilot jets in. Contact The Buddha or Adidasguy for jets and other miscellaneous carb parts.

http://www.jetsrus.com/a_jet_kit_street/suzuki_500_GS500E.htm

theres your jets.

just bought 40 pilots and came in fine and quick.

and putting jets in is pretty easy, even without taking the carbs fully off the bike.
just unmount them enough to flip them around, take the bottoms off and pop in the new jets.

so buy them when ya want, can toss them in whenever ur ready.

Quote from: Kijona on March 13, 2012, 09:24:22 AM
Aftermarket headers tend to interfere with changing the oil on the GS. Unless you like having to loosen the header every time you want to change the oil, I'd stay away.

As far as rebuild kits, K&L makes one I believe - cheaper than OEM. To rebuild all you need is a handful of o-rings, needles and needle seats, and gaskets. That's for a complete rebuild. I would wait until you have the carbs open to see what needs to be done.

New float bowl gaskets are in your future. As well as stainless steel screws for the float bowls. An impact driver is handy as is a pair of vice grips.

I don't recall what year your bike is. Are you the guy that has the purple "E" with one mirror?

If it's a 90's model, and it's from the US (meaning sold in the US), you will do well to go ahead and put #40 pilot jets in. Contact The Buddha or Adidasguy for jets and other miscellaneous carb parts.

HA~! Yea, thats mine. '95. 8900 miles on it.
I dont mind "bending" the pipe down to change the oil every few thousand miles. Although the stock pipes arent in bad condition. I just figured while i was spending the money....i might as well go for the full exhaust. Still, if the rewards for doing so are marginal, i could just go for a slip on.
I figured i could just buy a rebuild kit first time out, and replace things with newer things. I don't mind spending the money for peace of mind.

I don't have access to an impact driver. Vice grips i can do though.

#40 jets eh? Got it. Thank you sir.

Quote from: ninjeff on March 13, 2012, 10:05:38 AM

Quote from: Kijona on March 13, 2012, 09:24:22 AM
Aftermarket headers tend to interfere with changing the oil on the GS. Unless you like having to loosen the header every time you want to change the oil, I'd stay away.

As far as rebuild kits, K&L makes one I believe - cheaper than OEM. To rebuild all you need is a handful of o-rings, needles and needle seats, and gaskets. That's for a complete rebuild. I would wait until you have the carbs open to see what needs to be done.

New float bowl gaskets are in your future. As well as stainless steel screws for the float bowls. An impact driver is handy as is a pair of vice grips.

I don't recall what year your bike is. Are you the guy that has the purple "E" with one mirror?

If it's a 90's model, and it's from the US (meaning sold in the US), you will do well to go ahead and put #40 pilot jets in. Contact The Buddha or Adidasguy for jets and other miscellaneous carb parts.

HA~! Yea, thats mine. '95. 8900 miles on it.
I dont mind "bending" the pipe down to change the oil every few thousand miles. Although the stock pipes arent in bad condition. I just figured while i was spending the money....i might as well go for the full exhaust. Still, if the rewards for doing so are marginal, i could just go for a slip on.
I figured i could just buy a rebuild kit first time out, and replace things with newer things. I don't mind spending the money for peace of mind.

I don't have access to an impact driver. Vice grips i can do though.

#40 jets eh? Got it. Thank you sir.

Lol, not a problem.

NAPA carries an impact driver for $13. You can also get a decent one from Autozone or Advance Auto. They are very handy to have, believe me.

I have some extra 127.5 main jets that you can use with a free flow filter.  I'd love to take a look at your carbs if you like sometime.  I experienced (continue to experience?) many of the downfalls with these carbs, so I might be able to lend a hand on the job.

Quote from: bombsquad83 on March 13, 2012, 10:14:14 AM
I have some extra 127.5 main jets that you can use with a free flow filter.  I'd love to take a look at your carbs if you like sometime.  I experienced (continue to experience?) many of the downfalls with these carbs, so I might be able to lend a hand on the job.

That would be awesome man!
My very good friend did his carbs on his Shadow last year, and will be assisting. Right now i'm hoping to get everything we need ordered and in by the time he gets back from California so we can get cracking.
Only reason im waiting is because he is a bit of a mad man and the deal for letting me borrow his truck to get the bike, was that i had to let him help in the rebuild process.

Oh darn! LOL!

Quote from: ninjeff on March 13, 2012, 10:39:49 AM

Quote from: bombsquad83 on March 13, 2012, 10:14:14 AM
I have some extra 127.5 main jets that you can use with a free flow filter.  I'd love to take a look at your carbs if you like sometime.  I experienced (continue to experience?) many of the downfalls with these carbs, so I might be able to lend a hand on the job.

That would be awesome man!
My very good friend did his carbs on his Shadow last year, and will be assisting. Right now i'm hoping to get everything we need ordered and in by the time he gets back from California so we can get cracking.
Only reason im waiting is because he is a bit of a mad man and the deal for letting me borrow his truck to get the bike, was that i had to let him help in the rebuild process.
Oh darn! LOL!

HAHA, understood.  If you run into trouble, hit me up with a PM and I'll get an e-mail on my phone.  My main advice, don't do force anything if you run into trouble, or you WILL break things.  Its sucks, and it's an expensive way to learn.

Heck, with it being 75*, not a cloud in the sky, and perfect weather outside, i'd almost PAY someone to just fix it so i can ride.

This is killing me.

I know what you mean.

I've offered a few people free carb rebuild labor. If you buy the parts it needs or want me to diagnose, I can do that, and get it all fixed up for you.

If I had any parts from my rebuild left I'd give them to you but sadly I already gave them away.

Quote from: ninjeff on March 13, 2012, 01:10:56 PM
Heck, with it being 75*, not a cloud in the sky, and perfect weather outside, i'd almost PAY someone to just fix it so i can ride.

This is killing me.

at least your not in my shoes with the same weather (but 60s)
nothing I can do either until parts arrive 

I've actually got the full Jardine and a K&N lunchbox that I just put in mine. If you plan on doing these upgrades I would definitely recommend rejetting along with it. I installed the exhaust one weekend, but couldn't get around to doing the filter and jets at the same time. I rode it a couple times with just the exhaust. While it still ran with just the exhaust, the whole RPM range was pretty flat, especially down low. The bit of extra flow from the exhaust definitely leaned the mix more than it already was. I'd honestly be surprised if it would have cranked at all if I'd tried the filter and pipe without rejetting. Now that I've got the filter in the carbs rejetted it runs great.

Also, while I haven't changed the oil yet with the Jardine on, I don't think you'll have to loosen the header pipes. Up front they shouldn't interfere with getting to the filter chamber and the two pipes merge to one in such a way that it's well to the right of bolt on the bottom. I actually envision changing the oil to be a bit easier than with the stock pipe.

Quote from: walkthejosh on March 13, 2012, 02:15:44 PM
I've actually got the full Jardine and a K&N lunchbox that I just put in mine. If you plan on doing these upgrades I would definitely recommend rejetting along with it. I installed the exhaust one weekend, but couldn't get around to doing the filter and jets at the same time. I rode it a couple times with just the exhaust. While it still ran with just the exhaust, the whole RPM range was pretty flat, especially down low. The bit of extra flow from the exhaust definitely leaned the mix more than it already was. I'd honestly be surprised if it would have cranked at all if I'd tried the filter and pipe without rejetting. Now that I've got the filter in the carbs rejetted it runs great.

Also, while I haven't changed the oil yet with the Jardine on, I don't think you'll have to loosen the header pipes. Up front they shouldn't interfere with getting to the filter chamber and the two pipes merge to one in such a way that it's well to the right of bolt on the bottom. I actually envision changing the oil to be a bit easier than with the stock pipe.

Good  info! Thank you sir.

The exhaust wont be for a few weeks, but should i re-jet in plans for it being on there? Will it affect performance at all while riding it until i get the exhaust on?

I'd imagine that you'd probably be okay rejetting planning on the pipe so long as you swap out the stock air filter at the same time as the rejet. Otherwise you'd be way too rich. From my experience of a couple of rides with just the pipe (stock jets and air box) the performance wasn't diminished in a huge way. It was definitely too lean, but still rideable. So, will it effect performance? Yes, probably a bit. But, it may be worth it if you don't want to take the carbs apart again once you get the pipe on. I'm only going on my experience with the same exhaust. I'm a pretty noobish, so maybe some the veterans will chime in with their expertise as well.

Quote from: ninjeff on March 13, 2012, 10:39:49 AM

Quote from: bombsquad83 on March 13, 2012, 10:14:14 AM
I have some extra 127.5 main jets that you can use with a free flow filter.  I'd love to take a look at your carbs if you like sometime.  I experienced (continue to experience?) many of the downfalls with these carbs, so I might be able to lend a hand on the job.

That would be awesome man!
My very good friend did his carbs on his Shadow last year, and will be assisting. Right now i'm hoping to get everything we need ordered and in by the time he gets back from California so we can get cracking.
Only reason im waiting is because he is a bit of a mad man and the deal for letting me borrow his truck to get the bike, was that i had to let him help in the rebuild process.

Oh darn! LOL!

Your buddy will really appreciate the design of his Shadow's carbs after he helps you, much easier to teardown and rebuild.   

-Jessie