http://houston.craigslist.org/mcy/3056685234.html <-more info and pics

Saw this last week sometime and since I am coming to the end of my last GS build, am debating on picking this one up.  Owner is actually a member here (Train) and seems like a good guy.  Buddha worked his carbs over a few years back and although he dumped it, it doesn't look too bad. 

I've read threads previously where members, in great style, have picked up on details from the pictures, to follow up on during a buy.  SO, asking for some advice and help on this one.  Thanks for your opinions and advice!

Well... I paid $900 for one in far worse condition than that in nearby geography (it ran and drove, but that was about all I could say for it.) Biggest issue I see is the wiring and missing speedo/tach. Past that, go for it.

I don't see anything obviously wrong with the bike from the outside, it may have been dropped 3 times, but it sure doesn't look it from a distance.

As for the hanging idle and electrical problems, if you're looking for a project bike (which you did say you were) then I think this would be an excellent buy.

Make sure to look it over carefully if you go to look at it, and note any discrepancies from the ad and ask the owner. If he's from here, he'll most likely be honest and tell you any things he can think of.

Sounds like a good deal to me!

Yup, this is mine. And had I put another 2-3 coats of Rustoleum and wet-sanded/polished some more, you wouldn't know it had ever been dropped. Well, it is missing the emblem on the left side of the engine and it is scraped up a bit where the emblem was. I actually found that emblem in the canyon a few weeks after I wrecked. I kept it in my garage as inspiration during the rebuild - also as a reminder of how lucky I was to survive.

If anyone has questions that I can help answer so the buyer has full confidence, feel free. I'll keep an eye on this thread. Also, I took the orginal post down on Craigslist, so the link might not work for much longer. I will copy/paste the text into a new reply to this thread just in case it gets removed.

All, here is the text from the ad in case Craigslist removes it:

I'm selling my 1991 Suzuki GS500. This bike has had 3 owners. I purchased it in 2007 from my buddy while I was living in Reno, Nevada. The bike was used to commute around Reno between 2007-2010. All three owners laid the bike down. I ran it off a canyon road back in 2008 (I think 2008) and it required about 6 months of work to get it back together and running. I rewired things, added aftermarket blinkers in the back, had to bondo the tank, added progressive front springs, added a Veypor tach/speedo, and repainted it gloss black (among other things).

The bike was painted using Rustoleum gloss. If you're unfamiliar with how good Rustoleum is for projects like this, do a Google search about it. The bike was a horrible midnight blue (purple really) with pink racing stripes originally. After gloss black, I sanded it down and applied Rustoleum yellow, but hated the color and went back to black. You can still see some of the yellow through the black in the tank. I would guess the bike could use another 2 coats of gloss black, some sanding with 2000+ grit, and some polish. Before I laid the bike down, it literally glowed. Guys would ask me at red lights what kind of bike it was (no labels on the bike and an awesome gloss black paint job). As it sits now, the handle bar on the back needs some additional coats -- I had stripped the paint and started applying the black, but didn't finish it (you can see this in the photos).

The bike had 9100 miles on it when I laid it down. I installed an aftermarket Veypor tach/speedo and have likely put less than 200 miles on it since laying down in Reno. Thus, the bike has less than 9300 miles and the engine runs strong.

I've held onto the bike for so long because it took so much time to fix it after crashing that I just didn't want to let it go -- even though crashing completely destroyed my love of riding. I hauled the bike to Houston and it has sat with only the occasional startup and 1-5 mile ride for the last two years.

The bike has gremlins.
1. About three weeks ago everything was working perfectly and I was debating selling it. Now, the blinkers and Veypor tach/speedo aren't getting power. I have no idea what is going on with this, but I'm uninterested in chasing down the loose wire or whatever is causing this to happen. This won't be a big deal for mechanically/electrically inclined people.
2. It is missing some random screws and parts. Granted, I'm including a bunch of new-in-box screws and parts, but they likely aren't what you need. Again, I haven't really messed with this bike in the last 2 years and it doesn't need any of the screws that are missing. For example, the rear plastic is supposed to screwed to the plastic plate in the back but it is held on one side with a zip tie and a screw on the other. That screw is about 50 cents, but I'm not going to order it and install it in place of the zip tie.
3. The idle hangs after the bike is warmed up. This is quite common for these GS's. While in Reno, I sent the carbs to Bhudda from the GStwins.com forum and he cleaned my carbs and rejetted it for me. That seemed to solve the hanging idle issue, but now in Houston, the idle hangs again. The carbs probably need to be cleaned and different jets need to be put in (Reno is about 4000' elevation.) Again, the bike can certainly be ridden with the hanging idle, but this needs to be addressed by the new owner.

Extras:

Along with the bike, you're getting a bunch of new-in-packaging screws and whatnot, a battery charger, a cover for the bike, a disc wheel lock with keys, and a steel ramp for getting the bike into a truck. The ramp turned out not to be great when I bought it. It is strong, but the steel is slippery and if your truck is tall, it is difficult to get the bike up the ramp because the tires slide on the metal. I was going to install some rubber grip tape or that adhesive sandpaper-type tape to it after getting to Houston, but never got around to it.

One final note, the bike only takes premium gas. I don't know if that is common or if I was lied to, but I've only ever put premium in it and since it gets great millage, I don't think the extra few dimes are wasted.

As much as I enjoyed this machine and enjoy tinkering with stuff, I want this out of my garage and into the hands of the next owner.

The bike has not had this year's inspection and given the electrical bugs that just crept up, it wouldn't currently pass anyway.

Bike is being sold "as is" with no warranty or guarantee expressed or implied. Ideally, the buyer will be someone who is good with bikes and has a few hours to chase down the problems it has and get it back to perfect running condition.

Price: $900 firm

Oddly, that link to Craigslist does NOT include information I added this morning to the ad. 

Here is the extra information I put under the pictures this morning:

Update: lots of interest in the bike. I will cut/paste some of the email questions I've answered over the last few days below:
POTENTIAL BUYER Hi im interested in your gs500e and have a few questions. other then the hanging idle issue, is there any other mechanical problems the bike has? do the rpms go back down eventually and does the problem occur only in idle or after u rev the throttle and it stay for a while? you said it has electrical problems regarding this, does the headlight dim and such or are the lights not working anymore do you have a title? salvaged im assuming? i'd like to come take a look at it if possible maybe today(if your available) or sometime this week, i will let you know. where exactly in spring are you located?
MY RESPONSE Thanks for your email. Nope, there are no other mechanical problems (that I know of). There is one more small thing I forgot to put in the post - the screw on the front break fluid reservoir is mostly stripped. I think I have a new-in-box spare, but never got around to dremeling the screw and taking it out. I mentioned everything in the post that is wrong with the bike. The idle hangs once the bike is warmed up (15 minutes or so). The RPMs will go down eventually for another 5 minutes. After that, you need to be in gear and gently let out the clutch so the drive train tries to engage. That will bring the RPMs down and if you then pull in the clutch, the engine will stay at correct idle. Again, this has been an ongoing problem that was resolved in Reno by a rejet and carb cleaning. I assume the same thing needs to be done again. The headlight works great, both low and high beam. The blinkers and tach/speedo aren't working, but again, they worked 3 weeks ago, so I assume I messed something up when I trickle charged the battery three weeks ago (but even that wouldn't make sense because there isn't really anyway to screw that up, so I'm not sure what could be the problem....) Yes, I have a clear title. I own the bike. I would be happy to meet you
POTENTIAL BUYER I saw your add on craigslist and am interested in possibly taking a look at your suzuki gs500 I live in Tomball and am looking for a commuter bike to get me to work and back on a daily basses seeing how my bike recently went out on me. I read in the description about the issues and was wondering if that was all the problems and if it runs seeing how you haven't been riding it.
MY RESPONSE Thanks for your email. This was my commuter bike in Reno, but it will need some work before it would make a good commuter bike here. As I mentioned in the description, the bike is having electrical issues (the Veypor unit and the blinkers aren't getting power - but the headlight works fine) and has the hanging idle issue. Both of those issues would need to be addressed before the bike would be a good commuter again. Additionally, the bike would need the yearly Texas inspection. The bike fires up great. The engine only has 9300 miles and the battery is actually a bigger bat than the bike comes with stock and I just trickle charged it 3-4 weeks ago. The battery is about a year old and has only been used to ride MAYBE 15 miles. Let me know if you want to look at it and we can arrange a meeting. Thanks again for the email.
POTENTIAL BUYER Im responding to the email. I am interest in bike. I need a good daily commuter like you have there so if possible could u give me a call
MY RESPONSE It is physically capable of being ridden, but without a working speedometer and tach, I don't think it will be legal to ride it. I am assuming Texas law allows bikes without working signals as long as you use hand signals, but I don't know. Additionally, it did not have a yearly inspection this year, so if pulled over, you would have 5 days to do that without being ticketed. As is, the buyer will need to put it in a truck or trailer. Yes, $900 firm. I would be asking $1100 firm if it was running perfectly - which again, it literally was 3 weeks ago so I'm unsure what happened, I just want it out of my garage.
POTENTIAL BUYER I just wanted to see if the bike was still for sale. Looking for my first bike and like the gs500's a lot. Being that it is an old bike, and tat it does need a lot of work, I would be interested in seeing if you would go lower. I know you said it was a firm price, but wanted to check. I wouldn't be interested in paying $900. So just let me know. Thanks!
MY RESPONSE Thanks for the email. Yes, I still have the bike. The price is firm. I was going to offer it at $1100 three weeks ago, but found that the blinkers and Veypor weren't working after I pulled the battery and trickle charged it. I debated hunting down the problems myself over the last three weeks but finally realized I just don't have time or the interest and dropped $200 on the price. The primary reason the bike is at $900 is because the engine only has 9300 miles. This was my first bike and it was great, but as it sits today, you might want to look at something different that doesn't require any work to get in street-worthy condition. The GS is a fantastic bike all around. I actually dropped a tooth on the front gear of this one and it went from relatively tame to pretty decent acceleration. Little mods that like that turn these little 500s into really good bikes. Obviously, feel free to get back to me if you're interested in this bike, but otherwise good luck with finding a bike. And when you do, ride safe and keep the shiny side up.

Reposted so forum members can review the ad and chime in:

http://houston.craigslist.org/mcy/3061437827.html.

So thanks to Steez and his 'CL finds' post where I posted a local GS and then got the urge to go pick it up myself, now I have another GS and a very good looking one, I think. 
Thanks Train!

Bikehauler in action:


It has some electrical problems and a hanging idle.  Checking it out yesterday, found blown fuse on Veypor set up and some wiring that needs improvement.  Got the dash working and got it purring nicely but no blinkers.  Need to figure that out today hopefully.  I figured I couldn't go wrong here, with my 929rr engine lurking in case I had too many problems getting the 500 to run right, but it seems ok for now.  I'm amazed at how clean it is.  More pics when I can get my jacka** phone to work right.

Thanks Ryan for inspiration! 

cbrfxr67, I'm really glad you're pleased with the bike. I'm confident it has gone to a good home and I look forward to watching the build progress if you drop that 929 in it.

I'm glad you got the Veypor working without trouble and am sure the blinkers will be just as easy. 

I hope you're the first owner who can keep the shiny side up...

Got GS set up,...

Checking things out

Pita and GS
Pulled aftermarket relay off and resistors, replaced stock relay and blinkers working good again.  That's all I did last night.

First Ride!
Last night, took GS out for my first ride.  Yes my first GS ride.  Impression?  Was like riding a scooter.  Not in a bad way, but I'm used to riding the F2 and now I realize my GS build came out more cbr feeling than GS feeling.  It's fun though.  Went cruising around the neighborhood listening to the engine, stopping, letting it idle and really just enjoying cruising around.  Now I understand what guys are talking about concerning the rearsets, and riding position etc etc.  This weekend going to sync, check float height,etc etc,....

This morning, still seeking hanging idle problem.  Sync'd carbs with motion pro synchronizer.  Did wd40 test looking for a leak.  Still had hanging idle.  Next was to check those dinky orings under the carb cap.  Found them to be a little small and dry.  Replaced them, took it out and idle was perfect.  Could those stupid Orings really be the cause for the hanging idle??  Used the 'search' function a week ago and and found some info on the same problem but solved with new orings.  Seriously?
Ah well, running nicely and still can't believe how good it looks.  My uncle thought it was a new one, heheh.

Today beat the hell out of brake arm to fit that big tire.  I noticed last weekend that it was rubbing.  PO might not've know, not sure.  Here is the beat one installed with me holding the old one with rub marks on it next to it.  Has plenty of room now and not noticeable unless you really look (that I beat the hell out of it for clearance).