So I just got done taking my 2007 gs500f around for a little test run and I wanted to make sure everything sounded normal.

After nearly 8k miles I figured I should check and adjust the valves, some iridium plugs, tighten the chain, the good stuff. Then I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to rejet to improve warm-up times as well as fix the stock lean jetting. I'd like to replace the exhaust and intake, but honestly I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to have the bike (eyeballing sv650's pretty hard) so I'm keeping those stock for the time being.

Installed 135 mains, kept the stock 60 mids, then bumped up to 20 pilots. Found some SS allen cap screws which replaced the stripped JIS screws.

I found that with the idle air screw only a 1/2 turn out, and the idle adjusted down (using the throttle pre-load adjuster) to about 1400rpms warm. No hanging idle, pulled linearly all the way up to 10k where I shifter, avoiding the redline. No popping of any kind on acceleration or deceleration, and none under engine braking.

The idle air screw setting kinda bugged me, as it seemed much lower than what most people were running (2-3). I did have to adjust the throttle pre-load quite a bit using the plastic knob. Since this is my first experience with rejetting, does this sound reasonable to you guys? Any help is greatly appreciated.

1/2 a turn? That's it? When testing the fuel mixture screw on my bike, 1/2 from closed had the bike almost dying. Sure, you can crank open the idle setting to keep it running, but I find if you're relying on the idle setting being too open, the bike ends up practically coasting on its own when you close the throttle rather than actually engine braking.

The method I read up on after alot of research was:
1) Get the bike *fully* warmed up.
2) Adjust the idle screw so it's running at about 1500rpm.
3) Close one fuel mixture screw completely. Yup, it'll start running on only one cylinder and sound like hell for the moment.
4) Close the second fuel mixture screw as much as you can without the bike dying.
5) Slowly open the fuel mixture screw and keep a close eye on the RPMs. You'll notice the RPMs rise as you open the fuel mixture screw.
6) When the RPMs stop noticably rising, back the screw off just slightly. You're now done on that side.
7) Repeat the same process on the other side to achieve the highest possible idle. (You don't have to close the other side first)
Set the idle to 1250 using the idle screw.

Your bike will vary from what other people are using based on the bike itself and your location (altitude, temperature, etc). Mine was too rich at 3 turns out but runs alot better at 2. And no, the carbs do not have to be at the exact same setting on each side. Due to the offset ignition and other things I don't quite understand, one cylinder may require a slightly more open fuel mixture screw than the other.

Hope that helps!

Appreciate the reply man!

So I just tried your method and discovered 2 things,

First, the idle screw wasn't only out 1/2 a turn, there was the spring force which I had initially thought was the screw bottoming out, so the mixture screws were probably out closer to 2-3 turns.

So I continued to try shutting off one mixture screw completely and it just kept running as before. Then I went to shut off the second cylinder and still, kept running. Is that even possible?  Bike was just rode for 10 minutes, choke off, idle set at 1500rpm...

Genuinely confused at this point. 

Some things to keep in mind.

1.  Carb jetting is a black art.  What works for you, won't necessarily work for me.
2.  Start with 3 turns out each side as a conservative starting point.  Remember turning screw in=leaner, turning screw out=richer.

Initially, I had the stock mid-mains and idle speed set to 3 turns out, and it worked well for me.