Well done on scoring such a nice looking bike. I bought mine for almost exactly the same reasons as you. I have a Honda VFR750, which as much as I love it is simply too expensive to use as an everyday bike and a Yamaha SR250 that's also great, but slow to the point of being dangerous on the highway (no fun having trucks pass you). The GS fits perfectly in the middle, light and nimble enough for traffic, and will sit at 120Km/h all day out on the open road, with a bit in reserve when you need it. It's great fun to chuck around in the corners too!

Quote from: mister on August 14, 2012, 03:58:49 AM
Nice write up so far.

Coming from a F800GS you will notice the different posture, seat height and torque for sure. But you will quickly come to handle the posture without needing to adjust the handlebars - I'm also 6'2 and my bike (also a black 09) is totally stock and I have no issues whatsoever.

The rear brake squeak is standard. But you'll soon learn how to combine front and back together so no squeak is heard. I'm still on my original brake pads and am over 56,000kms on the bike now.

Welcome to the club 

Michael

Thanks Michael, I watched your review of the bike on You Tube twice before my purchase.  It was a really good overview of the bike, I appreciated having it as a resource - it was especially helpful because we are both the same height.  I am not in a hurry to modify the bike until I get a good feel for it, and then I still am not in a real hurry.  I ride it around town.

Coming from the F800GS this bike feels small (compact), low - especially leaning into corners and much more nimble.  It's a far less intimidating bike - not that the F800GS was intimidating - but the GS500 feels more like a toy.  I like that I can toss it around it makes for a really fun bike to ride.  The F800GS had more grunt lower in the RPM's, I feel like I am winding this one up to get it to go.  It really performs better at about 1000 to 1500 RPM's higher than I feel like I should be running it.  I am getting used to that and its the kind of riding that brings a smile to my face - feels like I am wringing it out but not getting the speeding tickets you might expect when riding a bike in that manner.

My wife thinks this is a one season bike, she had the Suzuki S40 for 6 weeks - that's right 6 - and she really hated it at the end.  She sold it and got a Sportster 1200C before also getting an F800GS.  I have higher expectations for the GS500.  The killer for me on my BMW was the times when I was not riding it.  $$$ sitting in my garage - looking pretty and eating insurance money month after month thru the winter.  Any time we were looking at ways to save a little cash, we would think of the 2 BMW F800GS bikes sitting in our garage.  The difference in initial cost and ongoing insurance is great enough that it will make it hard to move on to some of the other bikes that were on my list.

• Suzuki Gladius
• Kawasaki Versys 650
• Suzuki DR-Z400 SM
• Suzuki V-Strom (this is a new add)
• Suzuki SV650 naked

Quote from: Zacharia_11 on August 14, 2012, 07:52:16 AM
  The killer for me on my BMW was the times when I was not riding it.  $$$ sitting in my garage - looking pretty and eating insurance money month after month thru the winter.  Any time we were looking at ways to save a little cash, we would think of the 2 BMW F800GS bikes sitting in our garage.  The difference in initial cost and ongoing insurance is great...

Very good points.
I've tried to explain that to people many times. Most just don't get it. I have four bikes in my garage, the total perchase price of all of them is $5300, over a five year period. And I pay $24/month insurance for full coverage on two of them. Sure I lust after more highend bikes, but can't regret the ones I already have one bit.

Nice choice of Other bikes. I've ridden some of those and written about them here in the "Compare...." thread.

Vstrom 650 vs Versys 1000 http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=52805.msg700641#msg700641

BMW F650GS vs BMW F800GS http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=52805.msg707899#msg707899

SV650... I've ridden both a Naked and Sport. The sport was quite an unpleasant ride to be honest. Bumpy, Very forward leaning, just not me. While the Naked was upright like the GS500.  Will Not get on a Gladius - won't go out of my way to ride one, but will if someone gives me one to ride without my asking.

Zach - with the GS, I know you're still learning the rev ranges from coming off the 800, so try changing gears Up at around 5,500-6000 for normal acceleration. It will cruse at 37mph in 4th gear at 4000. Don't bother going into 6th until about 56/57mph. See how you go with that. 

Michael

Great choice for a bike,  I just bought a 2009 GS500F for my wife with 6,100 kms.  She's put 100 kms on it and already she wants a lowering kit, tank bag, bigger windshield!!

Quote from: mister on August 14, 2012, 02:31:28 PM
Nice choice of Other bikes. I've ridden some of those and written about them here in the "Compare...." thread.

Vstrom 650 vs Versys 1000 http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=52805.msg700641#msg700641

BMW F650GS vs BMW F800GS http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=52805.msg707899#msg707899

SV650... I've ridden both a Naked and Sport. The sport was quite an unpleasant ride to be honest. Bumpy, Very forward leaning, just not me. While the Naked was upright like the GS500.  Will Not get on a Gladius - won't go out of my way to ride one, but will if someone gives me one to ride without my asking.

Read your compare threads, nice detail - but you've given me some negative on the Versys which was a front runner if it weren't for cost.  I don't have plans for a new bike for several years despite my wife's suggestion to the contrary.

The first Gladius I saw as the all black one at the dealership.  I sat on it and it seemed to feel pretty good.  Most reviews are good but the styling and apparently the advertizements have been directed more towards riders of the female persuasion...

That DR-Z400 SM was leading my 'cost effective' search before I discovered the GS500.

Quote from: mister on August 14, 2012, 02:31:28 PM
Zach - with the GS, I know you're still learning the rev ranges from coming off the 800, so try changing gears Up at around 5,500-6000 for normal acceleration. It will cruse at 37mph in 4th gear at 4000. Don't bother going into 6th until about 56/57mph. See how you go with that. 

Michael

I gave this a shot on my ride today.  I had been changing around 4100 4500, on my ride to work I was changing around 5200 and that felt better.  I'll wind it up a little more on my ride home from work.  Never got out of 4th this morning most roads to work are 50 - 60 km/h so my revs were up in the mid to high 4's in normal riding conditions.

Got a handful of complements at work on the bike, its the first time I had brought it in since I got it.  I managed to *just* fit my lunch in that tank bag, it was really tight but it managed to fit my wallet, phone and lunch - a lot of Tupperware style dishes (I think I got left over chicken pot pie).  I am happy with how convenient the bag is, just pulled it of the bike and brought it in to my desk.  My old bag was strapped to the tank on the GS, I never took it off unless I needed access to the battery.

Ah, ok your a km guy... well it Should sit around 4,000 at 60kph. If it sits much higher then you most likely don't have stock front sprockets.

5,200 rpm is good. No need to change at 6k unless you want a little more oomph when taking off. Even at 5200 you'll accelerate quicker than most cars do, unless they are trying.

I haven't ridden a 650 Versys - like the GS500 they are a Learner Approved Motorcycle (LAM) bike down here where the Vstrom 650 isn't. Down here it's all about Power To Weight Ratio of 150kw per tonne. Versys 650 has 59hp, VStrom has 68hp and BMW F650GS 71hp.

I figured the VStrom 650 and BMW 650 (that's the one with the 800cc engine computer mapped to be a 650) were very close to each other. The BMW was slightly better in the engine and handling, the VStrom in rider protection, pillion carrying ability and price. The BMW is slightly more agricultural looking to me so could be more likely to be ridden without care if it is dirty or not. But at minimum 50% more money than the VStrom I'm not seeing the value in the BMW - a brand new VStrom 650 can be had for $8990 while ex demo BMW F650GSes go for $13k-$15k 

Of course, GS500s, even brand new ones, go for much cheaper again and just cannot be beaten for value for money or handling, IMO. 

Cause it falls into the LAM Scheme, people tend to think of it Only as a learners bike. But I like to point out, before this LAMS thing, the learner restriction was 250cc so the GS500 was only available to Full License Holders and it sold well then. Nothing has changed about the bike, just the category it has been placed in due to its power to weight ratio. Still the same bike, still bought and ridden by full license holders. Leaner friendly does not make it a Learners Only bike. But the ease of riding does make it a keep, as far as I'm concerned.

Michael

I had some time to night to check out my rear wheel alignment.  I am very, very close to true.  I measured/checked at two different spots.  The swing arm lines match up very closely - 4th from the back on each side.  This is better than it was when I took it in to get service.  I also measured the length of the adjuster bolt and they are really identical.  The only thing I noticed was that the 'block plate?' on the back of the swing arm seemed bowed in on one side and level on the other.  I wouldn't have noticed it if I weren't down there checking out measurements.

Left Side w/ Bow:


Right Side w/o Bow:




In other news, I ordered a Haynes Manual today, I had read it's a little better for performing routine maintenance, which is the extent of what I want to do with the bike.  I am planning to replace the brake and fuel lines this fall before I put the bike away for the winter; probably as good a time as any to get some steel braided lines - then I can feel good about giving the little bike something special.  Suzuki maintenance schedule indicates they should be replaced every 4 years so they are likely due.  Once I get the manual I will take a look at the brake pads. 

Rotors look fine and nothing was mentioned at my last service at the dealership; the rear is a bit more scarred with a distinct groove.  I can see it visually but by fingernail can hardly tell it's there.




For fun I am going to look around at after market rear brakes.  I had read somewhere on this forum that the front brake had adjuster pins/clips/something in them and the back ones didn't.  Fronts don't squeak, back ones do.  I figure if I am going to spend any money on the bike it would be to get rid of that squeak.... I know, I know there are ways around it but this will keep me busy with a 'problem' I can work on trying to resolve.

Edit: Crappy Spelling Fixed

Brake Pad Link for Later:  http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.BrakePads

So a search on the web for aftermarket parts.  Brake Pads, sure.  Brake Lines, ok.  Rotors, yup.  Calipers, heck no...  It was so much easier to get bolt on stuff for my Harley.


Edit: sp

So this evening when I got home I decided to pull out my brake pads and have a look.  The squeal had been noticeable reduced after my service, but I think I am braking different to avoid the squeal as well.  It comes on if I use the rear brake lightly, what I end up doing now is taping the rear instead of applying it gradually (along with front of course).  If I tap hard enough there is no squeak, but if I ease into it I can be just about guaranteed squeak.

So get the obvious out of the way.  Yesterday I took a look at the rotors and the wheel alignment.  Rotors looked good and wheel alignment is very close, I won't say perfect.  Today I looked at pads for signs of uneven wear, glazing and build up on the pistons in the caliper.  Pads are well used, but not uneven nor glazed.  The pistons in the caliper are shiny.




I'm no mechanic obviously, but I get to thinking about these half moon shims:


When the piston comes in contact with them the leading edge that contacts the rotor has the shim, so that side might contact first; while the trailing edge has no shim.  The shims are very thin, but it would seem to me that the piston's contact point would have shim for perhaps 60% and rear break pad for 40% and make for an uneven contact point.  Under light pressure this might cause vibration and squeal?

I am also noticing the ability for the shim to shift side to side on the back of the brake pad.  The needles that hold the pad and the shim go thru elongated wholes which allow for a lot for movement.  Perhaps sometimes the shim is captured by the piston out of place, providing more or less contact patch for the piston on the shim.  So maybe sometimes it gets 65% shim, and other times 50%?




For this round I just cleaned everything up and put it back together.  I don't have brake cleaner or anti squeal to try.  I did switch the inside pad for the outside pad, cause I like living on the edge!

If I still get squeak for the next few days I am going to try loosening that caliper arm that bolts on to the swing arm and tightening it back up.  I read some one had some positive results from doing that, from what can gather its seems to be the only point of attachment that would make the wheel alignment create positive results for the rear wheel squeak (IMO).

Have you tried painting the back with copper grease?

Quote from: codajastal on August 16, 2012, 10:19:49 PM
Have you tried painting the back with copper grease?

No, this is the first time I have had the brakes out of the bike.  I was really not prepared to do anything but look at them, nothing in the garage and rode to work this morning so I just cleaned everything with a mild cleaner.  I did scrub some minor stains off the back of the pads with some 100 girt sand paper I had for doing some drywall last year.

My ride to work this morning was all rear break.  I'm not working on technique just trying to test out the rear brakes.  I got squeak at the first stop sign at the end of my road and no squeak the rest of my short ride to work. (1 more sign, hit 3 lights and two right hand turns that required me to slow down).  I am not saying it solved!  Just a remark about cleaning the pads & shims.  I'll ride like this until the squeak comes back - that could be as early as my ride back home this evening.

Quote from: Zacharia_11 on August 17, 2012, 10:30:02 AM
... until the squeak comes back - that could be as early as my ride back home this evening.

Yup, heavy stop and go traffic and I could make it squeak when ever I wanted.  Mainly initial, light application.  More pressure or a second application was less likely to squeak.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=3428.0

Edit: to add Link

Quote from: Zacharia_11 on August 15, 2012, 07:06:25 PM
Brake Pad Link for Later:  http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.BrakePads

So a search on the web for aftermarket parts.  Brake Pads, sure.  Brake Lines, ok.  Rotors, yup.  Calipers, heck no...  It was so much easier to get bolt on stuff for my Harley.


Edit: sp

I find parts super easy to buy.
For calipers - I buy nearly new ones from bike breakers. Often nearly new ones (1k miles or less) with great pads from recent bikes (like 2007 and newer) are like $14.95. When Ineed new pads, I just do that. Cheaper than pads and rebuilding a 10 or 20 year old caliper.

I do the same for rotors.

SS brake lines are easy to get - I always upgrade when I swap a caliper. Makes rear brake really responsive.

The rear wheel tensioners often get bowed if they are not seated squarely. They tend to wander as you tighten the screw. It is OK. They pull the wheel back and when you tighten the axle, they really don't do much except as a safety in case the axle comes lose. You can flatten them and be careful when you tighten the rear wheel.

Quote from: adidasguy on August 17, 2012, 02:45:07 PM
....
The rear wheel tensioners often get bowed if they are not seated squarely. They tend to wander as you tighten the screw. It is OK. They pull the wheel back and when you tighten the axle, they really don't do much except as a safety in case the axle comes lose. You can flatten them and be careful when you tighten the rear wheel.

Thanks adidasguy, I think I'll try flattening it and re-tightening the bolt, I figured it wasn't a big deal.

I bought my self a grunge brush, some brake cleaner and some copper anti-seize over the weekend.  I am busy studying for an upcoming exam so playing in the garage is an distraction I can do with out.  But it was really easy to pull the brakes out, so if I can get thru my planned studies tonight I will go and apply some of the anti seize to the back of the brake pads.  The brakes are still squeaky, I find the squeak goes away, or at least is noticeably reduced after a few km's of riding.  I really wanted a dry solution, but was unable to locate some SBS rubber adhesive shims.  I can get them online, but they want more to ship them than they cost.




So I picked up some of this and will give it a shot this week.





This weekend we took the bike out both days for our weekend coffee trips.  We typically go for a ride/drive on Saturday and Sunday and stop for coffee, and this weekend we did it on the GS.  The bike handled really well two up around town.  We were both comfortable, my wife is just shy of 6' tall and has a fussy knee from years playing varsity volleyball.  She needed to stretch it once at a stop but was other wise fine.  She doesn't slide around near as much as she did on the F800, but does need to reposition if i stop a little to quickly. 

Great bike, it's really growing on me.  I am still thinking of the Rox riser - maybe for next spring.

So I knocked out the studying that I had to do and spent a few minutes messing about in the garage in an attempt to sort out my squealing rear brake.  As mentioned I bought some copper anti-seize with the intent to apply it to the rear of the brake pad, but I did something else instead.

My research so far has me convinced that my brake squeal is from vibrations of the brake pad as the caliper is being applied.  Under lite application the brakes squeal, under heavy application they go away.  So the more pressure I apply to the pads, the less the vibration.  The squeal is the vibration of metal on metal, so the first thing I wanted to do was to see if I could isolate what metal was vibrating against what metal.  My thought was caliper on back of brake pad, but I first want to go after the easy stuff - so I applied a thin coat to the pins only.  A light smear, spread evenly with my finger over the whole pin for each of the two pins.  I then just buttoned it back up and took it out for an hour thru the neighborhood circuit.  I could not get it to squeal once.

The temperature right now is a cool 14C (57F) and this could be a contributing factor.  Rubber brake lines are less pliable in the cool weather so the application of my rear brake should transfer more of the pressure to the caliper than it might in warmer weather.  This initial testing leads me to believe my squeal might be coming from the pads vibrating on the pins.  Of course the better solution is to eliminate the vibration but if I can isolate where its coming from I think that will be helpful.  If the squeal stays away for any period of time I may take the pins out and remove the anti-seize to make it come back - then apply to one pin at a time.  Fingers crossed for progress, as I would love to take care of niggling items on this (or any) bike.

Just a quick entry for today.

Rode to work this morning, I have never had a squeal free morning until this morning.  It was a nice ride, but its starting to get cooler - missing my hand guards and heated grips, they aren't required yet but I would have appreciated them if I had them this morning.

I am thinking at some point the squeal will return, either the anti-seize will wash or wear off, or it will otherwise be displaced.  My thought is that the squeal for my bike is coming from the rear pin as the shim will force the leading edge to contact first.  The trailing edge is allowed to chatter/vibrate against the pin and if the lines are weak it might even be possible that under light application the caliper piston could be pushed back in the caliper slightly as a result of the chatter/vibration on the trailing edge.

I need to test the anti-seize on pin at a time to see if the squeal is pin dependent, but I am satisfied that I can eliminate the squeal - if only for a few days (currently undetermined how long I can keep it at bay) - by adding lubrication to the pins.  Tonight i will pull the pins and clean the pins and brake pad holes with a brake cleaner, then put them back in dry to test that the squeal comes back.  That should be a quick test.  Once confirmed I will lube the leading pin, retest; then remove the lube from the leading pin and apply lube to the trailing pin, and retest.

I hope to have some time to attempt this tonight, I have planned a set amount of studying and last nights had me finish early enough to tinker a bit.

Nice! Either way, at least you know it's fixable.

Quote from: Zacharia_11 on August 21, 2012, 09:16:43 AM
...

I need to test the anti-seize on pin at a time to see if the squeal is pin dependent, but I am satisfied that I can eliminate the squeal - if only for a few days (currently undetermined how long I can keep it at bay) - by adding lubrication to the pins.  Tonight i will pull the pins and clean the pins and brake pad holes with a brake cleaner, then put them back in dry to test that the squeal comes back.  That should be a quick test.  Once confirmed I will lube the leading pin, retest; then remove the lube from the leading pin and apply lube to the trailing pin, and retest.

...

Ok, so I managed to find some time to pull out the brakes and clean, calipers and pads (holes where the pins go thru) and pins with brake cleaner.  Put it all back together and yesterday I rode to work with out a peep.  Hmm, thinking the copper might have been crushed into the pin and pad making it a little smoother - but today I got squeal twice.  So its back.

My manual showed up the other day so I am going to try a rear wheel alignment this weekend.  I am also toying with the idea of creating pop can shims to try some different configurations - we'll see how ambitious I get.

Not much to post about, my exam is tomorrow and there hasn't been much time for messing with the bike.  I did want to note that after the two squeaks/squeals noted above I haven't had any more occurrences of rear brake squeal.

I did have a hard brake episode on my ride last Friday - didn't expect the stop sign after a blind corner.  I don't know if that shocked it into better alignment?  Regardless, I don't plan on messing with it if it doesn't make sounds.