Hello,

The mild weather is upon us in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and I'm looking for some maintenance tips on reviving my GS500F after winter storage (4 months). This will be my second riding season after a not so much first season, so I will be taking full advantage of any free time this year.

I did some searching online and read a short summary on reviving the GS through GSwiki, but I wanted to post here to get some feedback from GS enthusiasts just in case it may apply only to GS500 models.

Other than checking the chain, lubing, electrical, brakes, oil and tire pressure, is there anything else or specific for the GS500 I should check for?

- For break fluid, do I need to replace it or just top it off it low, if necessary? Any recommendation on brand or types?
- I added stabilizer to to my gas tank and grained to carb lines. What should I do get to gas back in the lines or should I be doing something else?
- When is cleaning the carb necessary? I read somewhere you should be clean.

If there any post related to this topic, please let me know the link.

All replies are greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Even if you added stabilizer it helps to drain the fuel from the carb bowls...small amounts of fuel go bad quicker than larger amounts. <<<this will get you running if you haven't forgotten about the battery.

EDIT: I'm assuming that when you grained the lines you drained the carb bowls also.

I just started mine up also, after a long winter. I have been routinely checking the battery and charging, so that was in good shape. I was surprised that she started right up after a couple of tries on the starter. One thing I do is put the petcock on prime while it warms up... this moves the gas back into the bowls after sitting so long (I use stable too). While it's warming up I do the basic checks... air pressure, chain, lights... brake light... blinkers. Then I take it for a short spin around town... no all-day go ride in the mountains just yet. I see if I notice any quirks and then return home and check out anything I may notice. This time, I noticed a weird hesitation when accelerating while in first and/or second gear. I wonder if my throttle cable is getting too old. Since the oil is all warmed up, it's a good time to check the level. An oil change is also a good way to start the season.

personally i do the oil and filter change when im laying the bike up for winter, can get some nasty corrosive bits in used oil. (maybe im too cautious)

but yeah id say basic checks, and you will probably need to leave it in prime for a few mins as Erika said to get fuel in the lines and carbs.

as for brake fluid its DOT4, here in the UK i use castrol stuff for pretty much anything. And IIRC it should be changed every 2 years as its hygroscopic. The actual lines themselves (assuming yours are rubber not stainless braid) are supposed to be changed every 4 years too. If you do change yours go for some braided ones, when i did mine it wasnt much more than rubber ones and bonus is they dont need to be changed again.

cleaning your carbs shouldnt be needed IMO if you dont have any running issues, if its not broke dont fix it right? and its a pain to disassemble everything to clean them.

Erika your hesitation could just be bad fuel, i had that with mine and it disappeared after a fresh tankful.

Quote from: pl4gu3b0rn on March 31, 2013, 03:36:40 PM
Erika your hesitation could just be bad fuel, i had that with mine and it disappeared after a fresh tankful.

That could be... a tank full of old gas with stable. If it still does it after some fresh gas, then I may be hittin' you guys up with questions again.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll definitely have to take a look at all the suggestions.

Silly question, but where is the carb bowls located? I don't have to disassemble the carb to get to it, do I?

I have a quick question I'm hoping someone can explain to me. In the gstwin winterizing section, its states "If you don't drain the fuel then keep the gas tank chok-full with treated gas to avoid internal tank rusting." What does gas tank chok-full mean?

Looking at the picture above, the left side of this picture is where you air filter would mount to the carb and the right side is where your carbs mount to the engine. When you loosen the carb drain screw it will open the carb drain on the bottom and drain the bowls.




And you do not have to disassemble the carbs to get to it you will probably have to take your side fairings off though and then the side of the carb where the screw is located should be exposed make sure when you loosen the screw you have a tube connected to it or some kind of vessel to catch the gas as it pours out.

Wow, so detailed! Thankas, popnlock! 

Chok full must means as full as you can get it. Basically as the tank heats and cools the air inside expands and contracts, so it basically 'breathes' as it warms and cools. The less air in there, the less it does that since there's less to expand/contract.

The problem is that every time it breathes the air it pulls in from the atmosphere has some amount of water vapor in it which is then absorbed by the ethanol in gas. So your gas goes bad, and it also holds water on the inside of the tank.