Hi all, thought I would just say hi and introduce myself. Im a 32 yo father of one. I've just got my L's for the 2nd time ( broke my back at work just after I got them the first time) So finally back on the road!!!! I got myself a 2010 gs500f with just under 3000km on the clock. I must confess that I had never ridden one and didn't even test ride it before I paid for it. I've now done almost 1000km on her and loving every minute. Only thing that's bugging me about the bike is that damn rear brake squeal. Here is a pic of my new baby!!!



My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr


[attachment deleted by admin]

 

Rear brake noise is very common. There are lots of posts on this site. That's Rashy's bike I believe. Rashy and I rode  together several times and his rear brake often made a noise but he said that it did not bother him as he rarely used the rear brake.  Mine used to as well from about 1500km onwards. I tried several things including changing the pads but nothing worked for more than a few days. Eventually I found the solution. What you need is a product called CRC De-squeak. If used correctly it will keep the brake quiet for 3000-4000km at a time. Immediately after use the rear brake will be "dead" with NO retardation for the first few applications, so be careful. Eventually it will return to normal and give you perfectly quiet operation for months at a time. Mask carefully around the area to catch the overspray and allow it to dry completely before use. If it does not work you did not do it correctly. DO NOT use it on the front brake. This product really works.   

Thanks Prmas, yeah it's rashies old bike. he's the one that told me about gstwin. Great bloke.  I'll go and get that spray tomorrow. Hope rashy gets another bike soon. Was a fun ride home down the mountain from his place we'll have to catch up for a ride. I'm usually free Monday and Friday. Would really like to catch up with experienced riders who can teach me good road habits and a bit more about the Gs.
This may sound dumb but is 5000rpm at 100kmh normal? I've been doing a lot of runs down to the island and on the freeway just seem like I need a 7th gear.


My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr

100 & 5000 is normal

Sent while taking a dump

Quote from: codajastal on April 10, 2013, 04:02:38 AM
100 & 5000 is normal

Sent while taking a dump

I do my best thinking there too. Was thinking that if I dropped a sprocket size I could bring it down a little. Will be doing a lot of cruising so I'm just thinking about fuel Econ. Won't change anything till I need to. Money doesn't seem to grow on my trees is there any reason that they are geared like that?


My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr

Welcome from Qld Matty! Good choice!

Matty,

Welcome.

For reference (roughly speaking - not precise, not 100% bang on the money, but close enough)....

4th gear, 4000 = 60kph
6th gear, 5000 = 100kph
6th gear, 5,500 = 110kph
6th gear, 4000 = 80kph = too slow for that gear. The engine struggles against the gearing at that speed in that gear. Better use 5th when doing 80 and keep 6th for 90 and up.

4th gear will take you up to 140kph and be showing 9,000 rpm.

Dropping a cog on the front - going from the stock 16 tooth to a 15 tooth - will actually Increase your RPMS.

If you want to lower the RPMs for a given speed you need to Increase the front sprocket. Eg, putting in a 17 tooth front instead of the 16.

The reason Suzuki have gear the bike the way they have is to provide the best all round performance. 17 is too high for all city riding, 15 is too low for all highway riding. 16 allows the bike to perform in city and highway without causing the bike to rev too high or too low and lug the engine. And lugging the engine is worse than revving a tad higher.

This is not a large V twin with loads of torque. So we need rpm to help us. I've got 60,000 on my bike - which I've put all on - and still run the stock sprocket. Though, I will probably go up to a 17 when my chain next needs changing to See what it's like. I'm pretty sure I will then need to ride around in 3rd at 60kph instead of 4th to help keep the engine for lugging stress  - and - to keep me closer to the Power if I need to twist the throttle.

What do I mean by "closer to the power"?

Ok. Do this... ride along in 4th doing 80kph. Now quickly twist the throttle like you want to overtake a car. Take note of how the bike accelerates. Now ride along at 80 in 6th gear and quickly twist the throttle. You'll find the big will not do too much at all really cause you are too far away from that gears best power range.

Thanks heaps for the info Mister! I've still got a lot to learn about bikes.



My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr

Matty.V. The spray will solve your brake problem. Michael and I disagree on the gearing issue. He and I have a different idea on how to ride our bikes and that is fine. I have been running an 18/37 (standard is 16/39 and there is a precise mechanical reason for chosing 18/37!) sprocket setup with the original chain for the past 10,oookm and find that it suits me just fine. There is NO discernable wear on the chain or sprockets so far (the rear one is alloy). I use a chain lube that is little known but in my opinion is streets ahead of the well know brands. It goes on easily and has ZERO fling-off. As to the rideability of the bike, I find that my otherwise stock bike is happy enough toodling along in 5th gear at 60-70kph with my altered ratio. I agree that there is no instantly available power but I never get in a situation where I would need it. It takes less than a second to drop 2 gears if you want to access the powerband.  At an indicated 100kph (true 91kph) the engine is doing 4250 revs. As my bike has just come out of warranty last month I intend to correct the speedo error very shortly. It is not difficult to do. As for fuel consumption, the gearing change did not make a big difference, only about 5% improvemenrt (my average over 14k is 3.56L/100K). What it did was make the bike feel more relaxed on the freeway and eliminate the slight handlebar vibration at legal speeds. The handlebar tingle now does not show itself until about 115 indicated. I never feel like I need a 7th gear. The only significant downside is that steep uphill standing starts need a little bit more clutch slip than before. It is not a problem  for me. I too am usually free on Mondays and Fridays although I cannot ride at the moment as I cut my left hand pretty badly last Monday and cannot use my fingers until after the stitches come out. I have to see the doctor this arvo to check whether the blood flow has been restored to the torn tissue or whether I need a graft. Once I am riding again I would be happy to meet you for a weekday ride. By the way, I will be taking the GS down to the Island for a "track day" soon. It was a gift from my family. I am not interested in going too fast, just being able to do some laps of the famous track after some instruction. Let's catch up soon for a coffee and chat. I am in the South Eastern Suburbs.

Macka

Sounds great Macka. Bugger about ya hand. Hope it heals quickly. Don't think I'm ready to put my bike on the track (yet) but would love to come and watch. I spend a lot of time down there fishing. (my other vice). What year is your bike?


My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr

Please also note - Macka/Matty - my bike is a naked bike so is effected by wind slightly differently to a faired bike.

Other considerations include: Our respective weights when geared up, the loads we carry in addition to our own selves and the road topography we ride through. In addition, there is good chance our bikes are tuned slightly different as well.

I don't ride anywhere doing 80 in 4th gear. For that speed I'll usually be in 5th. But my bike doesn't like that speed in 6th, due to the above aspects.

Macka: 18 and 37? Holy cow! Good on you sir!

Yes we are all different. I am a gentle rider most of the time. My GS has never been over 85oo rpm and I have only used full throttle a few times. Most of the time it is between 3ooo and 5ooo rpm. As I said before, it is a relaxed ride. It has seen 145 kph once but that was on private property of course.  I have been a qualified Motor Mechanic for 43 years and treat all of my machinery with great care and respect. That is why I never have any problems on the road.

Different subject. I have had a quick look using the search function but can't find how to insert a picture. I tried using the attachment feature below here but it was rejected as too large. I have done it once before a long time ago but I have forgotten how to do it.  I would like to post a picture of me with Rashy and his bike which now belongs to Matty.V. Refresh my memory Michael. As I said above, I have been sniffing petrol fumes for over 50 years now and with the copious amounts of inkahol that have passed my lips over time, my memory is ..........................................................not what it used to be. That's right! Help me Michael or did I already ask that? 

The bike is very relaxed with the present gearing. I like it. It is a K9, first registered in Feb 2011, now with 14k on the clock.

I have found out how to embed the photo. This was taken at the Black Spur Cafe, one of my favourite stopping points. Rashy's bike is on the left. Mine is on the right and the centre one belongs to Hughsey. I am the good looking mature gentleman on the right. 

With regard to riding style...

In my Overtaking video you see a few higher RPM moments, and in my High Speed Twisties video. But generally, with the stock gearing, I don't go past 6,000, on the highway on the way to work. And accelerating is done At Ease which still manages to beat most cars as I change gears around 5k on the way to 60kph.

I think it is in the bike's best interest to have Mechanical Sympathy.

Macka, where did you get your 18th sprocket? did you still use the stock chain?

The part number for the sprocket is JT565.18 and I got it on Amazon. From memory it cost me $22 including delivery from the States. It is the early type without the collar but I just used two aluminium sump plug washers of the correct ID to space it out. The circlip fitted back on nicely. If you go to your local car workshop they should have an assortment of sump plug washers in a kit as I do. The larger sprocket does put the chain close to the clutch pushrod but there is sufficient clearance as long as the chain is not worn/loose as it rolls around the front sprocket at speed. As the front sprocket is 2 teeth larger and the rear one is 2 teeth smaller the original 110 link chain is perfect. As I said before, at 14k there is no noticeable wear on chain or sprockets. Give it a try, you might like the feel if you are not one for fast acceleration from a standing start. On the move you barely notice the difference in performance except for the reduced pickup in 6th which is now a true overdrive. 5th gear now is what 6th used to be with 5000rpm at 100kph (indicated). On the open road, when approaching a decent hill, I drop back to 5th and it just feels like a standard bike again. What I particularly like is the feel and sound as I slip into 6th at freeway speed and the engine drops into a lazy cruise.

Cheers for all your input guys gives me a bit to think about. Hey Macka how's ya hand going?


My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr

Maybe this is dumb but remember I'm
Still learning.
I filled up at united with there premium fuel 98 I think it is this morning and for the first time the bike has been running Average. What I mean by that is that it felt like it wanted to stall, had to crank it over a touch more than before to start, and felt like I had less power. Do you think I just got a bad batch of fuel or should I have stuck to the cheaper 91 or 95? Or semi blocked fuel filter? Should say I've been running it on 95.


My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr

I have always run mine on 91 standard and always been happy. There are many discussions about different fuels on the Forum that you can find. The consensus is basically that our bikes, being low compression, do not need anything more than 91. As a mechanic I can tell you that you should definitely NOT use E10 as it will cause rusting in the fuel tank and hardening and cracking of the fuel lines and "O" rings in the carbies. They are supposed to be E10 safe but are not really. I have had many (car) customers who have had their fuel systems destroyed by using E10 fuel resulting in repair bills of up to $1500. There have also been several recorded stories in Bike Mags about even High Powered bikes performing better on 91 than Premium (particularly Shell-and Shell have admitted that their Premium fuel is NOT suitable for all motorcycles). One little tip that I can give you though is that I have always used a "Lead Replacement" additive in my bike's fuel (like you do on a car running LPG) to help protect the valves and seats from recession. So far at 14k my valve clearances have not changed from new. By using the additive I hope to avoid the need to replace valve shims until it has covered a lot of K's. I do use an in-line fuel filter between the tank and tap. I changed it at the 12k service but it was still clean at that time. My bike has always performed perfectly except for one occassion when it would not go due to a jammed side stand switch.  Coincidentally, that was the day of my first ride with Rashy. I was late for the meet-up due to the no-go but sorted it out quickly (I am a mechanic ) and was only 15 minutes late after all that.

Thanks Macka, went for a ride today up round don valley, healsville , panton hills. Can't believe how well the gs handles the twisties. thanks for the info on the fuel. Will save me a couple of bucks a week. How much additive and what brand do you use?


My baby's
'10 gs500f black
'95 gsxr750wr