I know that it's summer and lots of folks have just gotten licences and are eager to ride and wrench but I am a bit shocked by some of the recent posts with questionable/dangerous repairs and bike damage etc. 

The bike training course (you did take one did you not?) Is a start but it teaches you nothing able mechanical maintenance of your bike.
You need to get the owners manual and read it cover to cover before your first ride. It's freely available on the Web.
You need to get a repair manual before you wrench on the bike. Working from videos is OK as a backup to the manual only.  It's "semi" freely available on the Web.
This forum has a wealth of information but do first do at least a cursory search. The search function is very useful when there are a few detailed discussions on certain subjects, but it loses its value when there are 400 posts to troll through  on "carbs leaking gas" where each one gets shorter and shorter as folks get fed up on repeating the same stuff.

Sorry if this is a grumpy old man rant, but  the goal is to keep folks and your bikes off the tarmac or the graveyard of dead motors. The gs500 as timid as it is, can kill you and you need to take it and it's maintenance seriously.

Rant off.

Bmf

Good comments 

~~~~~~>>>>> round of applause .

Is it possible your frame petcock was accidentally left on Prime?







(sorry, just kidding) I completely agree with your post. I'll admit that I don't go through the entire MSF T-CLOCS checklist every single time I ride (daily), but I'd like to think that I understand my bike fairly well over the last 9+ years of ownership. I know to check my oil at least every gas tank full, I eyeball the tire pressures every time I walk by, etc.

Also, I've had the best luck searching through Google on the gstwins.com site.

Ha.... "grumpy old man rant"....

Great post

I know the OP was ponted at me, but in my defence, I do have all the manuals. Its just so happens that gstwins is better 

(kidding of course. Although I am really to blame. Partly. Or maybe wholly. Who knows....  )

Hi, I was really not singling anyone  out. Just reminding folks that we are not working on bicycles. These are more like horses, powerful and just looking for a moment of inattention to throw you off!

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Quote from: bmf on August 20, 2015, 07:58:18 PM
Hi, I was really not singling anyone  out. Just reminding folks that we are not working on bicycles. These are more like horses, powerful and just looking for a moment of inattention to throw you off!

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Thats exactly how I look at it too. 

Ye, my horse decided to throw me off twice in three days...... Front wheel blocked under normal braking. Damn our asphalt which is more like ice... Good thing that I instinctively let off the brake at once and relaxed my grip on the handlebars, so the bike straightened herself nicely. It was a scary experience though...