I just bought a 2007 GS500f and I'm not too happy with it.  The main reason being is that the handles in a way thats not familiar and intuitive to me.  I'm not sure if its just my bike or if I'm just not use to this bike so I'm hoping someone could shed some light on the situation for me. 

Let me try to explain this feeling I get when I ride the GS500f.  There is this odd behavior for the front of the bike to want to "auto correct" the balance.  It feels unnatural at low turning speeds.  I also have this feeling when I hit divots in the road.  I thought it had to do with the handle bar weights that came with the bike, but after I removed them I still feel it. 

I'm not a new rider.  I rode my XJ600 every day last year.  I didn't have the same issues.  I also rode an R6 for a few weeks before I got this bike. 

Hi, and welcome to the forum. The Handlebar weights are just too minimize vibration on the grips.
Re you question I'm not quite sure what you mean. I think both bikes have a very similar take angle (25° ) so it should handle similarly.  How is your steering bearing adjustment.? Tyre pressures &  alignment?

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Sounds like old, worn tires.

My bike has had strange handling for a while, first the handlebars were very loose, too loose to the point coming to a stop at lights was requiring concentration to keep straight. So i tightened up the steering head bolt a bit and went for a ride, the steering was horrible, it was almost like it was wanting to steer the oposite way around a roundabout and centre felt a bit notchy.
So i jacked up the front of the bike and loosed then head bolts again but it still doesn't turn smoothly.
Steering head bearings need replacing, so i have ordered some, cant wait for them to get here, if isn't a bad notchy feeling but it is just enough to make me look like a noob wabbling a bit at the lights.

Old tyres, tyre pressures, bars/body  positioning, brakes binding, wheel bearings, real bad rear wheel alignment, bent (single or both) forks? , triple clamp and head stem area bent/damaged/ binding. ...??

Hope its one of the simple things

Closer inspection/investigation/reporting is required!

I'm having a hard time understanding your description of the problem.  Can you reword it?

Does it feel like the bike is resisting your input?  Is "low speed" like parking lot u-turn kind of speeds or side-street residential taking a turn kind of low speeds?  When you say '"auto correct" the balance' does it feel like it wants to pull out of turns and go straight instead of committing to the turn?

What is your location?  Any chance you'd want someone with experience to try riding it?

Quote from: Janx101 on September 26, 2015, 07:59:11 PM
Old tyres, tyre pressures, bars/body  positioning, brakes binding, wheel bearings, real bad rear wheel alignment, bent (single or both) forks? , triple clamp and head stem area bent/damaged/ binding. ...??

Hope its one of the simple things

Closer inspection/investigation/reporting is required!

check  tire pressure  ,   one time  I had zero air in my front  tire  , walked  bike home  ,    bike was all over the road  in steering .

Yeah, I was going to say, check your steering head bearings. If adjusted too tight they can give that sort of feeling.
The GS shouldn't feel THAT much different to the XJ or R6.
I recently had the same issues setting up my 'new' '96, the steering head bearings were too tight, and the forks needed realigning.
15 minutes, job done, now sweet as a nut.

Thanks so much for the replies all.  The alignment is straight, the tires have ample pressure, and the tread on them is at 45%. 

@Joolstacho & damo2211.  I will have to take a close look at the steering column.  Maybe there's some play going on there.

@Watcher.  After analyzing it a bit more, I think what I'm feeling might just be a higher center of balance than I'm use to.  Low speed = parking lot turns.  That auto correcting feeling happens when the tires are angled and bike slightly leaned.   I live in Portland, Oregon.  I'd love to have someone with experience take this new bike for a spin. 

Also having cold start issues, but I'll go search through the forums for a topic on that. 

Sounds like it could definitely be the tires.
Is there an even 45% of tread left across the entire tire, or are they more worn in the center (high possibility). If they are, imagine the extreme: The tire is worn in this manor until it is completely square (shaped like a car tire). So when you tip the tire up while leaning the tire is riding on an edge and it wants to rock back down and be flat again.

Thanks for clarifying a little.  I think Slack is onto something.

Unfortunately I'm in Chicago so I can't help you in person...