?

Some do it every major service interval, some every year, some every few months. I guess it may be subjective. . .

I never have had to do it on a bike once I've got it running. I never let them sit and I don't leave rusty tanks untreated and I don't run bad gas via carbs. If its sat for a month or 2, gas gets drained off and put into the nearest car.
Cool.
Buddha.

Never.

never. don't let it sit.

I've never cleaned mine either... and I also never let my bike sit for long at all.

Never.

Never.

Oh carp. EI...but this is a GS500 forum! The only time I had to clean the carbs was after it sat once.

Ride that baby!!!!

Love,
pandy

Also never.

Don't let the bike sit for more than a few months at a time and you will never need to know what the inside of a carburetor looks like.

I'm with Buddha -  do it once, do it right, don't do it again. Or at least, I try to follow those rules....

Properly winterizing a bike goes a long way too.

Once a month, on the 32nd. I mark my calendar for the 32nd and take that day off work to do it if I have to.

If I never see in inside of a carb again it'll be too soon. Meanwhile, my carbs were never cleaned. I ride the bike so they're fine. They get synced when valves are checked but that's it.

Only when they are dirty 

Ultrasonically cleaned mine and gave them a once-over when i got the bike (never know what you get from a PO), don't plan on taking them off for a long while.

Shut off the petcock and empty the bowls when you aren't going to use it for a while, use ethanol-free gas if you can 

Small caveat though.
Those 89-00 bikes have floats that drift high. Eventually in a few yrs you'd have to get into it and adjust it. Does that mean its getting cleaned then ? not always, but I find minimal dirt in the bowls, out it comes.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: Rallyfan on March 30, 2016, 10:45:36 PM
Once a month, on the 32nd. I mark my calendar for the 32nd and take that day off work to do it if I have to.

That's cutting it a little close ... I mean, what happens when a month doesn't have a 32nd.
That's why I make sure I do it on the 33rd.
Cool.
Buddha.

Now we're talking sense here. I'll switch to 33rd myself, great idea!

The correct answer is Never, if you ride your bike often enough (fresh fuel weekly) or you treat your fuel in the off season, sez the guy that has owned as many as 7 Turn-Key bikes at one time (in a state with a relatively short riding season)

Im so happy going with the 02 GS500, because the floats heights are more constant, no need to open them up to check. Also this is the best idling GS500 I've owned.

Never over 50,000 miles

never on my bikes, it seems like every 2-3 years on my kids bikes.   We have ~5 months of no riding here due to cold/snow and my kids just can't seem to remember run stable.   

Run stable before storage (and drain the floats) and it will be never.

I can tell when the carbs are getting dirty by the way the bike runs. So far I've been cleaning them about once a year when I bring the bike out for a spring tune up. I intend to install a fuel filter soon so I don't have to clean them as much.