I'm going to look at a 2003 I think gs500f tomorrow. It's not running, the guy says it's got 52,000 on it and it was running in October. Battery is dead. The ignition had frozen and he removed it and says it can be turned on with a screwdriver. I'm bringing a battery and some gas in a squirt bottle or either to hopefully get it to run for a few seconds at least. I don't particularly like either for this because it detonates very easily. I've looked around here a bit and it seems like these bikes will go high mileage with out too much trouble. Im wondering what I should look for wear and sloppiness wise on one of these bikes. I'm a very experienced mechanic, equipment, cars , bikes, karts. Just never had one of these or really worked on too many street bikes. I can get the bike for $200 so it's no great loss if it's got terminal issues but.....
Thanks Jason

If you're a mechanic, you probably already know what to look for even if you don't know that you know.  A shot of ether and a jump start will tell you how much work you have in store.  But before you do that, check the oil, put it on the center stand, snick into a higher gear and toe the rear wheel around a few turns.  Take note of any binding or grinding.  Take a small glass with you and if you have it, a foot or so of 1/8" tubing (aquarium air line works perfect).  Attach the tubing to the nipple on the bottom of the carb bowl and open the drain valve.  Examine what comes out closely.  If it's only been sitting three months, it should be pretty clean.  Have a look at the spark plugs.  Look for rust, leaks, etc.  If everything checks out, connect your battery and hit the starter.  The oil light should go out after a couple cranks and if you have it choked, it may even start.  If not then try a shot of starter fluid (the air intake is just under the rear edge of the tank forward of the battery). 

For $200 it's worth putting some work into unless it's been really badly abused.  For that price it may even be worth buying just to part it out if it isn't too far gone.

Good luck!

Thanks! Yeah I know the normal things I'd go through just wondering about know issues on these particular bikes. Tranny probkems, fork issue rear suspension stuff. The bike is for a friend who wants to step up from her Hondamatic cm400a for a season before buying something nice and giving this back to me.

PS admin. The electric arc that ignites the fuel isn't created by the sparkplug. It's created by the stator and the coil and jumps the airgap on the spark plug. Verification for every post is a bit much here. Pretty annoying after only two posts.

I'm not an admin but the verification questions go away after your 5th post. Hang in there, I know they are annoying but they keep the forum spam free !!