Picked up a 2007 GS500 with 16,000km. Bike in decent shape, minus a few issues (idle hovering, missing nut on the clutch bolt (but checked and confirmed the front brake had one), inconsistent front brake switch ) but for the 3 weeks I've had it it's been fine, and every morning check the ground for leaks and never found anything.

For peace of mind I took it to a well known motorcycle shop to have them look over it (I'm not very handy so I thought i'd leave it to the experts). I brought 5L of Rotella T4 15W-40 in case they wanted to change the oil so I could save a few bucks by bringing my own.  Here's what they said they did/found:

• Changed oil, and put in a new filter (didn't give me any oil back from the 5L I gave them and I'm not sure what filter they used.)
• Added a nut to the clutch bolt free of charge
• replaced the front brake switch
• located a vacuum leak in the Intake Boots said it needs new O-rings and quoting me $300 to fix it
• checked brake pads and said they were fine

Settled my bill and told them I'd get back to them in a few weeks once i've thought it over if I wanted them to replace the o-rings.

Next morning I notice that oil has been leaking under the engine. I check the plug and it's extremely loose (I could tighten it with my fingers) and has oil droplets forming on it. I tighten it lightly and that seems to have fixed that leak.

Rode the bike that afternoon and noticed progressively my front brake was travelling further and further as I applied it. Pulled over and see the bolt is protruding and is a cm away from falling off. I think they forgot to replace the nut when they were servicing the switch. Sure i should have checked it before riding but I feel thats a big oversight on their part.

Get home and notice more oil dripping from a different spot. Its under the engine but I'm not sure what area it is maybe someone can Identify it and what might be causing it? Also why am I seeing it now after they changed the oil vs before? (see picture at bottom)

Long story short, ended up paying for things I should have done myself and now I'm dealing with issues i wasn't before. Maybe they used the wrong filter I don't know. Part of me wants to call them up and complain but I don't know what that will get me.  Feel free to give me some advice if you want.

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> Part of me wants to call them up and complain but I don't know what that will get me.  Feel free to give me some advice if you want.

I'd call them back, maybe they will agree to fix it for free.

Also be careful with the drain bolt, it's threaded into aluminum, thread is easy to break. Haynes manual lists 20-25Nm of torque on it.

> Long story short, ended up paying for things I should have done myself and now I'm dealing with issues i wasn't before.

In my limited GS500 owner experience (10 months?), leaks are not uncommon. Once I had an oil filter gasket leak after oil&filter replacement by the shop, which the shop agreed to fix for free. Later right side crankcase cover leak progressed, and I asked the shop to replace that gasket. They did so perfectly, however they didn't tighten the signal generator rotor bolt properly (it's under Suzuki logo, on right side), which failed when I was driving through a tunnel Paid 130$ for a tow truck home, where I discovered the issue was trivial and fixed that myself. So, yeah, I guess I will try to service my forks myself.

Added:
Oh also it's your first post! Welcome!

Seems like ordinary quality of work from independent shops, which is why I would never again use one. You're right, you can do better yourself, and you should.

The intake boot o-rings are a common thing to need replacing, but there's no way they checked it. Intake boots may even be cracked and require replacing too. This is just ordinary maintenance.

You should have gotten half of your oil back.

Quote from: Sparker on May 31, 2023, 04:29:25 AM> Part of me wants to call them up and complain but I don't know what that will get me.  Feel free to give me some advice if you want.

I'd call them back, maybe they will agree to fix it for free.

Also be careful with the drain bolt, it's threaded into aluminum, thread is easy to break. Haynes manual lists 20-25Nm of torque on it.

> Long story short, ended up paying for things I should have done myself and now I'm dealing with issues i wasn't before.

In my limited GS500 owner experience (10 months?), leaks are not uncommon. Once I had an oil filter gasket leak after oil&filter replacement by the shop, which the shop agreed to fix for free. Later right side crankcase cover leak progressed, and I asked the shop to replace that gasket. They did so perfectly, however they didn't tighten the signal generator rotor bolt properly (it's under Suzuki logo, on right side), which failed when I was driving through a tunnel Paid 130$ for a tow truck home, where I discovered the issue was trivial and fixed that myself. So, yeah, I guess I will try to service my forks myself.

Added:
Oh also it's your first post! Welcome!

Thanks for sharing and the warm welcome! Glad there's a forum for this bike. I'll be sure to be careful with the drain bolt (my torque wrench is on the way). I called the shop up and they were decent about it, apologized and told me to drop by so they can look into it. Regardless I think i'm going to start learning how to do things for myself (as much as I can) when it comes to maintaining the bike.

Quote from: mr72 on May 31, 2023, 07:05:05 AMSeems like ordinary quality of work from independent shops, which is why I would never again use one. You're right, you can do better yourself, and you should.

The intake boot o-rings are a common thing to need replacing, but there's no way they checked it. Intake boots may even be cracked and require replacing too. This is just ordinary maintenance.

You should have gotten half of your oil back.

The main thing I needed was them to try and identify why my idle was hovering and getting stuck at 3k periodically. They did the old spray mystery fluid (brake fluid or gas or something) around the engine until the idle spikes and they showed me it was in the area of the intake boots. I was able to remedy the idle issue slightly by following the FAQ and properly adjusted the idle when the bike was good and warm (had to turn it down quite a lot). So revs are coming down faster than before but not perfect and the bike has a tendency to shutoff every now and again. So next suggestion in the FAQ is the air intake leak which ive started researching on my own and might attempt to do it myself 

The GS500 is not a good bike to own if you pay other people to work on it for you. It requires a lot of maintenance. For example, Suzuki recommends checking and adjusting the valves every 4,000 miles and also retorquing the head bolts. That's the same interval as for oil changes. A shop will charge you $500+ to do that and you will have no way of knowing if they did anything. Also, you should really vacuum sync the carbs every time you adjust the valves, which the shop will charge you another $100 to do. This can all be done with a $14 motion pro shim tool and a $75 vacuum sync tool plus the cost of shims.

If your 2007 needs intake o-rings its probably going to need a lot of other gaskets and seals over the next few years. Most likely all the gasket and rubber material on your bike is 16 years old now and starting to harden and deteriorate. You don't want to have to pay a shop every time a $3 o-ring or $15 gasket dries up and starts leaking or causing carb trouble. I would buy a Haynes or Clymer manual and decide you are going to learn how to work on this bike or sell it and move on to something with an engine that isn't late 1970's technology (The GS500 is just a bored out GS450 from 1980 which was based on the GS400 from 1976).

$300 seems steep to replace the o-rings on the intake boots. That means they estimate 2 - 3 hours of labor to remove the tank and airbox, pull the carbs back, and then undo the 3 bolts holding in the boots and replacing the o-rings and putting it back together. That should be an hour's job plus $6 for the o-rings.

Thanks for the advice Bluesmudge. Yah I can def see how all those jobs will certainly add up. Spent the last few days doing some research to try and familiarizing myself with the process of replacing the boots and now the oil pan gasket. Haven't started looking into Valves and carbs yet but there seems to be plenty of information out there and glad I got a place where I can get some help when needed.

Your breakdown of their estimation was spot on. The guy said 2-3 hours of work plus cost of parts to do the orings.

Next week going to clean and lube the chain, and give the bike a good wash and wiped down. intake-O rings are currently in the mail and will attempt to remove the tank, airbox, carbs and inspect the boots to determine If i need to replace them.

If I can fix the oil leaks and the inconsistent idle i'd be happy as a clam

Quote from: chopsuixx on May 31, 2023, 07:22:04 PMIf I can fix the oil leaks and the inconsistent idle i'd be happy as a clam

I still have a mystery oil leak on my GS500 even after extraordinary effort to find and fix it. Big culprit was the crank seal under the "signal generator" on the RH side of the engine. Now I think it's still leaking on the valve cover somewhere but there's a new gasket and lots of work to try to get that to stop until I finally just gave in.

Follow the link in my signature to get your carbs sorted. The hanging idle is due to setting the idle speed too high, as you discovered by adjusting it while it's very warmed up. You probably should increase the pilot jet size up to a 20 (assuming that's not what's in there) while you have everything off, then reset the idle speed and mixture which you will have to do anyway after it's been apart. Might as well clean the carbs while they are off since you've already done 90% of the work. And probably replace some o-rings, like that tiny pilot needle o-ring. Just read my blog post and it should help.

Good to know that mystery leaks may still occur.

Yah the hanging idle issue lessened when I adjusted the idle speed on a fully warmed up bike. Revs were dropping faster and it sounded better but then the idle was sitting at 900-1000 and would cut out periodically at lights so I turned it up a little bit which increased the hanging idle. I haven't touched the mixture screw yet, can I access this while the bike is running and fully assembled?

Thanks for linking your post. I actually bookmarked it last week as I knew it would come in hand