i live in cairns, QLD, australia and have had some trouble finding little bits of info about the GS500e.
Does anyone know how far you'll get on a tank of fuel?
does suzi have any other colours than blue or black ?
what is the price in your area for new? (my local dealer has 8k on road, down in nsw dealers have 7.3k both would probably give you a helmet or some other bit of gear)


any help is much appreciated

You should be able to get about 180-200 miles per tank. I think that is about average. As for colors........mine is a 2000 and that year it was only available in black. In '99 I think the only color was a mustard yellow. Some years they offered 2 colors. There is a chart somewhere (and I'm sure one of these members has the website) that lists the colors by year model. Mine new (in 2000) costs me $4300 USD. They also gave me 600 dollars worth of accessories as an incentive. Today I think the 2004 model is about $5K USD. It is a fine, simple, yet highly attractive and unique machine. I ordered mine after reading many many hours of articles on it. Gripes about it include it needing stiffer progressive front fork springs (I agree totally), it being prone to rust (I agree and keep mine under lock and key in a nice shed away from the elements), and it will not go (nor will it ever go) one hundred sixty miles per hour (thank God).
Hope this helps, Wilson

http://www.gstwin.com/gs_colors.htm

GS500E

1989-2000 model years
4.5 (US) gallon tank -- 4.0 in California
50-60 miles per gallon[/list:u]

GS500

2001-2002 model years in US, 2001-2004 elsewhere(?)
5.3 (US) gallon tank
Same mpg?[/list:u]

GS500F

2004 model year
Same tank and mpg as GS500
Fairing and oil cooler added[/list:u]

prone to rust ?
this is not a good thing. is it common for all or just specific models?

I seem to get about 3.7 gallons (14 liters), or 82% of the tank capacity, before needing to use reserve on my '92 500E (with the smaller, pre-2001 tank).  Going by the "50-60mpg" ballpark (21-25 kpl), that would mean 298-357 kilometers before hitting reserve on the older bikes.  I'm not sure what proportion of fuel is available  reserve figures-in in the newer bikes.  If it were at 82% of total fuel, then I'd expect 350-420 kilometers before hitting reserve on the '01 or newer bikes.  

Kerry has reported that he managed to get down to almost the last 0.4 liters, but others have reported the bike stalling once it gets down to the last 1.9 liters (0.5 gallons).  I think the reason that Kerry was able to get down to the last bit, was that he was willing to set the petcock to PRI, and then when the bike would kill, he'd coast to a stop, and tilt the bike to the left (the fuel inlet is on the left side of the tank).  I think it's safe to say that unless you want to perform gymnastics to get to that fuel, the last 2 liters is probably not useable.

That said, my fuel economy is down about 17% in metropolitan city riding, versus highway riding, so it's important to use the reserve as your low-fuel warning.  Sometimes, you use fuel much faster than other times.

i ran out of gas a couple days ago......i then switched to PRI and shifted the bike to the left so it would get a little more gas to get me to the gas station.....when i opened the tank there was a little bit of gas left in the tank and then filled up only 14.8L   ......so in the end my gas tank is ~15L or just a little more

if my tank is 4.5 gallons that is 17 liters.....this is not a small difference and i'm a little confused


oh, and i get about 120 miles (200) km before i hit reserve....on a full tank i get about 180 miles and then run out of gas  

Quote from: GRUi ran out of gas a couple days ago......i then switched to PRI and shifted the bike

I assume that you mean, you ran out with the petcock set to RES?

As Kerry mentioned, those last 2 liters can be considered "fumes", and may not run to the carbs without lots of coaxing; so your 15L versus 17L discrepancy would make sense there.

What wouldn't make sense is my statement that I got 3.7 gal. (14l) before hitting reserve.  That's what one of my gas receipts said (I wrote down the odometer when I switched to Res, and again when I filled, and estimated how much fuel from that).  But I should check against other recepits, because that sounds optimistic.  3.4 gal (12.9 liters) before hitting reserve would seem more reasonable.

Quote from: GringostarDoes anyone know how far you'll get on a tank of fuel?

Depends on the type of riding. 300km-ish

Quote from: Gringostardoes suzi have any other colours than blue or black ?

You can't get the black at the mo, just the blue. Here's a pic of mine, bought it  a few weeks ago.

Quote from: Gringostarwhat is the price in your area for new? (my local dealer has 8k on road, down in nsw dealers have 7.3k both would probably give you a helmet or some other bit of gear)

Got mine (in Vic) for 7.3 on-road, but that's in the country, you could probably do better in the city.

Hm. Well I run out of fuel the other day, but did not use the reserve tank. I literally coasted into the gas station on fumes..luckily it was downhill. I was at 239 miles since my last fill up on mg GS500F. So without using the reserve tank, and estimating I coasted close to a mile, I would say about 238 miles to a tank, based on my conditions.