samburger

Ba-dum-bump!

I know how much everyone loves it when people revive dead threads! But screw it, I'm excited. I went to look at the middle bike I posted a picture of above ('96 GS500E) & the inspection & test drive went very well. It's a very well maintained bike. New fork seals & fork oil, recent oil change, K&N air filter, & everything else completely stock (which is good..aftermarket exhaust = a need to re-jet carbs, which = worse fuel economy). So the news is that I just sold my truck & I'm going to pick the bike up Friday. It's 2 & a half hours north, right by the GA, TN, NC border so it'll give me a nice trip back to get used to the bike. All I can say it very smooth & powerful compared to the Buell Blasts we learned on at the Harley Davidson MSF course.

Darth_Firebolt

my buell has an aftermarket exhaust and air cleaner and after remapping the ecm for +9 hp and +7 lb/ft it gets 12mpg better on the highway. so


it's definitely a 2004 xb12 only phenomenon, though. they were tuned stupid rich at 3,180rpm (highway cruising) from the factory to meet noise regulations.

samburger

I've heard testimonials that an aftermarket exhaust & rejetting takes the GS500 down to an average of about 50mpg. I'm averaging 65 so far, so that's an unacceptable loss. Plus I just started riding & 42hp is plenty for me. If/when I get bored, I'll just get a different bike. But coming from a 4 cylinder S10 that weighed ~3500lbs with 120hp, this bike is too fast as it is. I rarely pass 7,000rpm.

Moozh

way to go Sam..good to see that you found something great that will take care of you for years to come. Take care of it and it'll take care of you. Watch out for those knuckle-headed cagers!

samburger

Ha yeah it was pouring down raining when I got the bike & I had a 3 hour drive back home, & I got the bird from a number of 'cagers' who felt that I wasn't driving fast enough. I'll feel a lot better on this thing when I get a new bulb so the low-beam works again (went out two days ago) & get the right-hand mirror for it. My friend also let my drive his gixxer 600 yesterday & made me very glad I got a standard instead of a sport bike. It was fun for the time I drove it--very smooth, VERY fast (more hp than the truck I used to drive!), & a lot of fun--but too hunched over & too much potential for killing myself. I might like to get one as a play/track bike in a few years when I've got a better job (or any job!) & a little more experience, but as a daily driver I couldn't be happier with my GS500.

Hou-Tex

It started with a $2.00 frame from ebay. One part at a time. 1989-92 KDX 200. I built from the ground up one peice at a time.

Hou-Tex

nudder

samburger

$2.00 frame? What did the final cost come out as, if you don't mind me asking? Looks good!

And here's a question for the motorcycle vets around here: I was looking at the chain & sprockets today & they're about due for a change. Especially the chain..stretched like a mofo. So since I use this bike as a commuter & daily driver, I was thinking about changing the sprocket sizes to give it better low-end power. Anyone have any tips on sprocket sizes, chain sizes, brands, etc?

dminor 

For gearing, try just one tooth down in the countersprocket first for two reasons: countersprockets are cheaper; and you jump about four rear-teeth-worth for each counter tooth you gear up or down.

For chain, I've lost track of what's hot in that regard any more; BUT - - some of the best regular roller chain still is Renold, which, if you want to save some money, can be purchased by the foot from industrial power transmission suppliers (as in conveyor belt and chain supply or heavy equipment suppliers). They won't have it by number size (i.e. - 520, etc.) but by inch or metric pitch; but it's the same stuff.

Hou-Tex

bout 3k

samburger

Some hot bike-on-bike action. Takes a solid 5 minutes to load up the bicycle but that's no different than the time it takes to attach a trailer hitch rack to a car & load a bike onto it, so I'm not complaining.

And to dminor: You're welcome for making this thread vaguely relevant to mountain biking.

samburger

I was pulling out of my driveway & got about half way down the street before my bike sputtered out & lost all power. I had been riding on the same tank for about 250 miles to see what kind of gas mileage I was getting & had been expecting to run out soon anyway, so I switched to the reserve & headed back home to put some more gas in. I put more gas in & couldn't get it to crank up. At first I thought I may have flooded it, so I did as the manual said & tried to crank it up full throttle with the choke fully off to increase the air mixture. No luck. So I let it sit for about a half hour & tried again. Still no luck. I started going through the manual's 'Troubleshooting' section to see what was wrong. The third thing it said for not being able to crank it up was to check the carburetor overflow hose for fuel to see if the valve was stuck open. So I went to check for that only to find that the overflow hose was GONE! I thought maybe I was looking in the wrong place but then after walking around the bike & found a piece of the hose assembly wedged between the carburetor & the frame. In the picture in the manual, it was a T-shaped hose that connected in two places at the bottom of the float bowl & then there was a hose running out of the center or those two hoses into a black hole a little further towards the back of the bike. See these pictures to get a better idea of what the hell I'm talking about. I took the liberty of illustrating where the hoses should be.

The second picture is the T-hose, obviously. The first picture is the hole that I'm assuming the 'shaft' of the T-hose is supposed to connect to. The third picture is the piece of hose I found wedged in the bike frame. So my questions are: 1) Did I properly diagnose this problem? 2) Can I fix this problem myself with little mechanical knowledge? 3) If it's not as simple to fix as it looks, what kind of price am I looking at for a professional to fix it for me? 4) Where can I find a replacement hose?

I know, I know, this is a mountain bike forum. This isn't the only forum I'm posting this on because I don't know how much anyone here can help, but it's worth a try.

rez0469

samburger - check out the suzuki sv-650 and yamaha fz6 also.

Currently I own a highly modified 06 ktm sx-f 250 for motocross, I have owned tons of dirtbikes and street bikes, yamaha, honda, suzuki and ducati and harley are going to be mostly what I have had for dirt and street, I have had at least 10 dirt bikes and at least that many street bikes in the past 16 years. I currently work at a motorcycle dealership and at a NAPA store.

rez0469

You can get a replacement hose from www.bikebandit.com or probably any place that is a suzuki dealer, most likely bike bandit will have the best prices. And with chain and sprockets, you should be able to go to a dealer and look for a Regina chain and sprocket kit, should run you 150-200 for an o-ring chain setup and 1 tooth smaller front sprocket for a bit more acceleration, if you change the chain, it is a very very good idea to change the sprockets also or generally your chain life will be cut down severely from bent sprocket teeth. Also, with changing sprocket teeth, it will throw off your speedometer.

cryptid01

So you're saying that on his bike the pickup is on the countershaft? Weird.

samburger

My crisis has been fixed! It turns out the ****er who had it before me must have taken the fuel valve lever off & reinstalled it upside down. I had been running with the lever set to 'Prime' thinking I had it set to 'On' for the last week. I realized this last night & set it to 'On' (which was really 'Prime'). So basically: I ran out of fuel & dried out the carburetor when it was set to prime (because there was no fuel to prime the carburetor). When I realized I had done this, I set the fuel valve to 'Prime' (which was really 'On') to get some fuel flowing. Since the carburetor was dry it needed to be primed & having it set to 'On' didn't accomplish this. But I checked the hoses to see what they were doing & realized what the problem was & now all is well. Which is good because something tells me a mechanic would have skipped over this possibility (because a test drive was necessary to confirm my suspicion) & told me I needed to replace the valve.

Oh & I'm not good with motorcycle part terminology, but the speedometer cable runs to a little metal box by the wheel that looks kind on like an RC-sized turbo-charger. So I doubt the sprocket would affect the speedometer. But I went ahead & ordered the stock 16x39 tooth set-up. I weighed out the pros & cons & for now, I want to keep my high-end power for interstate fun.

mkellett

'09 BMW R1200 GS Adventure. Just over 25k miles in her first year, quite a few of which were put on in the Arizona/Death Valley deserts. An absolutely stellar bike, and the best of the five I've owned, including a Harley, two Ducati's and another beemer.

samburger

^One of my three dreams bikes.

rez0469

Oh yea, a lot of jap bikes have the speedo pickup on the countershaft. That one must be on the front wheel then. I work mostly with Yamaha, Honda, Ducati and Triumph where 90% of them have it on the countershaft. Good to hear you got it figured out. Here are my two bikes I have now.

Tigger_the_Wing

Hi all!

I don't ride mountain bikes (don't like the adrenalin rush!) but I live very close to the Mount Stromlo Forest Park (https://www.stromloforestpark.com.au/) so I see those brave people all the time!

I have enough fun riding my Revive (‘Charlie’) off-road.



Well, I did until a month ago, when I spent an hour lying in the mud with my heart fibrillating until my faithful dog heard another dog walker and ran off to fetch him. He offered me the use of hs phone, whereupon my oxygen-starved brain remembered that I had mine with me and I called my sons to fetch me. One brought the wheelchair, and the other took Charlie home. I’m now waiting for my birthday present - an electric conversion kit for Charlie so I won’t be stranded again.

I owned and rode dozens of motorcycles from 1976 until 2006, when I had a heart attack whilst riding one of these:



Being told I'd never ride again, I had to sell my Aussie bike (a little Moto Guzzi 750).



I still own my bike back home in Ireland, a 1988 GoldWing called Tigger (hence my username) because my daughter and son-out-law refuse to sell it for me. They say it is my bike for life.

I certainly love it to pieces even if I am unlikely ever to see it again, let alone ride it. They keep Tigger in good repair for me and take it out for rides. The grandkids love it.



And Samburger - so glad you got your bike sorted out! For many years, motorcycles were my only form of transport for transporting kids, dogs and shopping and for serious distances; for short trips, there was always the bicycle. I even used Tigger the Wing to move house from England to Ireland!

I still own my second bicycle, a light-weight (for the time!) racer with a hand-built frame dating from about 1965 that I’ve owned since 1970. It is back home in Ireland which is why I had to buy a bike here. Charlie is my third Australian bicycle, having had to replace my standard ladies’ bikes when the arthritis made them too painful to ride.

It has been lovely reading about all your motorcycles and seeing the pictures. I'll try not to be too jealous that you can still ride!

EthanYQX

I can't express how much I miss my Dad's '83 Wing right now. Almost 100k on that bike and he had it since new for 25 years.

Tigger_the_Wing

I feel for you, CrankshaftYQX. My husband owns a 1989 GL1500, my son owns a 1976 GL1000 and my son-out-law has a whole stable of assorted 'Wings.

And I'm now stuck in Australia and can't get back home to Ireland to see any of them!

EthanYQX

I grew up on Gold Wings; my Dad's 1100, my grandfather's 1500, 1200 and 1800, and my uncle's 1200. That said, these days I find myself tending towards big dual sports. Dad insists he's done riding now but I find it hard to believe, he started at the same age I did which is, well, young. One of my first memories, ever, is being seated in front of him on his 1100 Wing. I still feel like that every time I climb on a bike.

Tigger_the_Wing

I still don't completely accept I've done with riding. I just tell myself I'm taking a break while I'm not well enough (or safe) to ride!