Hey guys, new member and looking for advice with a starting issue.

[Guest]

I own a 2005 GS500F and it's been my daily commuter since I bought it 2 months ago. I've put 3300 miles on it and all of a sudden it's having a hard time starting. It used to start in 1-2 seconds but now it takes about 5-10 seconds of cranking and pulling the throttle just out of the blue. I changed the spark plugs and did some maintenance on the petcock. I thought the petcock was the main issue when I saw it was leaking into the engine when the bike was off and in the on position so I fixed that by tightening the vacuum spring, re-installing, letting engine air dry, and changing oil. But it still has trouble starting, when I thought I fixed it. Once it starts it runs like a charm, not the biggest deal, but I miss how fast it used to start up and wonder if this will become something worse. Thanks

[Big Rich]

Might want to head over to the Gstwins forum - that's all they deal with over there.

But when were the valves done last?

[bonanzadave]

But when were the valves done last?

...and hows the battery.....and when were the carbs last cleaned.... and when.....you get it

[gsrick]

I own a 2005 GS500F and it's been my daily commuter since I bought it 2 months ago. I've put 3300 miles on it and all of a sudden it's having a hard time starting. It used to start in 1-2 seconds but now it takes about 5-10 seconds of cranking and pulling the throttle just out of the blue. I changed the spark plugs and did some maintenance on the petcock. I thought the petcock was the main issue when I saw it was leaking into the engine when the bike was off and in the on position so I fixed that by tightening the vacuum spring, re-installing, letting engine air dry, and changing oil. But it still has trouble starting, when I thought I fixed it. Once it starts it runs like a charm, not the biggest deal, but I miss how fast it used to start up and wonder if this will become something worse. Thanks

Like the other reply, your GS is a later model and really is different than what is usually discussed here though it's not really that different from the GS450. My guess would be that the carbs are starting to build up some blockage. If you didn't need the choke before and do know, then that sounds like the route I'd try first. Get a bottle of Seafoam and start adding an ounce or two per tank full and see if that helps clear things up. Also if you have some spray carb cleaner, try spraying some around the carb intake boots and see if the idle changes any. You may be developing a vacumme leak somewhere, but that usually results in a high idle..

[Nessism]

Sounds like valves. Hopefully we are wrong because if it's the valves you may have roasted them.

[Steve]

Don't know much about the newer bikes (like many of the other responders), but I will also guess "valve adjustment".

Hard starting, especially when cold, is a symptom of tight valves.

Not sure what your recommended adjustment interval is, but it's 3-4000 miles on the earlier GS bikes. You have hit that mark, and probably don't have any idea how long it was before you got the bike that they were done.

How many miles are on the bike? It's quite possible they have NEVER been done.

.

[Big Rich]

One thing I've learned from being on the Twins site for so long is that since the 500 is considered a "beginners bike", people buy them cheap, run them pretty hard with little maintenance, and sell them when they act up (usually gummed carbs or tight valves).

There was a kid near me that had low compression on one cylinder on his 500. He brought the bike to my garage and he had about 65psi, and after checking his valves the compression went up to 130 psi. And that was using whatever shims I had laying around.

[tkent02]

Tappy valves are Happy valves. If you can't hear them tapping away it's way past time to adjust them. Even if you can hear some tapping check them anyway, it's easy to do. They get tighter and tighter with normal usage, once they get too tight things can quickly get very expensive.

[1150bob]

I see you finally came to the right place. Reddit is good but this forum is great. First read the "stickies" that pertain to your issue.,then use the search function to find similiar problems. You will learn that bikes can be finicky,but if do proper checks than isolating the problem will come easier.Enjoy!

[chuck hahn]

That bike has a secondary air filter, a check valve, and a sensor according to the parts fiche. Find a service manual that tells you how to troubleshoot these components as well.

http://www.partsoutlaw.com/oemparts/a/suz/508b06a7f8700235307234bf/carburetor-model-k4-k5-k6

[2005gs500dude]

Was it you who recommended here? Thanks man!

[2005gs500dude]

Alright guys it is running fine again after letting it run for awhile after fixing the petcock. A crap ton of gas leaked out the airbox drain overnight so maybe that had something to do with it...it leaked a little more after I started it and now hasn't leaked since and runs fine. I don't know if I am replying right either so bear with me.

[gustovh]

Check your crankcase for gas.

V