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I've acquired another motorcycle
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:30 am
by garylspolar
Requirements were:
Good power, shaft drive, comfortable, fast, handles well, cheap,
Please welcome my new-old 1981 Suzuki GS850L ! (haven't taken pics yet, this is from internet, and looks nearly identical)
Re: I've acquired another motorcycle
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:03 am
by DJ Downunder
garylspolar wrote:Requirements were:
Good power, shaft drive, comfortable, fast, handles well, cheap,
Well I guess one out of six ain't bad...
...Just kidding.. It's not my cup-a-tea but congrats.
DJ
Re: I've acquired another motorcycle
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:42 am
by garylspolar
Should have said, "handles well is a straight line".
I've been without... this will provide some cheap fun for me, and for $1,600, I can't beat the price. And I don't have to feel guilty when I can't ride it. This thing is Gold Wing comfortable. I might do something goofy with the paint, I know a local guy here.
Re: I've acquired another motorcycle
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:35 pm
by Biff's R
Just in time for the good riding weather.
Glad to see you have a ride again.
Re: I've acquired another motorcycle
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:43 pm
by NAIAD
Don't listen too closely to the critics (do you ever
?)! Those old shaft drive Suzooks were pretty fair machines, somewhat better build quality than most japanese bikes of the era. But then, I'm biased! My first street bike was an '80 GS850GT, put 43,000 miles on that bike in 3 years. Had one problem with the regulator/recitifier, but bullet proof otherwise. Also owned 2 GS1000GT's after that one, and a GS1000S Wes Cooley Rep as well after I finished with the 850.
Handling wasn't great, but with the regular G models, swapping out the fork springs, different weight fork oil, fork brace, air caps, and new shocks after the stockers wore out, helped immensely. Again, for the era it handled pretty well....nothing like modern bikes, but if you're not Ricky Racer who cares?
Have fun riding your "cheap" bike!!
Ciao! BJ
Re: I've acquired another motorcycle
Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:28 am
by indigoid
Looks like a fun little project. I've been looking around for a nice Kawasaki GT750 for similar reasons. They look a bit less like a cruiser than this Suzuki, and are shaft-drive. A guy at work has one and while I've not sat on or ridden it, it certainly caught my eye.
Having said that... 27 safety recalls in Australia by Kawasaki since 1986 vs. 5 for Honda and 15 for BMW. Not particularly encouraging