Is the GS a UJM?

[Rema1000]

I think that the quintissential Universal Japanese Motorcycle is the Honda CB750... then came the KZ900 and XS1100.  By extension, all the CBs, KZs and XSs are UJMs.  I think we can agree that the GS400 was a UJM.

But is the GS500F?  It's got all that plastic.  I mean, the KZ became the ZR, and got sold as the ZR7-S with a half-fairing.  And the XS got sold as the Seca II (also half-fairing)... but full fairing?  Can it still be a UJM with a full fairing?

The other question, is that the look changed quite a bit when the frame changed from UJM tubing, to the current box steel (in the '89 GS500, maybe?).  Anyways, if the GS500E is a UJM, then it definitely looks way cooler than any of the other naked UJMs... but is it?

If you think the answer is "yes, it's a UJM", then it seems to be in close company:  Honda still sells the Nighthawk 250; Suzi the bandits, and Kawa the ZZRs... but I think that's it for "the last of the UJMs".  And CARB 2008 requirements may spur manufacturers to drop their carbureted models before 2010.

Which makes me wonder: what is the "generic" all-'round bike of today? The KLR?  I can imagine something like an unfaired VStrom 650 becoming the next Nighthawk.  Or will H-D sell a cheap, lightweight Sportster 650 single, using fuel injection and a head by Buell?  Or will people be buying maxiscooters in droves, possibly as the result of some future gas crunch?  Maybe the 1985 Honda Helix will be thought of the way we think of the 1969 CB750: the first in a long line of new machines that changed motorcycling in the US.

[The Buddha]

The GS500 I have always thought of as an "modernised, sporty, 2 cylinder UJM" ... some even refer to the hawk that way... but water cooling makes that a huuuuge stretch. The GS 450 is 2 cyl UJM... so the 500 follows as modern and sporty...
Cool.
Srinath.

[Stephen072774]

I would call the GS a sport standard UJM, I also think the SV falls in this class.  But the new GS, with its fairing, surely would be viewed more like the SVS, even tho the ergos didn't change on the GS.

[Gisser]

UJM refers to JPN aircooled, 4 cylinder standards or semi-standards that proliferated in the '70's and '80's.    

The universal Japanese motorcycles of today with hardly a hair's difference between them that each of the Big Four churn out would be the 600cc and open class supersports.  

The Bandit is like a UJM, but you wouldn't call it one because it's not a common design anymore.

[Rema1000]

Interesting take on it, Gisser.  I was thinking that "universal" meant: multipurpose, do-anything bike, good for pretty-much any motorcycle need.  For this kind of thing, the GS500 and Nighthawk 750 are pretty-much tops, except that the Nighthawk 750 is no-longer sold, and the GS enjoys only a modest following.  Despite their utility, they are not popular.   The 600SS, on the other hand, are "universal" in that they are everywhere... ubiquitous.   It's interesting to see that these 600SS bikes which are now "everywhere you look" are also not such good choices for most "real wold" pavement and traffic.

Actually, in my neighborhood, they're not really "everwhere": my block has an old Vespa (P200e?), a Vino 50, a BMW GS1150, a 1975 Bonneville 750 , a Radian and my GS500.  A pretty wide assortment, and nothing close to 600SS, not even a Seca II (and no Harleys either).  I have a Givi A750 fairing, so I guess that makes my GS the honorary "sport bike" on the block!  

Perhaps the SV650 is the cult bike of the decade?  It seems to be solidly hanging inbetween the inline twins, the Buells and the inline fours.  Nobody else has tried selling a modest V-twin standard bike in years.   Considering its popularity, I wonder why Yamaha, Honda or Buell aren't trying to develop some direct competition?

[The Buddha]

That Universal wasn't a synonym for Multipurpose or multi surface... it was a synonym for name less, faceless, generic... all the Gs550, 650, 750, 850, 950, 1000, 1100, 1150, and the KZ550, 650, 750, 850, 900, 1000, 1100, and the CB550, 650, 750, 900, and the yamaha XS... you get the idea... alll looked the same... so all these things get off the boat and the respective factory picks them up in their truck and and on the truck they hastily slap name badges on them, so people think its a honda or yamaha or suzuki... and that made them universal... of course A harley was distinct... each one was distinct, and they all left very different oil patches back in the 70's... BTW cant get more generic than a harley... 3 motors, and 3 frames and they have the gall to call the Jap bikes UJM's.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Gisser]

... BTW cant get more generic than a harley... 3 motors, and 3 frames and they have the gall to call the Jap bikes UJM's.

Good post.  You nailed the topic along with a dash of imaginative humor.  GS950's and KZ850's must be the forgotten UJM's .  Almost forgot that UJM was also a term of derision, too  :nana:.  Of course, when Honda and Yamaha broke the UJM mold with Shadows and Viragos, Harley went crying to Uncle Sam.