thinking of selling my bike within the next few months

[DaveO]

I don't want to highjack this thread, but, I have a question. I am a new rider and don't have many miles under my boots. I ride my '04 GS in top gear at 5000 RPM and the speed is about 60 MPH. What kind of speeds do you folks run at 9000 RPM?

[pantablo]

top gear (or maybe 5th instead of 6th) at about 9500rpm is roughly 125mph.

The point though is to run the bike higher in the rpm range in the lower gears because the bike pulls and has a sweet spot between 7-9 so that's where you should try to keep it by shifting through the gears.

[bikenut]

I would let a newbie look at my 'Busa (if I had one), but ride one?  Your own flesh and blood?  And then you didn't think you'd be bored by a GS500? Are you,  perhaps,  strectching it a bit? ?

[bikenut]

Hey DaveO,

Take a look at the dyno on the home page.  Look where the 40+ hp kicks in

[john]

Break-in can be a chore, but you can't judge a bike by its cover, wait until Chapter 2: After The Break-in.

I agree!

[04yellow500]

thanks again for the replys. i decided to keep it.  sorry the last guy who replied didint belive i learned on a busa. when you have a good teacher like my dad it is possible.  I am still bugges out by the 500s resale value, but i guess that it with any bike.  any brake in advice ??

[pantablo]

dont be afraid to let er rip once in a while. its not bad for the motor if you pop over the limited rpms once in a while.

otherwise, below 5k rpm until 600 miles, under 6k rpm until 1000 miles...then let er rip.

[04yellow500]

ok ill try and make this clear just one more time before i stop replying to the posts. i bought the gs500 not for its speed. i KNEW, exactly what the gs was built for and i bought it exactly for that ( small forgiving bike to continue learning on).  Not only that but i was on a rather tight budget when chosing what motorcycle i wanted to be my first bike.The question i had for the group was do i sell it/ trade it in now to keep some of its value up or do i hold on to it.  I love the gs500f, but i dont plan on keeping it forever.  I will admit, im into sport bikes. So eventually i am going to get one.  As for the busa, learning on that was NOT fun as im sure most of you would guess.  Which is another thing that drew me to the 500. Its all i had though. I rode the busa fine after weeks, but i was in no way as comfortable on it as i am with the gs500f.  so in conclusion keeping the 500 for a while. im going to break it in like you guys said.  I am thinking by next summer of getting an r6 though. sorry

[geekonabike]

Like I said, I'm not cynical by nature.  I just wanted to get it from you.  OK, I believe you.  Sorry for doubting.

Let me propose a way to look at it.  The GS will have reasonable repair/maintenance/other cost over its useful lifetime.  After you beat some of the newness out of it, why not keep two bikes?  When you stop having theft/collision on the GS it will cost what, $100/year to insure?  Why not have one (spendy sportbike) for pure fun, and the other (GS500F) for utility/fun.  Not to mention mpg's in the mid 50's instead of lower 40's, though admittedly that is a small percent of the total cost of ownership.  Until you buy the sportier bike you can ride out the relatively low (in $/year) GS depreciation, though agreed the biggest hit happened when you rode it off the lot so that's already passed.  Anyhow, I propose you eventually have one you won't mind riding in the rain, and the other you wipe off with your leather chamoise (sp?) after each sneeze,  One for riding around a city with its potholes, questionable neighborhoods, etc., and the other for the smoothest of pavements.  FWIW I don't read much about folks putting 40,000 miles on pure racing/sport bikes, for a number of reasons I think.  No, I have come to believe that folks with relatively cheap bikes tend to put more miles on them.  There are exceptions in the extreme cases, like retirees on Goldwings criss-crossing the country, and Newbies on 125cc bikes that stay off the highways.  It's been reported on the CB250 Yahoo list that those folks with Harley friends looking down on their bikes usually put WAY more miles on their CB250's than their Harley friends on theirs.  And that the Harely guys are more likely to put theirs on in a few weekends instead of every day.  There again are exceptions, but it rings true to me.

BTW you haven't had carb troubles yet I imagine, but I myself noticed a big jump from my one-carb CB250 to the two-carb GS500.  Think about a four-carb bike!  Well, maybe the fuel injected bikes will be better.  Don't know.

Another reason to keep two bikes?  (Believe me I know what I write here!)  The time a bike sits with the mechanic can be longer than a car's, as parts have to be ordered, waited for, maybe more parts after the first set doesn't quite fix the problem, etc.,  not to mention many of the more reasonable/honest shops have first-come-first-serve and no appointments allowed.  It is not uncommon for a motorcycle repair to be a matter of weeks not days.  Having multiple bike disorder is preferable to zero bike disorder, IMO.

Just a couple things to think about.  Otherwise, if you really want to trade up now, for laughs ask the dealer what they'll give you.  Sure you make more selling it yourself under ideal circumstances, but winter's a coming, the buyer might not be there, and you could wait a long time.  You may even be able to duck some of the taxeif you let the dealer take the bike back and "sell" you the other for a lot less than the usual negotiated sticker price.  I've been told you can reduce the taxes around here that way, though I'm not entirely sure I believe it.

FWIW, I got really good service from my Ford dealer after I accidentally left a FOR SALE sign in the window when I got my oil change there.  I too had some buyer's remorse, mostly for financial reasons, but found I couldn't get back enough of what I put into it.  That was three years ago, and I'm glad I kept it.  Newest car I'd ever bought (1-year old at the time), and I'm so glad I kept it.  BTW unless you're a wrench don't go used if you can avoid it.  It is SO nice to have something new, that if it goes pith on you, you can righteously bring it back to the dealer and say FIX.

Just some thoughts.  See what you think.  --Mike D.

[Roadstergal]

I also had a friend who went to a track where cops train in their Crown Victoria cruisers (of the 4-wheel variety), and the last thing they did was let him try to outrun them in his old Datsun 510 (what, 120hp?).

Sorry for the hijack, but...

Never underestimate Datsun 510!  They had a performance catalog where you could buy ANYTHING - LSDs, trick suspensions, fast heads, yadda, yadda.

I wish I had gotten a picture of this car being hounded, lap after lap, by a 510 at the last conference race at PR, but my battery ran out...

http://www.bmwpugetsound.com/images/race_10_3_04/s26.jpg

[pantablo]

When I was racing my 240z I had a buddy who shoehorned in a RX7 13B motor into the 510 sedan...talk about quick.