I found one!

[That guy]

Well after looking long and hard i finally found a GS500. Black 1991 40k miles on it for UNDER 500 dollars. What do you guys think? my birthday is comming up and i havent taken the MSF course yet. But hell, i figure if i bite at the sale i wont have to worry bout finding one in my area. But ofcourse i WILL take the MSF course before i even mount on this beast.   I emailed the guy and i asked him if the bike needs any maintinence. Is there anyone here from San Diego that would be willing to come down with me to check it out? I would be very greatful. Thanks for reading!
oh yea auction ends in 6 days.

[Dom]

There are still 6 days until the auction ends.  Don't count on getting it for $500.  Expect to pay at least twice that.

[That guy]

at least its local pick up. im not too worried...yet

[mp183]

That is pretty old. Old is old and new is new.  Not saying to get a new one but I would look for a newer one.  Metal does not age, but rubber seals and gaskets do.   I would not touch anything older than 10 years.
Gotta ask yourself, do I want to repair or do I want to ride?

Good luck.

[ashman]

I'd say mileage is more of a factor then age. I bought my 93' back in 2003 and I've taken it cross country and all over and havnt had to replace any seal other then the oil filter cover gasket. The mileage is what would worry me. I consiter 40k to be near the end of the life of a GS assuming its been maintained. Best to check it out 1st hand tho before making a choice.

-ash

[mp183]

I think the GS is more than capable of 40,000 miles but combined with the age I see your point.   There is the factor that you don't know how it was maintained.
I have almost 19,000 miles on my 2002 and it runs like a top.  I bet the engine will do more than 60,000 without a problem.

[Dom]

There's a member here, srinath, that has a super high milage GS.  Somewhere in the area of five zillion miles, but I could be wrong...might be closer to six.   :dunno:

[ashman]

ya, i've heard about srinaths bike w/  the high miles. yes the GS can run beyond 40k but ask him if he'd take it on a trip down to florida or something along those lines. i sure as hell wouldnt be too confident.

-ash

[Dom]

Doesn't GSJack's have around 70k?

[jordanearl]

definetly take a look at the condition of the gas tank.  I bought one, and now find it has gas leaks.  Do a search on gas tank leaks to see a good picture

[cheesy]

That is pretty old. Old is old and new is new.  Not saying to get a new one but I would look for a newer one.  Metal does not age, but rubber seals and gaskets do.   I would not touch anything older than 10 years.
Gotta ask yourself, do I want to repair or do I want to ride?

Good luck.

that's pretty ridiculous.


You should be MUCH more concerned about milage+maintainance than age.  I'd MUCH rather have my 89 with 13k bought from a friend/coworker that knew what he was doing than a 98/99 that was ragged to hell and back w/ 40k on the clock.


As far as repair... bikes break.  Bikes ARE more maintainance than cars.  If you can't accept that, then drive.

[mp183]

I had plenty of old cars and once they get past a certain age all kinds of problems come up.   Most of the problems are not engine related.  Brake calipers seize, mufflers get holes, catalytic converters develop holes.  These are not normal maintenance items.
My son got a 1992 For Taurus 35,000 miles maintained by a little old lady.  Ran fine except anything that was made of rubber started to fail. Oil leaks developed etc.  Finally the transmission died and that was it.  It was stupid to put money into it.  For $500 dollars more he could have gotten a car that was 5 younger and would have lasted him much longer than this one.  You can be current on engine maintenance, no one changes hoses, seals etc. unless they fail.  These are all the things that fail from simple old age.  On old bikes brake calipers fail, forks leak, carbs develop problems as the rubber parts fail, inside of tanks rust to the point that it becomes a major problem, etc.

[The Buddha]

OK at 40K suzuki says the valves and cams and pistons should be replaced. If a Zillion is closer to 10K, I guess I had close to 5 zillion miles on my GS ... I had 47K when I sold it ... Its definetly gotta be watched ... I had it since 8K and any problem was fixed before it got bad ... OK that starter clutch leading to goats sorta bit me in the ass ... but 4 oil changes in 300 miles was the price I paid after the fact ... Barring sudden death as in seize or valve piston meeting etc ... The GS is going to die one of 2 ways ... shims get thinner and thinner till there is no where else to get shims from ... or they get thicker and thicker till they dont have any thicker ... MIne went from 255-270 at 8K to 270-280 ... so 4 shim sizes in 40K ... and I have till 315 besides I also thought most of the wear was in the shim ... most 260 measured to be like 258 etc ... so I thought the shim was wearing more than anyhting in the bike ... so eventually somehting has to die ... So ... if its been well maintained mechanically (not cosmetically ... mine looked like a rat puked on it most of the time) ... and you continue that, and you show good mechanical sensitivity it should run a long time ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[Dom]

Speaking of failing rubber, I am trying to get my girlfriend's grandmother to give/sell her a '78 Firebird that has only 30k and has been garaged it's entire life and hasn't been driven since the early 80's, otherwise mint.

Ok so that's new main seals, head gasket, cv boots, radiator hoses, vaccuum lines, fluid flush, air/fuel/oil filters, and um...a really really mean ride.  Gold w/ brown leather interior.

[mp183]

If the Firebird is an automatic the transmission "soft" internal parts are
all mush.  Add the tranny to your list.  Bet the brake fluid has never been changed.  Add brake components to your list.

[cernunos]

Our old '78 Chevy P/U (Mama Truck) has 78xxx original miles and the tranny still shifts like new and the motor has just recently started burning some oil. The trans does leak a slight amount from the rear seal but not bad. One of the biggest "if's" in durability of seals or gaskets and the like is "weathering" or environmental-cycling. Like wood will never rot if it's handled from time to time. It can be really difficult to predict with certainty whether or not a seal or gasket is going to fail after a particular period of time or if a piece of metal is going to corrode. The hardest part of durability testing in the automotive industry is the direct effect of aging on components. Physical cycling is easy...after so many cycles you can predict that a component will fail, but not so easy to predict after so many years. The White Owl is an '89 with 5xxx miles and appears to be in mint condition with no leaks, oil consumption or driveability problems. Love that little thing and this forum too.

C......

[Dom]

Yeah it's an auto...ok so:

rebuild/new calipers
brake lines
tires
repack wheel bearings
battery

The list just keeps getting longer...

Sorry bout the thread hijack but we have six days to kill before you even get the bike.   :lol:

[Susuki_Jah]

Well after looking long and hard i finally found a GS500. Black 1991 40k miles on it for UNDER 500 dollars. What do you guys think? my birthday is comming up and i havent taken the MSF course yet. But hell, i figure if i bite at the sale i wont have to worry bout finding one in my area. But ofcourse i WILL take the MSF course before i even mount on this beast.   I emailed the guy and i asked him if the bike needs any maintinence. Is there anyone here from San Diego that would be willing to come down with me to check it out? I would be very greatful. Thanks for reading!
oh yea auction ends in 6 days.

I wouldnt pay more than 600$ dollars for the bike. I have a 91 and bought it with 13k miles on it. it was part of a payment on the car I sold to a Guy He just want 800$ towards the car (my car was 2000$) but it was such a nice bike , I told him to forget about the extra 200$ that I would consider his bike worth 1000$ if he gave me another 1000$ in cash that day.

a bike with 40k @91 for more than 600$ ... I dont know if that is a deal.
did you check blue book?

[conflicttheorist]

No way I would pay five hundred dollars for a GS with 40,000 miles on it.  You can find GS' with less than 20k for about 1000 or even less.  Try www.craigslist.org .

[conflicttheorist]

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/mcy/66562811.html

this guy had his bike listed on craigslist originally at 2100 dollars.  A 94 with 10K miles, very clean looking.  It was overpriced so now it is down to 1450 obo.  I bet you could get it for 1200 or less if you are nice about it.  Now that is a good deal.