Tired of the GS, please help!

[mp183]

Every bike has it's own character.  Depends what you want out of it.
I have a V-Strom 650, the GS500 and just got a KLR250.
I was riding the KLR250 today and thinking what a sweet bike.
Lets you go slow and enjoy the scenery.
The GS rocks when I commute to NYC or just want to clear my head.
You have to make it work to do the things you want it to do.
The V-Strom is great going in a straight line and just eating up the miles.
Plenty of power and can do 125 mph indicated without batting an eye.
Engine braking is pronounced the feeling is that it's "jerkey".   The GS and KLR are nice and smooth.

[sprint_9]

Face it, the GS is a beginner, ladies, old mans, commuter bike.

:lol:  :lol:  :lol: Ok bud, Im none of those so what does that make me, some sort of freaky monster.  

[OrlandoGS]

I've already pretty much decided on getting an SV 1000. I love everything about the bike and if it feels anything like the 650 but with more power, i'm sure I'll love it. I'm not really into the GSXR's and such, i do lots of highway riding and the SV is just what I need.

[werase643]

where you live....
since i spent 1 yr...long ago.... in orlando
the roads ate flat and straight and....38 Ft of elevation in the state

depending on your wallet
TL-S would do good also at half the price

i personally have had...several bikes
i live at the base of the blue ridge "hills"
i am a cheap bastard
i have cheapest ins possible
i ride rats!
i do not commute
i ride highways only in the rain on the way home from a ride
i normally ride back roads for the giggle factor


i will get/build another GS soon(sell SV...boring on the back roads) just to clean up some kewl parts in the basement

[OrlandoGS]

You must not have explored all of orlando, I live over by ucf and there are tons of awesome back roads with plenty of tight turns. Also my home town in polk county has dozens of lakes with roads snaking around them, not a straight road anywhere in town, its awesome.

[oppy00]

Good luck getting the big SV.  That's probably going to be my next bike.  I like to 'sport' :dunno:  tour.  With a few changes the big SV seems like a bike that I could ride 4 hrs. to the mountains, then have a blast in the twisties.

[gs500fromnb]

I've already pretty much decided on getting an SV 1000. I love everything about the bike and if it feels anything like the 650 but with more power, i'm sure I'll love it. I'm not really into the GSXR's and such, i do lots of highway riding and the SV is just what I need.

If you start dragging pegs right away on the sv1000 you will not like the outcome. Torque monster.


If you want to upgrade because you think you reached the "limit" of even the GS in 8000 miles then you will mostlikely get hurt on the sv1000. What tires are you using? do you have pictures? if you scrape the pegs there definitely has to be some good indication of working the tire, alot, since my pirellis are starting to melt on the front and im not even trying to drag anything.

If you want to upgrade simply because you want a bigger bike and wont let your ego think you can master it in 8000 miles or less then go for it, but dont convince yourself you have mastered the GS to its up most limits and NEED to go for a bigger bike. Heck I got a friend of mine racing an RS125 (two stroke honda) at a track here with the pros, in the open pro class (any sportbikes accepted) he finished second, only a few seconds behind a ZX10R. And he won the two other pro races he was in that weekend.

Again, im not saying you cant handle anything but a 500... far from it actually, im just saying make sure that whatever you upgrade to, that you do so for the right reason.

[matt86to]

I think you have done your time learning.  If you are a capable and considerate rider, and if you want a different bike (for whatever reason) then you should get one.

I too agree with pantablo and Vt. I had my GS for just over a year & in this time I run up 18.000kms on her  & found myself wanting soo much more then the GS could give me.

I did a lot of Big day rides - anything from 200kms to 500kms in one day.  
So I got myself a diff bike GSF1200s Which this weekend I did my first full day ride it was a 440kms around trip man what a diffs it has made I can wait  for next big ride :mrgreen: . If you can, buy it new, because then you know what you are buying


all the best matt    your friend

Safe Ride

[500rider]

I've already pretty much decided on getting an SV 1000. I love everything about the bike and if it feels anything like the 650 but with more power, i'm sure I'll love it. I'm not really into the GSXR's and such, i do lots of highway riding and the SV is just what I need.

Wierd because I found the SV1000 literally a pain to ride.  The low handlebars at such an angle were very hard on my wrists while trying to operate the clutch.  Other than that, it is an awesome bike.  Very refined and smooth.  Lots of power anywhere in the rpm range.  What about a 1000 superhawk?  It seems more comfortable to sit on.  Never rode one though.

[gs500fromnb]

...
I did a lot of Big day rides - anything from 200kms to 500kms in one day ........

That's a big day?

A big day is 1200km in one day   or was that just plain crazy of me?

Honestly at 16hrs and 1200km I still found the GS500 to be fairly comfy, the tank did bruise my legs but I was doing mountain riding so leaning off both sides quite hard. Except sore shoulders, I found the bike comfy.

[Anonymous]

You're kidding right?  I can't IMAGINE spending 16hrs on the GS or ANY bike.  I'm good for about 2 hours and maybe 100 miles before I'm dying!

Am I a kitty cat?  Please Noooo...

[gs500fromnb]

You're kidding right?  I can't IMAGINE spending 16hrs on the GS or ANY bike.  I'm good for about 2 hours and maybe 100 miles before I'm dying!

Am I a kitty cat?  Please Noooo...

LOL I left at 6am and got back at 10h30pm... only stops where gas i'd eat a granola bar at the same time. Final count was 1185KM (750 miles). Average long days for me are 500-600km (300-400 miles) . Average regular days for me are 200-400km (150-250 miles).

[Kerry]

My longest day was 16 hours as well - from 10:30am Central to 1:30am Mountain.  Crossed the Rockies at Independence Pass (12,095 ft or 3,687 m) and down to Aspen, etc.




But davipu has us all beat.  As of a while back this was his longest day.  He may have outdone himself since.  :dunno:

[gs500fromnb]

..........

But davipu has us all beat.  As of a while back this was his longest day.  He may have outdone himself since.  :dunno:

geez... I wonder if he checked his oil when he got there if he did that all in one day    :lol:  :lol:

I would expect that may have took a couple of advils though.  :lol:

[davipu]

oil checks every other gas stop, changed when i got home.  and no advils,  the back pain keeps you awake.

[gs500fromnb]

oil checks every other gas stop, changed when i got home.  and no advils,  the back pain keeps you awake.

Or if ya live in canada and do the 750+ miles that I did in October... the freezing cold keeps you awake and kills your dexterity  

[Frost]

I rode around lake ontario during winter...went through hail, snow, rain, sun...any weather you can think of...

left house at 6:00am and came back the next day at 2:00am...that's 20 hours straight!!!!...in winter!!!!

[Traveler]

I'm another "moved on, but still looking back" GS starter.
A BMW heavy tourer in the middle and now back to Suzuki with a VStrom....and happy too. Mind you, I outgrew the urge for quicker quicker quicker about the same time as I left behind a similar obssession in the horizontal position ahem.
Now I'm thinking true comfort, enough acceleration and no attitude.
Damn.......I've just realised that I'm an old man after all.

[etam]

I don't understand... if you want a new bike.. just go ahead.. and for others, why do you want to challenge other's riding ability?

[sys49152]

and no advils, the back pain keeps you awake.

davipu, you're just about as hard as they come..

went through hail, snow, rain, sun...any weather you can think of...

Frost, I know where you're coming from.  I rode home from downtown Toronto to Markham/Stoufville after freezing rain a couple of times this season.  Not fun, but very educational.

On a somewhat related note, after taking my wife out 2-up on the cbr600f4i, she swore she would *never* sit on the back of that bike again.   A couple of days later we took the GS out for a spin, and man, did it ever feel plush.  Completely different ride.  Not better or worse (for me), just different.  It doesn't have the crazy "kick-in-your-pants" acceleration, but it's ever soooo smooth and comfortable.