Newbie Needs Advice

[Gary]

Newbie rider.  Looking at a 2002 GS500 that has sat most of its life.  Only 500 miles.  Asking $3500, will take $3000.  Good price?  What should I be concerned with? Will the gaskets be all dried out?  It has been started once in a while.   I was going to have the local dealership to do the 600 mile service and replace brake fluid.

Also, should I be worried about the stock suspension not handling my 200 plus pounds?

Any other advice?

Thanks, Gary

[Jake D]

I'm way over 200 pounds.  I'm like 6'1" , 230 pounds and the stock suspension is fine.  And it is super easy to do an upgrade.  Most people put Katana shocks in back.  Direct bolt in.  I bolted in a SV shock.  New springs (Progressive) in front make a big difference.

I personally don't think that $3000 is that bad of  a price for that bike.  Thing is it has so very few miles on it.

Sitting that long is a big concern. 

I would look inside the tank to see if there is any rust in there.  Also, you're going to have to have the carbs cleaned.  The gas is probably turned to varnish.  If they do the 600 mile service it should be fine after that.  New battery.  New tires and you're good to go.  You may want to put some penetrating oil in each cylinder before you try starting it up.  Let it sit for a while first. Make sure the rings aren't stuck. 

Sounds like a decent buy.  You get it nursed back to health and take care on initial start up, and you can get 80K miles out of her.  Good luck. 

[sprint_9]

To me the price is kinda high.  I bought my 01 SV650-S with 1900 miles on it for 3400, this was last September.  Trust me, you wont get board with an SV either, as long as you have a head on your shoulders in the beggining, you will be good.  But the GS is a great little bike also, awesome for reliability, simplicity, and comfort.

[Gary]

The bike is at a used bike place and has been started on a regular basis.  I know the SV650 would be more fun, and have looked at them, but may go with something smaller/less expensive for insurance to start with.  Mainly riding secondary roads, not freeway.

Will the tires be ok if they do not show cracks in the sidewall?

[Mandres]

Price is way too high IMO.  I just bought a '00 gs with <7k miles for $1600.  The fact that the bike you're looking at has such low mileage is actually a negative IMO.  It means that the bike sat, unused for long periods of time.  Who knows what kind of gunk might have built up in the engine or fuel system during that time?

[scratch]

You can use the maintenace fees as bargaining points.  Find out how much it's going to cost to have the carbs cleaned, the brake fluids flushed, the fork oil changed, and the first service (which includes an engine oil change); and knock off that from the purchase price.  Rust in the tank?  Deduct how much it would cost for that, too.  Tires - hmm - I know me and I'd probably try to ride out of there with those tires and get a feel for 'em, but there's another $200 off.

The good thing is these things are fixable.  It depends on how much money you want to throw at it.

[perfdrug]

especially if it's a used bike place. ask them to pay for anything you find that needs to be done for the first 100 miles or so. ask them to change the oil and do iniaial maintainance, and that you're gonna have a suzuki dealership check it out. see if they'll pay for anything that needs reasonable fixing - aka tires etc. if they're confident they're selling you an okay bike, they should go along with this, i'd think.