Hello, from new GS500 Owner

[SteveK364]

Hi Everyone,

Steve here from Royal Oak, Michigan.

I just bought a beautiful GS500 today--a 2000 model "E."  Has about 3,000 miles on it and seems in excellent shape.  The owner will be delivering it to me sometime this week.

I'm a first-time rider and every excited about this bike and motorcycling.  After reading various reviews on the Internet about the GS500, it sounds like I may have made a good choice of bike for a newcomer to motorcycling.

I look forward to reading a lot of posts on this cool site and talking to my fellows GS500ers.  I'd appreciate any feedback about your GS experiences from all of you veterans!

Also, any tips on learning how to ride on the street?  I already took the MSF course, but it was all parking lot.

I'll post some pics asap.

Until later.
Steve

[pandy]

Welcome to the wonderful world of GS's, Steve! 

You've chosen a wonderful first bike, and you're already ahead by having taken the MSF! When you get your bike, keep practicing in the parking lot, if you can. Work your way up to quiet streets. Take your time, and practice all the skills you learned in the MSF.

Can't wait to see the pics! 

[RedShift]

Wild.  Another Michigan GS500 Owner.  Great to see and a warm welcome to this club.

As Pandy suggests, when you two begin to introduce yourselves, be sure to do it gradually.  You can learn a lot by slow-speed, neighbourhood riding.  Work yourself up to populated urban streets.  It's a jungle out there and you should never forget you're the smallest prey on the roads.

It's an exciting journey you're about to take.  Reinforce those MSF skills you picked up and review your Rider Handbook if it's been a while.

When you're up to it we'd like to collect you in the future for a Michigan gathering of the GS500 riders.  Enjoy the ride and be careful out there. 

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Welcome to the forum! I don't have any advice, cuz I'm nowhere near being a veteran. Well, something I learned today. If you scrape a peg, it feels weird, but cool. If you scrape a peg while the back end is imitating a bucking bronco.. it makes you crap in your pants.

[Yankee Punker]

  Hey Steve, Good to hear about your first bike, and I am sure that ALL of us can agree that you picked a great bike to start on. Most of us love our little GS's so much well never leave them, I had traded my old 92' in last year for a new 05' F model. I hope your getting the owners manual, you should definitely start by reading the whole thing that will help you along the way to learning your new ride. Second always wear riding gear, some people might go on and on about this over that when it comes to what kind of gear to buy, I think something is better than nothing and tend to wear what I find comfortable, its very hot here in Florida so I wear mesh, and always, always a helmet and gloves even if I ride to the end of the street!! You took the the school already so now just take it easy for a few thousand miles, before long you will be a pro. but don't push it .This is a great site for all your GS needs, but please use the search first there already is a ton of info there, then start a post if you need help, I always try to help if I can, but some like to blast the noob's..... (P.S. You definitely should have insurance, its so cheap for the GS that's probably why I got a second one.)

[jackiei26]

Welcome Steve!!!

[ChuckS]

Steve just bought my bike

Goodbye GS-- It's been great!

ChuckS

[average]

SteveO!! Welcome! Tons of info an plenty of guys and gals to help you towards your goal! 

[Kerry]

[...] any tips on learning how to ride on the street?  I already took the MSF course, but it was all parking lot. [...]

Greetings, Steve!

Excellent suggestions so far, and congratulations on taking the MSF course.  Your gut feeling is correct - there IS a lot more to motorcycling than MSF can teach you in the classroom and in the parking lot.  There's no great hurry to learn a LOT more right now ... concentrate on those basics for a while.

But since you can't ride all the time, consider some good reading material to supplement (and help you anticipate) what you're learning on the street.  I can recommend Proficent Motorcycling by David Hough.  It can be a little wordy and repetitive (it's largely a compilation from a long-running column he wrote for Motorcycle Consumer News with the same name) but it's founded on solid experience and a LOT of thought.  I've read it twice, and right now it's out on loan to someone who's in your same situation.

Good luck, enjoy the adventure, and BE SAFE!

[Lonestarbear]

awesome! another new one! i don't feel so lonely.

I bought a 2006 version of the gs500, and i really like it. I like it enough fot put 1600 miles in 3 weeks. it goes fast enough on the highway...yet, it's still light enough for me to pick it up when i dropped it. (yep. happened on day 1). took the msf course too...i think it's already saved me from a wreck (or two)...crazy texan drivers!

anyways...hello all!

[pantablo]

welcome steve. you did make a fine choice. I'm one of the few that dont regret having sold the gs though. For me, it was always a learning tool and a stepping stone to the sportbikes I always wanted to ride. Having said that, my riding consisted mostly of local twisties. 6 months later and I could pretty much keep up with most riders on most any bike in the canyons, even with giving up several hundred cc's. The gs helped me become a very proficient, smooth rider-and that translated to a fast rider. I had my gs for 16 months, doing 9,500 mostly canyon miles on it. You wont regret it. Its a fabulous first bike and this is a very comprehensive group of people with loads of wrenching and riding experience.

Check out the home page of this forum www.gstwin.com for lots of useful links as well as my site (in my sig below) for a compilation of old posts and info from this site as well as my own collection of stuff...

Enjoy.

[SteveK364]

Thanks for the greetings and the tips everyone. I appreciate it. I look forward to many visits to this site.
Chuck (the previous owner) don't worry. I'll treat your baby with tender loving care. 

You certainly have visiting right too!

Steve 

[Caffeine]

Welcome!

And just look at all the great advice you got already!

Do lots of parking lot practice!   

[scratch]

Welcome!

Practice, practice, practice! 

[aaronstj]

1) Ride around the neighborhood a bit
2) Think to yourself, "This isn't so bad.  Not that much scarier than the MSF bikes."
3) Decide to actually crack the throttle and see what she can do.
4) Poop your pants.

[pandy]

1) Ride around the neighborhood a bit
2) Think to yourself, "This isn't so bad.  Not that much scarier than the MSF bikes."
3) Decide to actually crack the throttle and see what she can do.
4) Poop your pants.

5) Go back to step 1.
6) Rinse, repeat.
7) Reward yourself with Tequila shots when the day is done. 

[fodder650]

Even several years on im still doing this. I only put 700 miles on my GS in the last 5 years. But this weekend i put 65 miles on it in one day. And its been out since then. And I plan on really riding it into the ground.

How by doing what you say. The list here. Just ride around town and do large circles around home.

I live on the edge of the mountains and i have some great roads to ride around within 10 miles of my home. I have certain things in my head that say to me that im safe for long drives. And one is that I am willing, in a riding suit, to hit I78 and stay with traffic. And not overreact when i see a truck.

Does that make sense?

[scratch]

Do you mean the voices that tell you that it's not safe, yet?  Yep, I listen to them.

And, those little voices have kept me alive for 20 years.

[fodder650]

Yeah those voices. When i road her back to my new house I had to go over a variety of roads. Including some stretch of highway. And it wasn't the asphalt highway that bothered me. It was the darned concrete one. I mean nasty camber (looks like a darned nascar track at some points) all the thunking over the expansion strips. Thats the part that made my voice slow down.

I went with the flow of traffic up to 65 and touched 70 at one point. But I wasn't enjoying it since i was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. I had my nice new helmet on. But I felt a little to open to injury since the bike had been mostly sitting for a couple years. Minus the inspection and carb cleaning.

[pandy]

But I wasn't enjoying it since i was wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

This is a good thing. I'm glad it wasn't enjoyable w/o gear. Put the proper gear on and THEN enjoy. Please. 

Love,
mama pandy