WHO are you and where are you from?

[Sunny01]

Richie in Seattle area with my 2001 Gs500 colored factory dark blue, its has some scrapes and it looks like someone use it to learn how to ride. My first bike was a Cb100 than a couple of Kz550 sadly I sold them. Now the void has been filled, my Gs500 Suki01 throttle though gears and is quicker. I ride near my place in smaller roads with less traffic lights.

[legray]

Hello,
I am a new biker from France. Not precisely young (59) and some old experience in small off road bikes but this gs500 k5 is my first real bike and Igot my A license only for a few week.
My skills are much better at mechanical engineering than bike riding.

In the process to rebuild my gs500 to its original condition.

A few issues to solve but nothing critical...

Already tried to send a message here a couple of times but the verification stuff is a real pain to me...

[GPG]

Hey, Gary G from Nova Scotia, Canada.  Not exactly young either (58), everyday ride is an '05 gsxr1000.   I have had a wide collection of bikes over the years, all types. Have an 02 gs500 that I am planning doing a scrambler project with.

Cheers

[johnny ro]

Hi, Johnny Ro, back after a few years.

Bought a 1989 GS500E, white bodywork with blue decals; the tail, tank and bikini fairing. Has 6k miles, came with new Michelin Road tires and fired up first click cold. About 90-95% on the cosmetic scale.

A very nice looking bike and I wait for spring to go for a ride.

Bought a basket of major tuneup stuff (31 year old brake pads and chain o-rings...).

Not my primary bike, the Wee-Strom does that.

This is a nostalgia bike for me, a good looking keeper.

I tried to post a pic but it was too large, 4mb on my phone. (Suppose there is a way...even I could do if explicit instructions were posted, haha)  OK that is sellers 0.027 mb pic from Craigslist.

You will notice the bar ends are missing, $32 from Bike Bandit. The grips are weird, I have plenty.

The smudge on the right tail in the pic is a EMI decal covering a crack. Similar but worse on the other side. I will buy touchup paint kit and repair that. Only real worryable cosmetic flaw.

Cheers

[profile_deleted]

Bought a 1989 GS500E, white bodywork with blue decals; the tail, tank and bikini fairing. Has 6k miles, came with new Michelin Road tires and fired up first click cold. About 90-95% on the cosmetic scale.

That is an awesome looking machine... the light blue stripe is definitely "retro" 80s all the way.  I love it.  I don't think I would change a thing.

Nice find! 

   

[johnny ro]

Thanks and when I am done with it, it will look the same, only fresher.

[thatshitcray]

My name's Wade, 30 years old and an Aussie currently in Brisvegas. After fangin' it around Phuket on a scooter for 4 months last year I had the urge to buy my own wheels and decided to buy a real bike. My GS500 is a naked 2013 with 18000 on the clock. It's all pretty standard and appears to be well looked after, so naturally, I'm gonna f%$k with it  .

Scramblers look bloody badass imo but because I like adventure and crazy shaZam! I'm hoping to do something a little bit different. I'll be ripping off the plastic and throwin' on some bags to make it an overlander GS500 / overlander scrambler GS500, the second one of its kind (documented, as far as I can tell from what's been shared online). My goal with it is to take it all around Australia, parking and camping in those hard to reach places the vanlife community wish they could get to.

This is my first post and as well as it being an intro I would like to thank everyone that has come before and shared their knowledge here or elsewhere on the internet. I hope that in learning from this I'm able to give back and help someone else that will be where I am now, stoked with their new GS and the community that comes with it.

[Narcotics]

Hey guys, I live in Adelaide, South Australia.

I've been the owner of a 2009 GS500F for 8 years and have traveled 68,000kms on her. Today the bike will tick over to 80,000. Not bad for a machine that cost me $2500aud.
Yesterday morning I deleted the fairing on the GS and Installed a $40 eBay headlight.

[Gilleyb1]

Hi All

53 living in the UK had bikes since 17 currently riding a 2003 Triumph Speed Triple and 1983 Kawasaki Gpz 750. Just got the wife a GS500 to get her back into biking and she loves it.

[EbonHawk]

I'm a new rider and my 96 GS500 is my first bike. I'm in Delaware county NY. Looking forward to learning to ride and working on my bike.

[johnny ro]

I'm a new rider and my 96 GS500 is my first bike. I'm in Delaware county NY. Looking forward to learning to ride and working on my bike.

An excellent choice of hobby and first bike for a person where you live. 

I spent time 1985-2005 in Margaretteville. Sister family was up towards Andes and New Kingston.

The whole region was really good riding country when I knew it. Most of upstate NY is. Winter comes in Autumn...early snow. I am guessing also have a sled?

This is an excellent, deep forum. Also look at GStwins on FB, but the real deep knowledge is here.  When push comes to shove on a gnarly tech topic, Buddha steps in with sage wisdom.

Cheers!

Oh, and rotate those mirrors 180 degrees so you can see rearwards past your elbows when on the bike. Pull the bar ends and straighten the bolts, pop back on.

And move the bike so the children can resume their hopscotch.

[EbonHawk]

The whole region was really good riding country when I knew it. Most of upstate NY is. Winter comes in Autumn...early snow. I am guessing also have a sled?

It is great here, lots of curvy roads with great views along the way. It's definitely farm country though, so I'm a bit worried about random dirt and gravel being tracked into the road when you least expect it, but what can you do besides ride cautiously.

No sled for me. Maybe eventually, but I'll stick to picking up one expensive hobby at a time for now.

Thanks for the tip on the mirrors, I was thinking about replacing them with bar-end mirrors but I figured I'd finish basic maintenance before starting to mess with anything else.

[johnny ro]

The whole region was really good riding country when I knew it. Most of upstate NY is. Winter comes in Autumn...early snow. I am guessing also have a sled?

It is great here, lots of curvy roads with great views along the way. It's definitely farm country though, so I'm a bit worried about random dirt and gravel being tracked into the road when you least expect it, but what can you do besides ride cautiously.

No sled for me. Maybe eventually, but I'll stick to picking up one expensive hobby at a time for now.

Thanks for the tip on the mirrors, I was thinking about replacing them with bar-end mirrors but I figured I'd finish basic maintenance before starting to mess with anything else.

My mirror comment was for the metal mirrors, which now appear to be in the post by Narcotics. That seems like a mixup on my part.  Yours look rectangle plastic.

Bar end mirrors are wonderful on this bike along with $20 Eurosport bars from Bike Bandit.

I have Napoleon bar ends, $$$, and the $ little round ones went into the under-bench box right after I tried them.

Riding among farms within mountain meadows is intensely superior to riding among malls and suburbs. Enjoy it to the maximum while you live there...

[EbonHawk]

My mirror comment was for the metal mirrors, which now appear to be in the post by Narcotics. That seems like a mixup on my part.  Yours look rectangle plastic.

I'll admit I was a little confused haha.

[Foxhound1979]

new guy from trois-rivieres quebec, Canada

40 y.o., got a 1992 GS500 in may, got my driver's license 2 weeks ago(thanks to COVID-19..), still haven't had the time to plate it and ride...i'll get to that soon enough !

[Leblon]

Hi all, I live in France in Paris. I am 29, the 1994 500 GSE is my first bike which I use on a daily basis to communte and to go for a ride on the week-ends whenever the weather allows it. I am currently planning a road trip this summer around the country and I am doing some repairs / mods beforehand: brake pads, brake hoses, new spark plugs, new air filter, oil change, valve clearance (I am having it done by a mechanic this time as I never did the job and I really don't have enough time to learn before the trip), new tires, replacing oil seals and fork springs (Hyperpro), installing an R6 shock.

[Hornchurch]

Howdy all!      I'm Rebecca in Seattle, I have pics both of myself and of my bikes in the galleries, I have two GS500's, a '93 & a '94. I'd ridden on the back all my life and these are my first bikes. I am a 34 yr old single mom. I'm spastically enthusiastic about riding.
I'm a Spanish interpreter, music freak, vegetarian.
I have already made one really cool friend, live and in person, from this site and we ride together frequently. We're even planning on doing an endurance ride together this summer (Hi Ron  :lol:  if you read this post!) and using the GStwin name for our team.  I LOVE seeing other women out there on bikes and I love making friends both cyber and in real life.
You old hand guys have been very kind and helpful, thank you. Welcome all new folks! This is a fantastic site.     -Becca

'


Enjoyed reading your post Rebecca  -  Quite jealous that you have TWO (practical) GS500's

I prefer the OLDER (Earlier), GS.500's to the one I've just got, albeit it's "nice" anyways, feeling pretty 'new' given it's low-mileage.


As for me, I'm "Hornchurch" - miserable jaded-cynic in my mid-late fifties & a lifelong motorcyclist since 19 years-old.

100% "indigenous" English/British & English to the core, as ALL my Gt.Gt.Parents were here during & 'Pre-Napoleonic times'

Born & raised on the outskirts (suburb) of LONDON , I grew-up on U.J.M "Jap" bikes & still have/own several  (from my teens)

Back where I lived, bordering on the ESSEX countryside, everything wuz 'pretty' & the roadsurfaces were 'Great' & grippy.

Police WERE in abundance & I got "done" for speeding several times (Ahem), despite I was a professional truck-driver (by day)

Goading the Police & then 'taking-off' was a 'sport' that we frequently engaged in, back then, in my "Jack the Lad" spell.

Back then of course, powerful bikes (us) & Brit' Police were riding antiquated BMW R.80's that wouldn't pull the skin off a rice-pudding

My Kawasaki Z.1000-J, in company with GSXR1100's & EXUP.1000's (FZR's), I was "the slowest", but still quick, never got caught   

Irony is, I was married to the (Good-looking) eldest-daughter of a local Police-Officer, who'd often have my 'J' in his garage !
               (unawares of my "naughty" behaviour, naturally)

Still got 'speeding tickets' on my "Domestic" smaller commuting bikes tho' (GSX250 & XS500), so not ALL a bed of roses.

Having kids made me re-evaluate my behaviour somewhat (to a degree)

During the LAST decade (2014), I found myself hankering for a smaller-bike, so, bought a (lovely) Kawasaki ZR.550 "Zephyr"

Rode brand-new 1996 GS500's as an Instructor, for a living, all day long (cold weather/Ice) = Became "familiar" with the GS500**

         ** (As a model in general, although a mate had a GS425 & another mate kept his GS.400 in my garage, which I rode)

Never thought I'd own one tho', until a rather nice 'very-low-mileage' example came-up, late August 2020 at a "couldn't refuse" price.

Still finding it "Hard" adjusting to a four-stroke 'Twin', as my last twin was an 'X7' (2-stroke) & before 1988, my beloved Yamaha XS500

Live in an area now, where both the Vikings & Romans once lived, so, the lanes ARE considerably smaller & more 'rough'

Mainly "is" the reason as to why I've nowadays mostly switched to riding smaller-bikes, but still have my 1,000 & 2 x 900cc bikes too

Found this site quite by chance, as I needed to 'Gen-Up' on GS500 ownership, finding mine different from the earlier models I'd rode.

Here's a shot of my own GS500 that I took just a few days ago, AFTER I'd done the handlebar 'riser' modification, in the garden/drive

               (11th October 2020 - just as the weather was turning $h!t)

[AndyMac]

Hey there everyone... my second shot at a gs twin.. the first a 1981 450 and that went very well for a couple of years back in 1983 ish...just got hold of a slightly tatty 500f, which I'm doing as a project with my son, who is home educated. Just doing valves now.... last one the Left exhaust a bit loose at 0.12 mm... do I need to change... some saying up to .15 is ok... a bit loose said to stop exhaust valves getting burnt, but how loose is loose ? I will put this q up on a post more related as well. cheers everyone. Andy

[Bluesmudge]

Hey there everyone... my second shot at a gs twin.. the first a 1981 450 and that went very well for a couple of years back in 1983 ish...just got hold of a slightly tatty 500f, which I'm doing as a project with my son, who is home educated. Just doing valves now.... last one the Left exhaust a bit loose at 0.12 mm... do I need to change... some saying up to .15 is ok... a bit loose said to stop exhaust valves getting burnt, but how loose is loose ? I will put this q up on a post more related as well. cheers everyone. Andy

.12 is fine. I usually change it around .13 to put it back to Suzuki's .08 spec. Even .15 is fine.
Generally consensus around here is slightly looser than Suzuki spec on the exhaust valves extends the time between shim changes.

[peabrain]

Hi this is my first GS500E and it is from 1993....claimed on paper.
mine is a yellow one with yellow/black fairings and a poorly working 2 part headlight.

Currently it is my winter bike and coming spring i plan to give it some much needed TLC

Me my self i am from Denmark, and currently got a new job working night shifts. I got this bike for very cheap from a former coworker, and he has even thrown in a parts bike in the deal.