Own a piece of GS History!

[Mauricio]

OK, not quite.







What you have here is a much loved 1986 GS450L. This is not a correct restoration, nor is it concourse quality. It is a daily rider in great condition made better with a few tweaks here and there. I have a pristine 2000 GS500E engine with 19XX miles stored in my basement. I'm selling it all together - bike, spare engine, and a box full of parts. Also, I have a big folder with complete records of everything this bike went through in the past six years, as well as a Suzuki shop manual.

Everything works. The engine has about 31,XXX miles, although the NOS instrument cluster reads only a fraction of that (OTOH it looks fantastic and finding one took some digging in Thailand). It breathes through a set of 33 mm Keihin CR Special carburetors with K&N pod filters. I can honestly say no GS twin makes a meaner intake roar - and your neighbors will soon agree. The stock exhaust rotted ages ago and has been replaced by a jet-coated MAC 2-into-1 aftermarket pipe. The ignition system was replaced by a Dyna setup. A complete clutch was sourced from a GS500, clutch plates and springs are from Barnett. The original (and frankly hideous) stepped saddle was reshaped, modified, and reupholstered by Sargent using their fancy memory foam. The original tail light was replaced by a gorgeous and rare NOS unit from a '70s Guzzi Ambassador. Turn signals were replaced with brushed aluminum aftermarket items, headlight bucket and rim are NOS, and the headlight ears were recently chromed. The front single-pot anti-stop brake has been replaced by one half on an SV650's setup with Brembo racing brake pads; the master cylinder is a GS500F unit and uses braided steel lines. Suspension has been reworked at both ends - Progressive 412s at the rear, Progressive springs and heavier oil at the front. It has juuuust the right amount of dive-for-the-pool and bendy '80s goodness, but it works a whole lot better than the stock setup. Overall there are too many NOS parts to list, but again - this is a daily rider with its age-related niggles and imperfections. Tires are new Avon Roadriders (less than 400 miles), chain was replaced last year and is in great shape.

In summary - the cleanest GS450 you are likely to find. This bike has been loved and it shows.

The bad: the clutch makes a distinct rattle, and for the life of me, neither I nor six different mechanics have been able to find what it is. I've had two GS500s and neither of them made that noise. Works fine though, it has never caused any problems in over 20,000 miles. The engine also drips a few drops of oil from where the timing advance unit from a GS400 was machined to make the Dyna ignition work. Someone with better skill than I must be able to balance this correctly, or make the rubber seal fit better.

I sell this bike because I have run out of time, space, and skill. A long-term project of this sort requires that you have a garage where you can take bits apart and refurbish them, or wait for parts and then put it all back together patiently and correctly. I moved to NJ two years ago to an apartment complex with no garage, but plenty of silly HOA rules that pretty much make it impossible to do anything other than check my tire pressure (I'm not even allowed to wash my bikes FFS). Even an oil change means a trip to a shop. This is very inconvenient and very, very expensive when you have three bikes, two of which are projects.

I had big plans for this beauty. I have a K0 GS500E engine with 19XX miles stored in my basement. I'm selling it all together - bike, engine, and a box full of parts. Also, I have a big folder with complete records of everything this bike went through in the past six years, as well as a Suzuki shop manual.

I'm asking $2400.00 - make me a REASONABLE offer and see what happens. This is a great bike for anyone into older Japanese bikes or anyone seeking to get into older bikes, period. You couldn't ask for a better starting point for a really special project.