Plans to upgrade bikes are put off for atleast a year...

[madjak30]

I was planning on getting a bigger bike next year, but unfortunately my truck has started playing the "money pit" game   , so once I get all the bandaids on...new truck...I'm sure there is a gremlin living in there somewhere   ...blah...

So, over the winter I think I will do some customizing...paint, headlight and pegs for more leg room   ...maybe figure out some way to raise the seat...I may price out doing the exhause, jets and air intake...but not sure if I want to mess with that...

Later.

[tt_four]

If you're not upgrading because of an expensive trip I'd save yourself the money for the exhaust. If you start upgrading those parts you'll have dumped $500 into it before you know it, and if that's the case you could've sold your GS, put the extra $500 towards it and bought yourself a gsxr with a couple scratches on it. I've got no problem modding the GS if that's what you like, but if you've got your sights on a new bike I'd just hold onto the cash. You'll probably get better resale with the stock GS.

[madjak30]

I have a 12yo that is dying to learn to ride...I may end up just keeping it for her...if I wait a couple of years, I will just buy the second bike and park the GS...but then it will probably become pink and purple or something...lol

To help with the power, I may look at changing sprockets to make it feel more torky (I know the spelling is wrong).  This bike is just fun to ride, but I need a physically larger bike...I can handle it for a couple of years if needed...

[adidasguy]

I also vote for saving the money for another bike (CL is FULL of bikes as we get to the end of riding season. Should be tons as you approach April 15 and people need money to pay taxes.).
Keep the GS500 as is. If anything, but cheap kit to raise it up a little and look at adjusting the bars for your own comfort. Add a seat pad to raise you up. Those are cheap and easy to un-do when you pass the bike to someone else or sell it.

[tt_four]

If you're not upgrading because of an expensive trip I'd save yourself the money for the exhaust.

I meant "truck", I don't know why I have such a hard time proofreading.

I second adidas' recommendation about easily reversible mods. I don't want to ever sell the bike I have, but just in case I've saved all of my original parts and have not done anything to the good pieces. If I ever have to sell it I want to be able to put it back to stock condition(plus very clean since none of those parts were being used) and get money for it, then still have all of my aftermarket pieces left.

[The Buddha]

I was planning on getting a bigger bike next year, but unfortunately my truck has started playing the "money pit" game   , so once I get all the bandaids on...new truck...I'm sure there is a gremlin living in there somewhere   ...blah...

So, over the winter I think I will do some customizing...paint, headlight and pegs for more leg room   ...maybe figure out some way to raise the seat...I may price out doing the exhause, jets and air intake...but not sure if I want to mess with that...

Later.

Dude you dont need to do any of it. Especially paint and headlight WTF you doing to the headlight. Usually a waste of $ and probably get you ticketed.

Pipe - do slip on, and rejet with a mikuni pack - if your local dealer isn't a scum bag, it could be cheaper than the 25 I sell it for, but try them first, its your stock sizes +1 all around. I'd jet it (stock bikes need rejetting) but not do pipe or filter.

Raising seat/pegs - well, make sure its reversible, but I guess you need it huh. Oh yea if you tip the scales at 175+ you may just need better shocks before you swap pegs etc.

Cool.
Buddha.

[madjak30]

Dude you dont need to do any of it. Especially paint and headlight WTF you doing to the headlight. Usually a waste of $ and probably get you ticketed.

Pipe - do slip on, and rejet with a mikuni pack - if your local dealer isn't a scum bag, it could be cheaper than the 25 I sell it for, but try them first, its your stock sizes +1 all around. I'd jet it (stock bikes need rejetting) but not do pipe or filter.

Raising seat/pegs - well, make sure its reversible, but I guess you need it huh. Oh yea if you tip the scales at 175+ you may just need better shocks before you swap pegs etc.

Cool.
Buddha.

I like the look of the dual projector beam headlights, so that is what I am planning for the light...don't see why I would get ticketted...as for paint, I just want it to look different, and not such a learner/beginner bike look   ...plus it will give me something to work on over the winter...(winters are long here in Canada)...as for the pipe and re-jet...I am not sure if I want to mess with that now, it seems to run really well...so I have been thinking about getting a larger rear sprocket to give a little more torque...as for my weight, well I could only wish I weighed 175...my scale groans when I get on it @275lbs   ...yup, not a lot of suspension travel left...I have the preload cranked up and it seems okay...but it is the peg to butt measurement that makes my knees sore...although I am starting to get used to the bend, so I may leave that alone and work on my flexibility and loose a few pounds (just have to get off the couch more   )

Anyway, with my truck needing to be replaced, I will be riding the GS500 for atleast one more season and probably two before I can think about an upgrade...by then I will probably be used to the rider triangle and get the Bandit 1250s that I really like, or the DL1000 V-Strom...but I may just keep the GS for my daughter since I will know the service history and be pretty familliar with it...

Here is a pic of me on my GS, and you can see that a bigger bike would fit me better...but a smaller me might make the GS work good enough...



Later.

[tt_four]

The headlight and paint wouldn't be bad if you're planning on keeping the bike. They'll both probably take away from the resale value, but that's no issue if you're keeping it.

As far as the seat to pegs distance, the cheap gsxr pegs on ebay that people put on the GS will give you at least another inch to that distance and will let you stretch out a bit since they're not covered in an inch of rubber all the way around.

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Yeah at the very least I'd do stiffer springs, kat shock, and thicker seat.

[madjak30]

I think I might just go with a cushion/pad for the seat height/leg room, and I will be leaving the shock alone...I am planning on keeping the bike for my daughter, who is much smaller than me...so I don't want to wreck the ride for her...but we'll see how far I want to go over the winter.  If I leave the preload cranked up to 7 the ride should be okay for me, but I want to alter the look of the bike...you know, personalize it a little (or a lot...)

I've been checking out the Custom Fighters dot com site and there are a lot of cool ideas on there...and I am getting my daughter to help me pick out the style for the bike...no sense in doing something she doesn't like...

Later.

[tt_four]

I love customfighters.com, I used to spend hours and hours on there just browsing builds. I planned on buying a beat up bike to turn into a fighter, but then i found a clean one for a good price so I've been keeping the hacksaw away from it. Maybe the next bike though....

[madjak30]

Yah, I don't think I will get too crazy...just some small mods, but the ideas in there are pretty radical...maybe I will just pick up a cheapo and try it on that before hacking up a perfectly good bike...lol

I don't think I could bring myself to cut the frame of a good bike, but changing the headlamp, changing the bars to dirtbike bars, hand protectors and moving some of the lighting around...maybe smoothing out some of the open spaces...you know, stuff that you could easily remove...make a supermoto out of a GS500 with just bolt on stuff might be fun and different...

I'll keep you posted...

Later.

[tandersn9]

The two relatively cheap things I did to my gs was a spring upgrade and and putting on a slip-on.

I got a spring from a katana off ebay for like 40 bucks, you may want to keep your old one around for whoever gets the gs after you though, unless they like a rough ride.

The Yoshimura slip-on was 270 off ebay, sounds and looks good and you can put the silencer in for when you don't feel like being obnoxious