How much do you love your GS and why?

[JB848]

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) and at least one reason why other then price?

[fraze11]

7/10
Gets pretty good gas mileage, cheap to insure

Things I don't like;
After ~8500kms my main beefs are;  The seat is brutally uncomfortable, its kinda slow, needs to be choked ALL the time, gauge cluster is old looking, suspension is mushy (I've since changed the front springs though, which helped alot).

[The Buddha]

1-10 ... OK lets see ... subtract 2, carry the 1, make it square root ... 912. Yes 912.

Cool.
Buddha.

[ver4]

I give mine a score of 1.

Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.  My bike is a piece of shaZam!.

[The Buddha]

I give mine a score of 1.

Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.  My bike is a piece of shaZam!.

That's the kind of bike the buddha buy ...
Cool.
Buddha.

[fontanarider]

I would give it an 8. The seat is uncomfortable on long rides, takes a while to warm up, and does not accelerate fast enough. But it is cheap to insure, very good gas mileage, easy maintenance, good starter bike. I like my GS, and glad i picked it as my first bike.

[JB848]

1-10 ... OK lets see ... subtract 2, carry the 1, make it square root ... 912. Yes 912.

Cool.
Buddha.

LMAO well if you were going that route 936?

[bill14224]

I suppose it depends on what you buy it for.  If you buy it for a cheap sport bike it's probably a 4 or 5/10.  If you buy it for cheap fun transportation I think it's a 10/10.

Economy and reliability are this bike's strengths.  Suspension isn't good enough without mods if you push it, and engine power is modest by today's standards.  The seat improves greatly with the addition of memory foam.  The seat and forks are the two biggest and best improvements you can make to this bike.  I love it because to me motorcycling is all about having a fun to ride, cheap to own commuter bike.  I didn't drive my car from late March through last Wednesday.  Keep the rocket bikes.  Keep the rolling juke boxes.  Gimme an air-cooled 500 so I can have fun and save $ at the same time.

[The Buddha]

Memory foam ... dammit somethign will now remember my ass ... come on when is that a good idea ...
Cool.
Buddha.

[Firstoni]

^^ lol buddha

I give my bike a 8/10 uncomfortable seat and not being able to adjust the forward controls as much as I would like is annoying. Love the gas millage, the light weight, that it will haul my but around with out straining too much and I get to have some fun too ^_^

[ragecage23]

Compared to my last bike it's a 10/10. My GS's frame is straight, it starts everyday, the forks are straight, it idles properly, doesn't chug in the mid range etc etc.

It also gets the best gas mileage out of any vehicle I've ever owned and I do agree that the seat is a little uncomfortable, but for someone who has never ridden a bike that has more power than the GS I'd give it an 8/10.

[Toogoofy317]

I luv Flick! 8/10

Gas mileage, manuverability, fun, light, insurance, only one at bike night, and last but not least the Gstwins forum!

I'm a little pissed though that not even two months after my extended warranty expires oil starts leaking like crazy and my starter goes~

Mary

[cafeboy]

9 I loved my GS and the folks here 

[The Buddha]

I luv Flick! 8/10

Gas mileage, manuverability, fun, light, insurance, only one at bike night, and last but not least the Gstwins forum!

I'm a little pissed though that not even two months after my extended warranty expires oil starts leaking like crazy and my starter goes~

Mary

Yea ... why do you think they only warranty it for 1 year ... or 4 ...
I actually got good use of the warranty on my truck, it was rife with little problems galore. However 300 miles out of warranty the alternator died.
Anyway, buy warranty less crap for cheap, assume everythign is busted and check and fix it, that's the buddha philosophy.
Cool.
Buddha.

[tt_four]

hmm.... since you only asked for good things....

1. Got Heather to ride on it instead of just the back of mine, so I didn't have to have her head smack into the back of mine every time I touched the brake.

2. Pulled it out of a shed after we let it sit for 4 years, and aside from a new battery, some carb cleaning, and a rusty tank(my fault), it started up and ran pretty ok.

3. Handling is super light, which is fun to play on after you've been on other bikes that like to try and ride in a straight line all the time.

3. Easy to modify, definitely looks a lot better with the tail swap and newer tank.

Love is a pretty strong word, so I'll give it a 6 or 7, but don't know that I'll really miss it when it moves on.

[JB848]

hmm.... since you only asked for good things....Pessimist!

1. Got Heather to ride on it instead of just the back of mine, so I didn't have to have her head smack into the back of mine every time I touched the brake. I got my GF on the back of mine once for 5 miles so you're doing better then me!

2. Pulled it out of a shed after we let it sit for 4 years, and aside from a new battery, some carb cleaning, and a rusty tank(my fault), it started up and ran pretty ok. I keep hearing..actually reading about rust in the tank? I bought mine in 1990 and has sat for years on occasions. Not one spec of rust ever?

3. Handling is super light, which is fun to play on after you've been on other bikes that like to try and ride in a straight line all the time. The "E"model I would agree..the "F" rides pretty stable. I will ride it in any weather or wind! I'd rather push my GS (which I have..my fault not the bikes) then ride any other.

4. Easy to modify, definitely looks a lot better with the tail swap and newer tank. To each his own..I bought it originally because I like the looks!

Love is a pretty strong word, so I'll give it a 6 or 7, but don't know that I'll really miss it when it moves on. Well TT_four that's a shame you feel that way. I think there are a lot of riders out there that owe there life to the GS for giving them a fighting chance to learn how to ride before they got on bigger bikes. I can't imagine a day where I would ever consider selling my 1990 GSE and now with my "F" and the minor modifications that Superman55 did to it before I got it..it's the perfect bike!


Sooo..I started this post it is time for me to put my 2 cents in.  I love my 90' GSE cause it's a classic and has been Ol' Yeller for me and I have been lucky enough to be able to store it when not riding it and for the most part it looks like the day I bought it. So I give it a 10+. As far as the 2004 "F" model how do I count the ways I love that bike.The day I bought it I rode it from the Middle of Long Island across the Southern Parkway over the Verrzano bridge...down 440/Staten Island...down the NJ Turnpike in a roaring down pour and felt totally safe riding it! If you have driven those roads in a car you will have a greater appreciation of it. GSF gets a 10+++++ and then some.

And before someone makes a comment about other bikes..I have ridden them all and I will take the simplicity and reliability of the GS over any Motorcycle[/size][/size] anyday! Just my humble opinion.
[/quote]

[Janx101]

9.5 .. as a first road bike... only issue is seat .. sometimes... when i slump..

maybe as i get more extended time on rides i'll find other issues...

and... the longest i have had to use the choke.. ever... was about 30 secs.. at half-setting... it just starts so easy every damn time! 

[tt_four]

Love is a pretty strong word, so I'll give it a 6 or 7, but don't know that I'll really miss it when it moves on. Well TT_four that's a shame you feel that way. I think there are a lot of riders out there that owe there life to the GS for giving them a fighting chance to learn how to ride before they got on bigger bikes. I can't imagine a day where I would ever consider selling my 1990 GSE and now with my "F" and the minor modifications that Superman55 did to it before I got it..it's the perfect bike!

[/quote]

I only started with that because other people listed a couple negative things, otherwise I wouldn't have thought about it, trying to keep it positive.

The rust was our fault. I don't think we actually meant to put it into 4 year storage, but Heather parked it in her parents shed one day, and just never pulled it back out, then I sold my other bike and she didn't really have the desire to ride it by herself. Since we weren't planning on storing it, we didn't get around to filling up the gas tank first and it was just about empty so the rust didn't have to try very hard.

I don't mean the GS isn't stable, I don't ever have any headshake or anything like that. I just know from riding 600cc+ bikes with wider tires and different geometry, they require a bit more force to turn. When I get back on the GS you can just start tossing it around turns a lot easier.

I started on a 20 year old dual sport, then put 14k on a ninja 250, and then had a 600 by the time we picked up the GS. I'm sure I would've loved it more if it was my first bike because I definitely still have a soft spot for that 250. The GS just didn't really have 'first bike' or safety training functions for me. Unfortunately it sits quite a bit now and only gets taken out maybe once a month. I think Heather wants to sell it in spring to put some money down towards a camper/RV so we can do some vacations with the dogs, so there's other good things to be had. I do still like the way the original GSs look, and sometimes wish mine still looked original, but the tail swap and new tank definitely livens up the styling a bit.

[The Buddha]

Anything rusting especially if it wasn't parked by the ocean for years and years, is the manufacturers fault. They save 20c a bike by putting shitty steel in the thing. Put in a wee bit more nickel in the steep and it will never rust except in the harshest conditions. OK welds, that part has been screwed up by the piss poor paint they did. That needs to be improved and it wont rust @ welds either.
Cool.
Buddha.

[JB848]

Humm, I know my bike is a little different because it is a California smog equipped model and the tank is a little smaller. I wonder if that makes a difference?