Hi gang,
El Noobo here. This is an awkward question, so I'll just cut right to the chase. I weigh 265 and am 6'2". I've recently found a great deal on a 94 GS500. This will be my first bike and I want to be sure to pick out one that I'm going to enjoy learning on. So, am I too heavy for this bike? :dunno_white:
And yes, I know the obvious answer is to lose some weight. It's not the jeans that make my butt look fat, it's the beer and pizza. :cheers:
Thanks.
no, you're not too heavy. the bike is rated for somewhere in the 400lb range for rider and passenger though. still, even with just you on it the bike wont be as quick as it would be for me (125lbs-dont hate, LOL).
really good first bike. welcome.
it'll be fine im in the 200-220 lb braket, and its sweet to ride, i would suggest upgrading the rear suspension with a rgv or sv or katana rear shock as the gs one is a pile of poo :thumb:
ok, im nearly 300, and my buddy broke down while riding and had to give him a lift back home to retrieve the truck. he was close at 275ish. so your talking over 500Lbs piled on to the poor little thing. 3things made my GS not care abit and still able to travel 60-70 on highway.
1 Progressive springs in forks with home made spacers for preload ($70)
2 Katana 600 rear shock off Ebay ($20)
3 15 tooth front sproket from a board member ($20)
the bike will still haul you around stock so dont think you life or death need these changes. im just saying these items made the GS carry the load without strain. and made for some great curve carving
Congrats on the bike. I deffinately would suggest changing the rear shock to something a bit more firm. I dig your username!
-El Turdo.
i weigh 210, and plan on riding with passengers, so i am thinking of upgrading the rear shock, and i apparently the katana shock is a good upgrade, is this a fairly easy upgrade
nevermind, used search and found pantablos tutorial
Welcome!
I'm going to disagree with everyone else. :o
Yes, you're too big for this bike.
Engine wise, it's probably ok for you but frame wise, you're just too big for this bike. You'll be happy with this bike for a week and then you're going to find that it's just too (physically) small for you. You're legs and hips will (may) cramp up.
I'm 6'5" and tip the scales at about 230lbs. The GS500 I have is my wife's bike and from time to time I sneak a ride and I'm good for about 45 minutes. It's a fun bike - don't get me wrong - but I wouldn't have this as my main ride.
Take a look at a KLR 650. Lots of legroom.
6'0" here and no cramping for me. Granted I weight 137lbs.
Lots of swirlies growing up.
-Turd.
Welcome to GSTwin! :cheers: :thumb:
I think you'll find, as many others have said, that you'll do just fine on the Baby G! My Baby G hauled me around through (literally) thick and a-little-less-thick! He's never complained a bit! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :icon_mrgreen:
im 6'4 and with the sv650 rear shock its not too small at all, i can't remember what it was like with out having the shock lifting the bike as it was the first mod i did, but i don't recall it being to bad,
x
I'm 6 foot 5 inches tall and I rode my GS for an hour and a half last night, no cramps or any weirdness beyond this lovely blister on my clutching hand. Picked up some decent Tour Master gloves today which should help stop that from happening again.
I wonder if extra weight would cause more noticable problems with the GS's lumpy low down power delivery with the stock lean jetting... I'm sure the jets in mine are stock, and a previous owner installed a full Vance & Hines exhaust; this thing won't idle much below 3000 RPM in neutral once warmed up. And it's a little funky for the first 10 feet of take off from a stop on the street.
Quote from: pres589 on August 26, 2006, 10:28:44 AM
I'm 6 foot 5 inches tall and I rode my GS for an hour and a half last night, no cramps or any weirdness beyond this lovely blister on my clutching hand. Picked up some decent Tour Master gloves today which should help stop that from happening again.
Gloves are a must. Even a small wreck at 20 mph can turn into a huge hospital visit and lots of damage to your hands without good gloves.
Quote from: pres589 on August 26, 2006, 10:28:44 AM
I wonder if extra weight would cause more noticable problems with the GS's lumpy low down power delivery with the stock lean jetting... I'm sure the jets in mine are stock, and a previous owner installed a full Vance & Hines exhaust; this thing won't idle much below 3000 RPM in neutral once warmed up. And it's a little funky for the first 10 feet of take off from a stop on the street.
Sounds like your lean stock jetting went UBER lean when the full exhaust was installed with no rejet. The GS isn't supposed to run like that!
-Turd.
Wow,
Thanks for all of the great responses and encouragement! I'm pretty excited about the bike and get to pick it up Monday night. I test rode it in downtown Seattle traffic a couple of days ago. It was comfortable and easy to maneuver—one of the best bikes I've tested yet. Having just moved up from a Yamaha Zuma scooter, I was a bit worried about the "trained bear on a little bike" feel and look. I didn't have that sensation on the GS500. The reason I posted the question was a) when I checked out the bike, I bounced both the front and rear suspension—and felt like I could bottom out the rear and b) the guy I'm buying it from (my former karate instructor) is about 5' 8" and 120 dripping wet (even so, he could still kick my butt). I mentioned the bottoming out feeling to him and he is going to adjust the rear shock before Monday.
Thank you for the recommendations regarding replacements / modifications. This will give me something to work on over the long rainy Pacific Northwest winters we have out here.
El Noobo
Turd: Yeah, I was wearing gloves but they were really basic farm/fencing gloves that weren't very tight around the fingers. The grips aren't nearly as crappy feeling now.
And yeah, the bike doesn't run that well at really low speeds when it's been run for more than 15 minutes unless you're doing about 3500 RPM or more. I wonder if this is part of the reason why the guy I bought it from dropped it while turning into his driveway; the power delievery is a little lumpy. Taking off from a stoplight, the thing sounds a little like a tractor until everything picks up. It runs decently at speed though, but I need to get off my ass and pull the carbs and throw in the new jets I got per srinath's recommendations for a full exhaust and a lunchbox (also waiting in the cabinent); 40 non-bleed pilot's, 150 large round mains.
Y65
I ride two up with my girlfriend every now and again. Comes out to 275ish with gear and whatnot, and the bike hauls us both plenty fast. That was with stock suspension up front and in the rear, too. You'll be fine!
Also, if you don't believe Turd about quality gloves, believe me: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20659.0
Yikes!
That's some picture! I have been debating about what type of protective gear to buy. I currently have a Shoei RF1000 helmet, a mesh armored jacket, lightweight dirtbiking gloves, and ankle-high hiking boots.
I've been looking at some of the Joe Rocket Ballistic gear, but maybe I should look at leather instead of textile. I know this is a change of thread / topic, but what would others recommend for safety gear. :dunno_white:
My MSF instructor said that there are old riders and bold riders, but no old bold riders. I'd like to be an old rider some day.
El Noobo
Hey, Seattle. Welcome. :thumb:
do the fork spring replacement first before the rear shock, or both simultaneously. better for handling.
get leather gear! jacket, gloves and moto boots as a minimum...and full face helmet.
+1 to just about what everyone said.
The first think you will want to change is the front springs and rear shock that will stop you from bottoming out the suspension, I know I weigh 240ish and I could bottom them out. On gear check out www.newenough.com they have some great deals on gear sometimes in their closeout section, but their regular prices are hard to beat also. And they have great customer service.
Summer I use mesh jacket with armor, icon boots, leather gloves, textile overpants. Once the weather cools off a bit I'll be useing my alpinestar boots, and leather jacket.
The GS is a great bike, fun in the twisties, can handle highway speeds and very forgiving on rider errors.
Oh and welcome to the board :cheers:
I have the Super Duty Jacket and Gloves.. the jacket is a waxed cotton with 1.2mm leather sleeves and the gloves are all leather except the kuckle padding which has about 5mm of padding and a perferated leather covering it. I'll get the matching pants after this upcoming winter as for my area there is less than a month of riding left before the snow starts in (High Desert Area on the west coast). Anyway the gloves are awesome and jacket is great too.. only thing it needs and you could pickup from ICON as well is the back protecter insert.
[j7
I second the endorsement of Scorpion helmets, I bought an EX-400 and it's been great, the venting is pretty decent at speed, although at speeds below 30 mph things getting a little warm right behind the face shield if it's pretty hot outside. Otherwise it's been a great helmet. Oh, and if you like the looks but hate that decal they put on the front, mine pealed off in about 15 seconds with a fingernail.
[7
When I bought my first GS500 in Mar 99, I was 6'2", 240#, and 66 years old. It was my 5th bike, I had already worn out 4 old Hondas. Now on my second GS500 I have put a total of over 115k miles on them, have ridden many 4-500 mile days on them, and have run the Adirondac and Smoky Mtn twisties on them with all kinds of bikes and riders. I am about 250# and just under 6" tall now and have considerable arthritis and skipped the long trips this year but have still ridden over 12k miles in the past year.
Back when I was a youngster and was still to get my first bike much later at age 52, real riders rode all over this country on bikes like the old Bonnies. Back then a Bonnie was a real bike, not a beginners bike, and real riders of all sizes rode them everywhere. The GS500 is almost exactly the same size and weight as the old Bonnies but does have much better performance. If you can't go anywhere, anytime on a GS500, then you just need more experience.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500vsT120.jpg
You said: My MSF instructor said that there are old riders and bold riders, but no old bold riders. I'd like to be an old rider some day.
Your MSF instructor was mistaken, there are old bold riders; but it is much safer if you become an old rider before you become a bold rider. :laugh:
I am 5'8 and 285 pounds, I have a katana 600 rear shock all else is stock and I love to ride my GS. I have also carried a 200 pound passenger when I still had the factory shock on the rear and the bike still handled great, but on that particular ride the rear shock gave out and it still handled fine.
Quote from: AlphaFire X5 on August 26, 2006, 01:05:46 PM
I ride two up with my girlfriend every now and again. Comes out to 275ish with gear and whatnot, and the bike hauls us both plenty fast. That was with stock suspension up front and in the rear, too. You'll be fine!
Also, if you don't believe Turd about quality gloves, believe me: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20659.0
So subtracting your weight... your girlfriend weighs 200 pounds? Damn!
Quote from: Unnamed on August 27, 2006, 10:44:43 AM
Quote from: AlphaFire X5 on August 26, 2006, 01:05:46 PM
I ride two up with my girlfriend every now and again. Comes out to 275ish with gear and whatnot, and the bike hauls us both plenty fast. That was with stock suspension up front and in the rear, too. You'll be fine!
Also, if you don't believe Turd about quality gloves, believe me: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20659.0
So subtracting your weight... your girlfriend weighs 200 pounds? Damn!
Aw, now that's just harsh! She actually weighs about the same as I do.