I keep having this happen; I'll be buying something in a store and the clerk will ask if I 'ride a sportbike'. Usually they just want to buy one, but I still feel like an idiot when I say "well..... kinda...". So what do you say? Yes? No? Kinda? Or the full "It's a sport-standard with less displacement than most sportbikes but similar styling..."?
Those type: I just say 'yes' they wouldn't know the difference between a 500f and a gixxer if it bit em on the nuts.
If it's someone who rides. I (used to) ride a GS500. Half of em think it's a pretty nice bike overall :thumb:
"Nope.. I ride a standard.. better gas mileage, cheaper insurance, just as much fun"
I just tell people it's a standard sport bike without all the expensive plastic covering up the engine and frame. :icon_mrgreen:
Most of the guys who called mine a sportbike were cruiser owners. I gave up explaining that it was a "standard" because I only got blank looks. Then I used to say, "It WISHES it was a sportbike" and just smile.
I also used to have teen guys alongside the road motioning for me to wheelie as I was passing them...as if! :laugh:
"Nope. It's a naked"
James
The GS *is* a sportsbike!
To make a car analogy, it's more like a Miata, MG or Triumph than a Ferrari, BMW, or Lambo.
There are different kinds of sportbikes.
-b.
when i had the 89 i'd say a "standard" now that i have the F model i say yes to sport
Well I guess it is a sportbike, but not a crotchrocket. Unless people ask, then I usually go into the speel of "Well the GS was a standard bike until 2004, when the put fairings on it, to make it look sportier". I myself consider the GS500F a sheep in wolves clothing.
JG
Quote from: bosozoku on July 17, 2007, 04:19:00 AM
The GS *is* a sportsbike!
To make a car analogy, it's more like a Miata, MG or Triumph than a Ferrari, BMW, or Lambo.
There are different kinds of sportbikes.
-b.
good analogy
i have a problem !! here in puerto rico there are 100 of 1000 of delivery man on motorcycle ! they use rebel 750 honda 939, gs500e , kawasaki (neaked one 1000), small cruser, and that kind of bikes. i got the problem that everybody ask me if I am a delivery man. I hate people say to me that . all delivery bikes are all damage, dirty, they are fixed with home remedies. I think you catch the idea of the looks of that bikes. mine is clean and shiny everitime. i just say NO with a bad expression in my face !
and on shops when people ask me what kind of motto I have I said A small gsx a 500 naked sport ! if thay ask more so I explain that is a gs500 . the same but without the X and a little les power!
"I ride a naked sport bike. No plastics." That usually works for me.
Frankie , u sed , the 89 , u sed naked . now its a 04 , u say sport , so some how u think some plastics make it a sport? i think mine looks like a bad arse naked. and when it gets repainted , doubt ud no it was a gs straight away , unless uve had one lol
It's usually cruiser or HD folks that call suzi a crotch rocket.
We'll talk about standards and cruisers, maybe we'll swap bikes for a while.
(this is of course only the cool guys)
Then they'll understand what a standard is.
They usually say something like "Hey, it's pretty peppy for a 500 !" or "Man, you really don't have to rev the bejeebis out of it to have fun!"
This from guys with +1000cc machines.
Quote from: ohgood on July 17, 2007, 02:10:57 PM
It's usually cruiser or HD folks that call suzi a crotch rocket.
We'll talk about standards and cruisers, maybe we'll swap bikes for a while.
(this is of course only the cool guys)
Then they'll understand what a standard is.
They usually say something like "Hey, it's pretty peppy for a 500 !" or "Man, you really don't have to rev the bejeebis out of it to have fun!"
This from guys with +1000cc machines.
MMMM 1000+ MASS METAL IN BETWEEN MY LEGS! sounds soo fun
commuter that tours.
In the end no matter what you do to it, its not a sports bike it just does a good impersonation of one :thumb: :cheers:
Quote from: Jay_wolf on July 17, 2007, 02:01:16 PM
Frankie , u sed , the 89 , u sed naked . now its a 04 , u say sport , so some how u think some plastics make it a sport?
everyone knows plastics make your bike faster :laugh: :flipoff: :laugh: . i think he means that since it has fairings he can't call it a naked anymore. like boso said a miata is a sport car but its not a Ferrari, some people consider the gs a "sport" bike but that doesn't mean they think it's a super sport.
I see . i recon my naked it faster than his 04 lol
some1 of you think that a bike that can reach 130mph stock. and much more with some mods, 6 gear trans, power enough to do a wheele (not recomended), etc... is not a sport tbike? what you think !!! its a cruiser.. lol i want to see you do a wheelie an a Warrior or a Bulevar jejejeje. or running a constant speed of 110 mph on the highway. i got a yamaha 650xs special. and in speed over 100mph i just can't control the bike bc the way I am sitting on it ...
so its a sport bike, less power than super sport bikes but still a sport one !
the MX bikes come from 50cc to 600cc and all of them still MX (scrambers)
I was having some chain problems the day after I got caught in the rain.A guy comes over to me while I'm fueling and ask me what my bike is.Remember I don't have any logos on my bike,except the suzuki over the R1 tail light and the S on the 2004 fuel tank.I told him it was an advanced PITA(Pain In The Ass).He looked at me funny and said,"that's the same thing as a cafe racer,right?"I told him no,it's a factory stripped down sport bike.He looked at me funny again,said his good bye,and left even more confused.The looks were priceless.
Quote from: DaxFX on July 19, 2007, 01:15:10 PM
some1 of you think that a bike that can reach 130mph stock. and much more with some mods, 6 gear trans, power enough to do a wheele (not recomended), etc... is not a sport tbike? what you think !!! its a cruiser.. lol i want to see you do a wheelie an a Warrior or a Bulevar jejejeje. or running a constant speed of 110 mph on the highway. i got a yamaha 650xs special. and in speed over 100mph i just can't control the bike bc the way I am sitting on it ...
so its a sport bike, less power than super sport bikes but still a sport one !
the MX bikes come from 50cc to 600cc and all of them still MX (scrambers)
130 indicated is far from actual 130. Also, I highly doubt anyone here has ever gone above that regardless of mods on their GS, due to the limitation of the transmission
I've seen an M109r wheelie at 40mph, and that's a cruiser :icon_twisted:
Quote from: spcterry on July 19, 2007, 01:28:17 PM
Quote from: DaxFX on July 19, 2007, 01:15:10 PM
some1 of you think that a bike that can reach 130mph stock. and much more with some mods, 6 gear trans, power enough to do a wheele (not recomended), etc... is not a sport tbike? what you think !!! its a cruiser.. lol i want to see you do a wheelie an a Warrior or a Bulevar jejejeje. or running a constant speed of 110 mph on the highway. i got a yamaha 650xs special. and in speed over 100mph i just can't control the bike bc the way I am sitting on it ...
so its a sport bike, less power than super sport bikes but still a sport one !
the MX bikes come from 50cc to 600cc and all of them still MX (scrambers)
130 indicated is far from actual 130. Also, I highly doubt anyone here has ever gone above that regardless of mods on their GS, due to the limitation of the transmission
I've seen an M109r wheelie at 40mph, and that's a cruiser :icon_twisted:
maybe in the USA the GS have restrictions on the motor but mine have touch 130 just in the beagining of the 6th gear
i have reach the 120 in 5th with more room to go and does not have any mods .
I dont want to be a jerk but what limitation are you talking about ?? mine does not have any !!
You have got to be talking kmh.
Without fairings, even an SV650 is going to be straining to hit 130.
Quote from: spcterry on July 19, 2007, 04:55:59 PM
You have got to be talking kmh.
Without fairings, even an SV650 is going to be straining to hit 130.
sorry but no !! I am talking about 130mph !! I dont know maybe one of the older owner do some mods to the engine, if have mods they are out of my concern.
how fast you have reach in your GS?
Ive hit ., indicated 130 with no mods , with stock everything , before i made it the sex
Out of all my friends that I ride with (5), they have supersport bikes, GSXR1000, GSXR750, CBR600, R6, and a old VFR750. All of them love riding my bike and think its a kick in the ass when I am all up in their mirrors in the corners. So yeah when someone asks I say yes I do ride a sportbike.
Yeah. I generally tell them it's a sport bike, just not a super sport.
I strained my GS to 110mph on the interstate.I was running 75mph dropped to 4th gear and letter,ummmmm,rip.Run back up to 6th gear on a flat strieght section.Hit 110 on the speedo but I know it's way off.
usually the only question i get is "what size engine is it" or something to that effect. as for speed i held mine flat out for about 5 miles and couldn't get above 120 indicated
dax has hit the board with a furry....i may be another fan fav like terry. oh right...ADHD kicking in...i wanted to post that any dork can go in a straight line, twisties and track is where it is at. last time i tried that full throttle hair on fire thing i blew the valves on my tlr 1000 at around 180mph
Quote from: spcterry on July 19, 2007, 01:28:17 PM
Quote from: DaxFX on July 19, 2007, 01:15:10 PM
some1 of you think that a bike that can reach 130mph stock. and much more with some mods, 6 gear trans, power enough to do a wheele (not recomended), etc... is not a sport tbike? what you think !!! its a cruiser.. lol i want to see you do a wheelie an a Warrior or a Bulevar jejejeje. or running a constant speed of 110 mph on the highway. i got a yamaha 650xs special. and in speed over 100mph i just can't control the bike bc the way I am sitting on it ...
so its a sport bike, less power than super sport bikes but still a sport one !
the MX bikes come from 50cc to 600cc and all of them still MX (scrambers)
130 indicated is far from actual 130. Also, I highly doubt anyone here has ever gone above that regardless of mods on their GS, due to the limitation of the transmission
I've seen an M109r wheelie at 40mph, and that's a cruiser :icon_twisted:
I've seen a vid on the internet of a guy doing a wheelie with a Goldwing. It was badass.
By the way, I just say its a naked street bike. People usually have no idea anyway.
John
The fastest I've heard of on here is 120 mph indicated.. more like 110 corrected. I took mine to 105 (indicated) at redline in 5th gear, but no further so I can't really comment.
Anyway I've been thinking, and my new response will be "yes" unless they're looking at it, in which case I will say "it's a naked sportbike" and let them puzzle over that one.
If ppl ask me if it is sports bike, I reply that it's "sporty, sexy, street hooligan".
I have people ask me what type of BMW it is :cookoo: :dunno_white:
Then I tell them it's a sport bike. If they ask more a say it's a standard sport. I've only hit 110-115 but I don't have much straight road.
I got asked the other day if it was a Yamaha! True, I repainted my tank and didn't put the "Suzuki" stickers back on, but the engine case cover stickers are still there! I get asked questions almost every time I stop. For some reason people are drawn to the Baby G.
I usually say I ride a naked. Naked what is up to them to figure out. :laugh:
I also have no Suzuki stickers, I was thinking about putting a chrome "?" on the tank just to mess with people. :laugh:
My boss has a Warrior that he raises the front wheel on all the time... Warriors are bad ass cruisers. Granted, he's not hitting a balance point by any means but a foot from the ground is still a wheelie in my book.
I say it's a Standard...
My buddy ALWAYS calls the GS an EX... And I always yell at him for it.
Quote from: groff22 on July 17, 2007, 08:11:15 AM
I myself consider the GS500F a sheep in wolves clothing
:thumb:
Classic!
I go with 'standard' or Suzuki GS. It is ALWAYS confused for an SV650, even a Monster once... weird.
I have dual headlights on mine and I was riding around lake lure(local lake). Came up on some guys on GSXR's, busa's, and a cbr- the back guy turned around on his bike, looked at mine and said "i thought that was a speed triple"- I said nope, it's a GS500. He turned around and they hit the gas....i just laughed.
Nobody has ever asked me that. Around here, I've never heard ANYBODY use the word "sportbike", or phrase "sports bike".
The cruiser people all use the term "crotch rocket", and mostly they use it as an insult. ANY "sports bike" is a "crotch rocket", and they don't care to know any more about it. Anything with a fairing will get called a "crotch rocket". I've even heard a Gold Wing referred to as a "BIG crotch rocket". If you ride a "crotch rocket" you're one of "them".
They tend to be a little puzzled by my naked GS, and they've referred to it in my presence as "almost a crotch rocket". Given their limited system of taxonomy, that's probably pretty accurate. None of them have ever asked for the model name.
The "sports bike" riders do know, and they don't use the term either... they just ask what bike you ride, meaning the specific model. Mostly, they don't seem to recognize the model, but they hear "500" for sure, and are not impressed.
I've tried using the term "standard" too, and nobody has a clue what I'm talking about.
In this crazy world of race replicas, full fairings and fuel injection....
No. The GS-500 is not a sportbike (IMO). At all. Not even the fully faired ones (does putting a body kit on a Civic make it a sports car? lol!).
Just look at the stock hardware. Crappy shock, horrible single rotor/caliper front brake, and a decidedly un-tuned (compared with today's standards) 500cc air cooled engine.
There certtainly are 500cc-and-and-lower sportbikes (like the Cagiva Mito 500 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagiva_Mito) as seen in this post (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=33482.msg372691#msg372691) and assorted other bikes by Aprillia... most of which are not available in the USA), but the GS500 is certainly not one of them.
If they've actually seen the bike and still ask that, then they aren't worthy of a response. I just give them a wedgie.
+ 42.6 :thumb: :laugh: :laugh:
OLD THREAD I KNOW haha but it was an interesting read!!
Plus, there are so many newer people on here now and I am curious... anybody get asked what kind of bike your GS is? What do you say?
"just a 500 twin"
if pressed further, that you have to seriously thrash the bollards off it to get it to shift arse, but it'll happily bunnyhop away at the lights (and thoroughly embarrass fancier bikes with it's sprightlyness hehehe 8) )
Quote from: groff22 on July 17, 2007, 08:11:15 AM
Well I guess it is a sportbike, but not a crotchrocket. Unless people ask, then I usually go into the speel of "Well the GS was a standard bike until 2004, when the put fairings on it, to make it look sportier". I myself consider the GS500F a sheep in wolves clothing.
JG
Putting fairings on a bike has nothing to do with making it look sportier. Look at the Triumph speed series. They have never had fairings and that has always been a sportier bike. Personally, It is a sport bike due to the way your legs hug the tank, the way you use mid controls, The rake, the type of wheels. You dont see someone on a M109R with full radial tires with wear from edge to edge. you see them with the laid back, high bars, wide rear tires, and saddle bags. Dont get me wrong, I love the M109R and always will consider it my favorite bike ever produced, but there is a huge difference in riding stance.
I tell them it looks like a sports bike, and handles like a sports bike, but only has 25-50% of the HP of a sport bike, so I still get 60 mpg.
It's not when people ask me if I have a sportbike that bothers me. I hate when they ask me...
1. How fast can it go?
2. How much power?
3. Can you wheelie?
Now, it's not that I don't like those questions because the GS is a smaller bike. It's the fact that if they had any knowledge of bikes, they wouldn't be asking those questions. I don't mean that they don't know every bike's specs, it's that those are the questions that people ask because they think every bike is a rocket ship. It does give me a laugh when they try to talk bikes like they know everything but they have absolutely no clue!
My answers to those questions are usually...
1. Fast enough
2. Enough to have fun
3. Any bike can wheelie if you try hard enough.
And also, I recently switched to saying "sport" to "standard" because I took off the fairings. Everyone thinks I got a new bike and they all love it! And I love the looks on their faces when I tell them it's the same bike!
my friend likes to give me shaZam!. Calls it a crotch rocket.
Which i know it isn't. But he's short enough that it's a stretch for him. Stumpy mofo!
I've only had one person that described it correctly. It's kind of a sporty standard. not exactly sporty and not exactly standard upright either.
Just tell them the truth, that it's a UJM, that will leave them with a puzzled look on their face :thumb:
"No, a standard."
"Oh, you mean, like, an old bike."
_ _ _ _
"Nice, what year is that?"
"A 96".
"What's that, like, a 600?"
"500."
"Oh, well that ain't too bad."
"Yeah, it does what I need it to."
Its funny for me, many times non-bikers call my GS a Gixxer, 600 or 1000 or whatever.
Then others who ask about my speed triple act suprised when I say the motors in the 130hp area. For some reason, if a bike is naked, it cant be powerful.
But Im sure if I said the GS was a 180hp motor, those people would believe it!
Quote from: DaxFX on July 19, 2007, 01:15:10 PM
some1 of you think that a bike that can reach 130mph stock. and much more with some mods, 6 gear trans, power enough to do a wheele (not recomended), etc... is not a sport tbike? what you think !!! its a cruiser.. lol i want to see you do a wheelie an a Warrior or a Bulevar jejejeje. or running a constant speed of 110 mph on the highway. i got a yamaha 650xs special. and in speed over 100mph i just can't control the bike bc the way I am sitting on it ...
so its a sport bike, less power than super sport bikes but still a sport one !
the MX bikes come from 50cc to 600cc and all of them still MX (scrambers)
Yes Suzuki started with what's technically a sports bike, twin spar frame, short wheelbase, torquey motor, six speed box. It looks the goods standing still, and yes it is good for 200km/h if you're running dead straight for the state line. Where it loses all sporting credibility is in the cross ply tyres, front forks that feel like a rubber band in a tube, a front brake that requires a written application to stop in a hurry and a rear shock might as well be from a cruiser it's that soft. Brake late as you tip in to a corner and then try and get on the gas and the bike will shift around like a mexican low rider.
That said the GS taught me to be smooth, It's good for torque right across the rev range, so you can pick a gear, crack the throttle as you tip in and keep rolling on. My ritual was to get my braking and shifting done, then slide my feet back away from the rear brake and shifter, both to take my weight on the balls of my feet and also to remind myself that whatever gear and speed we have, that's our entry into the corner now. You make your decisions early on a GS cos the suspension won't handle any indecision from the rider.
I really miss my GS, I'm working on bringing her back to life now. Updates to come.
Quote from: Cosimo_Zaretti on August 04, 2015, 11:07:34 AM
Quote from: DaxFX on July 19, 2007, 01:15:10 PM
some1 of you think that a bike that can reach 130mph stock. and much more with some mods, 6 gear trans, power enough to do a wheele (not recomended), etc... is not a sport tbike? what you think !!! its a cruiser.. lol i want to see you do a wheelie an a Warrior or a Bulevar jejejeje. or running a constant speed of 110 mph on the highway. i got a yamaha 650xs special. and in speed over 100mph i just can't control the bike bc the way I am sitting on it ...
so its a sport bike, less power than super sport bikes but still a sport one !
the MX bikes come from 50cc to 600cc and all of them still MX (scrambers)
Yes Suzuki started with what's technically a sports bike, twin spar frame, short wheelbase, torquey motor, six speed box. It looks the goods standing still, and yes it is good for 200km/h if you're running dead straight for the state line. Where it loses all sporting credibility is in the cross ply tyres, front forks that feel like a rubber band in a tube, a front brake that requires a written application to stop in a hurry and a rear shock might as well be from a cruiser it's that soft. Brake late as you tip in to a corner and then try and get on the gas and the bike will shift around like a mexican low rider.
That said the GS taught me to be smooth, It's good for torque right across the rev range, so you can pick a gear, crack the throttle as you tip in and keep rolling on. My ritual was to get my braking and shifting done, then slide my feet back away from the rear brake and shifter, both to take my weight on the balls of my feet and also to remind myself that whatever gear and speed we have, that's our entry into the corner now. You make your decisions early on a GS cos the suspension won't handle any indecision from the rider.
I really miss my GS, I'm working on bringing her back to life now. Updates to come.
If you get your GS back to life. I would suggest some new front springs and a at least tighten the preload on the rear shock. You might be amazed at how the bike handles.