I like the color on this one. And it seems well kept. This bike is one of the oldest I've looked at.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1983-SUZUKI-GS750E_W0QQitemZ350264668164QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_motorcycles?hash=item518d66b004#ht_500wt_1096
Getting a little desparate are we ...
This handles like a freaking tank ... Oh sorry long term GS owners ... its a truck. The GS1000 ... yea that is a tank.
Ever notice that most GS 4 cyl owners are atleast 7ft tall and 300 lbs and have arms like tree trunks. Yea, they need those arms to reach down and put the front wheel where it oughta be pointing and well, when they gotta stop, they just catch the back side of the nearest bus with their arms. Its a requirement form the 80's actually. Dead lift 1500, bench 600 and squat 2,000.
Cool.
Buddha.
Figures I just bid on the freakin' thing and I'm the high bidder of course. :icon_rolleyes:
I just found this article on the bike.
http://www.usedbikeguide.com/reviews/suzuki3.htm
O0
I like the idea of having a "Classic" as a first bike. I see it is a 750. The article says the 750s have a low HP, so I'm hoping that will bring it down to a 500 by todays standards. Does anyone here have this bike? So far I am still "winning". I asked for more pics. When I get them I will post them here.
Thanks everyone!
My Dad gave me his 1970 Honda CB750 and that thing was too powerful for me as a first bike. Plus, it was big and bulky.
OK that is hardly even close to accurate.
Agreed, the 750's of the 80's may be on par with the 500's of today ... if anyone ever made a 500 today.
Yea GS500 is being made, however the GS500 was last designed in 89 if that, and its made to be cheap and beginer oriented. So its really made less intimidating than it has to be.
The 80's 750's went racing, so its already made to higher performance standard.
Now the bigger kicker ... its the biggest lie ever perpetrated on the riding public IMHO. Power is not your enemy. Atleast not your biggest enemy. Your biggest enemy is weight. The second is handling or lack there of. The third is ironically ride height. Power is 4th, and power coupled with torque are your friends once you get over that first step ... aka, staying upright once moving.
Its too heavy, handles like a truck, too tall and then finally sorta more power than you can use.
Seriously, bikes sell for what the demand profile looks like. You will spend more on a GS500 and seems like it will have been cheaper to get somehting bigger, but on the used market bikes sell for the relative supply to demand ratio.
Oversized tanks are worthless. Nimble economic bikes have value when the gas $$$ shoots up, proper beginner bikes have value ... well always. And the versatile do it all's stay in demand all the time.
Add in the fact that there are some bikes that are inherently cheaper to fix and maintain - GS, savage etc among them there is really no bike that is better suited for a true beginner.
Cool.
Buddha.
It's an extra 125-140 lbs or so over the gs500. That can get awkward. Horsing a 550lb bike back upright (or keeping it from going over in the first place) is just that much harder than doing so with a 410 lb bike (wet weights, approximately correct.) Never tipping over is a nice idea, but difficult in practice, especially without practice (ie, as your first bike.)
And let's just say - aside from the easily replaced way too soft springs (hmm, yup, put Progressives in the 1982 bikes as well) the GS500 "frequently described as crap" suspension is worlds better than circa 1982 (or 1983) "state of the art" sport suspension.
"Winning" is debatable. You may get it, but you might wish you hadn't, later on... :dunno_black:
Plenty of "classics" a bit better suited to the first bike aspect, perhaps - Ltd440, cb350-4 or even the gs400/450 from which the 500 was born - but the downside of those other than squirrely suspension is old age and poor parts availability - the GS500 is really nice in part due to current production bikes and a 20 year history of mostly interchangable parts that are currently made. So even with an "old" gs like my 1990, it's no problem to get parts. My 1982 bike - huge problem to get parts for it. All of them are old, and the parts that wear out with age are all worn out on all the parts bikes, or have been aging on a shelf for 20+years at this point.
A lot of people make the same mistake though.
They think the first bike has to be somehting that they really like. Its one of those things that I find to be a rather disturbing trend. I constantly hear ... I hate crotch rockets, or I hate cruisers.
The question I'd pose in return is, would you rather live normally or be maimed or dead.
The motivation has to be the fact that they need to learn the rules of the road as it applies to 2 wheels, and the laws of physics as well as a smattering of fixes and maintenance jobs. Too often thet buy the bike of their dreams, and then lower it, stretch it and other wise muck it up ... all the while never figuring out anything they oughtta know.
Lowered and stretched Katana's, CBR600 f2's etc etc are classic examples of that. Of course Harley baggers owned by the cruiser nuts when they oughta have got old ass virago 500's is the other side of it.
The first bike you buy oughta teach you riding and repair without putting any scars on you where the sun dont shine.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hope you don't win. ;)
Honda CB350s and CB400s are constantly running across craigslist here in the $400-800 range. That's a good idea for a beginners bike. A real beginners bike, would be one of the CB/CL125s or 175 that come across every so often. I'm hoping to pick one up over winter for riding around town. Even with plenty of experience, I think a bike like that would be a ton of fun for where I live.
If you're not too sure about maintenance, get one that at least runs decent. Even most of the ones that don't probably just need a carb cleaning, some new gas and a battery, but that can still be too much if you don't want to work on a bike yet.
Funny.... I don't recall this bike mentioned in the "What other bikes are out there" thread.
You do what you like... but seeing as you asked (after the fact)... *I* would not complete the transaction if I won. Your ebay ID has only three feedbacks, dump it and get a new one if needed, if a Not Completed Negative Feedback is a concern to you.
Michael
I spoke to the seller, He is a very nice guy and told me right away this bike is too powerful for me. The plan is if I win then I check out the 1982 Honda cb 400 he has for sale. If i like it he will sell it to me for 900.00. If I don't like it I walk away. He is a bike repair man and has been in business for 25 years.
Oooo Let me see how to shaft this newbie ...
I'll email him too and tell him I'll buy his CB 400 for 1000 bucks. I'll tell him 82 was the best year, they had the best wheels, the coolest seats, the best tank and best dash as well as gold inside the gluck gluc clab.
That way, when you have to buy the GS700ES ... and hate it, I can buy it cheapo from you.
Muhahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha ... no one double crosses, or single crosses, or well 0 crosses or does nothing to the buddha haha haha haha haha haha haha ...
Cool.
Buddha.
Buddha your just too goofey :cookoo: :kiss3: I love it :woohoo:
I told you I was impulsive. It's my downfall.
He said it is either an 82 or 83. He has to check out the registration and get back to me with pictures. I hope its an 83---nicer lookin bike 4 sure.
if the auction hasn't ended yet, you can cancel your bid.
Yeah, I've canceled bids before, no big deal. It's much nicer than winning something and not paying.
CB400s. Yes I mentioned them. But an 82? And for $900? When for a measly few hundred more you can have a MUCH newer GS500.
The seller's Deal ain't so hot IMHO. He knows if you cancel, the lower bids were Much lower and he might not get anywhere near $900 for the CB400 either.
Cancel the bid if you can. Do the course. Then take a bike for a Test Ride - the bikes on your short list. THEN, you buy.
Michael
Victoria, please listen to what the guys are saying! The 750 is WAY too heavy, the CB400 is no bargain. A bike that old needs a crazy enthusiast to keep it running. Take it to a shop and it'll cost you more than its worth in repairs unless you're VERY lucky.
You need to be aiming for a 250-500 that has parts availability and is not too hard to learn to maintain. Buddha talks a lot of sense, even if you have to read between the lines sometimes!
Quote from: Victoria on October 15, 2009, 04:09:00 PM
I spoke to the seller, He is a very nice guy and told me right away this bike is too powerful for me. The plan is if I win then I check out the 1982 Honda cb 400 he has for sale. If i like it he will sell it to me for 900.00. If I don't like it I walk away. He is a bike repair man and has been in business for 25 years.
Yes, I agree---you guys (and gals) are the experts. Thats why I joined the forum---for good advice :cheers:
The CB400 may not be a outright bargain, however the old school UJM's are enjoying a resurgence.
I sold my XS650 mind you, taller, heavier and uglier than a CB400 for 700 bucks. Mine was ugly, had 29K miles and well ... it ran like a mofo.
It sold in under 2-3 days.
A CB400 is a lot cleaner, it also is less powerful and as such there is a good lot of demand for that and its ilk. It also runs 60-70 mpg. If I had one today and in good shape, I'd be asking that 750-800 price range for it. Especially low miles. A good shape XS650 like I am working on should be 1000+. I'd really not choke on a low mile CB400 if it also looks nice @ the $900.
It has to be mechanically and in all aspects sound. It wont be any work after that, once its back to that shape it is like anything else you can buy. If you buy a busted ass POS like I have, its gonna be expensive to get it running unless you are a junkyard dog ... like me.
And mu haha haha haha haha you're buying a "non cruiser" ... mu haha haha haha haha haha ... UJM like I suggested.
KZ440 baby, the one the only, the coolest and the bestestest.
Cool.
Buddha.