Hello, and thanks in advance for taking the time to look here.
I was charged with the task of repairing an older 2cycle Polaris ATV and to make a long story short I ended up being unable to fix the P.O.S.. I took it to a shop which, as luck would have it, also sold used motorcycles. It's a one-owner "hole-in-the-wall" type place, lots of parts all over the place - you know, the good 'ol 'working man's' shop. The guy that owns it definitely looks the part. He's apparently raced/repaired motorcycles his whole life. Lots of old motorcycles in different states of repair laying around.
I noticed, through the course of talking to him about the ATV, sitting behind masses of other bikes, a decent looking 80's sporty-ish looking bike with "GS500" and "$1100" written on a piece of paper taped to the windscreen. Now, being as inquisitive as I am, I immediately started asking him about it and different things. He claims it's a 1986 Suzuki GS500, and from the looks of it, and the pictures I've seen it appears to be the "E" version, with the fairing on the bottom of the frame and around the gauge cluster. All I know is that it's in "fair" condition. No rust that I could see, low (relatively) mileage - ~12,000, and the fairings and all are in OK condition - minor scratches, dings, etc.. It definitely looks old, if that's any indication. He said that he had to take jets out of the carbs and clean, what he described as a 'concrete-like buildup', off of them.
He started it up, it started immediately and idled well without any suspicious noises. He revved it up to what I perceived (I was standing in front of the bike) to be about the red line and it sounded really good. There was some blue smoke but I'm assuming that's about par for the course? Probably just been sitting there?
So, my questions are as follow:
A) Would 1100 bucks be too much for this bike?
B) Should I be weary of the smoke? It was minimal...not more than you'd puff out after taking a drag off a cigarette each time he rolled the throttle. I haven't ridden it yet so I'm still somewhat hesitant.
C) What would, if applicable, be a more reasonable price? I figured I'd try to get him down to 800. Less than that? :icon_question:
D) Is he perhaps mistaken about the year? Everything I've read says that the bikes weren't introduced into the US until 1989. It looks like the 1989 models - identical in fact.
E) Parts availability? If I have to start replacing parts am I going to be SOL or do the newer ones fit the older ones? I'd hope so...it's such a popular bike it seems like.
F) What should I look for, specific to this bike, that may be problematic, given its age? I know the generals...but not specifics for this particular motorcycle - e.g. "x nut tends to fall off from y bolt and cause z problem"
Alright, I think that about does it. Again, thanks for reading through this. I'd rather not get suckered into buying something, you know?
-Kij
I guess it was too long for people to read fully.
I'll simplify things:
Is there such a thing as a "1986 GS500" and what would be a reasonable asking price for one that's in "OK condition" appearance wise, and "good to excellent" condition mechanically?
It's definitely a GS500, that I know. The only thing in question is the year.
Thanks,
-Kij
Well the GS500 was introduced in '89. As for the price my guess is if it's in really good condition it's probably worth it. I paid $500 for my '90 and it had some road rash and needed/needs some work but I think I would have paid up to $1000 ish if it didn't need any work to be ridden. I think I'm going to try and pull about 800-900 out of mine when I'm ready to move on.
There ain't no such animal, as far as I know.
for 1986 you might find a 4-cylinder gs550.
the earliest of our GS is 1989 - not hard to spot, the only one with clip-on bars - at least from the factory.
The manufacture date (which may not be the model year - ie, my 1990 was made in 1989, just like cars are) is on the vin sticker on the frame, front end, left side, just below the fuel tank. The model year should be in the title, and if there isn't a title, just walk away.
As for the price, it's all about condition. Bought mine a year and a half ago for $100 less - basically mechanically sound, but with some issues (messed up fuel hose routing, bad clutch switch, incredibly fugly paint job, ripped seat). If not basically mechanically sound, and if you're not good (sometimes even if you are good) it's easy to double the price getting it to sound ridable condition. Cosmetics don't need to cost so much, though you can make them do so if you take a certain line.
Parts swap nicely and the bike is still in production. There are a few areas where you may have to swap a few more parts to make new parts work, but mostly the parts just swap. It's also fairly reliable if you don't crash it a lot, so the need for parts may be limited. Some claim the early engines hold up better than the later ones - I don't know if that's true. On the other hand, I'm not over-fond of people who rev bikes to red-line (or even near) while they are sitting still...
Tires, fork seals, fuel lines, carb intake boots - anything rubber-like that has not been replaced is prone to fail with age. Chain and sprockets should be in good shape - will cost at least $70 with the low-ball ebay chain & sprockets, more with somewhat higher grade parts.
Check the VIN # the 10th digit will tell you the year... If its a GS500E its not an 86. And if he thinks it is he isnt half the mechanic he thinks he is :D Get a pic of it and post it here.
10th VIN#'s
D IS 1983 E 84. F 85. G 86.H 87.J 88.K 89.L 90.M 91. N 92.P 93.R 94. S 95.T 96.V 97. W 98.X 99.Y 2000. 1 01. 2 02.3 03. 4 04. 5 05. 6 06.7 07.
Be sure to check the chain, sprockets inside the tank for rust, tires, check suspension for leaks etc... It may be worth what he is asking but I would find out the year first, bust him a bit on being wrong and offer WAY less :cheers:
Maybe the bike is the predesessor to the GS500, a GS450?? I had a 1980 GS450ST, but don't know if they made the 450 right up until the GS500 started in 1989 or not. It funny because I have seen the two earlier four stroke GS models for sale on craigslist lately-the GS400 and the GS425. I think they were all quite good motorcycles.
Jon in Puyallup, Wa.
Wow, thanks so much for the replies, guys!
Well, I can definitely say for certain it's not a 4. It's definitely a twin.
It has the exact same paint job as this bike: http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/285/gs500b.jpg which I found by searching "1989 GS500". Hell, it looks exactly like that bike, with the exception of having a cluster fairing, and one around the bottom of the frame. I don't recall seeing GS500 written on the side like pictured here but yeah, that's the one. I assume the likelihood of a bike having the same wheels, paint job, and over-all styling as a different model is pretty slim, correct?
Anyway, I don't know even how high he revved it. It sounded like it was higher-end of the RPM range though. I did notice that the motor was quite snappy and responsive, no backfiring or excessive vibration. Sounded really good, in my opinion.
So what's the verdict if I can ride away on this baby and not have to replace anything major? A grand? Maybe 900? For whatever it's worth, and I don't think he'd have a reason to lie, he said he had to do a bunch of work to it because it had just sat and collected dust in somebody's garage. He described the process of removing what he called a "concrete-like buildup" from the jets. He claims he replaced a bunch of other things as well, small stuff. I think I'd ask him about the rectifier, though, apparently that's a well-known "bad part".
Thanks so much guys! Much appreciated!
-Kij