I never really formally introduced myself, or my GS for that matter. I figured it's about time to do that.
So, my name's Jeremy. I live in Pittsburgh, PA. And this is my GS.
Some things I've done include:
Mini Turn Signals
Turn Signal Mirrors
Clip-On Bars
Chopped the rear fender
Repainted the exhaust pipe
Painted the top triple black, to match the black one under it
The pictures aren't the best, but I don't have a nice camera, so my Blackberry will have to suffice. :icon_mrgreen:
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4429771954_f7c14c0c7b_o.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4429776268_a1777116ec_o.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4429011353_e4bf782324_o.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4429013769_ef74a8738b_o.jpg)
Welcome!!
I'm from Pittsburgh too, what part of town are you from? I was just thinking I should make a post to see how many people there are here from the area that might be interested in some rides. I've ridden bikes forever but only gotten back into riding this spring after about 4 years off, so I've lost contact with all the people I used to ride with, nor do I think I could keep up with them anymore on the GS considering I'm extremely slow now.
Let me know what you think, it'd be cool to find a couple people to go do a saturday or sunday ride every once in a while. I'm always getting jealous of the group rides going on in Baltimore.
I live in Crafton, just south of the city. I'm up for riding any and every day, as long as it's not raining or snowing. I'd love to find some people to ride with, too. I just moved here the beginning of the year, so I have no riding pals yet.
So whaddya think of the mirrors? Did they fit perfectly into the stock ones? How well can you see?
Mary
Sounds good. I know it's supposed to rain this weekend, but I'll post something in a day or two to see who all is in the area, then we can work on something once we get some nice weather some weekend.
Are those the Shock Racing LED mirrors? I have the same ones on my bike and i find that they have about the same visibilty as the stock mirrors if not a little bit better. I noticed you left the boots on the mirrors that came with them.
I took mine apart at the base and actually used the stock mirrors mounting and just bolted these mirrors on to them as i found it to be a better fit.
I have a slight problem with my left mirror that it doesn't stay positioned real well. It will rotate from the vibration around the point mid mirror and after about 15 minutes of riding be aimed just to low to be able to see. I was wondering if you have the same problem or not and if you figured out a way to fix it without just wrapping it in electrical tape to get it to stay.
I honestly hate the mirrors, haha. The previous owner had installed them. Having signals on them is cool, and they look good. But, they never stay in place, and the bolts that attach the base have actually pulled through the little slotted area, so the bases are loose. I took them off last night and replaced them with the stock mirrors.
Another thing, for anyone that's reading this with some tech knowledge...
I planned on going up to a 45T rear sprocket, but I just haven't gotten around to ordering it yet. I do however, have the longer 114 link chain that I'll need once I do install the sprocket. After a long weekend of riding, I've noticed the chain I have now is really starting to have some stretchy and tight spots, and it needs replaced.
So, the question is, is the 114 link chain too long to throw on there for about a week, until I get get ahold of a 45T sprocket? I know the GS stock chain is 110 links...
I know this doesn't really answer your question, but for what it's worth.... when I just took the 47t chainring off my bike and put the stock 39t back on I had to remove 3 full links from the chain. That's 3 inside and 3 outside, and I think that pretty much kept it in the same position. If your wheels is towards the front of the axle slot now you might be able to get away with moving it to the back.
If you want to do it mathmatically, figure out exactly how much longer the new chain is, divide that number in half, and see if the rear axle is able to move back that distance. The number gets divided in half because the chain is on top and on bottom, and the additional length gets divided between the two.
Otherwise, if both of your chains have a masterlink it might be easiest just to try it.
I'm assuming the chain is still the stock chain, unless it was replaced by the PO. There's no masterlink on it, I do know that. I'll have to measure it out when I get home to see if it will work out.
Do you still have the stock 16t front? The 45 on your bike will be able geared the same as my bike is now with 14/39. I definitely wouldn't want it geared any lower. It was 14/47 for 100 or so miles this spring, but then I changed it back as it was a big of a headache any time I wanted to go over 45mph. It's much better now, but can still feel a bit buzzy at highway speeds. I don't miss the extra pull it had with the 47t since I haven't been riding it too hard anyway.
Yeah, I'm running 16/39 as of now. I don't plan on going any lower than 16 in the front, or higher than the 45 in the back. I ride mostly in the city, but I do occasionally hit the highways, so I don't want too drastic of a change.
The 14/47 was alright in the city. It was like having an entire gear lower than 1st, but I was seriously shifting into 6th by the time 35mph rolled around. It'll be a crazy change someday to get another bigger bike that actually has gears spaced out, and only be shifting into 3rd gear at the same time I shift into 6th on the GS.
I'm kind of anxious to see the difference with the 45 in the rear. Hopefully I like it, otherwise that will be a good bit of money wasted, haha.
Looks like some nice weather tomorrow. Not sure if you do any weekday evening riding or not... Looks like the weather might break this weekend, but I'll be out of town from Fri-Sun. I think getting a GS ride together would be a good idea. :thumb:
I'm not sure what's going on for weather this weekend, last I checked I just saw rain, but they change that often enough. I'm gonna try to get out tomorrow night. I want to run to a bike shop to see if I can find a 245-250 shim so I can get to checking my valves, as currently they're all too tight with the 260-265 shims in there now to even get a feeler gauge under. I'm not sure if I'm gonna head up rt. 8 to crossroads or if I'll head up 51 to Moon to stop at that one just past the bridge to sewickley. After that I'll probably loop back cranberry to make a loop around the quaker steak parking lot and see what kinda bikes are there, maybe stop at my parents to play with the dog for a little, then head back home. i've been trying to clean up my mess in the basement some this week so I can pull the GS back inside and get back to work over the weekend. When spring came around I pretty much just got the bike legal and running so I could get some riding in, but now that it's been a couple weeks I've got some things I need to do, like getting the valves adjusted right, putting the clipons back on, changing the brake fluid, seeing if I can get my new seat to fit, clean the carbs again in hopes that my choke will actually work, and a couple other various things. So needless to say, probably no riding this weekend, but at least it'll be GS related activities, and I should be good to go for next week when the sun comes back.
Oh, and I forgot, that thread I made to try and find out who was from Pittsburgh got moved to the Meet & Greet section and was then just ignored, haha. I'll have to spend some time some evening searching old threads to see who's mentioned being from Pittsburgh before so we can get some more people to ride with.
Sounds good man, let me know!
I have to get my valves checked out soon too, I think. I heard the infamous tapping noise the other day, but that's the first and only time I've heard it. Might need a helping hand with that, if you'd be willing. I'm not very experienced working inside the engine. And I'd rather not have to pay $90/hr or anything ridiculous like that at the shop.
Hey, I can definitely try to help with the valves. I tried calling Bob Tracey's today, I was going to ride out and pick of a thinner shim so I could get to measuring what sizes I need, but they said they didn't have them in stock. I'm gonna try calling Crossroads and Bohns, but I may just end up ordering some online.
Anyway, were you at quaker steak tonight? I saw a blue GSf with clipons and a stock exhaust, I thought it might've been yours but I couldn't remember any other details about your bike to know for sure. If it was I wish I would've thought to ask if you were going up there. I spend about 45-50 minutes weaving up there on some back roads and got there around 7. I was gonna stop at my parents and play with the dog, but I just decided to come home as it was already getting later than I thought.
Did you see that blue Buell xb9sx?? I was drooling all over it.
Yeah that was probably mine, amidst the sea of Harleys in the side parking lot, haha. I got there around 6ish, walked around, had dinner, then walked around again. That Buell was awesome. I spent a good amount of time staring at the all black Duc Monster that showed up like right before I was leaving. I'll probably start going up there every week. Seems like a fun time, and gives me a destination to ride to, as opposed to just cruising around downtown, haha.
Don't think I saw the monster, must've come after I left. I feel like it was almost a mistake going there. I like the GS, and think it's a good looking bike for what it is, but when I park it there and wander around the sea of super nice bikes, and then go get back on mine I just feel sad. haha. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if the Buell wasn't there. I'll see how long it takes to bounce back before I decide if I'll be good to ride up there with you sometimes, or if I'm just gonna avoid bike night until I find another bike. Heather always goes out and does her moped stuff Thursday nights, so it is a convenient hole in my schedule for motorcycle stuff.
Which way did you go up there? I took some back roads the whole way up, but around 7:30 I was ready to be home so I just hopped on 279, which was really fast, but definitely not my bikes strong point, haha. 7-8k rpm tucked down with my elbow sticking out to the sides because of the dirtbike bars. I swore it was so hot when I was getting my gear on, and then after 4 blocks of riding I was nothing but cold for 2 hours.
I know what you mean, about getting back on the GS! haha
It's all good fun though. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. Next spring hopefully, I should have something a little more fun to show off. I hadn't been up that way before, so I just rode 279 to 79, so I didn't get lost, haha. I'll probably get a little more adventurous next time though and hit the twisties.
yeah, the only problem for me is that I had a 600 until I sold it a couple years ago, so I already know exactly what I'm missing. It's less fun to work towards something you already had before, haha.
I grew up 2 miles from QS&L so I know most of the roads up there. Someday if I head up there with you we can take some of the back roads. I tried some new ones last night that I didn't remember so I was riding around to see where they'd come out, and it worked alright. If you don't want to take 279 you can also just get on 19 or mcknight road and take them right up to the 79 exit. The whole thing is boxed in between the river and rt65, Freedom road(which is what QS&L is on) and 19, so it's pretty safe just go pick a road and go for it. If you hit 65 or freedom just make a right, if you hit 19 just make a left. You can also do the same thing on the right side of 19/mcknight if you want to head up towards north park. Just make a left if you hit rt 8 or 228(same road as freedom). Heather completely hates getting lost and freaks out when she's driving us somewhere and doesn't know where she is, but 95% of the time I'm going somewhere I have no idea where I actually am, and just assume I'll find out eventually. Downtown is great for that too with our mess of a triangle city with ramps everywhere. If you get lost you just keep riding in circles around ramps and eventually you see a sign for the road you wanted.
So how about that weather today?! I pulled my bike apart on Friday night because I knew it was going to rain all weekend, but I woke up today to nothing but warm weather and sun. My bike was still in a couple pieces so I didn't get any riding in, but it did give me a good chance to repaint my subframe. Got my clip ons back on, and put in my other rear shock, plus lowered my gauges a good but so they're not sticking up in the middle of no where and being huge like they used to. You don't have that problem with your clipons because of the windscreen anyway. The only thing I didn't get to do was bleed my brakes, but I can do that another night. It's gonna be mid 80s all week, and mid 70s this weekend, plus I've got Monday off, so I think we can definitely get a ride in sometime.
On the down side, my choke still hates me, and the full carb clean did nothing to help it, I think if anything it made my bike back fire a little worse, but I'll just have to keep messing with the idle when I need to start it cold.
Yeah man today was beautiful! I put quite a few miles on. This week is definitely looking nice. I work til 4:30 or so M-F, but I'm down to ride any time. I usually go out and put a few miles on after work, anyways.
I had to get a new battery, after replacing my plugs. I guess she just didn't have enough juice left to handle the new ones. But I got that all taken care of. My chain is here, sprocket should be here in the next day or two. Then I just have to get my valves checked out, and maybe replace the air filter and new jets. I would like to go farther than that with the mods, but I honestly don't know how long I'm gonna be keeping her around, unfortunately. I have my eyes set on an older model GSX-R...
Which ones are you looking at? the 96-99s are my all time favorites. I'd love to get one of the 750, and I think it's definitely the one I'd be happy of, but I wonder if after I got it I'd still feel like I was out of date like I am with the GS. :dunno_black:
I also like the 04-05s, but they don't seem to be too popular/common. Hate the new ones though.
Anything from 99-03. I love the big curvy body style that was going on for those years. I found a guy who's selling a '00 SRAD 600 for right around my price range. Also saw an '03 GSXR 750 that's very affordable, but I don't see it being around for very long, for the price it was going for.
This isn't the bike I was looking at, but I loooooove this.
(http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/attachments/turbo-lounge/59078d1225051311-motorcycles-who-rides-what-atvs-bikes-007.jpg)
Yeah those are my favorites. I like naked bikes more, but as far as bikes with fairings go, I think the more there is the better it looks. I've spent so much time commuting on bikes that that giant storage space in the tail pretty much sucked me in, plus if I'm gonna have a windshield, I'd actually want it to do something like that one. I prefer all the red/black/gray paint schemes though....
(http://motoprofi.com/imgs/a/a/c/x/z/suzuki_gsxr_750_1999_4_lgw.jpg)
I wouldn't mind one of the 00-03 models, but they're kind of a mid step between just looking good like the one above, and looking aggressive and fast like the 04-05, and they just kinda came across looking bulky. I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad if I was actually sitting on it, plus they still have the tail space. I swear current bikes just keep getting uglier and uglier. I wouldn't mind a 600, but the last bike I had was a 600, and the 750 has been my dream bike since I started riding, so I feel like if anything I should move up. I usually ride the GS between 2500-4500 rpm, so at those rpms I could definitely use the extra bit of power the 750 has over a 600, plus the upside down front end. It's pretty much the only inline 4 I really have any interest in. I wouldn't mind an 03-04 kawasaki 636, and I love the way the first cbr600rrs looked, but those motors are the opposite of what I'd enjoy. That's all just speculation anyway, in case I'd happen to come across an awesome deal I couldn't turn down before I find what I really want....
(http://www.buellxb.com/buell_images/4072_20100521223902_L.jpg)
I think I'm gonna put a For Sale sign in the window of my bike, just to see if anyone around is interested. Might throw an ad up on Craigslist, too, who knows. I just REALLY want the SRAD 600 I've got my eyes on. It's super affordable for me. I just hope it's not gone by the time I can get my GS sold. I do love my GS. It's just not my first choice for a motorcycle, and I can't afford to own 2.
Tell the kid you want it and need a couple days to get the money, and put your bike on on craiglist for just enough to cover the new bike and you should be in business.
jeremy.. Hey I just have a quick question... I just got a 09 GS500F for my first bike... and i was wondering how you like your handle bars where they are...with the clip-ons? I've been debating if I want to do that to mine or not, it looks awesome, and i just hate how the wind hits me when im sitting so upright with the stock handle bars.. feedback would be great!! thanks!!
The clip-ons are definitely more comfortable, at least for me. Plus, they seem 100x more stable than the stock bars. No more speed wobbles, and cornering feels much more solid.
If you're thinking about doing it, just go for it. You'll like it. And if you don't, I'm sure someone on here will gladly buy your clip-ons. :thumb:
thanks!! I'll definitely be trying it out soon!
We've both noticed with clipons that handlebar vibrations have increased drastically. I got some new grips, and am going to try to find some heavy bar ends, and hopefully some of it can be settled down. Other than that the clipons are much nicer.
Quote from: tt_four on May 27, 2010, 03:07:46 PM
We've both noticed with clipons that handlebar vibrations have increased drastically. I got some new grips, and am going to try to find some heavy bar ends, and hopefully some of it can be settled down. Other than that the clipons are much nicer.
True story. I'm not buying anything else though, until I know whether or not the GS is heading out the door. :wink:
Looks like the GS will be gone by next weekend...
If so, I'm pretty sure this bike will be mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43IHYoSCbdU&playnext_from=TL&videos=u3i_CSRPk5U (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43IHYoSCbdU&playnext_from=TL&videos=u3i_CSRPk5U)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4650321647_709f10250a_b.jpg)
750?! Did you do that just to spite me?? :dunno_black:
haha, no it looks awesome, just repaint that front wheel and the fairing brace and you'll be in business. Once I've got my buell and we've ridden around together plenty of times so you trust me enough I'm gonna make you trade me bikes for a couple miles so I can see if it was everything I dreamed it would be.
Yeah, that stuff will definitely be painted white. I like the red, but the white will look much cleaner. And those stickers are coming off. I want it to look stock, how it was supposed to. :icon_mrgreen:
And yes, that sounds fine to me! I'd love to rip around on a Buell.
I think the fairing brace and bar ends will want to be black.
Nice lookin bike! ;)
How do you like those clip-ons? Advantages/Disadvantages?
I used to have an old '81 Seca 550 with some cafe bars- excellent control, Back would get tired after anything over 45 min ride.
I saw this one over in the middle of ohio somewhere....
http://mansfield.craigslist.org/mcy/1758411056.html
only 8k miles, I need to spend less time browsing craigslist and more time listing all the crap I have on ebay so when July comes around I'm actually ready to pick something up.
Jabilli: I have clipons on mine as well, and they feel amazing to ride with. The front end is so much more positive no matter where I'm riding. The downsides are a sore back, which really depends on how active you are when you ride, and some pretty annoying handlebar vibrations once you hit 5k rpm. Mine are under the top clamp, so it puts a little extra stress on my back. I've been thinking about moving them above the top clamp, which I think would get rid of most of the soreness in my back, but I'll see how it goes.
Quote from: Jabilli on May 30, 2010, 02:40:06 AM
Nice lookin bike! ;)
How do you like those clip-ons? Advantages/Disadvantages?
I used to have an old '81 Seca 550 with some cafe bars- excellent control, Back would get tired after anything over 45 min ride.
Definitely more control over the bike, and wayyy more stability on the front end. I used to get speed wobble if I'd take my hands of the bars, when I was using the stock ones. The clip-ons eliminated that completely. I enjoy the positioning more with the clip-ons. If I wanted to sit up straight, I'd buy a cruiser. :laugh:
The clip-ons, depending on how you put them on your bike, probably would be higher up than the cafe bars you're talking about (assuming you mean clubman style bars), so they might not be as bad on your back.
I never had any speed wobbles or anything on mine with the stock bars, although the front end is more than happy to shake if I jiggle the handlebars intentionally, so I wouldn't be surprised if I would've had one someday. I never had any problems with the front end feeling unstable with the original bars. I just know how much more comfortable it is when I'm leaning the bike over.
I've heard that clubman bars don't work on the GS because they'll hit the top triple. Someone said he had to cut his in half, and weld them back together with an extension for them to clear properly. If I had to do it again and buy new bars I'd probably just get drag bars. I think they'd be about the height I was originally looking for.