I'm looking to buy my first bike, and really looking hard at the GS500. On my training course, I rode a Yamaha Virago 250, which was a nice little bike, but my feet kept getting caught up on the pedals. I had a chance to jump on a GS500 for a few minutes at the end of the course, and in that time I became more comfortable on that bike than I had in 16 hours on the Virago. I don't want to get anything too powerful or heavy, and as someone on this forum already suggested, a naked bike is cheaper to put down (less cosmetic damage). And I'm trying to spend less than $2500 on my first bike.

So I've found a GS for sale in my area, but it has 70,000 kms on it. That sounds like a lot... is it? It's a '95 with new tires, battery, front brakes and clutch. They want $2500 for it... seems high, but it's the only one available. It's from a dealer, and they have a 30 day guarantee on it... am I getting played? What kind of things do you need to watch out for when buying a bike?

Thanks in advance.

I would keep looking.  If you were gonna make an offer, I wouldn't go over $1,500 max for a bike with 70,000 km (~44,000 miles).  More like $1000-1200.

Look at kbb.com or nada.com for ballpark values.  Nada is USD$1000 to $1300 for a '95.  USD$2,500 is way too high.  Were you quoting US dollars, or Canadian or ?  If Canadian, $2,500 is still very high.

From kbb.com, in the Los Angeles area average mileage for a bike 450-749cc would be about 30,000 miles (~50,000 km). Only about 33,000km for a bike 350-449cc.  This bike is rated at 487cc I think.

However - I would take a high-mileage bike that's been maintained well over a low-mileage bike that's just been sitting around ignored.  Don't pay more for a high-mileage bike than what it's worth, but don't pay a premium for low miles on an older bike, unless there are extensive records to show that it's been taken care of while it's been sitting...

It was $2500 USD (about $3000 CAD). I agree it seemed pretty darn high.

Yeah, old bikes kind of scare me. I can find a lot of older Nighthawks and such. Besides looking totally old-school, they are pretty nice bikes. But 1983? Come on now... this is my life (and eventually the life of my wife) we're talking about here. Should I even consider buying one of those older bikes?

A properly maintained older bike is equally as safe as a new bike.  What's the worst thing that could happen?  All out brake failure?  Rebuild the calipers, master cylinders, and replace the lines and fluid before you ride.
Tire blowout?  Happens to brand new tires all the time.
Just go over everything before you ride and you should be well off.

Obviously, the newer the bike, the more expensive, but you do get what you pay for, i.e. less chance of breaking down in the middle of nowhere...

Yeah, middle of no where... good point. How is this bike for longer trips? I seem to recall sitting almost upright when I rode it (I'm about 6'1"). I've already got my first roadtrip planned out, and it's about 13 hours. Is that feasible in one go? Or is that a 2-4 day trip?

You may be interested in the Trips section on my home page (link below).

If you haven't done any long road trips before, I would suggest keeping your daily total between 8 and 10 hours.  Your body will let you know what IT thinks, of course.