Hello everyone. I'm from Latvia and i would like to buy a new Gs500f and i want to know how it will be for a guy who will start his first season on a bike?

Quote from: bearrr... i want to know how it will be for a guy who will start his first season on a bike?

It will be the perfect starter bike for almost any guy.  At least, it was for this guy.  

Agreed, but maybe not a brand new faired bike.

You'll love it....it's very forgiving and fun to ride......as far as new bike with fairings vs. old one with out them it's all about how much money are you willing to risk.  I chose the cheap route, but enough people bought new and are very happy with their choices

I just took the MSF course in Feb. and bought my '04 GS500F in May and I'm happy with it. My first motorcycle and a good bike to learn on.

I just got mine last month new from the dealer and I have no regrets. It's all a matter of what you look for in a bike and what you can afford. I wanted something that I knew hadn't been mistreated and with low miles, and I could afford to buy a new one (not like I'm rolling in dough, but I can manage $99 a month   ) so I did. I wasn't finding any great deals in Portland on used ones, so I got a brand new one with 1 mile on it and feel great about it. Except for the damned full coverage insurance the lender makes you get  :guns: .

These bikes are awesome. Who knew 487 CCs was so quick?

Dave   :dunno:

For a first bike, I'd at least consider an older unfaired GS500E, for a couple of reasons...
-Your first bike is the most likely to be dropped, so you want one that takes drops well (unfaired) and didn't cost too much to start with (a bigger price hit on a new bike that's been dropped than an older one that was worth less to start with).
-At least for me, riding has been a lesson in what I need and want in a bike, and I've gone through some bikes learning what's important to me and what the Right Bikes for me are.  It's better to not put too much money into bikes while you're figuring that out - especially when you're doing something like buying a new bike, which loses value the moment you ride it off of the lot.

I had a used GS500E, and eventually came back to the fold with the current F - but I'm glad I had the E first.  I loved it, rode it a lot, and learned a ton from it.

thank you guys a lot! I will think about everything you've said to me, but i'm sure that it will be GS500 but E or F i will think  

Oh by the way i would like to know about this FAIRING PROTECTORS  from http://www.venhorstrocks.com/SUZUKI_GS500F_PARTS.html do they really help? Do you have any experience?

if you really want the F  your best bet is to get it, take the fairings off get a set of Srinath's engine gaurds and run around like that for a few months. or untill you get past the cocky stage, and drop it a couple times. then put the farrings back on.  and she'll look brand new.

Yea thats an idea, but (sorry i didn't get it) what is set of Srinath's engine gaurds ? hmm... Sorry for stupid question

Quote from: bearrrHello everyone. I'm from Latvia

Sveiks!

Quote from: bearrrYea thats an idea, but (sorry i didn't get it) what is set of Srinath's engine gaurds ? hmm... Sorry for stupid question

a guy on this board (he lives in North Carolina, USA) makes some custom metal tubing guards that bolt on over each side of the engine covers.  The idea is that they will prevent, or reduce, damage to the engine is you drop your bike or have a fall.  

I think getting them shipped from Latvijas would cost an arma and a leg, though.

You can do a search of the forum to look for aftermarket case savers (might be called engine guards?) from an actual retailer.  I know they were once sold, but I do not know if they still are.

good luck.

I've seen a couple sets on ebay lately of the factory ones. they have been going for about 35 bucks + shipping.  I've crash tested the Srinath ones at 70 they work great.

Quote from: davipuI've crash tested the Srinath ones at 70

sorry to hear that...

Quote from: daviputhey work great.

glad to hear that (since I have them installed)

Ok. thanks one more time and one quwstion more  What i will do with headlight? As i underastand it is made with plastic so hm.... and turnlights? :dunno:

it'll just look like a sv for a while.

Yea i get it but how to make it? Does the headlight stay with plastic or it may be without it?

The part of the fairing that holds the headlight is seperate from the lowers.  Take a look at an SVS; it's kind of like that.  I haven't tried to seperate the plastic and headlight; you can do it on an SVS, but it looks really, really odd.

It will be really obvious what to do when you take the fairings off. You remove 3 bolts that connect the lower to the headlight fairing, and later you will reuse one of these. It's really tough to explain in words, but take the fairings off as normal and you will see a hole on the headlight fairing closest to the back of the bike. There will be a threaded hole under that, and screw in one of the bolts you removed earlier to keep these attached, and voila, you secured the headlight fairing and are ready to go  

I can't explain it well, because I did it my first time a few weeks ago and learned by doing, not by reading. It's really quite simple and obvious what I am talking about when you remove the lower fairings.

Dave  

PS. Two icons already? I think I have booze on the brain.