The '97 had served its purpose well, getting me through 6 months/1000 miles of "learning" and getting over my newbie-ness.   The tires were getting pretty worn, and it was needing a fork rebuild and some other stuff, which would have cost me a couple of grand, not to mention some down time.   Previous owners had neglected the bike, and even if I'd had everything fixed, I still would worry about age and weather related problems/corrosion/old electric & wires, etc.

So, today I took it in to the stealership with my title in hand.   I got a decent but not exciting discount on the last 2005 (blue), and an OK amount for the '97 in trade.

Just because life frequently likes to rain on my parade, it started pissing down rain while I was waiting for the new bike to be prepped.   I had the distinct priviledge of riding back 57 miles home in the freakin rain and a strong cross-breeze.  :x

I stayed below 4,000 rpm's the whole way, which wasn't easy.   I had to fight the urge to open it up a little.   :mrgreen:

It's a world of difference between my old bike and the new one!  Huge difference in the way the tires grip the asphalt!   And the brakes work soooooooo much better than the old bike.

The transmission had a few glitches along the way.   One time it hit a false neutral (?) between 5 and 6th gear.   Really strange, but possible user error?   Another time, it just did not want to go below 3rd gear while shifting down coming to a stoplight.   And I was hitting the shifter pretty hard.   I let up on the clutch a bit (it stalled) and when I restarted the bike, it happily went down to 1st.   But I know the '97 had its share of shifting quirks, so I don't think anything is wrong with it.

Have they made the gas tank capacity bigger?   The tank was a lot wider than the old bike.

It was also nice to see that the frame is now powdercoated!   Has this helped the rusting issue?

After having a bike with no fairing or windshield, it's pretty sweet to have a bike now that does offer a little wind protection.   I was also considering a Ninja 500 being offered at an attractive discount because it had been dropped on the showroom floor and the decals were messed up a bit on the right side.   I could have lived with the cosmetic damage, but the Ninja didn't have much of a fairing, and I wanted something to cut a little of the wind on my legs (not to mention rocks).

This website and all the people who post here had a lot to do with my decision to stick with another GS500.   Thanks and head-noogies to all of you crazy peoples.    

congratulations on your new gs.

I remember I had similar 'problems' when I first bought my 05F, but now im guessing that it was actually because the engine and many parts needed 'breakin' before I started to shift smoothly and stuff.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that after 3000 miles (a long way I've gone!) I still feel like a newb    and im still waiting for my first rain (damn long summer season in california).

Yeah, they bumped gas tank size up to 5.1 or 5.3 (I can't remeber off the top of my head). They also added the oil cooler to the '04 and '05 models as well as upgraded the brakes (AJP).

you should have gotten a gsxr 1000 while you had the chance...now you'll be stuck with a gs forever! muhahahaha

I miss my F...

I don't! I love the naked bike soooooo much better. If you get tired of that fairing, man, it's an easy conversion to strip 20lbs off the bike and get some wind into your body.

I rode a gsxr the other day.  Didn't feel anything like the GS.  VFR felt much more normal to me.

Quote from: CaffeineIt was also nice to see that the frame is now powdercoated!   Has this helped the rusting issue?

It's just black paint instead of silver paint, still gonna rust if it's not taken care of