Okay so ive been convinced into buying a gs500, im going for the f model but i was wondering what year i should be going for.

What changes to the bike have been made in the last few years (except adding the fairing) but i mean specifications. Just trying to establish which year would be best to buy. Obviously the newer the better but if an 04 and 05 are exactly the same spec one cheaper because its slightly older then id go for the cheaper one.

So the question really is, has the spec of the gs500 changed and how? Also how many gears, i thought 6 - some adverts seem t say 5 (confused)?

bikes been out for what 18+ years now  . most say there are hardly any changes .. what has been done is the carbs might be a bit better and the rmp/mph gage are elc. now . no longer manual ..... go with the cheaper one . just make sure its had its services up to date . welcome

Yea, well it seems there is only £200 between some of the 04 and 05 models so if theyre going to be identical then its cheaper but if ones better 200 isnt much to pay for the better bike. They have 6 gears right?

yup

When I pick mine up this summer I'm hoping to get an older model, but thats purely because I don't care for the fairings. If I end up with an F model I'll deal with it, but I like the naked version more.

'04 through '06 are exactly the same, just different colors.

Minor changes from 89 to 00, carbs, brakes, but nothing major. Body change in '01, carb change in '01 (3 jets instead of 2), a few other minor things: brakes, seat, etc...
'04+ got the oil cooler, fairing, minor carb changes, brake changes, but again, nothing major.

Thanks Alpha! That clears things up il pick my favorite colour then hehehe

Quote from: Kasumi on May 03, 2006, 11:49:55 AM
Thanks Alpha! That clears things up il pick my favorite colour then hehehe

My personal favorites are the '05 E models. The blue one, then the black one.

I love the black ones and the dark blue front fairing with white tail on the f model but im not keen on the light blue top half and lower white half on f models it looks stupid. deep blue or black for me!

Quote from: Kasumi on May 03, 2006, 03:00:22 PM
I love the black ones and the dark blue front fairing with white tail on the f model but im not keen on the light blue top half and lower white half on f models it looks stupid. deep blue or black for me!

Stupid? Why I oughta...

Quote from: Kasumi on May 03, 2006, 03:00:22 PM
I love the black ones and the dark blue front fairing with white tail on the f model but im not keen on the light blue top half and lower white half on f models it looks stupid. deep blue or black for me!

That's why I'm saying E models. Like mine:

Quote from: Kasumi on May 03, 2006, 03:00:22 PM
I love the black ones and the dark blue front fairing with white tail on the f model but im not keen on the light blue top half and lower white half on f models it looks stupid. deep blue or black for me!

While I'm not super fond of the white on the front fairing on mine, the blue paint is the exact same color between the 04 and the 05 blue.  Suzuki's website sucks, so it is hard to tell.  My 05 is a nice deep blue.



-Turd.

Quotehttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/imogenmore/zzzz12.jpg

Quote

I feel the same way about mine..

Yea on the Suzuki website it looks like a really light blue in comparison to the older blue colour. But if theyre the same then thats kool