do the fork spring replacement first before the rear shock, or both simultaneously. better for handling.

get leather gear! jacket, gloves and moto boots as a minimum...and full face helmet.

+1 to just about what everyone said.

The first think you will want to change is the front springs and rear shock that will stop you from bottoming out the suspension, I know I weigh 240ish and I could bottom them out.  On gear check out www.newenough.com they have some great deals on gear sometimes in their closeout section, but their regular prices are hard to beat also.  And they have great customer service.

Summer I use mesh jacket with armor, icon boots, leather gloves, textile overpants.  Once the weather cools off a bit I'll be useing my alpinestar boots, and leather jacket.

The GS is a great bike, fun in the twisties, can handle highway speeds and very forgiving on rider errors.

Oh and welcome to the board 

I have the Super Duty Jacket and Gloves.. the jacket is a waxed cotton with 1.2mm leather sleeves and the gloves are all leather except the kuckle padding which has about 5mm of padding and a perferated leather covering it.  I'll get the matching pants after this upcoming winter as for my area there is less than a month of riding left before the snow starts in (High Desert Area on the west coast).  Anyway the gloves are awesome and jacket is great too.. only thing it needs and you could pickup from ICON as well is the back protecter insert.

[j7

I second the endorsement of Scorpion helmets, I bought an EX-400 and it's been great, the venting is pretty decent at speed, although at speeds below 30 mph things getting a little warm right behind the face shield if it's pretty hot outside.  Otherwise it's been a great helmet.  Oh, and if you like the looks but hate that decal they put on the front, mine pealed off in about 15 seconds with a fingernail. 

[7

When I bought my first GS500 in Mar 99, I was 6'2", 240#, and 66 years old.  It was my 5th bike, I had already worn out 4 old Hondas. Now on my second GS500 I have put a total of over 115k miles on them, have ridden many 4-500 mile days on them, and have run the Adirondac and Smoky Mtn twisties on them with all kinds of bikes and riders.  I am about 250# and just under 6" tall now and have considerable arthritis and skipped the long trips this year but have still ridden over 12k miles in the past year.

Back when I was a youngster and was still to get my first bike much later at age 52, real riders rode all over this country on bikes like the old Bonnies.  Back then a Bonnie was a real bike, not a beginners bike, and real riders of all sizes rode them everywhere.  The GS500 is almost exactly the same size and weight as the old Bonnies but does have much better performance.  If you can't go anywhere, anytime on a GS500, then you just need more experience.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500vsT120.jpg

You said: My MSF instructor said that there are old riders and bold riders, but no old bold riders.  I'd like to be an old rider some day.

Your MSF instructor was mistaken, there are old bold riders; but it is much safer if you become an old rider before you become a bold rider.   

I am 5'8 and 285 pounds, I have a katana 600 rear shock all else is stock and I love to ride my GS. I have also carried a 200 pound passenger when  I still had the factory shock on the rear and the bike still handled great, but on that particular ride  the rear shock gave out and it still handled fine.

Quote from: AlphaFire X5 on August 26, 2006, 01:05:46 PM
I ride two up with my girlfriend every now and again. Comes out to 275ish with gear and whatnot, and the bike hauls us both plenty fast. That was with stock suspension up front and in the rear, too. You'll be fine!

Also, if you don't believe Turd about quality gloves, believe me: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20659.0

So subtracting your weight... your girlfriend weighs 200 pounds? Damn!

Quote from: Unnamed on August 27, 2006, 10:44:43 AM

Quote from: AlphaFire X5 on August 26, 2006, 01:05:46 PM
I ride two up with my girlfriend every now and again. Comes out to 275ish with gear and whatnot, and the bike hauls us both plenty fast. That was with stock suspension up front and in the rear, too. You'll be fine!

Also, if you don't believe Turd about quality gloves, believe me: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20659.0

So subtracting your weight... your girlfriend weighs 200 pounds? Damn!

Aw, now that's just harsh! She actually weighs about the same as I do.