I stopped at the local Kawi Suzook dealer, well they sold "my" black GS!  D'Oh!!!! 
I suppose I could order an 07 purple and blue which is what I really want.
The dealer said, "those bikes are slugs".  Probably comparing to 750's or 1000's, of course.

Do you GS people think they are "slow"?  Or are they competent enough?
I am thinking for solo riding only.  I don't need to go 100 mph.  Just get from A to B, with some long trips thrown in. 

Also, what is a realisitic gas mileage for GS?

Thanks

No, the GS is not "slow".  It might be "slow" to the dealer, as it's a matter of perspective.  The GS handles just as crisp as a GSXR750, it may not accelerate as fast, but it is most definitely not a slug, by any means.  The dealer obviously doesn't know that it's the rider that makes a bike a slug, and I'll bet he has no idea how to ride a GS properly; utilizing it's strengths to compensate for it's weaknesses.  The GS is competent enough, it depends more on the rider.

Bone stock mileage for a GS is 65mpg, that is with no carburetion modifications.

Most dealers are slugs, their salesmen are less than slugs.

There are no slow bikes, only slow riders.  The GS is more than competent enough.

I get 60 mpg in the summer, 50-55 mpg winters here in NE OH.

120,000+ GS miles under my belt including 400-500 mile Interstate days getting to the mountains to play with the big boys (and girls:-)

Well, in my opinion the GS is a slow bike, not slow in absolute sense maybe (I don't feel that safe going 90-100+ on ordinary roads),but slow if compared to 4-cyl 600-750+ bikes.
Though,I too don't need to hit high speeds, I usually ride solo tooling around my town and in the countryside,so we share the same POV I suppose.
I regard GS'es as all-purpose bikes,and as all "all-purpose" vehicles/things they do pretty well in many fields, but excel in none.

As for the MPG, I obtain (stock 2001 bike) an average 17-18 km/litre (=roughly 48-50 MPG), but as of today I still have the missing air-filter issue,so I expect things to change (hopefully for the better ),after I'll have my carburation checked out.

Above all, I'm very satisfied with my purchase up to now.

Byez!!

Ahh yes, the "Old, slow, and ugly" speech.  I got it from a couple of places when I was shopping for my GS.  One salesman was trying to push me onto a GSXR600 until he saw I couldn't flatfoot it.  So he drags me over to the 800 cruisers after I specifically told him I had no interest in them.  Finally I asked the guy:  "What's wrong with a GS 500?"  I'll never forget his response:  "Oh, you'll have to shift down to pass cars!"  Right there I realized that even though I was straight out of the MSF course I likely had more riding experience than he did.

Oh, if you're in the right gear you don't have to shift down to pass a car on the gs.  (You should cruise between 5-7k RPM) 

I also second Scratch's post.  Riding a motorcycle is 75% rider 25% motorcycle.  If you read books on road racing technique you will notice one thing they all preach:  When lap times are high the rider needs tuning, not the bike.

MPG-wise 60 or so for a stock GS.  Once rejetted with a pipe and other mods 50-55 MPG is normal.

Back in the 50's and 60's real riders rode all over this country on bikes like the Bonnie 650.   The GS500 is like a Bonnie 650 with brakes:

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

I think this video of D-day at the track sums it all up. It's the rider who makes a bike go fast, you can see throughout the video he passes several guys on bigger 600 sportbikes.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7848723937557327814&q=gs500&hl=en

The GS is a great bike and will do everything you need.  It is capable of 100mph speeds for when your feelin a little jumpy but it's not insanely powerful like the Gix1k ( Holy F  Local Suz dealer dynoed one of his stock ones at bike night.....161 at the wheel   he told me I could have it for 10.5k out the door,  I'm resisting the urge to go to the bank for a loan )
I love my GS, it's fun to modify and grabs attention once modded cause no one knows what the hell it is
And if you ever do get a little more into speed it's a perfectly Track-Capable bike

motion is relative, no?  so if you're standing still, the gisser will scream past you.  If you're on a litre sport bike, it'll scream past the GS.  But yeah, I've had mine up to about 110mph on the highway (NOT RECOMMENDED UNLESS ON THE TRACK!!!!)   before I swapped out sprockets, to gain accel at the price of top speed.  I'll smoke about 90% (at least) of the cages I pass on the road, and the little bike is unassuming.  People expect sport bikes to be flying all the time, but the upright little GS is deceptive.  Add lite weight, low cost, learning curve, easy mods, probably could turn around and sell it easy if you get bored...  Great all arounder...  It's no where near the power of the 600-class race reps, but straight RWHp isn't everything...  I'm still smiling about the extra couple grand in my wallet, and that I'm not dead cause I bought too much bike too early...

Thank you all. 
bucks1605- This damned Linux system (my son's) won't let me watch videos... 

I think the GS would be a great bike for me.  Will have to chat with the dealer some more.  I suppose they would cut some $$$$ off the list?  I mean, if I ordered it and it didn't set on the floor for a year like the black one did....

This is a great forum 

The little GS is kinda deceptive
With the exception of those damned new 500hp vettes it'll take a vette off the line, especially with a 14t front sprocket.  She'll also kill all those little import tuners and MB's and BMW's.
She's more than capable of making you appear to be a squid to cagers   I get the craziest looks as I scream by people on the interstate all hunched over with the engine wailing about 10k rpms in 6th............God I need a speedo soon

Mmmmmmmmmmm, 140 x 10/11 x 14/16 = 111 mph approx

Possible!

Yeah I need a friggin speedo.  I think I'm gonna order one of those Acewells

I dont think it is "SLOW" of course if you compare it to a busa, yep its slow...
if you looking for a nice sporty  bike with decent acceleration, stable at 70-100 MPH speeds (get avons av45/46 on that puppy youll never regret it) the GS is a great bike...

I ride daily for work, and I love my gs.

Quote from: bucks1605 on May 19, 2007, 08:45:41 AM
I think this video of D-day at the track sums it all up. It's the rider who makes a bike go fast, you can see throughout the video he passes several guys on bigger 600 sportbikes.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7848723937557327814&q=gs500&hl=en

It is actually a video of my son chasing me.  We are both on GS 500's and the first bike we pass is my youngest brother, also on a GS 500

Hey GS Jack what is that equation mean?      All that engineering schooling makes me cringe when I see an equation without units....CARRY YOUR UNITS ALONG WITH YOU!!!!!!!  I can still hear reverberating through my skull after having been driven in a million times....  Isn't that why the Hubble Telescope broke???  Somebody measured something Metric instead of SAE cause somebody did'nt carry their units?....

I always carry my unit, but haven't gotten to use it in a while..hehehehe....

It's gear differentials he's calculating the theoretical top speed of my GS based on the modifications to my drive sprockets   Loosen up   you should have been a geology major the only units we're truly worried about are pints..................of beer

Thanks... i figured it was a top speed calc., I'm not a moron... at least not all the time I really am curious how he got those numbers, but was trying to sound extra anal as I've seen other engineers on here go crazy on theoretical rants and calculations and fluid dynamics and blah blah blah....   Cracks me up how defensive people get about what the do and do not know.  I'll admit... THE ONLY THING I KNOW IS THAT I KNOW NOT!  Been called everything for dumbass to recently "gullible clown" on this site, just for asking questions.  Relax y'all!!!  We could all use a few pints, or pounders or 40's or whatever the hell is your poison.  In fact, I'm already late for my first Saturday beer....

Ehhh..........Like the song says 'Take it Easy'
Me I'm partial to suitcases
I've been called everything from Squid to Baby-Killer Life goes on, at least for me

+1 brother....  Love them Eagles... "Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive ya crazy"