Hi everyone. New to the forum. Got my '01 off of someone here.. Not sure who it was since I wasn't on the forum yet. Anthony (Mk1inCali) let me know about it.

My story? MSF last february. My friend sold me his '01 f4i which I had nothing but problems on. Let's just say I dropped it every single time I took it out. (8 drops in... I think 6 times taking it out?) I'm fine on it until I had to come to a stop. I could tippy toe it on my Sidis, balls of my feet in my tennies. Dropping it so many times messed up a sensor and.. well, it's a long story. But the f4i is fixed but I refuse to ride it.

So here I am, new rider, with a bike that I refuse to ride. So I went and got myself an '01 GS500. It has been NIGHT and DAY on it. Salvaged title and bent forks so I got a REALLY good price on it. It's all stock but all I plan on doing is changing the handlebars (stock is a bit too high IMO, probably from riding the f4i) and my ignition rotor is pulled out getting retimed at the moment. New forks in (stock) next week possibly... can't wait until I can really ride it around.

Welcome! 

Hey howdy are you in San Diego? Who is doing your work on the bike? You find this is a great bike for those of us who are "short". Wait did I say that? Enjoy your new bike

Yep.. I'm in SD, Mira Mesa.

I haven't taken my bike to a shop yet, although my roommate does everything at Lee's Cycle off of Aero.

Me - I take advantage of my friend Matt. We've basically have had the same bikes.  He had an F4, F4i and now a GS500. I have a F4i and GS500.. works out perfectly. But don't get me wrong.. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I let him do all the work. I told him to tell ME what to do and have HIM watch whenever possible. 

I wouldn't say I'm THAT short... 5'5 but on a raised bike.. it definitely made a difference. I'm sure if I lowered the f4i it wouldn't have been as bad since I can pretty much flat foot it on a stock f4i. Some stubborness in me just didn't want to lower it for some reason.

Howdy! New rider myself! Lovin' the GS500e, as well.

I had one drop in the 20 miles I've ridden it, which already made me cautious and slightly reluctant. Getting back on after 8? You've got the resilience of an ox. Best of luck to ya!

Welcome wongtongdong.

Since you've already dropped a bike 8 times, you shouldn't have any problems for a year or so on a gs

Seriousely, I almost dropped mine the first day, first fill up. Then once on each side after cleaning the filters, changing oil, etc.  Then once more while practicing little circles and 8's.

The gs is pretty tough. After two sets of tires (almost three now) it's served me well. It's been from Georgia through Alabama, short life in Mississippi, back down through Alabama again and now lives in Tampa. Get yourself a lowering kit if needed. Glad to hear you're enjoying tossing the gs around.


Welcome to gs land.

Welcome!
My GS was ok to ride when I first got it, but eventually I decided it was too tall. I almost dropped it a few times when at red lights when my foot would slip or something(I'm 5'5" as well.) So I did the lowering links first which made all the difference in the world. Then I decided to do clip ons and lower the front just about an inch, not sure how it will ride with as I'm still working on other things.

JoNathan

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I won't be putting a lowering kit on the gs. It's good as it is. The only "major" mod that I absolutely going to do is new handlebars. Debating between clubman style or suburban machinery type 2 bars... lean towards the suburban machinery if i can find a good price. I think the clubmans will be a bit more aggressive than I'd like.

And if I find little toys here and there to stick onto the gs along the way.. why not!

I got back on after 8 because after spending... a whole shaZam! load of money on msf, gear, bike, insurance, etc... I wasn't going to let a few drops scare me away. I've invested too much. But I did learn something from every drop I did because for all but 2 of them I always had a friend telling me what I did wrong.

Sup dude!

Yeah, the gs is a great learner bike. It has a low seat and its torque is nicely in the middle of the rev range. Not too low like some of the super sports out there.

Remember to put both feet down and square the handlebars whenever you come to a stop. I dropped the bike 3 times now, and every time it was because I had my right foot on the rear brake, and the handlebars were at an angle, causing it to tend to lean.

As for handlebars, I would say that the stock bars are the most comfortable. Although they aren't very sporty, they are raised pretty high to encourage a mostly upright riding position. I have clip-ons on mine, and I gotta say that after a few hours of riding, my wrists, knees, and back all hurt really bad.

Welcome!!! 

Quote from: wongtongdong on October 09, 2007, 11:41:28 PM
The only "major" mod that I absolutely going to do is new handlebars. Debating between clubman style or suburban machinery type 2 bars... lean towards the suburban machinery if i can find a good price. I think the clubmans will be a bit more aggressive than I'd like.

I recently switched from clubman bars to superbike bars.  It made a huge difference in comfort and feel of the bike.  After putting on the superbike bars (similar to stock but quite a bit lower), it felt like I was riding a dirt bike.  It's actually not as upright as it feels, but the clubmans are pretty aggressive, so I could really tell the difference.  A lot of people really like the suburban type 2 bars.  Also, you'll have to mod the clubmans or use bar risers for them to fit properly.

Funny you say your bars kinda feel like a dirt bike...cause I just put dirtbike bars on my bike last weekend. Gold ones...haha.

Quote from: Prafeston on October 10, 2007, 08:57:41 PM
Funny you say your bars kinda feel like a dirt bike...cause I just put dirtbike bars on my bike last weekend. Gold ones...haha.

Those look pretty good.  Maybe a little too wide for my taste.  I've always liked the look of dirtbike bars on the GS (and on sportbikes as well).  I'm a fan of streetfighters.  I actually chopped 3/4 of an inch off of both sides of the bars to bring them closer to stock width.  I think superbike bars are 29" and I cut them down to 27 1/2 ".  I like the look of the narrower bar a little better, and I figured I wouldn't sacrifice too much handling if I stayed around the stock bar width.

I started out on dirtbikes, so the transition to clubmans was a little tough at first since I was so used to being upright already.  Once I got used to them, the transition back to a more upright position (like with the superbike bars) felt very upright.  If feels more upright than it is, but is a lot more comfortable on my wrists and back.  I still find myself leaning forward to get my forearms more horizontally in line with the grips like I did with the clubmans.  Feels better that way.

Yeah, I thought about choppin a little off each side, but it was too much work and it's my first bike so I have no previous standards to go by. It really doesn't look that wide with all the stuff mounted back up there. My friend had a can of gold spray paint in his garage and I painted the passenger bar with it...totally not the same color gold, it's funny. I'm not real worried about the looks of this thing right now. Maybe before Spring Season though I'll put some fresh paint on this thing.

Don't worry...a few drops aren't gonna scare her away.  She handles her bikes really well and is a fast learner.  The F4i that she has is fitted with Ohlins springs and an Ohlins rear shock so it's quite a bit higher than the stock F4i.  I attribute some of her skills to her time on the saddle of her pocket bike.  I knew after seeing her ride her pocket bike that she'll do well.  Once the ignition rotors and forks are installed, she'll get a lot more seat-time in the bike.  Before you know it, she'll be tearing up the track on her F4i.

Oh really now Matt.. REALLY.

Thanks for the compliments. Must I remind you of the times you thought I was going to run into trucks in the parking lot? Once on the f4i, once on the gs. And the curb too. But have I run into any of those? Nope.

Just the ground.