What a wonderful fathers day so far!

I bought a '91GS from craigslist a few weeks ago.  It was not running right and needed the carbs rebuilt.  With Buddhas parts (and knowledge) I fixed her up, and have been waiting for my turn signals to get it on the road.

We had a pretty wicked storm this morning which woke me up.  After unplugging the computer and TV (on protectors, but I've had them fail and ruin a TV), went back to sleep thinking that the day would be really crappy.

Well, the son woke me up yelling Happy Fathers Day! and they had cooked breakfast for me.  We ate, and I noticed that it was nice outside and the ground was pretty dry. 

I went out and started the bike, thinking I would just ride around the block, but my wife tells me that I need to run to the bank.  So, I ride around the neighborhood for about 5minutes, and decide that it's running good enough to go a little farther.  I ride to the gas station and add some air to the rear tire, and let some out of the front, then headed to the bank.  Everything went well, and I made it home safe.

Here's a few notes from my ride.

1. The GS rides nicely.  My tires are cracked and I am awaiting my Sport Demons, so that along with the KAT 600 shock I have coming (and progressives I may buy, Buddha is talking me into a KAT FE) should eventually be stellar!

2. I miss riding!  I haven't owned a motorcycle since about 2000 ('71 Honda CL360). And really didn't ride that much as it wasn't registered/insured.  Before that I had a Honda Rebel 250 in High School, and rode that every nice day I could.

3. Gotta Pay Attention.  I alread knew this, and watched as people just pulled out in front of me, like I didn't matter as much as their CAGE.

4. Check your Air Pressures! The bike rode completely different once I added air to the rear.  Squirrely on turns = not so much confidence.  That's why I did this first.

5. This is fun!  I can't believe I waited so long to buy a bike, but so far I am very glad I got the GS.

I still need to adjust the pilot needles I think, as it seemed there was a definite dip in the power when accelerating harder.  Take off is ok, but between 5-6K RPM there is a bog.  I also noticed that I think I was in 5th gear, and going about 40, which is pretty low RPM for that gear and rolled on to full throttle, that the engine bogged and I had to drop a gear to accelerate.

I think I'm going to go take another ride before it rains again, and before going to the in-laws for dinner.   

Quote from: laserred97gt on June 15, 2008, 12:20:54 PM
What a wonderful fathers day so far!

I think I'm going to go take another ride before it rains again, and before going to the in-laws for dinner.   

Thanks Pandy.

The second ride was cut short because it started to sprinkle, and having not ridden in a long time, I decided to play it safe and park it.  I cleaned it for a little while before putting the cover on (I live in an apartment until August). 

I will probably ride to work tomorrow though as the weather looks good on weather.com

Here's a post-ride pic.

Damn...she is one gorgeous beast!! Love her colour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And so cleeeeean!!!!

Glad to hear you played it safe. She'll be there for ya' the next time it's dry and ya' wanna go out to play! 

Thanks for the kind words!

In my opinion, this is the best $700 I ever spent!  +$100 parts & accessories....   

$700?!  Looks like a steal! 

Quote from: theUBS on June 15, 2008, 04:28:38 PM
$700?!  Looks like a steal! 

+1!!!!! 

The Katana front end is my best mod , along with all new Suspension and wider Tires , I can almost Here Gsxr Riders Cry as a i pass them in the inside ,  Love That colour Btw

Quote from: Jay_wolf on June 15, 2008, 09:12:18 PM
The Katana front end is my best mod , along with all new Suspension and wider Tires , I can almost Here Gsxr Riders Cry as a i pass them in the inside ,  Love That colour Btw

I agree.Dual 4 piston calipers are hard to beat with out spending 500+ on a TL or GSXR front end.

Put a zip tie around the forks on the chrome part, push it down to the fork seal area before each ride, and check it after each ride. That will tell you how much you are compressing it. If you're pushing the zip tie to 1 - 1/5 inches off the bottom triple, its time to swap it, that fork is beyond its usable service weight.
New progressives, new 15wt, new seals and some of my magic non leak treatment may at best work for a short while, but sooner or later you'd realise the kat is your best friend.
In the old days when they wanted a stroker motor ... remember what they used to do ... right get crank and other bits from a bigger motor ... same thing, bigger bike's crappy FE is our little bike's best friend.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: Jay_wolf on June 15, 2008, 09:12:18 PM
The Katana front end is my best mod , along with all new Suspension and wider Tires , I can almost Here Gsxr Riders Cry as a i pass them in the inside ,  Love That colour Btw

I've been riding my GS for about 800 miles now.  The suspension and braking are the two biggest things I've noticed.  I may need some new pads, but I've found there to be fairly signifigant fade in the brakes over the course of a good ride.  The suspension is obvious because of my size to begin with, but even with the single disk and caliper up front, there is a fair amount of nose dive under heavy braking as well.

Quote from: theUBS on June 15, 2008, 09:45:42 PM

Quote from: Jay_wolf on June 15, 2008, 09:12:18 PM
The Katana front end is my best mod , along with all new Suspension and wider Tires , I can almost Here Gsxr Riders Cry as a i pass them in the inside ,  Love That colour Btw

I've been riding my GS for about 800 miles now.  The suspension and braking are the two biggest things I've noticed.  I may need some new pads, but I've found there to be fairly signifigant fade in the brakes over the course of a good ride.  The suspension is obvious because of my size to begin with, but even with the single disk and caliper up front, there is a fair amount of nose dive under heavy braking as well.

I started with a GS front end added EBC HH sintered pads,Progressive springs,and 15w fork oil.It's good for all around riding,and commuting.For real performance,I went with a 95 Katana 750 front end(88-97 600/750 will work),97 Katana 600 upper triple,mid 90's CBR600F1/F2 Super Sport clip ons,Russel stainless steel brake lines, and EBC HH sintered pads.

So is the 750 one better? . Im Running Progressives , 15 w oil , and HH pads , with Goodritch Stainless Lines , on my 600 F/e , But i Run a Hagon Rear shock , adjustable damping with automatic rebound and compression balance. Also adjustable for spring preload with adjuster ring. Fully rebuildable, red powder coated spring and plated body , with my 4.5 wheel , *yet to be fitted* . The Sleeper If u will 

Quote from: Jay_wolf on June 16, 2008, 02:29:34 AM
So is the 750 one better? . Im Running Progressives , 15 w oil , and HH pads , with Goodritch Stainless Lines , on my 600 F/e , But i Run a Hagon Rear shock , adjustable damping with automatic rebound and compression balance. Also adjustable for spring preload with adjuster ring. Fully rebuildable, red powder coated spring and plated body , with my 4.5 wheel , *yet to be fitted* . The Sleeper If u will 

The only difference is the upper triple clamp and top plate.It's more like the factory GS clip ons.

Thats what i thought , i just thought as u sed the 600 FE for street and 750 FE for Track 

The 600 FE can be modded for the guages and the ignition lock very very easily. The top plates on a 750 are hard to mod. Else the 2 are very very close.
Cool.
Buddha.

Excellent!

Anybody know the best place to pick one up?  I have been looking on Ebay, and I see plenty of single forks, but not the whole assembly.

Thanks everyone!

Woooo, that's a nice bike!