Ok Im looking to get my first bike.  gs500 is one of my finalists.  how is this for a first bike?  ive taken the motorcycle safety class.  how comfortable is this bike for someone 5'7"?  I have found a few 02 in my area with less than 5000 miles - all from dealers.  they are all asking around $3500.  is this a fair price?  its higher than the bluebook.  and its the dead of winter here.  any comments would be appreciated.  thanks!

Awesome beginner bike. You will love it more and more everytime you ride. Talk him down to bluebook if you can.  it is 2 years old.

The GS is an AWSOME beginner bike and a good bike to hone your skills on.  After having mine for about a year I will sell it in late spring.  For your question; I paid $4,000 for a new 2002.  Work on cutting them down a little.  That sounds a to high to me.  ask for $3,000 and work your way from there.

There aren't too many bikes for sale this time of year, so I suppose it's a bad market for both buyers and sellers.  Unless there are mods on that GS, I'd definitely try to work the price down... don't wait too long to get a bike, when March comes around, everyone wants a bike!  Well, that is if you live in a place with seasons

Welcome to the board, by the way!

Well Hate to be rather old fashioned... but 3500 is rather high... no matter how new the bike is, the tech and components are still 25 years old atleast. A 2002 is mechanically identical to a 89 now that kevinC has opened my eyes to the internals etc... Ergo you are better off with a 89 or whatever is good and cheap. Yes newer bikes are prettier, and you will get more for a pretty bike when you sell it... but it costs you more to buy too... Anyway if you drop/crash... pretty ends there. Hence a old and dirty one will cost you less and hurt less if you crash. Anyway If you are around North carolina.. I know where there is one for $1500.
Cool.
Srinath.

Don' tlisten to Srinath...generally speaking ( :nana: ) except he's right in that you might be better off buying an older model to start...

GS is one of the best first bikes to cut your teeth on. I bought my 01 just over a year ago and have learned tremendous amounts about fast riding because I haven't been afraid of the bike's power, unlike those starting on sport bikes.

If the 02 you're looking at is a NEW bike then you'll have to add about %15 to the blue book value for exceptional condition. I paid $3500 for my 01 with 400 miles on it from a dealer and it was in like-new condition. Always bargain though-even if its for free service or additional gear instead of a direct price reduction (that's what I did).

Good luck and welcome to one of the most useful and active boards on the 'net. Don't forget to check out the home page here for lots of useful links and maintenance/mod information as well as check out my site for more of the same.

welcome.

there goes pantablo adversisin' again! :lol:

where r u from? maybe we could suggest some other dealers to check first...

Well, no unbiased opinions here!

Actually, the GS is a good starter bike.  I bought mine new in 2000 as my first bike and I am still really just learning.  I have put on about 15 000kms (9000miles).

The nice thing about the GS is that it is fairly easy to work on and doesn't cost a fortune to buy/insure.  Since I don't have a lot of money to spend on this "hobby" I have learned to do a lot of the maintenance myself.  

I know people who started out on an SV650 as well as a 600 Ducati monster.  Both are women less than 110lbs and they never had any problems controlling the bikes.  Of course the Duc costs a lot but the SV650 isn't much more than a GS.  The SV650 is a little uncomfortable in my opinion but has the power to keep you entertained.

I find now that I wish I had a little more power for passing on the highway.  The GS is great up to about 60mph but fades a little thereafter.  Around town it's great.

A couple of the draw-backs of the GS are the following:  poor front suspension (get some progressive springs), prone to stalling when trying to start out (better with ignition advancer), biodegradable exhaust system, cheasy sewing machine sound.

Overall, I like the bike alot and don't regret buying it at all.  The more I ride it the more I like it.  I may never get rid of it because it has been very reliable and cheap to maintain.
Rob