It doesn't have the power, it's not the speed, not much for torque...doesn't get the looks. Why do we love this bike so much?

Personally this bike has a flavor all of it's own. I driven factory 600's and of course they feel different but there's just something about my gs. Maybe it's the work i've put into it, maybe it's the handling. Maybe i'm a sucker for the under dog but i love this bike!

Simple, easy to maintain, well made, inexpensive and fun to ride.

-Jessie

Easy to maintain for sure, they haven't changed much since it's beginning. It's quality i think comes from it's simplicity. It CAN BE inexpensive but it's just so damn fun to spend money on!

very very siimple.

As you keep doing a Mod of any sort it becomes a different bike from what it was before.  True for both mechanical and aesthetic.  Specially for mechanical upgrade.. everytime i do one i am surprised on how much better my bike is. I've only done 9 of 18 possible mechanical upgrade (on wiki).. 

every one has a supersport 600cc or liter bike here.

makes me feel special with a 500, plus the mod are soo cheap compared to the new EFI

I see it as having a less than status quo bike.  Everyone has liter bikes in either cruiser or crotch form.  We ride underpowered, nimble, semi-appealing bikes and love them.  It is almost like the Vespa cults around the world, lol.  Funny thing is that I have never heard anyone say that they hate their GS.  Sure they all get issues, but I'll admit, I absolutely love the damn thing.  People look at mine all the time.  Maybe it is the V&H exhaust or not, who knows.  I have yet to be made fun of or looked at like I was riding a pos.

All in all I am glad I didn't select a common bike for my first one.  And I can easily admit that I will never get rid of her.  Even when I get a Duck, she will remain.

Making modifications to this bike has got to be one of the best parts. Like Bluehaze stated, most mods are inexpensive and have very noticable outcomes!

same reason as I like my ex250 and my miata. less is more as long as its enough.

The 500 is plenty powerful for me, it feels fast. 40 hp is a lot for 2 wheels.

Excellent question, plenty to think about...

• Easy to ride - make a mistake on the GS and you won't can probably recover
• Easy to maintain - most of the repairs/maintenance is do it yourself, even for a mechanical novice
• Not that many - sure, they are mass produced, but there still aren't that many on the roads.  Certainly not as many as any of the 600s or literbikes
• Does it all - twisties, commuting, touring, the GS does it all and it does it all well.  And it will let YOU learn how to do it well too 
• FUN! - the GS is fun to ride.  As another forumer put it, if you don't like the GS, you don't like motorcycles

Yeah, as others have mentioned there are some weird things that go on with the GS, but it adds personality .   After 20+ years of the 500 (plus probably more at smaller displacements) the GS engine is probably as solid a design as you will ever see.  I'm never getting rid of mine, even when I get other bikes.

My bike isn't heavily modified but I get positive comments on its looks all the time.  A friend of mine has a Hayabusa, GSXR 750, a handmade XS 650 custom hard tail bobber, and a mint first year Harley Softail that would make you drool, and he digs my little GS.

To own a GS 500 is to love it.  It grows on you quickly, especially if you use it for everyday riding, commuting, errands, etc.  It's so damn sensible yet sporty it's impossible not to like it unless you're addicted to horsepower or have long legs.

For me it serves as a reminder how over-the-top bikes have gotten over the past generation.  Yamaha learned first how to make good handling bikes with the RD 350.  As for the big bikes of that time their brakes didn't work very well and they handled like a wet noodle because their engines were way ahead of their frames.  It was the decade of the 1980's where the GS 500 comes from when bikes got advanced enough for great performance yet were still simple and economical enough for the everyday street rider IMHO.  Since then it's been overkill city, and I'm someone who thinks a bike should be more metal than plastic and electronics.  Plastic engine covers?  Arrrggghhh!!!

I have a second bike, an XS 750 touring bike.  I've been riding that one a lot this year getting it sorted out but other than its smooth comfy ride and load carrying capacity the GS is a better performer in every other way.  A good rider can really make time on the very agile GS, not that I'm advocating extra-legal speeds on public roads.  No, I would never do that!  

Plenty of power for what I ask it to do. The fact that the market has gone nuts does not affect my needs, and if you offered me a liter bike (...and I had to keep it, rather than being able to sell it and get something useful) I'd pass. As for the more idiototic extremes, like 1700cc? - I want the other two wheels to go with it...

LIGHT! It's 150 ccs less than the elder Yamaha. It has no turbo. But it also has nearly 200 lbs less of itself to lug around. That's a good thing. Lets not even start on the Concours I test-rode once. Oink.

Economical - the elder Yamaha gets (got, really, hasn't been on road in a long time) 40 mpg on a good day. A honda hatchback (no hybrid required) can beat that. The GS also has range (more gas tank as well as better mileage), and a far more "modern" (I'm comparing an '82 and a '90, with design from '89 here) frame/suspension design, though the actual fork springs and shock supplied stock are somewhat of a (poor) joke. But there's only one shock, and the frame is not a skinny wiggly thing going up the middle of the fuel tank.

Solid parts availability. The joy of a bike that's pretty much the same (and interchangeable) for nigh onto 20 years, right up to the present, is a joy you will fully appreciate when you have a bike that was made for only 2 or 3 years, 27 years ago. At least I do...

Riding a small bike fast is more fun than riding a big bike fast, shifting is fun, whenever I ride my GS it constantly reminds me why and what I started riding for in the first place! 

So true. DRiving the gs fast is pure fun. I'm a big fan of acceleration not so much top speed. I also like to drive around home and be able to get out of 1st gear.  One thing NF11624 mentioned is the rarity of this bike. I never really appreciated it until i though about it. I have seen a total of 3 gs's around here.  Gives me another reason to be proud of my bike.

i love it because it's my first bike. most everyone is going to have a soft spot for their first bikes...i also love how cheap it is to insure.

I am also a big sucker for naked bikes. Like already mentioned the bike looks like a motorcycle. I remember watching steve mcqueen racing threw those grass fields...or in ON ANY SUNDAY (which is a must see if u have anything to do with bikes!) and thinking now that is what its all about!

Quote from: kyle_99_gtp on August 20, 2009, 10:22:57 PM
i love it because it's my first bike. most everyone is going to have a soft spot for their first bikes...i also love how cheap it is to insure.

+1....and just enough power that i wont get bored but not too much to where ill kill myself

I love it because it's completely disposable.  If I crash it/blow it up/catch it on fire/whatever I can replace it for pretty much nothing.  I can even swap all of my fancy parts over to the next one since so little has changed in 20 model years.  

I like it because I can make a less-than-10-foot radius u-turn.

Even though I've recently acquired a second bike - a Yamaha XJ600N, and it really is an excellant bike - I love my GS500 and will never part with it.  I'd already decided that I would never part with it even before acquring the Yamaha.  The GS is such a workhorse; it's dependable, simple and looks great.  My GS is the bike that takes me to work Monday to Friday, and is my bike of first choice at the weekend when I need to nip out on errands, etc.

Just a thought, maybe this thread could be extended somehow into a definitve list that...well...defines what the GS is to everyone?  What I mean is, everyone contributes over a period time (give it a couple of weeks, months, whatever) and then, whoever is the budding reporter/writer amongst us, writes a peice which captures the quintisential essence of what a GS500 is and what it is/means to the owners (clearly not me - the only thing I have in common with writers is I like a drop of the hard stuff too often!).  Waffle, waffle, waffle...

Bassman   (plus, my spelling is clearly suspect!!)

To me...

A bike Has to look like a bike. And nothing does that better than Naked. And not Modern Naked with small mini fairings around the triangular headlight, but round headlight. THAT says motorcycle.

Maybe it's how I grew up. My father's bike was a Norton 500

He used to ride me to school on something else - smaller - but I cannot recall which.

My uncle rode naked bikes. My 1st road bike of my own 25+ years ago was a GPZ250 (years before Suzuki made the GS)


80s styling rocks

No liquid cooling means one less thing to be concerned about or spend money protecting from damage (radiator)

When I bought the GS I Had been also thinking about getting a Triumph Bonne. BUT, as all specs were pretty well the same I couldn't see myself paying almost Double for a Trumpy, even if the mudguards were steel and not plastic (I've since followed some on the road and even got video footage of following one for a bit while on a ride - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHUGH-t89Nc - and they've completely lost their appeal (the vid is about the ride not the Trumpy, but the guy I followed was Constantly adjusting his seating, standing a little to sit back down again, cornering seemed more difficult (large spoked 19" wheel on that model Trumpy) and so on). The GS does everything, as a complete all-rounder (commuter, weekend ride machine, small tourer, two-up), without a hefty price tag.

I can also put it into my garage Next to the car and still have room to walk - ok, I have a small car, but still, for a single garage it's impressive.

All up, you feel like you've scored a bonus or found a special secret piece of magic for a song, that the motorcycle world in general doesn't know about - and may even diss cause it ain't a liter or have R somewhere in its name.

And best of all...

It's NOT a Harley!

Michael