I absolutely treat my bike like a mini-sport tourer!  I have done two 5,000km and a 2500km trips, plus a number of of 2-4 day trips.  The biggest ones were through New England and the second doing the classic Blue Ridge Parkway-Hellbender 28-Tail of Dragon-Chenandoah.  450-600km common in a day, I think we did 700km or more a couple of times.  We're planning a one month or longer trip through Western USA later this year and maybe even Alaska.  Although a dual sport may be more sensible, my bike handles things well enough (including dirt and gravel roads) that I think I'll stick with it.  Yes, not as great acceleration but I never find it problematic and enjoy having to work a bit harder and be a bit sharper than just moving my hand a little on the throttle and feeling like a passenger on a more powerful bike!  Besides, the fairing is pretty cheap....

For luggage I first went with Helen 2 Wheels (now sold by another company but is branded the same) waterproof roll bags, 2 soft sidesaddle bags and a funky hard tank bag (no longer produced).  Still love the Helen 2 Wheels bags.

Now have a Givi E370 monolock 29 litre top case (with matching lid although the blue is so dark it looks black until you see it next to a truly black one!).  with SW Motech plate which looks good without the case.  Still use the tank bag and a roll bag, not intending to buy hard cases (husband is getting some for his v-strom which will do for all but long trips).

Modifications:

Stick-on waterproof clock, very handy for timing arrivals at hotels etc.  When the battery runs out I can't get another one put in fast enough.  I put it right under the windshield (I have a faired '06) on the front of the black plastic, in direct line of sight over the instruments.   Stick on version of: http://www.formotionproducts.com/images/GA-75100_web.jpg

Laminar Lip.  I consider this the single most essential item that makes it tourable.  Before that the freeway was just too tiring, resisting the wind.  Now depending on wind direction it's between a burbling breeze and a solid breeze, neither of which bother me although it's still not as much fun on the freeway as off.  I can do 4 hours on the freeway if need be.  See my other posts about the lip.   http://www.laminarlip.com/gs500f.php
There's another version, about $100 more, that allows you to adjust the positioning of the lip (not by Laminar, can't remember the brand).

Butt Buffer.  This stopped me carrying around little foam cushions!  It's 2nd on my list of musts for touring.  I can do 8 hours in the saddle and only ache as much as I used to at 2-3 hours.  I never get to that horrible stage where it's hard to get off the saddle because it hurts to decompress.  I will note though that it hurts less when I go to the gym when not!  I had it installed into the seat.  

Power Outlet.  Third on my list.  I wanted a decent looking one (female, I'm allowed to be like that).  So I got a very nice unit from Twisted Throttle.  
Can't find it on their site anymore so there are probably better ones out there now.  Nope, just found it!
Unit: http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/3899
Ring holder:  http://www.twistedthrottle.com/imagecatalogue/imageview/8993/?RefererURL=/trade/productview/3899/16/

GPS.  Rather than the still-expensive Zumo I just mount my Nuvi 770 to the handlebar using a Ram mount.  A friend is about to make me a perspex rain cover - although I'm going to play with Fimo bakeable plasticine to see if that works!  I don't even dampen it and have had no problems.
Unit holder: http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045072079076045071065050054085/Default.aspx
Ram mount like they show here: http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045066045049052057090045065045071065053/Default.aspx

Heated grips.  I've found myself (not on longer trips, they are Summer/Fall) riding in 0-10degrees more than I ever intended (pick your riding buddies wisely!).   Plus I get cold!  I was mindful that the GS has very little power capacity for add-ons so I got the Oxford Hot Hands wrap around warmers. These have a very small power draw and because they sit on the rubber handlebar, which acts as insulation, they get very hot for the power consumed.
I do try to turn them off a few km from home (the residual heat is enough) to allow the battery a bit of recovery time.  I also use a battery heated vest to keep drain off the battery, and those little packet foot/hand warmers if needed.

Hyperlites.  These aren't a touring necessity but a general safety measure.  Again we chose them because they had a very small draw on the power system and were vastly cheaper than most of the alternatives out there.  We set the brake lights to flash for 5 seconds then hold steady.  They give 2 extra points of light, small but very visible to cars behind.  I'm like others who found that the problem with cars stopping too close ended when the lights were installed and tapping the brake a great advance alert that you're slowing down.  I also put on white hyperlites at front for the triangle effect which helps cars judge your speed of approach.  They were way too white for the headlight color so I got some translucent orange glass paint (for painting light globes so it can take heat) at a local art place and painted them - they still glow a bright yellow despite using orange paint.  They can't really be seen if the headlight is on high beam though.
http://www.hyperlites.com/stdsf.html   WebBikeworld.com reported another set of LEDs brake lights recently, can't remember the brand.

Finally, not really a bike mod, but Interphones.  If you're travelling with someone bluetooth headsets save a hell of a lot of time pulled over to communicate, and you can switch them on and off at will.  We check routes, keep them on at dusk/dark in deer territory to warn each other, choose restaurants as we drive past, decide where to pull over for views etc. etc.  I would not tour without them.  
See webBikeworld.com for lots of reviews of battery powered bluetooth communication.  We love ours.

Well, you got me going - but I love touring on the bike and a lot of research and thought went into the above mods, which by now have the bike set up really well for me.  

PS one other - crampbusters, the wider ones, on both handlebars.  This is instead of the throttle lock/cruise control that some use.  Give my hands and elbows enormous relief and make freeways way better.  No tingling fingers or numbness any more.  But can't use them with the Hot Hand heated grips.

What size seat pad did yoou get from Butt Buffer. That's really the last thing I need on my GS. I've done bar risers, Zero Gravity sport tourer wind shield, gel grips (Florida, no real need for heated), Tour Master side bags, power outlet (under seat), gel battery, Megellan Triton 2000 GPS on ram mount foward center of gauges. Plus a padded sissy bar and rear rack (made by me) for wifie and extra stuff. Avon Road Riders make the ride much smoother and stable too, they make the stock Bridgestones look like wagon wheels.
I do most of our touring with the wifie and we have a grand time. We're heading to the Blue Ridge mts again this summer for a thousand miles of fun. I goptta try this road called the "Snake" in eastern TN, it's suppose to make the DRagon look like a surbubran lane. I have another ride later this month with my son from Gainesville FL to Warren Robins GA and would love to get the pad before then. Who knows what route we'll take, I'm pretty sure it will be generally north then sort of south to return. Besides that we don't really have much of a plan for either trip.

I knew it and finally found it...

There's a guy in Aust riding around the country on a GS500. He's blogging about it. You can follow him here http://www.adrianpower.com

Michael

Quote from: mister on April 04, 2010, 06:17:50 PM
I knew it and finally found it...

There's a guy in Aust riding around the country on a GS500. He's blogging about it. You can follow him here http://www.adrianpower.com

Michael

i've been tracking his progress daily on youtube. Looks like fun, tho i thing he stuck in broome for a while.....
so good to see someone is lapping oz on the humble gs. Who's next? you or me?

Quote from: CanadianRider on April 04, 2010, 04:35:02 PM

GPS.  Rather than the still-expensive Zumo I just mount my Nuvi 770 to the handlebar using a Ram mount.  A friend is about to make me a perspex rain cover - although I'm going to play with Fimo bakeable plasticine to see if that works!  I don't even dampen it and have had no problems.
Unit holder: http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045072079076045071065050054085/Default.aspx
Ram mount like they show here: http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045066045049052057090045065045071065053/Default.aspx

I've been using my Garmin Nuvi 760 in a Aqua Box for about a year and a half and am constantly annoyed by the diminished visibility of the water resistant membrane. It does it's job and has protected my Garmin in torrential downpours, but sucks for viewing.

This looks like the ticket for nice weather usage. Does that ram cradle for the Nuvi still use the Garmin supplied cradle? Does it have power connections with the standard Garmin adapter?

Quote from: Suzuki Stevo on April 02, 2010, 03:27:42 PM
Agreed, a 12V outlet is a must for charging Zune, Ipod, GPS, Phone, or hooking up yer Battery Tender  

Any walk through on this? It brings cold sweats boring a hole in my faring but this looks nice and factory so do like....

Quote from: lilwoody on April 04, 2010, 05:40:25 PM
What size seat pad did yoou get from Butt Buffer. That's really the last thing I need on my GS. I've done bar risers, Zero Gravity sport tourer wind shield, gel grips (Florida, no real need for heated), Tour Master side bags, power outlet (under seat), gel battery, Megellan Triton 2000 GPS on ram mount foward center of gauges. Plus a padded sissy bar and rear rack (made by me) for wifie and extra stuff. Avon Road Riders make the ride much smoother and stable too, they make the stock Bridgestones look like wagon wheels.
I do most of our touring with the wifie and we have a grand time. We're heading to the Blue Ridge mts again this summer for a thousand miles of fun. I goptta try this road called the "Snake" in eastern TN, it's suppose to make the DRagon look like a surbubran lane. I have another ride later this month with my son from Gainesville FL to Warren Robins GA and would love to get the pad before then. Who knows what route we'll take, I'm pretty sure it will be generally north then sort of south to return. Besides that we don't really have much of a plan for either trip.

Sounds like you have the same approach to touring as I do!  I don't actually know what size.  I took it to a guy in Toronto who installs them, he picked the best size and dug out enough foam to put it in.   He couldn't put it right to the front as there is a shape plastic rim you need to preserve, but I'm perfectly happy with it.  If I had to guess it would be a medium or small size.  He showed me some for the cruiser and they were much bigger!  If you're buying new I'm sure the Buttbuffer people will have a list of bikes and tell you which to get.

Quote from: jfinstrom on April 05, 2010, 12:06:45 PMAny walk through on this? It brings cold sweats boring a hole in my faring but this looks nice and factory so do like....

Get a Hole Saw Kit from Harbor Freight $6.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=38425



An inline fuse with a 1.5A fuse in it, that's really way more amperage than you will need to charge your cell phone or Ipod.



Put the inline fuse as close to the positive terminal on the battery ase you can, use 16 AWG wire or larger if you like. Mine is wired straight to the battery so I can use the socket for my battery tender while the bike is in storage and off. You can use any place on the frame by your socket to get your ground. Don't try and power a spotlight or anything that requires allot of amperage, you will pop the fuse. The above will work just fine for charging your personal electronic devices.

(I didn't tell you this, but I know a guy that wired his accessory socket to his headlight wiring, when he wants to use allot of amperage he just unplugs his headlight, works just fine, again I did not tell you this)

On the fuse, I say don't use one.

Use a circuit breaker. They come in fuse shape/sizes and go into same housing. I mean, the two bladed fuze style housing not the glass tube style fuze housing. . $5 or so at NAPA.

All the rest is great.

Your legs will get a bit cramped and the vibes will get to your hands eventually, but it'll do just fine.

Quote from: ACDNate on April 05, 2010, 07:37:45 AM
I've been using my Garmin Nuvi 760 in a Aqua Box for about a year and a half and am constantly annoyed by the diminished visibility of the water resistant membrane. It does it's job and has protected my Garmin in torrential downpours, but sucks for viewing.

This looks like the ticket for nice weather usage. Does that ram cradle for the Nuvi still use the Garmin supplied cradle? Does it have power connections with the standard Garmin adapter?

Yes, the ram is a ball that attaches to the handlebar, and a ball with plate that screws into the back of the Garmin cradle.  The cradle itself doesn't have a connection, the power cord attaches directly into the Nuvi at the side (not like the car mount versions).  I'm planning on basically shaping a biggish box that comes about 2" past the screen, with enough room to put my hand in and get the unit out.  It will be shaped in at the back to screw in between the ram mount and the garmin cradle.  I'll post photos if it works!

Quote from: jfinstrom on April 05, 2010, 12:06:45 PM
Any walk through on this? It brings cold sweats boring a hole in my faring but this looks nice and factory so do like....

No need to drill through the fairing if you don't want.  My link above was wrong (fixed).  Have a look at this:

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/imagecatalogue/imageview/8993/?RefererURL=/trade/productview/3899/16/

The ring holds it stable (and it looks good!) on the handlebar.

Quote from: CanadianRider on April 06, 2010, 04:27:15 AM

Quote from: jfinstrom on April 05, 2010, 12:06:45 PM
Any walk through on this? It brings cold sweats boring a hole in my faring but this looks nice and factory so do like....

No need to drill through the fairing if you don't want.  My link above was wrong (fixed).  Have a look at this:

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/imagecatalogue/imageview/8993/?RefererURL=/trade/productview/3899/16/

The ring holds it stable (and it looks good!) on the handlebar.

I like both methods however this option is better as it does no permanent mods which I like as they can move to future bikes

I made a mount for the GPS mount foward center of the gauges for my F model. It seems safer to me to have it closer to line of sight.

It's a 12" peice of SCH 40 SS 3/4 pipe heated and bent into a 90. I attached it to the head light bracket with a 3/16 U bolt that I bent out to 75 degrees and ran a nut onto it for a stop for one of the fender washers. then used another fender washers to secure it to the bracket. I then slid a gromet out of a 1" dresser coupling on the bent pipe to damben the vibration from the bike onto the mounting pipe.

Here it is with a Garmin GPS V on it. I have since got a RAM mount for a Megellan Triton 2000. I haven't mounted it yet but it ought to be neat. The Triton has a 8 MG card, has MP3 player, more detailed topo maps of the southeren US, it tells the difference between paved and unpaved and does vidieo.

sorry for bringing this one up, wanted to share a thought...
GS500 on suzuki site is presented as sport/touring bike so not dumb at all, but i think they are refering to F model.. anyways i am using my gs500 naked version for touring..

its old pic with new tank, before paintjob...
me and my lady pack all the things you will or wont need into these
theres a tank bag now included.
longest for now 500km, but in 19 days we go for a 3000+km

Hope you give that chain some loving before you head off on that trip. 

Also don't forget about the straps!