I think the GS is a 7.5 of 10.

Changed over to a 1st-gen SV650 throttle tube and 18tooth front sprocket, added a DB Sport-Touring windscreen, SW-Motech rack and Givi top case. As good as my VFR800 if power is less of an issue for you, and you ride at a normal street pace.

Mushy Suspension - GOOD if you like a smooth ride. BAD if you want to ride faster than you should on the street.
44hp - GOOD if you like getting 70+ mpg. BAD if you like passing other vehicles at will.
Handlebars - GOOD if you can't put any weight on your shoulders/arms/wrists on a longer ride. BAD if you are used to clip-ons.
Fairing - GOOD if you ride outside of the city in varying weather. BAD in the city as it amplifies the top-end noise of the motor which just bugs me.  

If you can accept the 1970's engineering and live with it's slightly agricultural feel, the GS doesn't really have any faults that should prevent anyone from buying one. If you need/want more than the GS has to offer, there are plenty of other bikes to choose from. Having owned and ridden a lot of different bikes since 1989 I can say that for me I could live with a GS500 as my only bike if I had to. I choose not to because I can, yet I wouldn't feel I was missing out on some great experience if the GS was the only bike I ever owned from this day forward, either.

I would give mine an 8 out of 10...excellent first bike.  Why did I buy it as a first bike...I liked the looks of the bike...simple as that...2003 GS500E...they had a 2008 GS500E in the show room, but it sold before I could talk the boss into letting me get a bike...

The lower power was very helpful in not scaring the crap out of me...after taking the BRC on the dual sport 200cc bikes the GS500 felt like a muscle bike for the first few rides...wow, what a powerhouse...but shortly after, I was looking for more...like mentioned above, the power is good for just riding along but not so good if you want effortless passing ability...but if you drop it a couple of gears and rev the nuts off it, you have adequate power...you just have to go get it...fuel mileage, how do you beat less than 5L/100kms...my last fill was 14.8L and I had travelled 318kms...quick math...4.65L/100kms (60.6mpg imperial)...what else is this much fun to ride that gets that kind of consumption?? 

I have had to perform a couple of repairs...gasket leaked and broke the clutch cable...but both were easy and cheap to do...$10 for the gasket and $24 for the clutch cable, and I think it was two hours to do both repairs...and that included time to read the Clymer manual, since I had never done either before...shifter cable broke in my truck and it set me back $650 by the time it was all said and done...as for the choke issue, well it's carburated and old school...get over it...used to be that all bikes were like this, we are now spoiled with FI...

Do I love my GS...well, I think I do...I am trying to find a way to keep it and get a second bike...my daughter would love to have it (12 tomorrow... ...she'll eventually be 16...ish...)

The seat...well, if you would have asked me that about three months ago I would have agreed that the seat is crap and kills my butt...but now I just stop every hour or so and take a break...I don't find it a problem anymore...I've done 5hrs in the saddle and could have gone longer, but had to get home.  I'm 5'11, 40 and ...ummm...Husky...so it's not like I'm a 18yo kid that is flexible and 180lbs...I'm a grumpy old fart that doesn't exercise...

Later.

Just admit it, it is a great little bike. It does what it was designed to do at the price it was supposed to be. There are very few things that can say that..maybe like the Volkswagen Beetle. I think the GS500 will be that for motorcycles that the beetle was for cars.

Keep those knees in the breeze!

I just rode a Kawasaki ER6 their replacement to the ER5 for my open licence and I have to say chalk and cheese in comparison to the GS. It vibed and rattle like a tram. Only 12000klms on it by the way but you couldnt see who was following behind you cause the mirrors shook so much. Mind you it had a lot more poke than the GS but it still didn't do anything for me. I was glad at the end to get back on my GS. It is a great bike and I am seeing it more now that I have ridden a few of the competition. My friends Honda CB400 while a great bike isn't worth the extra $6000 that I payed for my GS. My brakes are just as good if not better. The Honda had a clunky little gearbox that you had to kick hard from 1st to 2nd so as not to grab neutral and the suspension was real stiff. Makes me appreciate my old girl which has 43000klms on it and rides better than these newer bikes.

I'm not keen to rate the GS as it is my first road bike and comparing it to dirt bikes, well thats just silly.

Being on my P's I was restricted for choice but got it down to the Honda CB400 and the GS and (like twisted) I just can't see the extra money in the Honda.

I thoroughly enjoy riding the bike and am finding it a great bike to learn on.  Will I keep the bike for a long time?  Probably, it's a great comuter.  But I would like to also put a Triumph Street Triple in the shed as well for those days when I want that little bit more.

More importantly would I recommend the GS to others?  Hell yes. 

Quote from: Twisted on November 07, 2010, 07:40:13 AM
I just rode a Kawasaki ER6 ... I was glad at the end to get back on my GS. It is a great bike and I am seeing it more now that I have ridden a few of the competition. Makes me appreciate my old girl which has 43000klms on it and rides better than these newer bikes.

There ya go. Once you experience the GS you come to appreciate it after riding other bikes. yet most people wouldn't give the GS a second look - even if the GS pulls away from them or passes them or whatever. To cruiser riders you're an OMG Sport Bike. To the litre guys you're nothing - but they are surprised by it when they encounter it, but still wouldn't get one. And to the guy on the Busa... well, he thinks everything else is navel lint (and he'd be right) but also feels he has something to prove everywhere he goes.

The GS is the preverbial underestimated bike. No-one thinks anything of it. So it remains a well kept secret.. only for those who know 

There's a few bikes I wouldn't mind taking for a spin just to see how they are - SV650, VStrom, GSR600, ER5, CB900, CB400, CB1000F, GSX650, Bandit 1250, ZR7. With the exception of the CB1000F which I do like the look of in person, the rest are all nakeds. And I'd like to take them for a spin for different reasons.

Michael

Quote from: mister on November 08, 2010, 02:51:37 AM

Quote from: Twisted on November 07, 2010, 07:40:13 AM
I just rode a Kawasaki ER6 ... I was glad at the end to get back on my GS. It is a great bike and I am seeing it more now that I have ridden a few of the competition. Makes me appreciate my old girl which has 43000klms on it and rides better than these newer bikes.

There ya go. Once you experience the GS you come to appreciate it after riding other bikes. yet most people wouldn't give the GS a second look - even if the GS pulls away from them or passes them or whatever. To cruiser riders you're an OMG Sport Bike. To the litre guys you're nothing - but they are surprised by it when they encounter it, but still wouldn't get one. And to the guy on the Busa... well, he thinks everything else is navel lint (and he'd be right) but also feels he has something to prove everywhere he goes.

The GS is the preverbial underestimated bike. No-one thinks anything of it. So it remains a well kept secret.. only for those who know 

There's a few bikes I wouldn't mind taking for a spin just to see how they are - SV650, VStrom, GSR600, ER5, CB900, CB400, CB1000F, GSX650, Bandit 1250, ZR7. With the exception of the CB1000F which I do like the look of in person, the rest are all nakeds. And I'd like to take them for a spin for different reasons.

Michael

The instructor drooled over my GS. He was talking them up to me all day saying " Gosh I wish they didn't make the GS500 LAMS approved. Now I cant use them for instructing on"  Told me a story of how he embarassed one of his mates on an R1 through the twisties on an old riding instructor model. He even took photos of mine before I left. " Man, I got to show this to my mates. This is one of the toughest and nicest GS's I have seen." Told him to come here if he wanted to see more like it.

How nice was yesterday? (Sunday) Purrfect riding weather.