Well, I've never ridden a motorcycle before but decided I wanted to start. Got my money squared away and have been researching like mad over the past couple weeks and have decided on a GS500E. I love the look of this bike (naked!) as well as the fact it's a great beginners bike. Honestly, I'm not looking for major power since its main role is going to be commuting me back and forth to work.

This is the one I'm tentatively going to get. I'm going to look at it this weekend and see how it looks and runs.
http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-sport-bikes-1994-Suzuki-GS500-W0QQAdIdZ252104017#

Prices in Canada are higher that in the U.S. so I'm okay with his asking price, but I'm going to see if he'll go any lower. What do you all think?

Also, I spent some time throwing together a .pdf Haynes manual on some office paper and got it all bound into a binder until I can get a real print from the link on the GSTwins website. This forum has been phenomenal in my learning so far. I look forward to many more years with this bike now!
http://i.imgur.com/245aC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wPFYz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3a6R8.jpg

Welcome to the forums. That is a nice looking bike.  $2500 CAD ($2567 USD) would be pretty high for that bike here in the states, but maybe its normal in Canada. It looks like its got some good addons. The Corbin seat will be nice. 

Yeah, used prices seem to be higher in Canada unfortunately. His asking price is pretty much in-line with what is available right across the country.

According to the seller the fork seals haven't been replaced but aren't leaking. He says all the bearings are good, the swing-arm bushings are good and the plugs are clean. I'm going to see if I can get a compression tester and check the cylinders, if not I'll just do the finger method.

Anything else I should be checking?

I'm not saying anything about the price since I'm a cheap SOB. But the finger compression test will only get your finger dirty (and tell you the piston is moving). The compression to move a finger is much lower than what it takes to spin a crank.

Take a multimeter and check the electronics. Regulator/ rectifier, stator, battery, lights , etc. Oh ya, make sure it shifts through all the gears and the front sprocket isn't welded to the output shaft.

I dont think its that far to maine from Nova Scotia. Get a pickup truck and drive over after scouring CL. In the NE @ this time of year they cant give it away. In 2 months its a whole different story ... but now its chopped liver.
Cool.
Buddha.

I'd love to drive down to the U.S. and pick one up but I'm without a passport at the moment!

Quote from: jacob_ns on March 03, 2011, 02:40:07 PM
I'd love to drive down to the U.S. and pick one up but I'm without a passport at the moment!

Yea, ok, so ... 40 million mexicans cant be wrong ... giddyup now.
I dunno how hard it is to get one, but dont they hand em out @ canadian tire ?

Cool.
Buddha.