I am in Tucson, Az and over the last few weeks I have been getting lonely riding by myself. Today I went for a cruise and on the way back I noticed a bunch of sportbikes lined up taking pictures (really nice bikes). I have seen them a few times before doing stunts and so forth but, I just cruise by. The last time I stopped and talked to a few guys on bikes 600cc and up, they kinda laughed that I rode a 500 and were real jerks about it. I just get tired of having to defend the gs500 (like Chris Rock and him having to Defending Rap Music) but I love the bike and always will. I have had 02 Buell Blast, 97 Katana 600, 96 Honda Shadow 1100, 01 Kawasaki Ninja 250, 01 Kawasaki ninja 500, 81 Honda CX500 cafe racer, 02 gs500, 04 gs500, 01 Honda xr400 (street legal), and 99 Yamaha TTR250 (street legal) and keep coming back to the GS. Just wondering if any of you have the same issues about approaching other clubs or riders that have bigger bikes. I am just getting board riding by myself all the time, and my friends don't own bikes so that's out of the question. My bike is not the nicest, nor fastest bike but it starts everytime and easy to fix.. So getting a new bike is not the answer either.

Find another group to ride with. The Tucson AZ metro area is over a million people, I'm sure there are tons of groups.  I used to hang out with a BMW motorcycle club quite a bit, and they never cared what I rode.

Here is a list to get you started:
http://motorcycle.meetup.com/cities/us/az/tucson/

If none of those work for you, you could always start your own meetup. You look here on these forums for other Tucson area riders, too.

You could try to find some rider hang outs. That BMW club I used to hang with would get together at the dealer most Saturdays for a bit, have some doughnuts and coffee, then head out for a ride.

BTW I don't know what kind of rider you are, but if you hooked up with those sport bike guys sometime while they are riding, and are able to keep up, they will have to show you some respect. 

Thanks for the info... I had a few guys I used to ride with when I had my ninja 500cc, one of them on a Ducati 998 and a guy on a Hyosung 650. We would hit the twistys and I was always right behind the Ducati and in front of the 650 until we hit the straights. I am getting older and not really into stunting, plus the gs500 is not made for that at all. I will give the BMW group a try.. Thanks again!

Move to Seattle. Here, we don't care what you ride as long as you are riding. I've had scary dudes with 1200cc harleys come up to me and complement me on my GS500! We've got a pretty open minded riding community here.

Maybe starting a club is a good idea, I think it will be geared toward riders who have 500cc and under. Of course we would not mind having other bikes join, just something geared towards the lower CC bikes. I need some names for the club, I was thinking LowerPowered Riders (LPR), Parallel Twin  Riders (PTR)  or Super Low Output Riders (Slo) My wife suggested the Other Guys (OG)...

Check around the forum and see if there's anyone in your area to ride with.

My last bike was a 600, the GS actually belonged to my girlfriend at the time. I sold my bike and she stopped riding hers. When I wanted to start riding I fixed the GS up and rode it while I was looking for a new bike for myself. Even though I had a 600 before, I wasn't too excited about the idea of trying to tag along with guys on 600/1000 bikes while I was on the GS, but I still wanted some people to ride with. I found one guy on here, we rode a few times, then he traded the GS for another bike, I eventually bought a 2nd bike, but we still ride around together.

There's definitely no reason to hang out with people who are going to pick on your bike. The same guys that will pick on you for riding a gs500 are the ones who will pick on someone who's bike makes 123hp just because their bike makes 124hp. It's really not about the bikes for them, it's just the desire need to feel like they're the best, and riding anything but the best is just gonna make you a target. There are definitely plenty of people out there worth riding with, so don't give up yet. Any time you see anyone parked somewhere go talk to them. Motorcycling is a very social hobby because people who ride LOVE to talk about it.

my friend and i just ride arond till we see another bike or group and follow them haha. never really even talk to anybody unless they stop we feel like stopping. you cant really tell im on a gs5 but even if you could it doesnt matter. my buddy sometimes rides a rebel 250 and sometimes a ninja 250.

There's plenty of friendly riders out there. I'm sure you'll find some to ride with.
Last big ride I went on was with a Triumph Daytona, Yamaha FZ1000, BMW R100, Honda ST1300. Most of the ride was twisties and the GS was right with the first 3, way ahead of the ST. 200 km into the ride they stopped for fuel, I said I'd be kind and wait for them. They stopped again after 150 more, and I filled up. They were impressed with the range and speed of the GS. To be honest if I didn't make the first stop they'd have had trouble catching me, so in the real world on a bikers road, the GS is not slow!

What about the Suzuki Owners Club? It is a reputable organization open to anyone.

http://www.suzukiownersclub.net/chapters/chapters/welcome.asp

Don't worry about having a particular engine capacity, you're not establishing a racing class.  Just find some guys who aren't cockheads who want actually want to go for a ride instead of comparing engine sizes.  Find a nice bit of road, preferably with a roadside diner at the other end of it and let everyone just meet up for lunch at the other end.

The only negative comments I get on my bike are "did you crash it?"  (No I bought it pre crashed) and "your suspension's crap" (which it is although I have shimmed the front forks for more preload and filled them with 15W oil).  Still get the sofa bike label though.

One of the guys I ride with the most I saw him riding one day ( I was in my vert) started talking to him on the road (rush hour traffic) he also has a GS500 BTW Flick is in my better shape. We've been to a few bike nights and stuff kinda saw the shuttle launch last week. He knows a few other bikers and we all ride different stuff. We actually plan on heading to Daytona on Thursday test out other stuff  don't let Flick know I do need to get home LOL!

Mary

Quote from: dsgs500f on March 06, 2011, 05:42:26 PMI am in Tucson, Az and noticed a bunch of sportbikes I have seen them a few times before. The last time I stopped and talked to a few guys on bikes 600cc and up, they kinda laughed that I rode a 500 and were real jerks about it.

I see you found the local crash club. Stay away from these idiots, unless you like the inside of ambulances. We have a local group like this, and someone is always binning it when they go for a ride.