Hey there, I happened to stumble onto this board in my research for GS500's. This will be my first bike and I plan on purchasing one in a month and a half or so (when i get the funds to do so) but for now I'm interested in what anyone has to offer advicewise. Money is rather tight and I would hopefully like to get one for around 1500 or less, not sure what years/models I should look for. Also need to pick up gear as well. Thanks in advance!

Oh yeah I'm from California, bay area  

My advice: buy one.






Oh you want to know more than that?  Well, for 1500 bucks you should be able to find an early to mid nineties bike in pretty good condition, depending on the current market state in socal.  Start keeping an eye on cycletrader.com, craigslist.com, and ebay to see what is out there and what the prices are like.  Also, there are a few bikes for sale on this forum.  Otherwise, just keep reading stuff here and you will learn a lot in no time.  Good luck with your purchase and welcome!

Agreed: 01 for 2k here in the south

Yeah I plan on buying one as soon as I can come up with some money Thanks for the replies! I've already been sifting through some posts here and I've found great info, I really appreciate it. Well here's to hoping I can get myself on the road soon hehe  

welcome!

remember to buy the gear too. If you cant afford good gear, you cant afford the bike. Buy a proper fitting helmet (expect to pay $200+), good motorcycle specific boots, gloves and jacket (preferably leather).

Check out www.newenough.com and www.motoxoutlet.com for good deals, esp their closeout sections. I suggest buying the helmet locally to get sales help with fit; it'll be much tighter than you would think (but it breaks in comfortably).

All the gs500 bikes are essentially the same, '89-'04. There were some minor mechanical changes inthe mid '90s and a total cosmetic makeover for the '01 model year and thereafter. The '04 comes with a full fairing, only year. There were no '03s available in the US. There were no color choices within each year, only one color per year generally. There's a link from the home page here at gstwin.com that has a matrix with all the colors for the various years.

All the bikes in stock form run lean (for emissions). One of the best things to do is rejet the carbs to eliminate this. Expect to get 50+ mpg on these things, and have a hell of a time as well. Lots of riders in the bay area too, including one of our best known (here anyway) racers, Bob Broussard. you should see his gs-quite trick.

You're bay area and I'm in L.A. too bad you're not closer (and willing to spend more money) as mine is for sale. Check out my page for lots of useful information.

Are you a new rider? If so consider, if you havent already, taking the MSF course. Money well spent and passing it gets you your license without the DMV test. Hard to get into a class though with a waiting list but if so yo can go stand-by and usually take a no-show's place,

Welcome to the fold.

I bought my 1996 GS about 2 months ago, paid $1500, it has 14,000 miles, been kept in great condition with a few mods done to it.
It's my first bike and it's been a joy so far.

Actually yes I plan on taking the MSF class soon, this will be my first bike hehe..

i found my bike on the boards here a few months ago... even though it was 700 miles from me one way it was a nice trip to go pick it up. i also found gs500s in cycletrader and on ebay, but i think things on ebay are generally sort of overpriced. look at more than one bike. the first bike you see you will probably want so badly, but there is usually a way better deal elsewhere.
happy searching! the gs is a wonderful first bike.

Welcome!

Hope you get your bike soon, so you can join us on one of our bay area rides!

My first  bike was a 1978 Motobecane 50cc Moped, then I moved up to a Honda VTR250, which was an extremely forgiving and easy to ride newbie bike.  Mind you I'm 6'3 and 220Lbs.  

I bought my GS500 about a year and a half ago from a guy who rode it once, and dumped it at about 10MPH, then put it in storage.  I enjoy the fact my GS500 is only about 20 lbs heavier than my VTR 250, but far more powerful, but still forgiving, although I'm not keen on how "grabby" the rear brake is on the GS.   Other than that I love my GS, and I'm impatiently waiting for my new choke cable to arrive, courtesy of Kerry.

This site is full of good people, so if you have any more questions, I'm sure someone here will answer.

Also, set aside about $200 for a nice jacket and pads from brosh, out of Isreal.  If you have the cash, they also have riding pants.  Between those and a good helmet, you'll keep any road rash down to a minimum.  Trust me, at some point you will go down.  It happens to most of us.

Oh yeah one of the reasons I am waiting is so that I can afford some decent gear. I know I'll be going down sooner or later.

Another bike I've been looking at is the ex500 in addition to the gs500. Can anyone comment on the ninja at all?

I loved the bike ,rode it alot. Sold it and was considering buying another.Tried the newer model - post 96 which has the bigger tubes and did not like the way it handled.So I bought my second GS.