That must mean he is repping an old battery that is about to die. Ask him if the battery is indeed old and needs to be replaced. Do you have a multimeter by any chance? If you dont you should invest in one and then ask if you can run Voltage tests on his bike, I will explain how to do so if necessary.

Or he could not know that the battery needs to be warmed up and could just be a matter of turning the ignition on and letting the electricity flow to the lights for a minute or so and then try turning it over. Do keep in mind that GS's are very cold blooded, so it might not fully fire and start up on the first crank.

Asking the question `should I buy a GS500?` in here will result in an inevitable answer 

Let me give you my unbiased view 

The GS5 was a bargain basement machine aimed at the first time buyers or those looking for a no frills experience. It was popular for what it was and sold in good numbers but the competition soon left it behind. Suzuki kept it going as long as they could because they cost next to nothing to make and turned a good profit. Up to about 15 even 10 years ago it was a good choice for a beginner but today there are far better options.

1600 puts you in the SV and GSF bracket and like the GS500 they are reliable, cheap and relatively easy to maintain with good parts availability. They are forgiving and easy to ride and they are supported by numerous owners forums. However the SV and the GSF came at least a decade after the GS5 and both offer substantially more in the way of performance, handling and desireability. Go outside the Suzuki stable and there are even more options 

As for the Shitehawk....sorry Nighthawk, it wasn't even a beginners bike 30 years ago when it was launched!!

Thanks sledge for your honesty.  I really appreciate that.  I tried to do a little search for SV650s but all of them are out of my price range.  I'm hoping to get the GS500 I posted about for around $1300 after talking him down.  One other bike I keep wondering about is just getting a used Ninja 250.  There's a 2003 with 18k miles selling for $1500 where I am with some small scratches and a small dent on the tank.  Probably get talk him down to about $1300 as well.

Ninja or GS500 in this case?  The fact that my friend owns a GS500 is really pushing towards getting the same so I can have a hand with maintenance, but I hear Ninjas are great starter bikes, too.

You have to ask yourself what it you are looking for and what it is you want, all bikes have their pros and cons. I personaly think there are now better options for the first time buyer than the GS5, however there are those that will disagree  .....It doest matter what I your friend thinks, its your call 

Asking on a GS500 forum, there's probably going to be a bit of bias.   

So that being said -  I'd go for the gs500.  Its a great first bike, easy to wrench on, reliable, etc, etc... 

If in a year you feel you want something bigger, you should be able to get your money back when selling.

Quote from: jacob92icu on February 01, 2013, 12:00:35 PM
That must mean he is repping an old battery that is about to die. Ask him if the battery is indeed old and needs to be replaced. Do you have a multimeter by any chance? If you dont you should invest in one and then ask if you can run Voltage tests on his bike, I will explain how to do so if necessary.

Why bother with all that fuss 

You use the fact the battery is supect to get 150 knocked off the price, then if you are still happy to take the bike you buy a new battery for 50 and pocket the 100 

Not done much buying and selling have you Jacob 

Quote from: nyc_gs500e on February 01, 2013, 01:20:09 PM
Ninja or GS500 in this case?  The fact that my friend owns a GS500 is really pushing towards getting the same so I can have a hand with maintenance, but I hear Ninjas are great starter bikes, too.

How tall are you? The 250 is a small bike. I know I feel like a giant sitting on one. The ninja 500 if you can find one feels a little more comfortable. My wife has ridden an EX250 before and she is 5'4" and she was comfortable on it.

Here is a link to a site you may like to look at. Select a motorcycle by make and model, and enter your height/inseem and it gives you a fairly accurate display of riding position, size, etc. My favorite feature of the site is you can select multiple bikes simultaneously and using the scroll wheel on your mouse compare them from one to the next.

www.cycle-ergo.com

I'm 5'10" so yeah, maybe the GS500 would fit me better.  Not exactly tall but average guy height.

I'm leaning toward the GS500 cause:
1) Friend has one
2) More power meaning it's better on the highway and I can ride it longer
3) Naked bike so I don't have to worry as much about the fairings if I drop it
4) I tend to like naked bikes more than sports bikes in terms of appearance, though the ninja does look good.
5) Seems more unique, since ninjas seem to be everywhere.
6) Awesome board of enthusiasts who are willing to help out!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!

Quote from: nyc_gs500e on February 01, 2013, 03:44:58 PM
I'm 5'10" so yeah, maybe the GS500 would fit me better.  Not exactly tall but average guy height.

I'm leaning toward the GS500 cause:
1) Friend has one
2) More power meaning it's better on the highway and I can ride it longer
3) Naked bike so I don't have to worry as much about the fairings if I drop it
4) I tend to like naked bikes more than sports bikes in terms of appearance, though the ninja does look good.
5) Seems more unique, since ninjas seem to be everywhere.
6) Awesome board of enthusiasts who are willing to help out!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!

Also, ask Adidasguy how much fun Ninja 250s are to work on...

I found in my price bracket, the GS was the biggest bike I could find. I wanted to spend about $1000-$1500 when I was looking. Ended up with mine for $750.

They're really easy to work on. Everything is in reach, no stupid hidden things I've found, overall just a solid bike. Cheap to own and maintain were high with me.

That being said, it stands to be asked, what do YOU want from a bike. A cruiser, touring style bike (Nighthawk), sport tourer (GS500), "sport" bike (Ninja), or maybe an enduro?

Woah, how did you get yours for $750?!  I got the seller to agree to $1350, but this is before seeing better, not-at-night pics and talking to him in person.  Will have to adjust this is further issues come to light.

I want a bike that will be good to learn on plain and simple.  I want to learn basic maintenance skills, and I love the idea of doing mods and want to learn to do that.  I'd ideally like to ride both on the road and off-road, but since this is a first bike, I just want something practical as a learner.  Looks like the GS is that.   

Yea, i would go for the gs in this case cause you can't get much else for that unless it's a steal of a deal. And ninja is a pain in the a brand to work on, you can ask Adidas about that. And pathetic puma, I just say that cause sometimes you can buy a bike with a bad charging system and run into a few problems, not just bad battery.

Any GS500 owners around Dover, NJ that might be able to do me a HUGE favor and help me look over this used motorcycle?  As a beginner, while I've read a lot about the bike and will keep doing so, nothing's better than experience.  I'd SO greatly appreciate it! 

So I got a good deal brewing with this 1995 GS500 guy from craigslist, but he's brought up two new issues. He sent me pics and overall things look pretty good--a little wear and tear but nothing glaring. He did mention 1) he might not be able to start the bike because of an old battery and 2) there's some issue with high rpm idling when the engine is hot. But he said he's willing to go as low as $1100. Might even be able to get him lower if there's really something serious going on.

Here's the full email:

"I completely understand. I'm not sure if this would be your first bike or not but by all means a bike is a toy and when your buying one you should get something you like and are comfortable with. It sucks when you buy something that doesn't work or ends up becoming a headache the moment you buy it. I all reality, I was never expecting to get $1600 for the bike. That was just my price to start negotiations with. I was really looking for somewhere between $1200-$1400.

The situation I'm in right now is that I literally just signed the papers to buy a 2013 Ducati Monster 796 today but I can't get it from the dealer until I sell this bike as I have no where to put it until I get rid of this one. I'm not looking for this bike to make me money. But by all means, I'm not going to just give it away either. I will go as low as $1200 for you. If I can not get the bike started, there is a good chance the battery may finely just given out on me. I mean I keep it on a battery tenderer but the battery is 3 years old. If I can not get the bike started for you I will reduce the price to $1100 being that you can get a battery for $60-$80.

I can promise mechanically though, there isn't anything wrong with the bike. I'll be honest about everything with the bike, in terms of quirks. I mentioned the oil to you, and the only other thing would be it's idle. Its not an issue but in case you ever run into it, I don't want you to think there is something wrong. For some reason when the bike gets really hot, like when you've been riding for over an hour on a really hot summer day, the idle goes up. Normally, the bike should be idling around 650-700 RPM. When it gets real hot, the idle will jump to about 1700-2000 RPM. It doesn't happen all the time, just seems to happen once in a while when you come to a stop in the middle of riding. Like I said earlier, I have nothing to hide with the bike. I really did fall in love with it but its just time for me to get something bigger, especially being that I'm 6'1". Let me know if those numbers would work for you. Like I said, the dealership is holding onto my bike until I can sell this one."

This was all after I told him about this other guy I've been talking to who's selling his GS500, which is a 96 with only 4k miles, dealer bought, original paint, and starts regularly when it's cold at $1400. This other guy is gonna send me pics today.

Wondering what you all thought about the battery/no start issue and the idle when hot issue? If it's $1200 spotty condition vs. $1400 nicer condition, which way would you lean?

Sorry for the long message! Thanks for all your help!


EDIT (to add pictures):

I'm just going to say this: 1300 is a little much, but the bike looks like its been taken care of. if it runs well, it may be a fairish deal.

that being said:
this is your first bike, you will find other bikes, this is a great, simple, easy to work on place to start.

and
its OK to spend a little too much on your first bike. Money grows back. at 1300 bucks for a running, clean bike with no leaks, you're not being fleeced.  The battery sounds like it does need to be replaced. (40-50 bucks) but the tires look good. (~$200)

go forth and ponder.

Waiting for pics of the '96, but as things stand it sounds more promising: a third of the miles, and it isn't a project bike.

That is the cleanest looking 3 year old battery I've ever seen.

It has obviously been crashed and fixed - non OEM mirrors, no barends, mismatched levers, repainted black, overspray on front frame, possible bent right footpeg, scratches on muffler, non oem handlebars. Sure, some of it a person would do cause they like something different - handlebars, indicators. But repainting a black bike to be black hints at repaired damaged being repainted to me.

Remember this always: it pays to be circumspect about what a seller says to you, they want your money not the thing they are selling.

In this case, a dealer willing to hold on and keep in storage a brand new ducati until old mate here sells his old GS500 any time this century? Sounds a bit thin to me. Need the space? Put the Ducati inside and leave the GS500 outside. Space problem solved. Needs a new battery cause the other one died? Then You, as the seller, put the new battery in so the buyer can see the bike running - unless the battery thing is BS cause the bike really does not run well at all. Who knows what is going on with his bodgy wiring there.

If the other bike is truly a gem, then it's worth the hundred or so more for the trouble free nature of it and fewer miles. Do put up those pics too so we can see them.

Wow, totally did not think of that.  I did think it was weird why he didn't just put the ducati indoors and leave the gs outside.  Now that you mention it, I think you're right that he was overselling the condition of the bike, and it'd probably still have issues even with a new battery.  That would be a nightmare.  I told him if he bought a new battery, kept the receipt, and got the bike starting reliably, I might swing the $1200.  Since then, he's been MIA, so I guess I'm dropping this lead.

As for the 1996, he was supposed to send pics today, but has been out of touch.  He's been generally slow at responding, so I don't think it's a big deal yet.  I'll just have to wait and see.  Trying not to rush and do anything stupid.

So far your doing pretty good about not rushing into things. I know with my first bike I paid 1000 for a good looking beat up bike just because it ran and was personalized! Haha... Feel bad now because I bought my gs for 500 dollars and everything works with a little work on my end except for the high beams. I would definitely keep following the 96 though!

The handle doesn't line up with the seat perfectly it seems. I missed that when I bought my bike, turns out I have a tweaked rear subframe, though it's more noticeable than this one here.

For the amount of money you'll be putting forth, I'd say this GS isn't the right one for you. It's priced like a maintained, perfectly running bike, not a project. I'd skip over it and keep looking for a better one!

Quote from: nyc_gs500e on February 01, 2013, 05:53:10 PM
Woah, how did you get yours for $750?!  I got the seller to agree to $1350, but this is before seeing better, not-at-night pics and talking to him in person.  Will have to adjust this is further issues come to light.

I want a bike that will be good to learn on plain and simple.  I want to learn basic maintenance skills, and I love the idea of doing mods and want to learn to do that.  I'd ideally like to ride both on the road and off-road, but since this is a first bike, I just want something practical as a learner.  Looks like the GS is that.   

I got mine for $750, listed at $900. It had no battery (brought a friend's to the test ride), no gauges, and the back brake didn't work (bled it, it works). About a month into owning it, the left cylinder started flooding when it was parked, rebuilt/cleaned the carbs. Bike wouldn't run well, fuel starved a lot - new fuel lines, and routed correctly helped a lot lol. New chain, new tires, new speedometer, speedo cable, clutch cable, carb sync, and 2 batteries because the first shaZam! the bed in 3 months.

I wasn't looking for a project really, but got caught up in the moment. I'm about 1300 into the bike now, maybe more. I just wanted to ride, and ended up buying the first one I looked at. That being said, it has never been an unrideable bike really, and maybe all this extra work is because of the extra miles I put on it. Since putting a speedometer on it, I've gone 3600 miles in 4 months. I ride the thing everywhere!