Hi, just got my license through the msf and found this place reading through r/motorcycles (I'd hyperlink but I'm on my phone at work). Anyway, I just agreed to pay $2000 for an '08 gs500 and before I do the whole title thing tomorrow I was hoping you guys could tell me if it sounds like a fair deal.  It has 5000 miles and was crashed once but seems to only have suffered some cosmetic damage: (all on the left side) cracked fairing, turn signal is functional but is hanging on a thread, scraped up fairing, slighlty bent foot peg, and the end of the handle bar is scraped up. I brought a buddy who's a mechanic with me (because my knowledge/experience is very limited) to look at it and he said it checked out but he doesn't know much about the market on used motorcycles. I figured this place would be as good as any.

Hopefully these types of posts aren't frowned upon here; I just thought I'd give it a shot.

depending on where you are it could be a good deal or an average deal.

I'd convert to naked if I were you.

Sounds like an OK deal assuming the cosmetic damage is not too bad.  Low miles is always nice -stored in a garage even better.

I never trust what the previous owner said and I paid to get it inspected properly. I took it to a dealer and they charged 45 bucks...WAY BETTER to be charged 45 bucks than pay 3k bucks when the bike stops working in 1 mile. Do little to no legwork on this bike and take the risk or pay a small amount to have peace of mind. Like others have said the price seems reasonable but even if the owner is a "good" guy it doesnt mean hes a mechanic. Also check the VIN with your department of licensing.

If the inspection comes out clean and you go for it DO NOT fix the body damage right away unless it impedes safety, the main reason for this is that you are likely to cause some more in your first year of owning the bike 

Quote from: Calpantera on June 18, 2013, 02:00:09 PM
If the inspection comes out clean and you go for it DO NOT fix the body damage right away unless it impedes safety, the main reason for this is that you are likely to cause some more in your first year of owning the bike 

Yea, see the "I dropped my bike the first day" thread that was recently posted.

Im in PA so im guessing that would make it average?  And i saw that adidasguy's video on taking the fairings off and it looked simple I'm just not sure how I feel about the naked look though.


I wouldnt be in any hurry to fix it up nice I'm just looking to get comfortable riding first.  I still gotta decide if my balls are big enough to drive it home myself or have a friend do it.

not about balls. its about experience. Get your friend to take it to a parking lot for you near your house. Get used to it, and ride it home. Just my 2 cents.

and go naked and slap a belly pan on, it'll look sharp.

$2k for an 08 around here would be good.