Hey all, long time, eh? That's because I almost never ride my old GS. Actually, I had to ride it again for the annual trip to get it inspected. At least this time, I have my fuel game on point, so the GS fired right up after replacing the battery but with the gas that had been in it over the winter, and ran pretty much as good as it ever has.

Actually, it still has a slight hesitation when running, which I think can maybe be fixed with another washer on the needles, but it's not bad enough for me to consider doing anything about it unless I have the carbs off for another reason.

But anyway, on the once a year ride, I wound up going on a long ride after the inspection, and it was a delight to ride just like usual. The bike has a really unique personality and it's loads of fun. But I'm afraid I might not have room for it anymore, because...

I just got this guy last Friday:


'06 Triumph Scrambler to join my other Triumph. On paper, the Triumph is 100 lb heavier than the GS and has about the same amount of hp, but on the road it has nearly 2x as much torque and everything happens under 5500 rpm. That's just quite a different experience. All of the controls and everything else is exactly like my other Triumph so it feels super comfortable, and uses nearly all the same spare parts. I'm just going to stick with one main platform.

I have a pretty strict policy to never own another carbureted motorcycle, which I violated by buying this Triumph, meaning I need to get rid of one. I think I'm going to try to see if my dad will take the GS since he needs a bigger displacement gravel-capable motorbike to ride out to and around my parents' place in the country, where there's 2 hours of pavement including 70+mph highways to ride on before 2+ miles of graded gravel/deep sand roads to get there. The GS is perfect for that ride and for the area.

Cmon, toughen up and get a real triumph, with three carbs 😉



With my beetle (was my moms) I now have NINE carburetors to look after.



If they ever consider putting ethanol in petrol over here I'll bite the dust. Luckily they have comitted to not doing that.

Seriously, we miss you over here, we need some real carb advice for the tough questions 😉

LoL. I think my carb skills have seriously depreciated. I can't get my !Vespa to run. Who knows why. I'm about to the point that whenever anything needs carb work, I'm going to just replace the motorcycle.

Sweet bike!

I'm sure you've seen my post in the Odds and Ends section about my new machine, seems there's some kind of contagion going around...  Must be the season.

Always sad to see the GS go but it's probably for the better.  I have zero regrets moving on from my GSs, but as I've been (counts on fingers) 5 bikes removed and yet still remain on this board it's clear the bike has a lasting charm.  Or maybe it's just the rose colored glasses I'm wearing.


Lucky for me most of the carby bikes I've owned over the years have all just worked, and what little tuning/jetting I messed around with behaved as advertised.  Can't say I'd actively seek a carbed bike these days but I also can't say I'd refuse a bike just because it's got a carb...

Just saw your post, Watcher. You might have noticed I haven't been on this forum in a long time, mostly due to spare time being scarce.

I won't ever get a loan to buy a motorcycle, so a new bike is not in the cards. If I were to get a new motorcycle, it'd be a Triumph Speed Twin, and one of these days I might wind up with a used one, who knows. I guess there'll be a time when my Bonneville is too much trouble to keep working, likely because parts could become impossible to find, and then I'll get another 5+ year old motorcycle that I can buy for cash.

What I really want, and am sort of actively shopping for, is the right piece of country acreage where I can build a cabin and a barn of sorts. Then I'll have a place to park a bunch of motorcycles, probably be where my GS ends up living out its retirement.

We have been through this before. In the end you won't sell your GS. Maybe if you can sell it to your dad and keep it in the family...but I bet you keep it.

I certainly won't sell it. If it goes to my dad, it's going to be for free. Or perhaps if he doesn't want to ride it, I'll just take it over there where there's more space to store it.

Maybe not so fast... I went on a longish ride on the Scrambler last week and it has a clunk/knock noise under load that occurs at about the rate of once every turn of the rear wheel. I'll probably avoid riding it until I can figure out this noise. It's also got a squeal in the clutch release that indicates a misaligned throw out bearing, so I'll be pulling the side case off to repair that, too. So the GS will likely stay in the rotation for a few months while I sort out the Scrambler issues.