So been building the GS for the wife to learn to ride on. So far I have put about 60hrs into the build. I have repaired and repainted the front fairing, replaced and repaired the seat cowls, cleared all the fairings with 2k. New Sport Demons, front and rear. Spent a few hours cleaning the tank and descaling it. What started out as a $1700 bike has turned into a $3500 build. Was hoping to be all in at $2500-$2600, but that was soon blown out of the water. The forks were the sole biggest cost at $735 including new Chinese tubes and new prog springs. Done a lot more than the above but won't bore people with the list that is as long as my arm.

Waiting on some fairing scrivets from Aliexpress that were sent over five weeks ago and are yet to arrive. Also waiting for Suzuki to get me front fairing side screw. I have left the middle one out so it can be riding tested and sort anything else it might need before the wife goes for her learners in a month or so. Took it on its maiden  trial today. Opinion is it lacks power compared to my 955 Triumph Sprint. The handle bars are a fair reach, even with my long arms. It runs well, handles ok, sits on about 5k at 100kph. I don't know what the top speed would be? But I reckon it would max out at about 150kph. It's a nice looking little bike and I hope the wife will find it ok to ride and learn on.

Yes, the 497cc GS500 is just a little less powerful than the 955cc sports Triumph - not really surprising...
If you lie flat on the tank, downhill with a following wind and scream the proverbials off it you could see a wobbly 112mph on the speedo, which translates to a shade over 100mph in real life, which is about 160kph.
You really do have to scream the GS500 to have fun, but it's well worth it 

Minty!!  Well done mate.

"forks were the sole biggest cost at $735" this right here blows my mind.  Why not get some turds off ebay and rebuild them?  Bike looks great though!