My brother just bought a fully restored '78 KZ1000. Really nice scooter. One of my sisters commented how "J" was sensible and didn't go out and get a "crotch rocket" like my Bebe got me. The whole family is now concerned that I have surely gone "batty" by allowing Bebe to get me such a fast dangerous machine. When I tried to tell them that "J"'s KZ could suck the baby G's headlight off, swish it around in it's jugs and spit it right back at me from it's exhaust they just rolled their eyes...oh yeah "C", we can see the GS has a redline that is 3000 RPM higher, so don't try to ice this over, Bebe should have gotten you a sensible bike like "J"'s KZ1000. OOOH, now i'm riding the big bad GS500 :lol: . Aw, you just gotta love that little thing and the forum dedicated to it don't you?

C.......

Try the simple approach.  Look at numbers.  500cc  1000cc.  Twice as much motor = twice as fast.  
I had a KZ1 way back when.  I was doing about 80 on I-70 when I saw LEO going the other way.  He had me on radar.  I raised my hand to flip him off and the wind nearly took me off the bike.  Lesson learned.  No I didn't get the ticket.  The KZ was great for tuck-n-shoot.

that is hillarious!   :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Just goes to show how far a little plastic will go toward getting you and your bike stereotyped as unsafe... makes you wish people would do a little research before opening their mouths sometimes, no?  :x

Charley, with my family there is no simple approach. That would be like telling them a Ford F-250 with a 460 will outrun a Corvette because it has a 350. No, not simple with my family...they're just a funny bunch and I love every single one of 'em...just like that little scooter and the forum.

C.......

When people see that I'm wearing a textile jacket and have a full face helmet in my hands they immediately assume that I ride a crotch rocket.

Then I get to TRY to explain the GS to them.  It's well, kind of an unfaired sportbike with more upright seating position but no fairing and not as fast or dangerous as a 600 but still gets up and moves and it's a great beginner bike but will grow with you as you grow as a rider . . . and so on.  Of course with yours it has a fairing so it makes it that much harder!  

Once their glazed over eyes refocus they say, "Oh, yeah, so it's a crotch rocket right?"

Ummmmm, yeah sure . . .  

Mine has a fairing? No no, Nyctea Scandiaca was born with no fairing...poor baby G, a face only a mother could love  sob! But hey   I do love the little thing, I love this forum and I love all you guys...even though we all ride the deadly tire shredding GS500.

C.......

i always struggle describing the bike.
"it's actually called a standard, cause it's not a big heavy harley-like bike, and it's not one of those fast bikes with all the plastic" is what i say usually - verbatim.

Quote from: cernunosMine has a fairing? No no, Nyctea Scandiaca was born with no fairing...poor baby G, a face only a mother could love  sob! But hey   I do love the little thing, I love this forum and I love all you guys...even though we all ride the deadly tire shredding GS500.

C.......

Ooops!  

My fault, I thought you had a GS500F!

Look out you KZ varmints, you better start ashakin' when you hear my valves aquakin'...oh I forgot, you can't even hear mine comin' unless you listen for the top-end noise. But don't you just love the little forgivin' thing and this forum too?

C.......

Yeh i've got one of the '89 models in white with the clip-ons makes you look liker yer humpin' it while yer ridin' ...but ya gotta love it...yeh the forum too.

C.......

Quote from: cernunosand I love all you guys...even though we all ride the deadly tire shredding GS500.

:lol:

I usually just tell people, "It's a bike that fits me," and they say OK.  Although - when I showed dad my F650, he asked about my gear and driving habits, doing the fatherly duty.  No comment on the bike.  When I showed him a picture of my GS500, he sent back, "Wow, you're going to have to teach me how to ride it!"  

I think if the GS had a personality it would be a cat...sometimes loves to play, sometimes stand-offish, sometimes you wake up and it's on your chest :lol:  But ya just gotta love the thing...and this message posting thing too.

C.......

My mother and father are both motorcycle enthusiasts so when I told my mom I finally bought a street bike, she wanted to see pics. I took a few  pics of the GS along side of the reservoir and emailed them to her.

The first words out of her mouth were "you bought a CROTCH ROCKET?!"     :lol:

My friend just bought an '81 KZ1000 as his first bike.  I'll have to tell him that my GS500 is faster cause "it's a crotch rocket" and see what he thinks.    He'd probably just laugh at me because he knows his way around machines.  Oh well, hopefully he respects the beast

I once had someone tell me, "Your crotch-rocked sure isn't very 'crotchy'"... It took me a couple seconds to figure out how to reply to that  

Quote from: proudlomI once had someone tell me, "Your crotch-rocked sure isn't very 'crotchy'"... It took me a couple seconds to figure out how to reply to that  

At least it's rockety :dunno:

Quote from: proudlomI once had someone tell me, "Your crotch-rocked sure isn't very 'crotchy'"... It took me a couple seconds to figure out how to reply to that  

I got that one from a friend of a co-worker a while back.

I told her "It's not very rockety, either."

She gave me the puppy-dog-cocked-head look.

:dunno:

:lol:

Don't really have that problem over here... Then again one of my friends was astonished that I had a 500 - he seemed to thing that was an enormous engine

The GS is best described as a "commuter" which roughly correlates to what bike couriers ride....

And the lack of fairing on mine makes people less inclined to think its a crotch rocket

Another friend was confused as to why my 03 model was "a sports bike at the back but a harley at the front"

Some people!   :dunno:

Yeah, I get the same remarks after showing off my fully faired F. Just goes to show how little most people really know about machines. Not to get off topic, but it's the same response to "assault weapons". Take little Billy's Ruger 10/22 wood stocked chipmunk rifle, deck it out in an aftermarket black polymer pistol gripped stock, add a bad assed looking flash hider on the muzzle and its now "capable" of blowing through tanks and the weapon of choice for drug lords. Oh yeah, and its now banned in a buncha jurisdictions 'cause of that....sigh.  

Since I'm riding the equivalent of a Japanese Zero now maybe I should paint "KAMIKAZE" in bold letters on my helmet  :lol: I just love the little booger and fawn over this forum too.

C.......