New rider from Prague

[Sparker]

Hi! I've been asking questions at the forum but I didn't introduce myself yet.

The thread name is not fully correct, since I am neither entirely new nor I am entirely from Prague.

I am 27 y.o, most of my life I lived in Moscow. It wasn't easy to even decide to buy a motorcycle because of strong society bias against the two wheeled machines, but here I am 

1.5 years ago I moved to Prague after getting a new job. Finally I could afford getting a bike, and some time later I applied to the driving school and got my license in October 2022. Buying the motorcycle here wasn't easy, since most people don't speak English. Fortunately a biker friend at my new job helped me with the purchase and with lots of good advice.

So, I've been riding the GS500 since October of previous year. Climate here is good enough to ride during winter, with proper gear of course. It's been a lot of fun so far, despite a small accident which has cost me my rear brake disk and a small fuel tank dent. Living in a totally unknown place is also great because I don't need to ride far to discover new nice places.

I heard you like photos. Unfortunately I don't have any really exciting places to show, but I will get there eventually 

[Sparker]

And it's gone! I sold it and bought a 2005 Yamaha FZ6 which will become my new touring machine.

The GS went through 20k kilometers, one trip to Netherlands and back, and a bunch of my repairs, with help of you guys.

After so much riding I got so used to all bike's controls, its momentum and handling in all conditions, that execution of everything became almost effortless. Now with the bike gone, I feel like  a big part of those reflexes is gone too but there's also the fun part, learning it on Fazer.

I think that Suzuki engineers really deserve respect for making such a simple, reliable and fun machine for cheap. Of course there were downsides: my biggest problems were ergonomics, as I'm tall, and frequent engine service. But I think that a good measure of motorcycle is how much fun it is in total, and looking at some older photos - yes it still brings me a smile and I'd definitely take it for a small ride again  .

[gruntle]

The little GS500 is a really great all rounder - it's fast enough to be fun and slow enough to be a sensible commuter as well as being supremely flickable and lightweight. A tad cramped for longer distance riding and never fast enough for mega mileage on motorways (where it's allowed anyway ). I'd buy another one as a second bike in a heartbeat, but funds and shed space won't stretch beyond my Bonneville sadly.

Enjoy your new wheels and try to keep the front end on the road!! Have fun, gruntle