Suzuki GS 500 ? is there a problem.

greatmoorred · Nearly there... Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Karma :

looking around for a first bike and the GS500 is on average £5/600 cheaper than a honda or kawasaki of the same age.
Are they worth a look or am i wasting my time ?

Knowlsey · Scooby Slapper Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

mchaggis · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 May 2004 Karma :

dodsi · Dirty Carny Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Karma :

See the GS/ER-5 are similer prices (GS normally slightly cheaper) the honda seem to hold their value a little better (but if you pay £1000 for an ER-5/GS you will sell it for that.

Shop sensibly. You can pay very little for bikes if your carefull.

skida · Trackday Trickster Joined: 15 Jul 2004 Karma :

GS 500s are built to a well established design, but are built cheaply and therefore will probably deteriorate quite rapidly if ridden all year round. When I was working for GNER I used to park each day in the station bike-park and was able to observe how new bikes stood up to the weather over the course of the year. A new GS500 had started rotting within about 6 months with rust setting in on the lower brace holding the front forks together (sorry I don't recall the correct name - bottom yoke?).

I have ridden a GS500 and a CB500 and found them both to be decent rides although the CB500 felt more "together".

HTH

Method · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Karma :

Ive got a GS500, and have had it for a year now.

The reason they are so cheap is that the street image, they arent the sexiest bike around for a looong shot, but they are an easy bike to ride.

They pull their weight and will do almost anything u ask of them, but they wont beat any land speed records.

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ZZR Girl · Trackday Trickster Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Karma :

I had an 05 GS500F from new and kept it three months, before moving onto my ZZR. As a commuter bike it did its job and I found it was brilliant at cornering. It did tend to feel like I was thrashing it a bit at speeds over 65mph though.
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Zimbo · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Karma :

The GS500 is a little more mechanically dated and develops less power than the others mentioned, and as others have said won't stand up to neglect in winter as well as, say, the CB500. In it's favour however, it's cheap to buy, cheaper to insure, and mechanically almost bulletproof. Well worth a look if at the right price.