Late 70s GS500E (possibly American import)

hellkat · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Price/Availability/coolness in general.
What's the goss?
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Do you mean a GS550E?
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hellkat · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

I was told it was a 500 but if not, then whatevs, 550, .. the size is about right for me around town, so I thought I'd ask opinions here, before I took enquiries further.

is Gerry's similar to that?
(what's Gerry got? all I can remember is its a "GS" Laughing

erm, I think ... )
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

The GS500E is a bag of crap. I believe it was first built in 1989ish and is an air cooled parallel twin.

The GS550E is not a bag of crap. As I recall it's a four cylinder bike and is much nicer than a GS500E.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

Ichy · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Karma :

I brought a GS550 Katana from N30 years ago for about £200. Really simple bikes to work on and a proper roller bearing bottom end. Good job really because they were your average commuter and got treated as such. Plenty of spares still available but beware if you need to buy forks, virtually all the ones I saw were pitted.

The ride was fine, just a bit heavy to steer. I dropped it a couple of times and nothing broke so I liked it. Laughing

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Suntan Sid · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 May 2009 Karma :

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=251440
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stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Late 70's 4-cylinder universal Japanese bike.

If it follows the stereotype it'll be a pretty strong, aircooled engine in an unweildy chassis that seems massively under-braked by modern standards.

If it's spent the last 35 years in California, it probably isn't suffering from the terminal corrosion a UK example would be exhibiting by now so it has a chance of being fairly tidy.

Suzuki electrics from the late 1970's were fairly notorious for being a bit shit. Especially the charging systems.

I personally would preferr a GS850 which are built like a tank (also in terms of weight and handling).
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Casper · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 Jul 2010 Karma :

I had the 550E and the Katana. As said by Marki the Katana was top heavy but it sat taller and had a much larger tank. The GS550 is under powered as standard. For a daily town commuter it will be fine. You can get 60mpg from them. Think around 48 was my avarage. If you have some spare cash its worth getting a better exhaust and tunning the carbs as when i got mine done it was like a new bike.
Your America/Canida import with have tamper proof carbs but that is just silly rubber stops that you can drill out easy enough. REG/REC can burn out easy and take the genny with it but you can plumb in one from a honda easy enough. I used a GSXR600 one on my last 550 Katana. As said, easy to work on and a simple 8 valve engine that can run and run and run. No reason you cant turn the clocks on any of the GS range. Sorry, rule out the shitty twins in that last statement.

The Shaggy D.A. · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Sep 2008 Karma :

Casper · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 Jul 2010 Karma :

And if you do get it you can get a lot of info here

https://www.thegsresources.com/

Also Old school suzuki forum if it ever start up again but they are on facebook. Some good guys there that sell parts cheap.

nowhere.elysium · The Pork Lord Joined: 02 Mar 2009 Karma :

hellkat · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Still trying to get hold of the guy selling it, so all academic at the moment.

But thanks for all the useful pointers and offers xx Smile

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nowhere.elysium · The Pork Lord Joined: 02 Mar 2009 Karma :

Any update on this, Jen?
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hellkat · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Tiresomely, No.
As I haven't heard back, I might have to pester the owner at close range on FB Laughing

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hellkat · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

So anyway, I messaged the guy on FB, he saw my message two days ago (gotta love FB and its "seen [timestamp] facility" ( Laughing

) and he hasn't replied.

Meh, whatevs.
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