Had A Weak Moment

[Hedgetrimmer]

Came very close before I got hold of my senses!



GS1000E @ £2995. Got room in the garage now too, but managed to control myself and see sense 

[Dave48]

Bloody hazardous to health of ones wallet going round bike shops.! Was looking at the MT09 in local dealer but fortunately theyre out of stock awaiting fresh supplies

[slimwilly]

YesNick, a serious lump of shiny metal,,what a bute

[Hedgetrimmer]

It really was in lovely nick. Little bit of rust under the collectors (and yes, I did grovel around on hands and knees in the showroom to look  ), but nothing that wouldn't clean off easily. Frame immaculate, silencers and downpipes immaculate, front and underside of engine clean, casings polished, paintwork very good, but a little bit of pin stripe missing on right side of tank. U.S. spec bars felt very comfortable, but not great for the look.

Just an Icon from my growing up days - had my fill of Zeds and fancy trying the competition!

[ogri48]

Stunning nick.. Absolutely beautifull, the E always was the best looker 

[Hedgetrimmer]

Trouble is, if I did buy it, I'd have to change the bars to lower, U.K. spec, change the seat for something a little less bulky (2:4 or similar), and replace the tail piece with the one from the 750. Then, in my eyes, it would look perfect! All things that could easily be put back to standard too.

I really did go over it - throttle snaps back cleanly, but it has a cruise control fitted - wonder if this was standard on U.S. bikes? Clutch cable needed a coupla mil free play adjusting in. Front brake lever came back to the bars with a strong pull, but easily sorted (so then I'd be thinking braided lines), rear brake felt good, not spongy.

If I altered a few things like that, I'd be more likely to keep it. I sold my Z1 cos I just couldn't get on with it as it was - well, we all did these mods back in the day, some purely cosmetic, but some with very good practical reason. But would it be sacrilege on a bike like this now? Not like this one is at all shabby.

And then there's the little matter of, what else could £3k buy me? But on the other hand, how often will they come up in this condition, completely standard? Scary thoughts, it could all so easily be over with just a phone call 

[Doddsie]

How much was the CBX next door?

[darrsi]

Lovely, a family friend had one of those, and my brother had a CBX1000 waiting for him at home that he'd already bought when he passed his test on his 17th birthday!!! 

[Millietant]

I'm with Doddsie on this - where is the Suzuki in that picture, all I can see is a CBX 1000


:-)

[Hedgetrimmer]

Don't think I didn't have a little drool over that one too 



Think it was £6995 - so not affordable for me 
I'd definitely have to change the bars on that one - it had some really ugly things on there



but was a really clean, standard example.

[darrsi]

The only thing about the CBX was the fact that it was almost rude to not keep the engine in good nick.


I remember my brother spending at least 90 minutes every Saturday meticulously cleaning the engine with small brushes and then polishing it.


He moved on to the Kawasaki Z1300 when he was 18yrs old!
 

[YamFazFan]

Compared with the whopping prices H2's/H1's/Z1's..even FS1E's!..seem to go for nowadays,£2995 seems value for a good usable classic bike.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Compared with the whopping prices H2's/H1's/Z1's..even FS1E's!..seem to go for nowadays,£2995 seems value for a good usable classic bike.

That's why it was so tempting. I used to love my Z650s, but even nice examples of those are fetching silly money nowadays 

[Deefer666]

A mate of mine has a Gs1000s in blue and white complete with factory nose cone.... It ain't moved in years, bastard won't sell it to me.

[Hedgetrimmer]

What I don't understand is this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUZUKI-GS1000E-fully-restored-/181220542928?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item2a319609d0

Higher mileage, not standard, 2 grand more. Why?
Although it's more what I'd be tempted to do with one, only I'd go further. So if I really wanted one of these, probably better to buy one in need of restoration.

   Maybe what I really need is two! 

[YamFazFan]

A mate of mine has a Gs1000s in blue and white complete with factory nose cone.... It ain't moved in years, bastard won't sell it to me.

That's the model they nicknamed 'The ice cream van' isn't it?!.Something to do with the colour scheme I think.pretty sure its the most valuable one now tho.

[Deefer666]

Yup, its the Ice Cream Van, and they are very sort after. I sold an original nosecone from one to a guy in the states for £270 a few years back.

[YamFazFan]

What I don't understand is this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUZUKI-GS1000E-fully-restored-/181220542928?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item2a319609d0

Higher mileage, not standard, 2 grand more. Why?
Although it's more what I'd be tempted to do with one, only I'd go further. So if I really wanted one of these, probably better to buy one in need of restoration.

   Maybe what I really need is two! 

If the showroom GS is an import I guess that's gonna affect the price just little bit,(original U.K registered classic Japanese bikes always seem to command a higher price don't they).A bit like the matching engine/frame numbers issue I suppose.I still prefer the showroom bike over the ebay one,but then I like to see these old bikes in standard trim.Go on you KNOW you want it! .

[Dead Eye]

Oh, he KNOWS he wants it... he's just trying to find a way to break it to his bank account...

[ogri48]

I love the old aircooled stuff, but I won't let nostalgia blind me enough to pay daft money...genuine z1bs on eBay are going for stupid numbers like twenty grand...it's ridiculous.
Price on that gs thou seems very, very reasonable, and it will only go up, but whether you can live with one after. A tool like your fazer is something else.
Most of my riding is two up now, me and my missus love the old bike scene,I just don't getthe same kick out of performance stuff now. For her, old bikes are much better too, huge seats, low pegs, and a more relaxed ride generally. I know it's an age thing, but I'm ok with that, I've been tear arsing around since I passed my test in '77, I'm well overdue a rest lol. And I'm just glad I made it through the crazy years too. bikes may change, the love of bikes never does

[Hedgetrimmer]

Oh, he KNOWS he wants it... he's just trying to find a way to break it to his bank account...

Woah, no, wait, wait, wait! 

Jeez, I'd love to. Right now it would mean another bank loan having just paid off the Fazer one. Well, ok, I could live with that. And as mentioned, there's room in the garage now. But I'm likely to be moving next year, and don't know what kind of parking facilities I might end up with, so it can't happen right now. Why do these things always come up at the wrong time?! 

I too have an attachment to the big air cooled fours ogri. They're what we had when we started riding, we grew to love them, and that fondness remains. It's true that modern bikes may do things much better, but that changes nothing. The Fazer will stay and one day I hope to have something similar to this GS parked up in the garage/garden of wherever I go to, and I'm sure this will happen. But not now. Right now I haven't really seriously considered what I might like next, this just tempted me cos it was there. There are others I would think about too, but I'll sit and have a ponder on that when the time comes - and then I'll see what's around; bound to be something I fancy, or that grabs me like this GS did.

[VNA - BMW Wank]

If the showroom GS is an import I guess that's gonna affect the price just little bit

Both are showroom bikes, both are imports, and yeah usually standard bikes fetch more. 

For her, old bikes are much better too, huge seats, low pegs, and a more relaxed ride generally.

That GS looks like it's fitted with a foccing water bed! 

How about.....an XJR1300.  Loads of em out there, old school air cooled motor, but with modern suspension, electrics, nice big fat tyres etc etc.   

That GS certainly looks spotless (who's the dealer - are they importing a lot of this stuff?), but don't forget they'll still need a bit of fettling, some more than you might bargain for.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Exactly what I thought about the seat! Don't know if U.S. spec ones were like that, or it's just been modded. I'm sure U.K. ones didn't have seats quite that huge? Easily changed though.

XJR? Yeah, it's got a lot going for it. But I think it's more of a nostalgia trip with the GS. I've had 3 Z650s now: one, a U.S. import from D.K. Spares in Stoke - ran sweet as a nut, no problems. One a U.K. F1 that was (afaik) used up to when I bought it, but not high mileage for all that. Also no problems.

Then there was a Z1. Didn't run great, spent some time stripping, refreshing and rebuilding, got it running ok, but didn't click with it at the time - another U.S. import.

Two 750 H2s - one a looney-tunes Denco job - had a bit of a sticky gearchange, but was rideable - if you class something that would definitely eventually kill you as that! U.S. import. The other a U.S. import with major problems that couldn't be rectified with anything short of an engine change. That one is the one to learn from, as you're quite right, you never know what kind of problems you might be buying into with these old classics. I guess if I was serious about it, I'd try to find out if there was any available history on the bike first. Unlikely with an import though. So then it would be a test ride, and see what kind of warranty (if any) I might get with it.

The showroom is M/C Megastore, Swindon - a clothing outlet more than a bike seller, and I'm not sure what their set-up is. As said, they had the CBX, GS750 and a CB750 too, but they also have an immaculate RC51 and a number of other odds and ends. I don't even know if they have their own workshop. Maybe they just put bikes in their showroom for customers for a fee. I do, however, know a local chap (who looks after my Fazer) who has many customers with older stuff like this, so there is someone I know I can trust who could keep it running sweet if there are no catastrophic problems. I think if it was good enough on a test ride, I'd be inclined to risk it.

But since I'm not going for it anyway, it's just a wishful thinking discussion point    

[fazed]

If you fancy one - have it, we're all too old not to have the toys we want, why else do we all work for most of our lives if we can't enjoy ourselves now and again!!

[Simon.Pieman]

What I don't understand is this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUZUKI-GS1000E-fully-restored-/181220542928?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item2a319609d0

Higher mileage, not standard, 2 grand more. Why?

 Two reasons. Firstly it's got a Yoshi kit fitted which is highly desirable and secondly it's the very first model of GS1000. The ugly thing parked next to the CBX1000 is a later model produced when the kudos of having a GS1000 was long gone.