Gs550es?

[Jay115]

Hey everyone,

I'm curious what people think about a 1986 GS550ES for a first bike. I've been doing some of my research by lurking here and was looking at a GS500E/F or Ninja 500 for a starter bike. I'm not finding alot of information on the bike outside of maintinence and repair. That and the broucher from gsresources.

For backround, I took the MSF this past fall and had a blast. It was great instruction for a good price. I've looked into gear and gotten a pretty good idea of what I want. I just need to spend some time trying things on at the shops. Although if anyone has an idea for textile, not mesh, pants I could use in hot humid weather that would be great as well.

Thanks for the time and input.

[UberGoober]

GS Suzukis are really wonderful old bikes in just about any size. They are well designed, air cooled engines that hold up pretty well. If the bike has been well taken care of, it should still hold up well. The design of the ES model still looks pretty good for its age, maybe not as heart stopping as a Honda Interceptor of the same era, but still good and clean.

Bikes under 600ccs were common in the mid eighties because there was a protectionist tariff that the US enacted to protect Harley Davidson from the big, bad Japanese. Anything over a certain CC size and there was an ungodly mark-up to be paid. So the Japanese brought in bikes just under that mark. A lot of them are considered to be classics today.

These bikes will not be as fast or light as most bikes you will find today. They will be stable, easy to ride with very moderate power (But still plenty fast enough for most people) and very comfortable. It would be a great starter bike and one in nice condition would probably get a lot of attention on bike nights from older guys who rode them back in the day.

[Jay115]

Thanks very much. This is exactly what I was hoping to see. I've got an old gs500e and a ninja 500 to look at as well, but if this bike is in shape the money is right.