What are the most beautiful GS models? Aesthetic questions

[rphillips]

The U.S. models of the GS850 and GS1000 G bikes look great, their paint schemes are way blaaaaah compared Garryzoro's beautiful paint on his Irish paint scheme.

[oldGSfan]

You're not wrong; those 450s were distinctive and stunning. A 450 in decent shape really does turn heads.

At least one person agrees with me on that GS450S. In the summer of '81 my step-brother went down to Houma, Louisiana (about 45 minutes Southeast of Thibodeaux, Louisiana, to quote Jerry Reed's Amos Moses) to work on an oil rig. He convinced me to go, to make some college money. Most of our $ went toward killing brain cells, but he got a black GS450S and it scared him - he'd never ridden. But I sure had, and that bike was mine - along with a Toyota Corolla that had a dangerously shaky pitman arm and no starter, so I had to run/bump start it alone - quite a good workout!

Anyway, I was struck by how good that bike was, because I had ridden hand-me-downs, Honda 350s, Yamaha DT 2-strokes, and the like. It hustled, handled, and stopped. Most Suzukis, especially the 'lunchbox' GS1100Es shafties, though handsome, look way too chunky for my impeccable taste, ha! To me the GS450S looked like a 4/5-scale R90S, definitely a Euro look. Americans don't tend to like that (hello buckhorn bars...) - but I do. Just too big for it, unfortunately.