Hello fellow GS owners

[Paint It Black]

I’ve been nosing around the site for a while, thought it was about time I signed up and said hi,
owned my GS thou for 35 years, rode it for nearly twenty years then parked it at the back of the garage as it needed a lot of work that I didn’t have the time to do,
rode other bikes for a few years - xjr1300, 1200 bonneville, 1200 scrambler, 900 scrambler etc, then last winter got the old GS out of mothballs and set about making it roadworthy + a few improvements- wider spoked wheels, 1085 big bore, hindle pipe, improved brake setup,etc,
done around 4k miles in last few months, enjoyed riding the old girl even more than I expected

 

[Diirk]

Those spoked wheels look really nice!

 

[Paint It Black]

Those spoked wheels look really nice!

Thanks, the hubs are early gs750 , I had the wheel built with a 4.5 x 17 rear and 2.15 x 19 front , hubs and rims (alloy) are ceracoted black, stainless spokes,
running a 150/70 r 17 on the rear , 110/80 r 19 up front

 

[Suzukian]

Very nice looking bike. You left enough chrome on there and made it work.

 

[Paint It Black]

Very nice looking bike. You left enough chrome on there and made it work.

Thanks you obviously have excellent taste
I like to go stealth mode with just enough shiny bits to keep it interesting

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Welcome.
If you had the 1200 Scrambler long enough to form any opinions on its good/bad points, I’d like to pick your brain. Feel free to PM me or post your thought here if you like. I’m really interested in the XC.

 

[Paint It Black]

Welcome.
If you had the 1200 Scrambler long enough to form any opinions on its good/bad points, I’d like to pick your brain. Feel free to PM me or post your thought here if you like. I’m really interested in the XC.

Hi Rich, I owned an XE for a year and a half, got a great deal on an ex demo bike, great torquey engine, great brakes, suspension not as good as it looks, impossible to dial out the overly harsh high speed damping, exhaust cooks your right leg, found it too tall, and I’m 6’1” with 34” inseam, toppled off a couple of times when had to stop on a camber, generally liked the bike but too tall so traded for an XC which I still own but will be putting up for sale soon , once I’ve returned it to original spec, XC has all the same pluses and minuses as the XE but in a more manageable height, which makes it a better street bike, I fitted a low pipe to avoid cooking my leg,which also allows throwing on a pair of saddle bags, generally a decent bike , too much tech for me but that’s all modern machines,
after getting the GS back on the road I’ve found I like riding it a lot more than the 1200 scrambler, so the scrambler is going and plan on making the GS my main bike and adding a hotter cam and possibly big bore to my air cooled scrambler, which is a real fun bike on the back roads but not very quick
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[Paint It Black]

1200 XC with low pipe

 

[Paint It Black]

air cooled scrambler,
you may notice a common theme with my bikes

 

[steve murdoch]

Welcome to the site.
Extra power, better suspension...i bet the GS is a blast to ride.

 

[Paint It Black]

Welcome to the site.
Extra power, better suspension...i bet the GS is a blast to ride.

Thanks for the welcome,
the GS always was a blast to ride , the upgrades have made it even better,
the ohlins shocks are a massive improvement over the air shocks they’ve replaced, the cartridge emulators work very well, highly recommended,
the front brake setup which I copied from salty monk - fireblade floating discs zx10 calipers and master cylinder, homemade mounting brackets, is a very big step forward from stock in terms of performance and feel, the wider modern rubber, I’ve got metzeler roadtec fitted, inspire confidence and the extra get up and go from the 1085 just adds to the enjoyment,
im really pleased with how it’s turned out, so glad I didn’t sell it years ago, and I nearly did

 

[Baatfam]

Bigger photo...

 

[Paint It Black]

Bigger photo...

Thanks,
are you sure it’s bigger ? Looks about the same on my phone

 

[Baatfam]

Thanks,
are you sure it’s bigger ? Looks about the same on my phone

Well, actually it's not bigger. It is the same size as your attachment after it gets opened.

This just makes it easier for folks to get a good look at a very nice bike...

 

[Paint It Black]

Oh ok, thanks
And thanks for the compliment towards my bike :encouragement:

 

[Suzukian]

I think the fork bellows are something all bikes could use to keep the stuff out of there that can blows your fork seals, and they look good too.

 

[Paint It Black]

I think the fork bellows are something all bikes could use to keep the stuff out of there that can blows your fork seals, and they look good too.

I’d have to agree, I fit them to all my bikes,
we call them fork gaiters on this side of the pond :encouragement:

 

[Suzukian]

I like "gainters" better. Bellows make them sound like an Accordion part.

 

[Paint It Black]

that genuinely did make me lol :biggrin-new: :encouragement: