79 GS1000E Was My "First"

[Pipefighter]

Hello folks, I live in the San Francisco bay area, one of the greatest places for riding on the planet. In 1988, I was in Bend Oregon for a friends wedding. He lived on the border of the Deschutes National Park and owned some sort of large frame, big bore, Yamaha dirt bike. My previous riding experience was limited to mini-bikes and a HondaMatic 400, basically throttle and brakes. No clutch levers, foot shifters etc..., just gas and go. My friend gave me a quick tutorial on his dirt bike, and before you know it, I was flying through the woods having the time of my life! Needless to say I was bit by the motorcycle bug. At the time I lived in San Francisco proper and as soon as I got back from Oregon, I started pouring through local for sale ads looking for my first bike. There was a freebie paper where you could post pictures of your vehicles for sale and I came across one for a 1979 Suzuki GS1000E, 4500 miles, $1000.00. Bingo, just what the doctor ordered. Yes it was a large, powerful bike for a beginner, but I'm 6'5" and at the time probably weighed around 230 lbs. The bike was out in the suburbs which is what I looked for... Most city bikes were not well kept and street parked. A friend who was both an experienced rider and mechanic drove out with me to look at the bike. When I first laid eyes on it, I knew it was the one, it was absolutely cherry! Turns out, the seller was the second owner. He told me the person he bought it from was scared witless by the bike, too powerful, too fast. My friend looked it over and took it out for a spin coming back with two thumbs up. After some negotiating, I got it for $800.00, best deal ever! My friend rode it back to the city, and it was all I could do to keep up. I taught myself how to ride on it and 30 years later, I still own it. I've had other bikes in the meantime, 200O Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa, 2004 Honda RC51 Nicky Hayden Special Edition and a 1998 Yamaha R1. I've sold those bikes but old reliable, never. While it's no longer "cherry", I've done all the work on it myself to keep it going, with a few changes, and it still rides and handles amazingly. The last time my bike was garaged was when I bought it! It's been street/outdoors parked ever since. Which brings me to why I'm here. Since I bought the bike, it's had charging system gremlins, wreaking havoc on batteries. I came across the GS Resources and bye bye gremlins! I want to take my old GS to another level, but that's for the technical forums. Cheers!

 

[dorkburger]

Cool.
I like long term owner stories. I've had mine since '99. It will be a cold day when I sell it.....

 

[Pipefighter]

Cold day indeed!

 

[limeex2]

I was ready to all my GS stuff when I ran across this forum. My kids will fight over? my GS's when I croak.

 

[Redman]

Hello folks, I live in the San Francisco bay area, one of the greatest places for riding on the planet.

In 1988, I was in Bend Oregon for a friends wedding. He lived on the border of the Deschutes National Park and owned some sort of large frame, big bore, Yamaha dirt bike. My previous riding experience was limited to mini-bikes and a HondaMatic 400, basically throttle and brakes. No clutch levers, foot shifters etc..., just gas and go. My friend gave me a quick tutorial on his dirt bike, and before you know it, I was flying through the woods having the time of my life! Needless to say I was bit by the motorcycle bug.

At the time I lived in San Francisco proper and as soon as I got back from Oregon, I started pouring through local for sale ads looking for my first bike. There was a freebie paper where you could post pictures of your vehicles for sale and I came across one for a 1979 Suzuki GS1000E, 4500 miles, $1000.00. Bingo, just what the doctor ordered. Yes it was a large, powerful bike for a beginner, but I'm 6'5" and at the time probably weighed around 230 lbs. The bike was out in the suburbs which is what I looked for... Most city bikes were not well kept and street parked. A friend who was both an experienced rider and mechanic drove out with me to look at the bike. When I first laid eyes on it, I knew it was the one, it was absolutely cherry! Turns out, the seller was the second owner. He told me the person he bought it from was scared witless by the bike, too powerful, too fast. My friend looked it over and took it out for a spin coming back with two thumbs up. After some negotiating, I got it for $800.00, best deal ever! My friend rode it back to the city, and it was all I could do to keep up.

I taught myself how to ride on it and 30 years later, I still own it. I've had other bikes in the meantime, 200O Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa, 2004 Honda RC51 Nicky Hayden Special Edition and a 1998 Yamaha R1. I've sold those bikes but old reliable, never. While it's no longer "cherry", I've done all the work on it myself to keep it going, with a few changes, and it still rides and handles amazingly.

The last time my bike was garaged was when I bought it! It's been street/outdoors parked ever since.

Which brings me to why I'm here. Since I bought the bike, it's had charging system gremlins, wreaking havoc on batteries. I came across the GS Resources and bye bye gremlins! I want to take my old GS to another level, but that's for the technical forums.

Cheers!

Good to hear this story.
Thanks for the introduction.

Tell us how well it survived being outside for 30 years.

............. I came across the GS Resources and bye bye gremlins! ..............

All since February, and without any post?

 

[Pipefighter]

To answer your second question, I was shy to jump in. First forum I've ever joined. Also soon after I joined, I spent 12 weeks working 7 days a week, 12 to 14 hour days. Then I headed to the east coast for 3 months. Right now I'm doing some work on my bike and need some help with a vexing issue. I'll post the question in the technical forum. As I mentioned in my post, my bike has been parked outdoors since the day I got it, 30 years ago. That being said, it's a teeny bit rough around the edges, but not trashed and being held together with duct tape.