GS1000L needs some love

[1978GS550Minnesota]

I have been walking past this GS1000L for at least five or six years now. Springs, summers, falls, and winters, I have never seen it move. It had a cover on it for a while. It's in my neighborhood on the east side of Saint Paul, Minnesota. A few years ago I spoke with a guy living in the duplex apartment there who claimed to be the owner of the bike. He said he doesn't have a title for it, and he'd take $700 for it. I'm not sure what the procedure would be to get a replacement title for it, or if it was stolen, or if he's the real owner, or what. My GS550 of the same era uses the engine serial number for the VIN, so maybe I could get the serial number off this bike and check the motor vehicle records for it. I sure don't need another project right now, but maybe some GSR member here does. What do you think?

 

[rphillips]

Picture looks good for been sitting out there for that long... Should be a good project. Think how good you'd feel getting that thing back up and on the road, ya'll deserve each other.. Price should be negotiateable after that long. I've not heard of eng. # being used for registration, Do ya'll use the VIN for anything? It seems If ya'll swap an eng., your reg. wouldn't be valid anymore.

 

[eil]

Look up your state's process for re-titling a vehicle. Some states make it easy, some make it impossible. Sometimes it's just a gamble and the best you can do is take out a bond against the value of the bike in case someone comes to claim it after you've got it all fixed up. At the very least, you will probably want to run the VIN past the police to see if it's stolen. You can call up your DMV if you want as a starting point, but make sure to verify every single word they say. I know of many people who have been burned by DMV employees just spouting off complete and utter nonsense having nothing to do with reality.

That's an '81 or newer, so the VIN is on the headstock of the frame. Do not use the engine number.

Looking at the pictures, and how long it's been sitting, and the fact that it doesn't have a title, it doesn't feel like a $700 bike in my book, but that's between you and the seller.

 

[dpep]

My rule of thumb for old motorcycles has been that if it is not running and it is not a rare collectible it is a parts bike.

 

[LAB3]

My rule of thumb for old motorcycles has been that if it is not running and it is not a rare collectible it is a parts bike.

Fair enough although if the owner is getting grey it comes down to "If it ran why did you park it?" then the answer to that question could very well land you something worth playing with. Does in my case anyhow.

 

[Suzukian]

If it's his bike, and he had it registered once, he should have no problem getting a title for it. Anything else is an excuse, he could have obtained the bike without a title, and has no idea who he got it with. That combined with the fact that it's an "L" model, personally, he'd have to give me $500 to take it away. If he could get the title, and you could see if the motor turned over, it could make a nice trike.