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paperclip
Guest
So let me get this straight, my grey hair and love for the 80's means I'm no longer cool? Yeah, right. Next thing you'll be telling me is that Faster Pussycat is no longer together...
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Jontheguru
Guest
Harleys? Hate'em. Don't know why. Not original, old technology I guess. Too much fake flash and chrome. I prefer the transition years from the old Japanese standard bikes to the superbikes; specifically 1980 to about 1986, em strange, that’s about the era of the GS's. Going from the unfaired to the full fairing with the bubble type windscreen, from the Mad Max style to the GS1150ES and of course triumphantly to the 1986 GSXR's. The looks send shivers up my spine. Not only is it the looks, but the pure idea of technology finally being unleashed in a fantastic feat of speed and power. Not only is it about speed and power, but SPEED AND POWER ON A TWO WHEELED DEATH MACHINE. I LOVE IT!!! There’s a lot of appeal in the idea of an era, I see it every time I look on this site and see such fine machines that are often represented here. I can’t get enough. Not to say I’m stuck in the past, I fully appreciate the beauty and refinement as can be seen in a Yamaha R-1, and I will be the first to say it is one remarkable piece of artwork. I just can’t get over such bikes like the early TZ’s, GS’s, GPZ’s, and Interceptors. To sum up, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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courier11sec
Guest
Wow. I just wasted 20 minutes of my life reading this thread.
Crap...
Crap...
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Zooks
Guest
So do it!!! Sounds like a great project.
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dlancer
Guest
I used to own a GV1200 Madura. It looked very "eighties" and sucked on ergonomics. The compromise between apearance, style and function was frustrating. It had the ability to hit 100 mph at a stunning rate ( I regularly had sore forearms from a brisk ride) but riding position meant my helmet rode up annoyingly with wind coming up the chest. I loved the power and tried to find a way to get a better riding position. This is what I came up with:
I like the look of blue Madura. It sort of reminds me of a Vmax. When you think about how long a style of bike hangs around they really don't change all that much thru the years. Look how long the Vmax has been around or the Honda Rebel on the other end of the bike scene. I bought a new 1998 Yamaha Vstar 650. Nine years later the bike is nearly the same. In the past week I have thought of selling both my 80' GS1000L and my 84' Honda VF750 Interceptor in order to get one newer cruiser model,but I'm 53 years old now and I find my GS to be very comfy and easy to ride even on long rides.
Dennis
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redtires
Guest
I've owned two of the things, and I love the bikes, but seriously they're pretty ugly. I'll note that the comments in this thread largely pertain to L models.
What IS that thing? The guages are too high above the handlebars, the headlight is too high in general, it has a chrome grab handle/sissy bar/oddity on the back, some of them have these grotesquely anatomically correct scalloped butt cheek seats, and more, which I'll get to in a minute.
Some of them aren't ugly. Those bikes are called modified GSs. They're slightly tweaked in a lot of little areas.
80GS1000's bike is a nice example, though I've always had a thing against the wes cooley "fairing" up front, which is just this giant plastic lantern frame around the headlight.
Ditch the toolbag and so's Tracy Borchert's
What strikes me as bizarre about thegsresources (however much I love this place), is there are so many people obsessed with polishing and restoring these 25 year old time capsules from an era of hideous, wretched excess. Scroll through the "Appearance Mods" forum, and the vast majority of the threads you see will be about polishing chrome, getting rid of rust, how to bolt the cam end caps back on, or something as mundane as how to add saddle bags. It's a rare pleasure to find a thread that's actually about appearance mods.
Remember the bike Peter Fonda rode in Easy Rider? It was stretched out, lowered in the back, longer, rising toward the handlebars. It was a caricature of a motorcycle.
That inspired the rising to the right styling of the GS L models. The front wheel is too big. The rear is too small. It apes the classic chopper down to the joke pullback handlebars, minus any of the character or throbbing v-twin sex appeal. The fenders are chrome of all things, while the rest of the bike is painted. It's a design that shouts at you, only it's not one loud shout, it's a whole bunch of little ones from every ill-matched part all vying for attention of the eye.
As I'd hinted at, they didn't do all this to copy a Harley and try to steal the magic of a terrible motorcycle that had to be financially rescued by tariffs. They did this all wrapped around a japanese high revving four cylinder, making a confusing melange of ingredients all the more disturbing to the senses.
They're a GREAT platform for a chopper, bobber, streetfighter, cafe racer, etc, but stock, they just don't do it for me.
man, I havent read all the posts here yet,but let me say FINALLY! Finally somoen here feels tghe same way i do about these bikes.I own a 1000 L and after I got rid ot the schwinn bicyle chrome fenders,the buckhorn handlebars,the king and queen seat,it is slowly becoming what a motorcycle is supposed to look like.It is all about the engine.If these engines were not so phenomenal i would gve up on mu bike.But after soem investment I will have a sort of retro modern day cool looking bike.An abomination to the purists,but it is MY bike and I am changin' it too look like it had the potential to look.Now,I will return to the rest of the posts here.
Tracy, i never liked the tool bag,but i love your bike.I have said this many times before.Ron B
but I'm 53 years old now and I find my GS to be very comfy and easy to ride even on long rides.
I am 57.Glad to see somone in my age category that rides one of these old superbikes.I like mine a lot better than my former goldwing or royal star.Ron B
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80GS1000
Guest
Pretty much with you on this Ron. If it weren't for the rockstar low RPM torque, ridiculously great sounding, and bulletproof nature of the GS motor, and a healthy bit of inspiration by the fact that they used to race the GS1000 and WIN, REPEATEDLY, I'd probably have sold the GS1000 and bought a newer Gixxer 750 or R1 in the sportbike camp, or a Speed Triple or Ducati Monster, or FZ1 in the factory 'fighter class and be done with it.
But, I see loads of potential in this bike mostly due to its motor, so accenting the motor and tranny with modern running gear (wider radial tires/brakes that work/suspension that doesn't wallow & weave) is the right thing to do IMO. Because the stock suspension, skinny bias ply tires, and brakes, for lack of a better word, suck. And when turned into a racebike/sportbike, it's pretty good looking too.
Inspiration:
both of which are a far cry from the oldschool-sportbike-hiding-in-a-cruiser-body stock GS1000E:
which will resemble something like this in the end:
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n the works: Engine rebuild. Frame bracing. GSXR 1000 monoshock conversion.
frame bracing? How are you going to do that? I am interested in knowing that.I have never been a knee dragger,but the flexiflyer name these bikes earned for a reason.
frame bracing? How are you going to do that? I am interested in knowing that.I have never been a knee dragger,but the flexiflyer name these bikes earned for a reason.
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Serious Tim
Guest
Weird. I've been on quite a few enthusiast forums over the last few years (even started a few myself), and it's the first time that I've encountered a thread like this by which people seem to make excuses for ownership....
"Yeah, I think it's ugly, but I ride one simply because (it's cheap/it's reliable/somebody gave it to me)."
After only a couple days and a couple posts here on GSresource, I hope this thread isn't representative of the membership at large.
I could walk into any dealership and pick a bike off the showroom floor, but I like my L because it's classically styled......it's safe, powerful, and predictable......and for cruising along the lakeshore on a warm day, it's a great ride. It's a motorcycle in the motorcycle tradition, meaning that it has chrome and a distinctive lack of tupperware. It makes no excuses for what it is. It's not meant for blazing along at 100 mph in stock form, it's not meant for being loud and garish either. There's still some of us left who don't want either.
My .02
"Yeah, I think it's ugly, but I ride one simply because (it's cheap/it's reliable/somebody gave it to me)."
After only a couple days and a couple posts here on GSresource, I hope this thread isn't representative of the membership at large.
I could walk into any dealership and pick a bike off the showroom floor, but I like my L because it's classically styled......it's safe, powerful, and predictable......and for cruising along the lakeshore on a warm day, it's a great ride. It's a motorcycle in the motorcycle tradition, meaning that it has chrome and a distinctive lack of tupperware. It makes no excuses for what it is. It's not meant for blazing along at 100 mph in stock form, it's not meant for being loud and garish either. There's still some of us left who don't want either.
My .02
Man,that guy is so outta my league it aint even funny.I cant believe some one can doo all that.I wouldnt want to if i could.Nevertheless,what a great engineering job he did.
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80GS1000
Guest
Well, the GS frame is actually pretty stiff, but the extra load I'm putting on it by the monoshock conversion and an offset front sprocket with a wide rear tire warrants a bit of bracing. Excellent info here: http://oldskoolsuzuki.info/patrick/hardcorekats/articles/gsx_frame_stiff/index.htm
The flexy flyer moniker could really be given to the Kaw Z1, the GS1000 frame was/is pretty rock solid by comparison.
Go watch "They Call Him Fast Freddy" and you'll see what I mean - the Kaw frame was flexing all over the place, while the Yoshi GS1000 frame was stiff. The weave/wobble you find when leaned over hard on these bikes in stock form is mostly due to flexing of the stock forks and swingarm, but that problem can be corrected with some upgraded parts.
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Well, the GS frame is actually pretty stiff, but the extra load I'm putting on it by the monoshock conversion and an offset front sprocket with a wide rear tire warrants a bit of bracing. Excellent info here: http://oldskoolsuzuki.info/patrick/hardcorekats/articles/gsx_frame_stiff/index.htm
The flexy flyer moniker could really be given to the Kaw Z1, the GS1000 frame was/is pretty rock solid by comparison.
The weave/wobble you find when leaned over hard on these bikes in stock form is mostly due to flexing of the stock forks and swingarm, but that problem can be corrected with some upgraded parts.
Yes i have read many times about the kz 900 flexy frames.See,for me, i cant tell the difference.I have ridden my bike over 120 miles an hour down the freeway and there is absolutely no wobble or anything scary except the speed itself.I do not lean way over on any road so the flexiflyer quote is one from cycle world in one of their american flyers articles.I wish I had that article now.A guy built an 1100 up to 160 horsepower and said he would never ride it,it was just for looks.Now that's dumb.
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dlancer
Guest
Thats the same reason I love my L model. I was riding yesterday and I stopped to take a short break. I was looking at my bike and I thought around 1995 my 1980 L model was just a little goofy looking old bike. Here it is 2007 and my bike is now a really nice looking CLASSIC motorbike.
Dennis
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Roger P.
Guest
Hey, they were still learning to make cruisers back then, using what they had at hand. The Intruder 750 in '86 was their final breakthrough into a properly designed cruiser style motorcycle. I'd challenge you to find any decent looking inline four cruiser. The Yamaha 650 Maxim comes to mind, as well as the Maxim X, but it was more of a mini-musclebike than a hardcore cruiser. I also agree, the Madura plumbed the depths of cruiser styling, along with the Virago 920, and the first Vulcan 750. Still, I do agree that the L models are cosmetically challenged, the 16V 550L and the 650L being the homeliest.
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gs650girl
Guest
thanks
thanks
hey Isaac, I just wanted to let you know that your bike looks awesome! When I had just gotten my bike I found this site and I found pictures of yours on here when it had just first started to get chopped and it gave me ideas for my own...so I just wanted to say thanks and that it looks great!\\
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thanks
hey Isaac, I just wanted to let you know that your bike looks awesome! When I had just gotten my bike I found this site and I found pictures of yours on here when it had just first started to get chopped and it gave me ideas for my own...so I just wanted to say thanks and that it looks great!\\
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GS Farmer
Guest
Whoa there pardner. Better be careful what you say. Haven't you herd about the new hate crime legislation coming out of washington??? News has it that bill was lobbied for by L-Model owners!!!!
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