Gs850g vs 650g

[Steve]

Hopefully you are not a very large person. The 550L is a bit smaller than the 650, and has about 2/3 the power. I know there are several that really like them, but the lack of power and higher engine speeds on the road pretty much relegate them to commuter use for me.

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[GSXR7ED]

Hopefully you are not a very large person. The 550L is a bit smaller than the 650, and has about 2/3 the power. I know there are several that really like them, but the lack of power and higher engine speeds on the road pretty much relegate them to commuter use for me.

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I sat on Cheryl's 550 and it felt tiny...I'm 5'7" and weigh 190+ and prefer a 750.

I could handle an 850 since my "T" is close to 500 lbs. But I do like streamline...so the 850 may have too much girth.


Ed

 

[Admiral Beez]

I like the GS650G for its relative light weight, shaft drive, air cooling and power over 60 hp. That’s about all I need. When I was looking for a GS bike I saw a GS850G, but thought it was much heavier, and to my taste the squared tail on the 850 isn’t as nice as the sloping tail on the 650.

 

[GSJim]

I agree with the Admiral. When I bought the 650G new in 1983, McBride Cycle (long gone) had the 650G and the 850G sitting side by side on the sales floor. I'm a small guy so the 650G just fit better. At the time I planned to use it mostly for commuting and occasional weekend runs with a bag full of camera stuff. I did a few two-up rides with my wife and it was OK for the back roads, but not the expressways. Solo riding was OK everywhere and I used to do a couple of 600 mile a day trips every summer. I always thought that if I was planning to do a lot of expressway riding that I would skip the 850 and go all the way to a faired and bagged 1100G.

Jim

 

[razorbacksrule]

Well the more I look the more I see for sale an 1100g just turned up. So many different ones close enough to go look at now .