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Is the GS850G up to this?

  • Thread starter Thread starter shirazdrum
  • Start date Start date
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shirazdrum

Guest
Hi,
My name is Chris and I?m new to your board. I have a dilemma of choosing between two bikes to take on a trip to South America in August.
The first bike is Suzuki GS850G and the other is a Honda CB750.
The CB750 has the high production figures and relative reliability and availability of the parts but I?ve always wanted a GS850 as well.
The GS has the shaft drive, dual front disk/single back, better gas mileage, bullet proof engine, bigger gas tank,?But there are not many of it around. With only few short years of production I?m left with not so big of spare parts market.

I know that this is a GS forum and I?m not questioning your patriotism toward this bike but do you honestly think that this machine (GS850G) is capable of such a trip? Given the situation which bike would you choose and why?
Any knowledge of production #s south of borders or worldwide?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Not only is the bike up to it...it may be the best all around mid-sized ship that Suzuki ever built. I had a CB 650 in the mid 80's and I can tell you this much...my GS 650 is nearly twice the bike. :-\\\

The 850 has more than enough power and the comfort factor is VERY high. Treat it to a full tune up (enter Basscliff) and you'll be set. Plus, you can't beat the shaft drive for the reliable factor, can't beat it.

OH...welcome to the best little bike site on the web, hands down. :p

Dave
 
Although I've never owned one, the 850's get more love here than any other model, I think.

Get one, do the proper maintenance required and ride that baby around the world if ya want to.......:p
 
You're asking a Suzuki forum to choose from either a Zook or a Hondah??????
I've actually owned a CB750. Great highway bike and very smooth.
But I'll have to go with the Zook.
It also depends on the condition of the two.
 
Greetings and Salutations!

Greetings and Salutations!

Hi Mr. shirazdrum,

Providing you get your GS850 into good mechanical shape, it will give you very few problems. You'll have to do a couple of minor mods to the electrical system and bring all of the other systems up to good operating parameters. Then you will have THE most reliable bike on the road today. Let me roll out the welcome mat for you, then we can talk about a "total refresh".

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous forum. Don't forget, we like pictures. Not you, your bike! :D

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
If you get the 850 make sure you pull off the rear wheel and check the condition of the splines. Clean out the old grease and use new moly based grease.
 
Wow, that was the 3 quickest replies I?ve ever seen. Must agree with you on the best little site.
I was secretly hoping for the zook, just needed a confirmation. :DIt's just pain to clean and service the chain when you can just ride something without. Plus Hondas never had any good brakes either.
I?ve been looking around and I haven't found anything really clean yet. What do you guys consider clean (I?m pretty anal) and how many miles is too much? Say for an 82 GS850.
Any model specific modification you'd suggest? Luggage rack, panniers, crash bar,....

Regards,
Chris
 
First of all welcome.

I've owned an old cb750. Ran excellent but very ugly. Not from the factory... no... no.. but from a metal flake blue rattle can paint job w/ the exhaust cut off under the frame with washers welded in for baffles. Besides the overwhelming noise factor. It rode down the highway well. Pretty smooth but not as smooth as my GS850GN does. No numb hands after a three hour ride. My longest on it so far. Have had it since early Dec. Love it! Would recomend highly :D.

--Al
 
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I can't even keep up replying. Thanks a lot for the warm welcome, I know I?m in a right place and people I can count on for information when I break down some where south of the border.
This picture has been my wallpaper for a long time; it's just elegant to look at.
Thought I would share
1981_GS850G_AUsales1b_1000.jpg
 
I've got 130,000+ on the '80 850 I bought new. On the '80 I bought a couple of years ago I have been all over the eastern U.S. from Wisconsin to Boston to Florida. On the 82 850 I recently traded I have been to Nova Scotia and back to Florida.

I have owned two CB750s. One I bought in London back in 1970 less than a year after they came out. Then I bought an '77 F model new. I loved them both. But the 850 is clearly superior, especially with regard to touring. For one thing having a sealed shaft drive instead of a chain exposed to the elements means less daily maintenance and greater peace of mind.

850s were sold somewhere in the world for at least 8 years. Because they are so durable there are still a fair number of them around. You aren't likely to need parts, but if you do, they aren't exactly rare. I buy my 850 case guards off JC Whitney. Anyway, in this day of the internet, UPS, and FedEx the odds of you getting stuck somewhere for lack of a part are slim. And if it is knowledge you are worrying about, all you have to do is get online and log in here; somebody will be able to tell you how to fix whatever is wrong with your GS.

Just make sure the bike is well prepped--new oil, middle and hub gear lube. Grease the hub splines. Get some case guards. Replace the stator and regulator/rectifier with quality units. Put on some braided brake lines. Carry some spare oil filters and oil filter gasket, spare throttle and clutch cables, a set of bulbs, and spare spark plugs. I recommend a set of Continental tires, Conti-Tour rear, Conti-Blitz front. I can get up to 15,000 miles on a set. That should get you most of the way there and back depending upon where you are going. I assume you are going to be sticking to paved roads, or at least gravel. If you intend to do much trailing or soft surface, you don't want either one of the bikes you are considering.

Keep us posted on your prep. There are a lot of long distance riders on here who can give you good advice.
 
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Being a noobie I was hopin' the high mileage boys would chime in!

Tell 'em fellas'

--Nity --al

dpep said:
I've got 130,000+ on the '80 850 I bought new. On the '80 I bought a couple of years ago I have been all over the eastern U.S. from Wisconsin to Boston to Florida. On the 82 850 I recently traded I have been to Nova Scotia and back to Florida.

I have owned two CB750s. One I bought in London back in 1970 less than a year after they came out. Then I bought an '77 F model new. I loved them both. But the 850 is clearly superior, especially with regard to touring. For one thing having a sealed shaft drive instead of a chain exposed to the elements means less daily maintenance and greater peace of mind.

850s were sold somewhere in the world for at least 8 years. Because they are so durable there are still a fair number of them around. You aren't likely to need parts, but if you do, they aren't exactly rare. I buy my 850 case guards off JC Whitney. Anyway, in this day of the internet, UPS, and FedEx the odds of you getting stuck somewhere for lack of a part are slim. And if it is knowledge you are worrying about, all you have to do is get online and log in here; somebody will be able to tell you how to fix whatever is wrong with your GS.

Just make sure the bike is well prepped--new oil, middle and hub gear lube. Grease the hub splines. Get some case guards. Replace the stator and regulator/rectifier with quality units. Put on some braided brake lines. Carry some spare oil filters and oil filter gasket, spare throttle and clutch cables, a set of bulbs, and spare spark plugs. I recommend a set of Continental tires, Conti-Tour rear, Conti-Blitz front. I can get up to 15,000 miles on a set. That should get you most of the way there and back depending upon where you are going. I assume you are going to be sticking to paved roads, or at least gravel. If you intend to do much trailing or soft surface, you don't want either one of the bikes you are considering.

Keep us posted on you prep. There are a lot of long distance riders on here who can give you good advice.
Click to expand...
 
I have done two 2,000 mile in a week (or less) trips on my GS1000G with no problems.

Well maintained you should have no issues.

Anything most likely to go wrong that would stop your trip (for example a rectifier) are either easily available from Suzuki, aftermarket suppliers such as Z1 enterprises (on a next day service) or many HONDA ones can be substituted :D

Fork seals, brake pads, batteries, plugs, wires, coils are all pretty stock parts you should be able to get anywhere.....

Definitely worth checking condition of the wheel splines if it's a later model (1981+). The older ones are tougher, should come into your maintenance schedule anyway....
 
I never owned the 750, but I did have a CB900. Not a bad bike, very quick, but the parts from Honda are hard to get and the prices are in the stratosphere!!!! I could not believe how available and inexpensive the factory parts were for my Suzuki. After getting all the little quirks out of my Suzuki, it has been a great bike.
 
Thanks for all the info guys, keep'em coming.
If you had a choice between the years, what year 850 would you pick? i noticed that you mentioned that 81+ had some issues with splines on the shaft. were the older ones better?

Thanks
 
While some years have a more durable spline, I'd consider spline replacement a necessary pretrip item. Better to have a good one in there before you leave than find it's worn out in Guatamala.

The only other consideration I would have is getting an early model with VM carbs. Less likely to have problems far from home.
 
Me...all other things being equal...I would take the 850 because of maintanance concerns...there's just less of them...but it really depends on the general health of both bikes.

However, before planning trips to Southern North America and South America, I strongly suggest people read this:

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136505

Read all of it.
 
cb 750 or 850 suzuki

cb 750 or 850 suzuki

It depends on the year of the Cb750 Honda. they actually had a very long production from 1970 to 1978 (SOHC engines) From 1979 to I think 1987( DOHC engine), The nighthawk 750 being the last of them which was a VERY relieable bike and still very easy to find parts for. Someone mentioned earlier about a cb 900 being expensive. they are since they had a relatively short of only 5 yrs and 2 models the cb 900 F and cb 900 c which some, but not all of the parts interchange, since one is a shaft and the other a chain. I think if i was worried about the bike breaking down in a foriegn country and having to find parts, i would take the honda. If not i would take the suzuki. Even locally a DOHC honda is way easier to find parts for than an 850 suzuki. Now a 750 or 1000 suzuki is a different story
 
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