Poeple Sighting our bikes

[Redman]

Instead of sightings of GSes that we have seen, .... how about posting when we find somebody else looking at our bikes.

Was at Grand Rapids Metro Cruise (car show/cruise up and down about 8 miles of 28th Street, somewhat like the Woodward Cruise in Detroit) Saturday.
Was lots of parking lots with lots of classic cars and hot-rods parked, although those parking lots ropped off. Traffic on street was stop-n-crawl, and not good for air-cooled motorcycle, so I pulled into a fairly open parking lot, and parked GK near the street.

I stepped into a store and then came back out, and was a Kawazaki ZXRXXRRXXRZZZXR parked next to GK and a guy looking at one side of GK and walk around to look at other side.

He said he has a GS1000 that he had built up 6 - 8 years ago and liked to race guys with new bikes. ANd he told some stories about that.
Also has some GXRs.
I gave him a GSR card.
(You here yet, Deet?)

He is president and founder of the Grand Rapids "Unleashed Rydaz", vest and patch and rockers and all.

.

 

[Guest]

i get comments pretty regularly at the hardware store here in town. btw, i actually saw you, dave, riding in muskegon a couple months back, turning from laketon onto shoreline drive....

 

[Guest]

About a mile down the street from me is a small little "Harley" bar which I frequently stop at on my fire engine red 1100EX.

Although most of riders there really do look like leftovers from the last Halloween bash, most of them always ask me about my bike. Seems they either have had an old GS, or knew someone that did, etc...

Very rarely do I get the cold shoulder because I'm not on a Harley.

You either appreciate bikes or you don't I guess.

 

[Kerry]

About a mile down the street from me is a small little "Harley" bar which I frequently stop at on my fire engine red 1100EX.

Although most of riders there really do look like leftovers from the last Halloween bash, most of them always ask me about my bike. Seems they either have had an old GS, or knew someone that did, etc...

Very rarely do I get the cold shoulder because I'm not on a Harley.

You either appreciate bikes or you don't I guess.

I have a similar story. Was at Tim Horton's a couple weeks ago on a Saturday morning. Guy pulled up on a big Harley and parked next to me. Walked around The Flame! and came in and got his coffee and sat down. Looked around until he saw me and called over to me: "You can't kill those bikes, eh?" I replied, "You can kill individual parts, but the bike seems to be indestructible!"

I walked over to his table and chatted with him for awhile. He was a Veteran and a widower and a big-miles rider. He had his map out on the table and was mapping out a route for the day to meet up with some buddies. He actually invited me to ride along but I had somewhere I had to be in more-or-less the opposite direction; otherwise, would have been tickled to accompany him.

I've been lucky - rarely, if ever, have I experienced any H-D snobbishness first-hand...

 

[mighty13d]

I rode down to Concord NH a few weeks back from central Maine and in Gorham NH I caught up to a guy riding a newer HD. We rode together over to I93, down through Franconia Notch and most the way down to my exit. We had to stop at a Border Patrol check point and we chatted. He thought it was great that he had a riding partner and didn't even mention the fact that I was on a Jap Bike. I know I love riding with another bike on longer trips like that and I met a heck of a nice guy. I love it when it's just purely that you ride (if you aren't being a moron) and not anything about what you ride.

 

[Dodik]

last night was my pretty much first ride out with my friend he has a 08 ninja 250 learner bike, so we pulled up to some friends who were working valet, and parked there must have been 20 bikes that passed by withing that hour most new sport rockets all of them stared at the bike while stopped at red light. One of the restaurant's customers walked around the bike looking at it like it was a dinosaur or something. it was kinda funny to see people's reaction most looked like wtf is that why is it still on the road?

 

[chuck hahn]

I was at the local hardware a few weeks ago and Bill ( the guy that works there) came in and asked if i knew the people out there by my bike. I had the 78 1000 C and i told him that i didnt think so. Went out and there was an English man and his wife looking her over and taking pictures. He had on an AMA life member T shirt and i asked if he rode and he said yes.. I offered him to ride her up the road but he declined.. he commented on how rare it is to see that bike still out on the streets.

 

[ddaniels]

Rode my 1000G over to Competition Accessories in Springfield, OH once and one of the salesmen saw me ride up. I could barely get away from him in the store because he just wanted to keep talking about my bike. It was nice.

 

[Tim Tom]

I stopped at Wawa (for you non-east coasters think 711) during a ride out in PA with my buddy on his flash orange 08 CBR600RR. Of course I was riding my trusty 850G. While we sitting outside eating our sandwiches and older guy pulled up on a very flash Honda Repsol 1000. He parked next to our bikes, completed ignored my friends Honda and proceeded to tell us how he used to have (and love) a GS1000. Very nice man, he shared some fond memories of his GS street racing KZ's back in the day. I thought it was very cool

Thats one of the enjoyable perks about these machines, they seem to attract nice people

 

[corporalagarn]

last year, my girl and i parked our bikes outside a walmart, me on my 650, she on her ninja250. a guy made a beeline to us, and my girl started beaming...she is very proud of her bike, and thinks its the bees knees.

the man starting raving about my bike, and the gs line in general, stating he wished he still had his 850.

not a word about the ninja. i still gloat about that one. my bike was a piece of crap when i got it. she's something to be proud of now.

 

[Andr?]

Coming out of the hardware store last saturday a man on a new Triumph Bonneville was parked next to my 82 650E, he ask me if my bike was also a vintage reproduction. I was proud to say "No it is a reel old bike". those comments are the rewards for the long hours of shinning on old tarnished covers.

 

[MikeJ]

last year, my girl and i parked our bikes outside a walmart, me on my 650, she on her ninja250. a guy made a beeline to us, and my girl started beaming...she is very proud of her bike, and thinks its the bees knees.

the man starting raving about my bike, and the gs line in general, stating he wished he still had his 850.

not a word about the ninja. i still gloat about that one. my bike was a piece of crap when i got it. she's something to be proud of now.

Hey, I woulda gawked at the GS, _and_ at the Ninjette. Got one of each...

Ride what you got. There's no such thing as a boring motorcycle, and riding's better than not riding. And whatever you ride, you are "representing" to the non-riding public (or the former riders)

 

[Pete Logan]

I've been lucky - rarely, if ever, have I experienced any H-D snobbishness first-hand...

There is no such thing as Harley snobbishness IMHO.

There are some snobs who have Harleys, though

 

[madjack57754]

Went to get the 1150 out of the carport this AM to ride to work, and found a note under the mustangs windshield wiper. This is a weekly thing to find a note from people wanting to buy the '68 stang. Today was different in that it was a note asking if I would sell this "non running" GS that has been here forever.
That tells me I'm not riding enough.

 

[midnightcafe]

Was walking my 750 through campus to the machine shop to work on it when some dude made a beeline to intercept me. Goggled my bike, gave me the "nice bike dude" schpeal and then pointed out that there were parts missing. Of course I knew the headlamp and seat are missing, I hadn't finished rebuilding them yet. His matter-of-fact tone cracked me up!

 

[conrail]

Personelly look at all bikes, saw this a few weeks ago at work,thought it was cool..BMW is ok but...I knew it was an older model

Now I don't ride a Suzuki but if I saw an '80 model you bet I would be looking at..just like the older UJM's...

 

[Bribird]

When I built it I really didnt know there were so many fans of the GS bikes. I love it whenever I get out for a ride on my 650... I am somewhat flattered that everyone seems to love my bike, but really love it when someone asks me how old it is... the look on their face when I tell em its an 81 is worth every penny and the countless hours building it.

One of my good friends now Rejean... I actually met him one day when I stopped by the bike shop up in Durham and he walked by my bike...stopped..looked at it for awhile... then came up to me and said "dude...gs resources...thats the bike of the month bike!! It looks even better in person!" Well,we were instant friends after that... lol

 

[jhillier449]

Went for a wee run on my GS1000G today and at an intersection a beautiful example of a GS850 pulls up alongside, my old GS brother legaleli. Haven't seen him all summer so we pull into a parking lot and get caught up on what he's been up to. Seems his mechanical woes with his clutch have been put to bed and a fresh carb clean and rebuild have put his ride at top shelf. His is the only GS I have seen in these parts besides my own. :-k

 

[apogeecustom]

I stopped for gas today in the middle of a long ride and a guy called out about my GS1000. He asked if it was a 79 from across the parking lot. We got to talking and he said he had a 79 GS1000S WC replica. After a few minutes of maintenance talk he realized we had a lot in common. He was on his way to work on a friends old Honda. In all his excitement he walked me over to his vehicle to show me a photo album. It was old 80's quality photos. He was European and his GS1000S was red and white. It was so nice! He said he wish he never got rid of it. I could see the wheels turning in his mind about trying to get one again. I told him about GSR so maybe he'll show up soon. It was a nice interlude on my trip. It was also my first real time on the interstate. I thought I would just get blown all over the place by cars and trucks, maybe keep it in the right lane the whole way. I ended up leading the pack I love my GS1000.

 

[Kerry]

Went for a wee run on my GS1000G today and at an intersection a beautiful example of a GS850 pulls up alongside, my old GS brother legaleli. Haven't seen him all summer so we pull into a parking lot and get caught up on what he's been up to. Seems his mechanical woes with his clutch have been put to bed and a fresh carb clean and rebuild have put his ride at top shelf. His is the only GS I have seen in these parts besides my own. :-k

Wonder if my old RD still survives around there somewhere...fond memories of tooling around St. John's on that bike in the early 80's (trailing smoke behind me!) Thinking back, I don't recall seeing too many GSs then, either. Mostly Hondas and Kaws...