Dec. 2017 BOTM.

[steve murdoch]

Congrats, Scott.
Your 850G is a beauty.

http://thegsresources.com/botm.php

[GSXR7ED]

That is one nice bike!


Ed

[B.C.G.S.]

AGREED, it is.

[Redman]

Congrats Scott Mr Michigan850Guy.

GReat example of an 850. I can see why that would be invited into center court at Stockbride All Clubs.
And well deserving for bike of the month.

[dorkburger]

Nice, congratulations.

[alke46]

Congrats on having a BOTM as your daily rider.

[2BRacing]

Hey Scott, congratulations on BOTM, your bike looks fantastic!

I really like your personal touch of putting the blue stripe in the chrome seat trim!

[Charlie G]

Congrats, Scott.
Your 850G is a beauty.
http://thegsresources.com/botm.php

Thanks for providing a link this very nice 850!

[gs scott]

Scott,
Nice buy and great job cleaning her up - she looks awesome!
Hope you get to spend many safe and happy miles with her.

[Redman]

Congrats, Scott.
Your 850G is a beauty.
http://thegsresources.com/botm.php

That link will go to whatever is the current botm at the time.

Go to http://www.thegsresources.com/botmgallery.php and check out the December 2017 motorcycle. Scotts great 850.

.

[Redman]

Scott,

Don't be shy. Come tell us more of the story.

Dave

[Downs]

Very nice. Shaft drive for the win

[Guest]

Congrats on having a BOTM as your daily rider.

Well, daily as long as the weather is nice! I'm not as committed as a lot of guys on here, but I do enjoy riding it. Once I finally got it running right (which took a few months and a fair bit of swearing), it is a peach to ride.

[Guest]

Scott,

Don't be shy. Come tell us more of the story.

Dave

This bike is a twin of one I bought new in 1981, and have fond memories of. (I actually bought two 850's new; the first one was a red '79. I initially went in to look at a 750, but I remember the salesman telling me that the 850 was just a much nicer bike, for not that much more money, so I bought an 850 instead. I'm glad I listened to him!)

The years 2008-2014 were especially rough for me, and when I finally got back on my feet financially, I thought it might be nice to reward myself by buying another copy of that blue '81 (it didn't occur to me that it was now 36 years later, and I would be buying a vintage motorcycle, that probably wouldn't be as shiny and reliable as the new ones had been!) I found a nice photo online of one that was very similar to this, and had it for my "wallpaper" on my computer at work for several months as an aspiration.

So one Sunday night (just about exactly a year ago, in fact), I thought "I wonder what I'd find if I did a Google search for a 1981 Suzuki GS850G?" Well, my BOTM is what I found - though it didn't look like it does now, and it didn't run at all (despite the assurances from the salesman that it ran well). I had done things like this before, and learned that a lot of what you find is old ads for things that have long since been sold, so that's what I expected when I called the dealer the next morning. But sure enough, they still had it. When I asked the guy how much they wanted for it, he said "$600". Having already done a little research, I knew that these bikes generally go for around $2000, so I asked him to repeat the price, and he said "$600". I got all excited, but wanted to see more photos of the exhaust and the painted parts, so I had him take a bunch of pictures and email them to me. (The album on Flickr that I've linked below shows those photos). After inspecting them, I called him back (from work!) and bought it with my debit card.

I then had to figure out how I was going to get it from Ames, Iowa to Ann Arbor, MI. I found a guy via Uship who happened to be on his way back home to Dearborn, MI from Fargo, ND. I paid him $350 to deliver it to me (had a really good experience with that service, by the way). As you can see from the photos, we unloaded it in the cold and snow.

So after a couple thousand more dollars and quite a few hours wrenching and polishing, I ended up with my BOTM. It's really satisfying to show and ride. Here's a link to my Flickr album of all the "before" shots. Thanks for all the nice comments, and thanks for reading!

Scott

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129480799@N07/albums/72157690776467675/with/25075437928/

[Guest]

Hey Scott, congratulations on BOTM, your bike looks fantastic!

I really like your personal touch of putting the blue stripe in the chrome seat trim!

You have a good eye! I don't think that blue is the right shade, but it's pretty close to the color of the blue stripes on the tank and side covers. Does anyone know what color that stripe is supposed to be?