Hell

[alton_blair]

I understand this whole process can be frustrating. Here’s my story maybe it will help. I wanted a motorcycle as long as I can remember. I would watch the show Renegade and envision what it would be like to ride with the wind in my hair and the excitement of freedom portrayed on television. There always seemed to be a reason to wait to get my license….…Many Many years later…….. At the age of 32 I decided I didn’t care anymore and come hell or high water I was going to take a motorcycle training course and get my license. I took the class and it was everything I imagined it would be. I had a blast driving around in a figure 8 and circles at the blistering speeds of 8mph. I did very well and pasted with flying colors. With license in hand and beautiful June days in Council Bluffs IA I decided I needed a bike. The wife and I decided my budget was $1500.00 (a lot of our savings) and no more. I wanted a bike so bad I looked for a bike like a junkie looks for drugs. I had no idea of a make or model I just wanted a bike for $1500.00. I have no experience with bikes. After checking craigslist every hour I found a 1978 gs750 with 11000 miles. The add said it ran great and needed nothing; the asking price was $1500.00. I called the guy and asked how firm he was on his price. He jumped down to $1200.00 immediately without any encouragement from me. In my excitement I told him I had just got my license and this would be my first bike. This was working out like a dream; I borrowed my father-in-law’s trailer and drove the hour to look at it. Upon arrival I could see it in the distance and my excitement level rocketed. Did I just see MY bike for the first time. When I walked up I noticed the exhaust was rusted out…..big deal I’m sure the $1500.00 will cover the bike and the exhaust. Seeing that I was looking at the exhaust the guy said new mufflers are about $100.00. The bike started right up and I took it for a spin. I noticed the handlebars seemed to giggle a little. I asked him what was up with the steering and he said the fairing weight needed adjusting to center and It’s a common problem with bikes with fairings he said an adjustment would run me about $25.00….hey makes cents to me, two wheels and weight….sounds logical….I’ll just have that fixed when I get the exhaust fixed…no biggie. I figured he must know about bikes he had a bike similar to this one in his garage only nicer, and parts all over. I saw the back tire was weathered and asked him how much a back tire cost. He said around $50.00. I did the math in my head (tire$50.00 + fairing adjustment$25.00 + Exhaust $100.00) I’m thinking I’m sitting pretty. I know little things need attention like the tach doesn’t work, the gear indicator shows a backwards 6, the crash guards were bent and rusty, the horn button is broken, the fairing trim is banged up, the front fender has a dent, and the bike needs cleaned, but no smoke and it shifted great. I tell him I want it and offer $900.00 he says $1200.00 is his bottom dollar because his friend told him he would give him $1200.00 if he can’t get it sold this week. He hands me a pre-signed title from the people he bought it from 6 months earlier. He told me he never got it plated because he didn’t have the money and switched plates from his other bike when he goes riding. At this point all I saw was all of my dreams coming true and MY bike came home. I could barely sleep just imagining what it’s going to be like to go riding and contemplating what kind of new helmet I’m getting with all my left over cash. The next morning after I got it plated and rode to the bike shop I realized the honeymoon was over. I ended up being told my forks were shot, the back shocks need replaced, the front tire has a flat spot, an exhaust is definitely not $100.00, a tire is not $50.00, and a faring adjustment to correct steering is the funniest thing the guy behind the counter has ever heard. Well, 3000 miles and 8 months later hundreds of dollars as I get them and hours of reading of the forum, I’m making progress. The bike is far from complete, but I have grown to love this former parts bike.

[pntrdave]

Ok I feel it is my duty to make you feel like crap. I bought a '78 GS 1000 in Nov. of 2003, Ad in the paper said "GS 1000 $250.00 something is wrong with it" I called the guy and went to look at it and it was sitting in his garage with a pan under the middle of the bike. Owner said he had bought the bike 6 months earlier and it had ran fine but recently had started puking gas out the carb overflow tubes. I looked the bike over and asked him if $250.00 was what he wanted. He said yes, so I told him to get the title while my son and I loaded it in the truck. I then switched the petcock from prime to run and it quit puking gas out of the carb overflow tubes. I took it home and changed the oil and filter, and did nothing mechanical other than basic maintenence stuff, the entire time I owned the bike. I rode the bike all over till last June 2008 when I crashed and totaled the bike down in Florida. Have a nice day.

[alton_blair]

Thanks...it worked j/k.

[Buffalo Bill]

First bike, first car, same old story

Dry your tears Grasshopper, you're not in Hell, the only problem is you're young. (I would like that problem). All the bikes mentioned on this site were fixer uppers, bought by people who've been were you are, so we knew what we were buying.
Sorry you found a deadbeat seller here, that's a bummer. Post it to the editer.

[snowbeard]

dang ptr! thing is, you have to KNOW that before you can find that sort of deal...


and Brown, what did Will ever do to us?


as has been said, break it down to each issue, work on that till you get somewhere, eventually it will come together for you.

I got my 650 for free cause the tank had rusted to fill the carbs. a little cleaning and a lot of learning, now I have 2 suzi's and recently took on a new project, a 52 year old BSA! valuable lesson, these old suzi's

I'm a chemist, not a mechanic, so it's been fun.

[highmileage]

I have had nothing but excellent service from everyone of my vintage bikes, especially my GSes. Paid $200 for the GS 1000GL, have less than $500 into her including new tires and an unknown number of hours of my labor. But I've now put over 30K miles on her. And she's ready for fresh tires once again!



I am wondering if much of the problems mentioned above have to do with titling errors - the manufacture date is marked on the steering head, but the model changeover is in August or September. So a bike that was built in September of 1980 is an 81 model, at least when you get parts for it. Who knows or cares what the DMV considers it.

And the difference between a '79 and an '80 is fairly significant since that was when they went from points ignition to electronic. So the wiring may have several differences.

[850 Combat]

That looks like an '80 or '81, I believe. '82 looks like a GS1100G. I personally don't like them as well. Not as comfortable, to me (I bnought one new back in the day) Your '80/81 is a nice ride.

Eric, I feel your pain. I bought my bike a couple years ago rom a good ole boy backyard Kentucky motorbike mechanic. It was titled as a 1982, but everything critical seems to only work from a 1981.
I've been in the car biz long enough to know that the comment about everything being replaced eventually making it almost new all over is only half the truth. The care and time you put into replacement is as important as the parts themselves, as has been said since old times, "it's the journey, not the ending, thats important."

[zehrmacht]

I know where you're comming from. I bought an 80 gs850gt. Rusted pipes. Barely ran with full choke. Tank was patched with roofing tar, horns rusted into silence, bad stator, bad regulator/rectifier, shocks shot seals and on and on..... The WORST part was not finding this site until a year or more after I started fixing things with just a clymers guide. This site blows any manual away! You got a head start on me already there. Just take it one step at a time and one problem at a time. Last week I felt the same after buying a few replacement parts....like $300 worth of seat covers, replacement mirros etc...mostly cosmetic stuff. After the orders came, I realized that my wires from the stator and RR were getting hot, zoinks scooby! Looks like I didn't follow the advice of many and clean my electrical contacts and grounds....there goes another $100 for a new regulator.
Trust these guys, I have yet to get any ill will or bad advice from anyone here.