New owner

[imlost]

i would like to say hello and that this forum has some of the best spokesmen for a ride they like, i bought a '79 gs550e for my son,searched the internet and found this wonderful place! i have had a few questions and got good answers without asking(basscliff's sight-awesome!). anyway my post is to say that this is a great bike, for a first bike he's taken to it real well, it rides easy and handles well stock. I'm worried -as a parent- about the brakes as they take a lot of grip(I've got power abs) for a quick stop,but even with the stock tires he's able to handle the curves great and it has great pick-up even though i still need to go through the carbs. i have a BMW (yea it's a sport touring bike) with the bells & whistles but,I'll keep his gs if/when he decides to move up/along to some thing else as i like to ride it and it's just a plan fun bike, we took his first real ride yesterday through the some great twisties for more than 140 miles and he loved it. i will be asking questions as time goes by for different things as we all do, and I'll be asking some real smart people here. so this is just my 2 cents for the gs enthusiasts on this site, well deserved props to a great bike.
Joel C

[mcloud]

Welcome Joel,

The 550E as you know is a great starter bike. And yes we like Beamers here .
I think it's very special for a son to start learning how to ride with dad right behind him. These first moments I'm sure will be cherrish forever.
Make sure he's in the loop when you start wrenching the carbs, he'll appreciate the bike even more.
I'm not convinced who between you two will start looking for a second GS though

Ride safe!

[Colorado85gs550]

Welcome Joel,

The 550E as you know is a great starter bike. And yes we like Beamers here .
I think it's very special for a son to start learning how to ride with dad right behind him. These first moments I'm sure will be cherrish forever.
Make sure he's in the loop when you start wrenching the carbs, he'll appreciate the bike even more.
I'm not convinced who between you two will start looking for a second GS though

Ride safe!

the 550E is NOT only a starter bike!

[mcloud]

the 550E is NOT only a starter bike!

I meant in the sense of "first of many more to come"

[kerrfunk]

the 550E is NOT only a starter bike!

Hear, hear!

Love my 550 (which is also my first bike).

If and when I get a bigger bike (which may be in the next year or so, and which may or may not be a GS), I'll be keeping this first love.

[Colorado85gs550]

this will be forever parked in my garage........if for no other reason than the fact that it has more money invested in it than ANY other bike I've ever owned!!

[1978GS1000custom]

and she looks like shes worth every dollar!

[Colorado85gs550]

and she looks like shes worth every dollar!

she will soon enough! The fairings are being "trimmed" to clear my clubmans then they'll be off to paint.........we're almost done!!