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Story just thought I'd share....
Last year I bought a 81 GS650G for $850 just to have something to tinker with (just sold a 68 Ford F250...gotta have something to futz with
). It ran decent but def. needed work..still had the original rear tire after 30 years and 15k miles! Can you say dry rot? Put new shoes on her,completely flushed the brakes, new pads, changed fluids, rebuilt carbs, etc.
My wife, who at the time would ONLY ride bikes that had the look and feel of a sport bike (had JUST bought her a 09 650R with 3k miles) absolutely fell in love with it! I road it for one of our Sunday rides and had to agree with her that it was very solid, enjoyable ride. In her words "the bike rides itself." Told me at the end of the riding season that if we added some farkels, painted, etc we could sell the Ninja.
Turns out that farkels for this bike were hard to find and/or expensive. So set out looking for a parts bike that had farkels. Ended up finding this.
Mileage was almost identical to the 81 we have. Not crazy about the blacked out engine, and with the header on it, it has a harmonic exhaust buzz right at 45 mph (2mph above or below though, it's ok), but the engine is nice and tight, and the headers along with the rejetted carbs give that little extra ummph my wife was looking for (kept comparing the '81 to her FI Ninja). It also has a gas gauge.
Most importantly, the narrowed seat and tank meant that she could stand nearly flat footed, whereas with the 81 G she was tiptoeing b/c the seat was so wide.
Decision was made to keep the new one, and flip the 81 I bought last summer. She didn't like the pull back bars, so swapped those, as well as the speedo from the '81 (trip odo switch was broke off, and it was scuffed pretty bad - bike had been dropped at one point). Expect to have it rideable in one or two weekends.
I look forward to several weekend bike trips with my best friend/soulmate this summer!
We did one last year out to the west coast of Michigan, and we had a blast!
Last year I bought a 81 GS650G for $850 just to have something to tinker with (just sold a 68 Ford F250...gotta have something to futz with
). It ran decent but def. needed work..still had the original rear tire after 30 years and 15k miles! Can you say dry rot? Put new shoes on her,completely flushed the brakes, new pads, changed fluids, rebuilt carbs, etc.My wife, who at the time would ONLY ride bikes that had the look and feel of a sport bike (had JUST bought her a 09 650R with 3k miles) absolutely fell in love with it! I road it for one of our Sunday rides and had to agree with her that it was very solid, enjoyable ride. In her words "the bike rides itself." Told me at the end of the riding season that if we added some farkels, painted, etc we could sell the Ninja.
Turns out that farkels for this bike were hard to find and/or expensive. So set out looking for a parts bike that had farkels. Ended up finding this.
Mileage was almost identical to the 81 we have. Not crazy about the blacked out engine, and with the header on it, it has a harmonic exhaust buzz right at 45 mph (2mph above or below though, it's ok), but the engine is nice and tight, and the headers along with the rejetted carbs give that little extra ummph my wife was looking for (kept comparing the '81 to her FI Ninja). It also has a gas gauge.
Most importantly, the narrowed seat and tank meant that she could stand nearly flat footed, whereas with the 81 G she was tiptoeing b/c the seat was so wide. Decision was made to keep the new one, and flip the 81 I bought last summer. She didn't like the pull back bars, so swapped those, as well as the speedo from the '81 (trip odo switch was broke off, and it was scuffed pretty bad - bike had been dropped at one point). Expect to have it rideable in one or two weekends.
I look forward to several weekend bike trips with my best friend/soulmate this summer!
We did one last year out to the west coast of Michigan, and we had a blast!
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