Fairly obvious realization. Not seeing many GSes.

[SVSooke]

I'm with Trevor on this.Seems to me there are lots of vintage guys here on the Island.Some truth to the rumor that nuts roll west?

[Tamara]

None of the shops near me will work on a bike more than 20 years old.
About the only thing they will do is mount tires.

The suzuki shop here in town even quibbles over mounting tires if I don't buy the tires from them.

[koolaid_kid]

The suzuki shop here in town even quibbles over mounting tires if I don't buy the tires from them.

AFAIK they all do. You are cutting into their profit margin.

[Allie]

There's someone around here with a REALLY nice Z900 that I see every so often. It is just so cool seeing that on the road! One day I saw a 750GT in a diner parking lot as I was riding by . What are the odds?? I had to turn back and get a couple of photos



I also saw, about a month ago, a @%#$ing VINCENT in the middle of town, going the opposite way. I almost cracked my forehead against my side window gawking at it! I don't know if it was an original or a repro, but either way, that's an amazing sight. Yes, it looked like a Black Shadow.

[Dogma]

BiPolarBear: I like you already. Sligo near LaGrange? The CBX I saw was the one with white paint. Post a pick of your '79 CBX. We'd all like to see it. Maybe put it in the "Other Bike" section.

Here is fine, I'm sure.

[Toasty]

I see tons of old UJMs around San Francisco but only a few of them are GS's. I saw a small 550/650 that was cafe'd (but had running boards...?) and a nice slightly modified GS450E.

[nejeff]

I see a very decent 550L parked in the UNL parking lot quite often. My son's friend, a member here, rides a 78' GS1000. Every once in a while you see some odd GS's around town. The guy I bought my 550E from has a GS750 but have not seen him on it, just in the driveway. In UJMs the numbers are low, probably more Kawasaki's than anything else. There is a Kawasaki plant here and at one time even made some bikes. I believe employees get a discount on new Kawasaki purchases

[Larry D]

AFAIK they all do. You are cutting into their profit margin.

I took the rear wheel and tire off the 750L to Fatty's Cycle, on SR67, almost to Ingalls, and they changed it out for $20. No hassle, really nice guys.

[tylerhurley94]

I've seen a good handful of gs's around town (not counting the 5 or more that we own ) and quite a few other UJM's, even saw a water buffalo the other week! I always stop and look if I have the chance, its nice to see that other people in town appreciate the vintage japs!

[5150/gs]

7 Compliments on my 82 GK in the last 2 days, 4 from guys on Harley's.
I just love old bikes, love things not the norm.
Have always ridden a Suzuki never anything else.

[JC8865]

Cool post...it is funny when you actually think about how old most of the GS bikes are...personally I have never owned anything new...the 72 Honda CB350-4..the 82 Honda 1100F..my old Kawasaki S3 Triple and now my 77 GS..I too find myself constantly scanning parking areas for vintage metal..nice feeling when you pull into a Gas station with a 30+ year old bike and people notice...


JC

[850 Combat]

There's someone around here with a REALLY nice Z900 that I see every so often. It is just so cool seeing that on the road! One day I saw a 750GT in a diner parking lot as I was riding by . What are the odds?? I had to turn back and get a couple of photos



I also saw, about a month ago, a @%#$ing VINCENT in the middle of town, going the opposite way. I almost cracked my forehead against my side window gawking at it! I don't know if it was an original or a repro, but either way, that's an amazing sight. Yes, it looked like a Black Shadow.

Sun rims on the Ducati. Same as on my Black Commando.

[850 Combat]

Where my houses are, in Maine and in Oregon, you see a lot of Vintage Japanese motorcycles. I like old stuff in General, but I got into these originally when I was simply looking for inexpensive motorcycles suitable for touring in the 80's. I got into them in the mid 90's again, when I wanted to get cheap touring bikes and stash them in areas of the country that I like to visit. Then I bought more so I could bring friends and relatives along. I don't collect them, I just like to use them.

These are comfortable stable bikes to ride, with the neutral steering I'm used to having grown up on skinny tired bikes, and cheap enough to have extras for your brothers to use when they visit.

[madjack57754]

I used to know where all the GS's around here where. So many have been cut up into "bobbers", the only ones I now know of are in my garage.

[alke46]

I saw a few of these old UJMs today at Dillon Brothers Motorsports in Omaha. They were holding an event called "metricfest". Only one GS 850 but it looked very rough. A really nice Kawasaki KZ 1100 I believe it was. Beautiful bike but the owner had dropped many many many dollars into it to make it look that way. Some nice Hondas and even a couple of cafe bikes, if you're into that.

Overall, I only stayed there about an hour and did not see much to my liking. There were some Suzuki representations as I recall. A GS 750, a 450, maybe one or two more. Mostly though just Honda and Kawasaki.

Good examples of our beloved GSes are hard to come by in this area. At least that is my perception.

I will look again next Wed. at the Quaker Steak and Lube weekly bike night to see if any show up there. Mostly H-D in that crowd though.