Call me crazy but I'm actually considering this bike.

[Nessism]

Bandit 1200's and FZ1000's are a couple of nice older bikes that can be had for cheap. There have been tons of nice older bikes, you just gotta find one that's been well cared for.

[srsupertrap]

Nice ones aren't too expensive:

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/mcy/5994106011.html

Here are a couple of more ST1100s which for $2300 are great values

1996

https://denver.craigslist.org/mcd/6018441934.html

1998

https://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/5986643337.html

If one had ABS I might be tempted but more inclined to R1100RT these days. Just an opinion

[GS1150Pilot]

He wants a shaft drive bike. The ST1100 is a truly great over-the-road beast.

[JTGS850GL]

Here are a couple of more ST1100s which for $2300 are great values

1996

https://denver.craigslist.org/mcd/6018441934.html

1998

https://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/5986643337.html

If one had ABS I might be tempted but more inclined to R1100RT these days. Just an opinion

The big problem here is that the bikes are in the Denver area and I'm in the Atlanta GA area. All the good deals seem to be too far away. I'm looking at a 1998 ST1100 without ABS that has 61K miles on it for $1900. It's the one in post #64. It does come with the rear saddle bags. Called the owner yesterday and it's still available. Can't look at it until Weds. Hopefully it will still be there.

[limeex2]

It will be there, like my Triumphs there not sought after and its Feb. There are many new bikes of any genre that are not highly sought after that are great bikes and a bargain to boot.

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

The big problem here is that the bikes are in the Denver area and I'm in the Atlanta GA area. All the good deals seem to be too far away. I'm looking at a 1998 ST1100 without ABS that has 61K miles on it for $1900. It's the one in post #64. It does come with the rear saddle bags. Called the owner yesterday and it's still available. Can't look at it until Weds. Hopefully it will still be there.

Here's one closer to you:

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/5999950145.html

[alke46]

That would be a good bike for you if you don't mind that shade of red. I have the '93 purely because the color fit my eye better than the pure red.

Good luck in your search.

[JTGS850GL]

Picked up a 1998 ST1100 in Black a couple days ago. The bike needs some attention but the price was right. Ended up paying $1700 for it with 72K miles on the clock and running. There are some issues that need to be addressed but nothing unusual. The seat is torn and some road rash on the engine guards but nothing broken. Now doing the basic maintenance items. You know... Change all fluid (can't believe I'm working on a bike with a cooling system), adjust the valves, check the brakes... The front tire is new but needs to be replaced. Stupid PO bought a new tire that was intended for rear use only. Found a new Metzler Z6 front for $76 on sale at Cycle Gear. Will post pics once she's cleaned up and ready to be seen in public. Right now I have the carbs pulled for a good cleaning.

Will post pics once she's cleaned up and ready to be seen in public. Right now I have the carbs pulled for a good cleaning. Man is this thing different from our ole Suzi's. Amazing what 15 years of development did to complicate things. Took almost 2 hours just to remove all the plastic Tupperware just so I could get my hands on the mechanical things. Once nice thing... a 7.4-gallon gas tank and a cruising range of over 300 miles. At that rate, I'll fill the tank every 2 to 3 weeks of daily riding.

[Burque73]

Sweet, congrats! I'm excited for you, and a bit jealous...

[GS1150Pilot]

I envy you, too!

[alke46]

If I can add my 2 cents here, I found that once you remove the carbs, the coolant lines run under them and the rubber pieces that connect the coolant lines can develop leaks which will cause you to pull it apart again. Might be worthwhile to replace those while you're in there.
I found this thing to be a real b**ch to work on. Hope you have better skills than I.
On a positive note though, mine is now 24 years old with 127K showing and the carbs have never been worked on.
Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

[JTGS850GL]

If I can add my 2 cents here, I found that once you remove the carbs, the coolant lines run under them and the rubber pieces that connect the coolant lines can develop leaks which will cause you to pull it apart again. Might be worthwhile to replace those while you're in there.
I found this thing to be a real b**ch to work on. Hope you have better skills than I.
On a positive note though, mine is now 24 years old with 127K showing and the carbs have never been worked on.
Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Thanks for the heads up. Already planned on removing the entire PAIR air injection system and replacing all the vacuum and coolant lines while I was under there. Makes for a much cleaner system with fewer things to fail. Removes about 10 lbs of crap as well.

At first, these bikes seem a little intimidating with all the plastic Tupperware but once you get all the plastics off it's really a piece of cake. Took me all of about 15 minutes to get the carbs off after the 1.5 hours of, first time, plastic removal. Now stripping them and cleaning the carbs may be a whole another story. The linkages are much more complex than ours. Most don't recommend de-ganging the set but to work on them all together. Makes me cringe coming from the GS world's perspective but it seems to work. Just an ole strip, poke and sprits of carb spray. Found a pre-emissions carb set from Canada for cheap so I'll start with those.

One VERY cool thing that the ST guys do is provide "kits" for some of the more common repair tasks. I ordered the valve adjustment kit from ST-Riders and within a week they shipped me a box with everything needed to do the job. That kit included a micrometer, loads of shims in numbered compartments, two sets of inch and metric feeler gauges, several videos of how to do it, a pictorial worksheet that you record all your measurements on and explains the process. It even includes an Excel spreadsheet that calculates the needed shims based on your measurements. The only thing you have to pay for is the shipping to the next person who needs the kit and return your original shims to the kit. The kit fits in one of those standard "if it fits it ships" USPS medium boxes so everyone pays the same amount. They even had a log sheet that you fill out with your name and address and a US map you mark your location on so others can see where the kit has been. Of course, they have a "kit coordinator" to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Tell you what... These bikes are huge compared to my GS850GL but should be a very comfy ride on long trips. Will always have at least one GS in the stable though.

[GS1150Pilot]

I think you made a great choice. Julius.

[alke46]

Was that the ST riders forum or the ST owners forum?

It seems like every time I have an issue that needs advice of the forum members, the guys at the ST Owners forum seem to never have the time to be bothered with my problem. At least that's my perception of them. And we all know what they say about perception.

[JTGS850GL]

It was the ST-Riders forum that was the most helpful.