Trying to become a 1980 gs owner

[jclaude]

Hey everyone!

I have a few tech questions.

I'm in the process of trying to buy a bike from this guy i know.

Its a 1980 GS550L. The bike appears to be in OK shape. He bought a new bike a year ago so this one has been in his storage barn since.

He started it up for me when I went and looked at it and it started pretty easy. It ran rough and would only smooth out with some throttel. The headlight and tail light both worked, but the blinkers did not. He said they worked when he parked it. Maybe a fuse?

It will need new tires for me to feel "safe" riding the bike, so thats a expence I am ready for.

I also noticed a small oil leak under the bike. I'm not sure were it was coming from since I didn't get to really look it over, but for a few minuts.

He wants $550.00 dollars for the bike. Is this a good price? Are any of the problems Ive described of concern?

Thanks,
JC

[chuckycheese]

Miles?

How many miles does it have on it? If the mileage is reasonably low (and I'll bet it is), it's probably a fair deal. The oil leak is probably an easy fix but I think you should figure it out before you commit. I think you can probably resolve the turn signal problem rather easily...they're pretty simple. You also need to take into account the overall appearance; that's important for several reasons. If it looks abused, it probably has been.

Rebuilding the carbs is kind of a "right of passage" that almost all of have gone through when buying our GS's. Likewise, a new set of tires (and tubes) is also quite common. Good luck!!:-D

[jclaude]

Sorry, should have put down the miles. It has 13,xxx miles on it.

thanks for the quick comment.

JC

[mriddle]

Sounds pretty good so far ..

Did you take any pics of it that you could post up for us to see ?

And welcome to GSR.

Mike

[jclaude]

Thanks for the welcome.

No I haven't taken any Pics. but I'm going to look at it again today so I will try to get a few pics.

JC

[Nessism]

Sounds like a good price, could be a great price if the cosmetics are clean. Know in advance that you are comtemplating an OLD motorcycle and there will be mechanical things that need attention. As mentioned by chucky, the carbs will no doubt need to be gone through and the rubber parts updated; the rubber gets hard and shrinks as it ages thus leaks and sucking false air is normal until you perform this critical maintaince. There are other things that will need attention: brakes, tires, chain, battery, charging system, valve adjust, etc. If you don't have any mechanical knowledge, and don't want to learn, you are going to pay a good deal of money bringing the bike up to the point that it becomes reliable transportaion. My opinion is that these old bikes are best left to those willing to do their own work since shops charge in the range of $70/hour and you can quickly get up side down on finances. With a little work though, they are durable and rewarding bikes, with the best web community on the net!

[SPARKSS]

Hey everyone!

I have a few tech questions.

I'm in the process of trying to buy a bike from this guy i know.

Its a 1980 GS550L. The bike appears to be in OK shape. He bought a new bike a year ago so this one has been in his storage barn since.

He started it up for me when I went and looked at it and it started pretty easy. It ran rough and would only smooth out with some throttel. The headlight and tail light both worked, but the blinkers did not. He said they worked when he parked it. Maybe a fuse?

It will need new tires for me to feel "safe" riding the bike, so thats a expence I am ready for.

I also noticed a small oil leak under the bike. I'm not sure were it was coming from since I didn't get to really look it over, but for a few minuts.

He wants $550.00 dollars for the bike. Is this a good price? Are any of the problems Ive described of concern?

Thanks,
JC

Welcome JC! Your description of the bike sounds like it's worth it IF what you're interested in is some good cheap biking, nothing ventured nothing gained! Heck I paid 800 for my old GS1000 14 years ago and it didn't even run.....and when it did it knocked like a bugger - first thing I did was change the oil and take it for a 2500km ride and have been enjoying it ever since

I also owned a GS550 before that and kept it for years and often rode it some after having the 1000......and always chuckled at how it "wasn't 1/2 as fast!"....often wished I'd kept that bike as it truely was a good bike. My first bike was a CB550 Honda and I was a little amazed at how much heavier and beefier my GS550 was.....maybe a little slower.....nicer on the road though.

IF you're the sort of fellow who is worried about how dependable a 500 buck bike will be or NEEDS to rely on it......then it won't matter what you buy for this price, it's not worth it. Have fun eh!

[jclaude]

Thanks for all the replies. I am very handy with a wrench!! I'm a golf course superintendent and I have to do all the maintenace on my equipment. This will be my first bike(besides dirt bikes), and I will be driving from home to work in the summer with it. I live about 2 miles from work so there won't be that much mileage put on the machine.

My main concern was anything I needed to know as far as major things that go wrong with GS's. From what I have read, the motors are "bullet proof " if taken care of.

I'm going to look at the bike in a few hours and will hopefully bring it home.

JC

[Ironriot]

Thanks for all the replies. I am very handy with a wrench!! I'm a golf course superintendent and I have to do all the maintenace on my equipment. This will be my first bike(besides dirt bikes), and I will be driving from home to work in the summer with it. I live about 2 miles from work so there won't be that much mileage put on the machine.

My main concern was anything I needed to know as far as major things that go wrong with GS's. From what I have read, the motors are "bullet proof " if taken care of.

I'm going to look at the bike in a few hours and will hopefully bring it home.

JC

If he set in stone with the price? Doesn't hurt to try and bring it down a little. Of course if he doesn't budge that's all right.

The biggest thing's with our GS's is the stator and R/R problems. They've always been a plague. Fortunately some people have never experienced problems with theirs so maybe you might be as luck. Still I'd recommend you rewire you R/R and ground it to the battery. Suzuki made grounded it horrible and it would eventually take out the stator. This is kinda the only MAJOR problem with these bikes. Everything else is pretty much maintence on a 27 year old machine.

And congrats on the 550 ownership

http://www.umgweb.com/

I'd recommend going to buyer's guide, then cheap speed:low end bikes and then scroll till you find the 550. Although there's tons more info all over that page.

Look around and try to find our bike and you'll quickly see that the 550 is pretty much the stoutest motor of the GS family. Seems only running it without oil will kill it. And we have a 6th gear\\/

Welcome to GS ownership