King of the Street

[Guest]

My 79 GS1000 that I bought brand new in 1980 was the baddest thing on the road back in the early 80's ....I was running an MTC 1175 kit with 455/425 lift cams and a head port job that I did myself. Carbs were 33 smoothbores with individual cone filters. Pipe was a 4 into 1 Kerker. Third gear "roll on" wheelies were fun and very predictable. My friends got to where they would not even ride with me anymore as they could not keep up.....Biggest problem I had with it was the alternator rotor would keep falling off the crank. I think it was too heavy to accelerate that quickly. I finally used lapping compound to seat it on the crank as someone had suggested. Well, it sort of worked and never came loose again but the crank end broke off instead. By the time I had the HD crank end put on it, I decided to make it a strip bike only.......For the next 10 years I raced it at many AMA Dragbike and IDBA races around the country......I even ran it in the Gatornationals P/S Bike class in 1986.......My last race was in 1991 at the Prostar race in Gainesville where I qualified #1 in TopGas....ran a 8.200 at 158.85 MPH.... 1/8 mile time was 5.14.....when they interviewed me before the race I gave all props to the GS 1000 motor (and a slight tail wind)........The crank broke (modified 1100 unit) the very next weekend and it sits here in my garage and I look at it every night wondering when the day will come for it to be resurrected........Billy

[first timer]

get your a$$ in gear and fix it. i am itching to see how my 1000 runs once i put it all back together.

-ryan

[BadBillyB]

get your a$$ in gear and fix it. i am itching to see how my 1000 runs once i put it all back together.

-ryan

My ass is 50 years old now and dont move that fast. Heres a pic for anyone interested. Stock frame, small tire

[lecroy]

Thanks for posting. Enjoyed the read. I met a guy in his 60's who just started racing and he loves it.

[first timer]

what a paradigm, your 50+ running that 1000 for a long time, me I'm 26 and just discovering the gs1000

thanks for sharing with us, keep us posted on your progress.

-ryan

[Hoomgar]

Rock on Billy!

Loved that, thx

[KEITH KRAUSE]

what a paradigm, your 50+ running that 1000 for a long time, me I'm 26 and just discovering the gs1000

-ryan

I was only 22 when I "discovered" my GS1000. I'm 48 now and I can say it's been a fun ride. I'd do it all over again if I could. My next 100,000 miles should be even better than the first after my simple mods and the upgrades to my bike.
I could have easily afforded the head work, the cams, and all that stuff when I did my rebuild, but I chose to just give her a little more kick without sacrificing reliability. There's something to be said about a bike that runs strong and also runs and runs. Over time you see that this is more important than shaving off elapsed time at the cost of longevity or peace of mind on a longer trip.
Don't get me wrong, go fast parts are cool and have their place. But trying to keep up with the newer bikes is a waste of time and your "bullet proof" GS will lose its best trait... fast, reliable fun.
Keep the mods simple and you'll be better off in the long run.

[shaftzuki]

what a paradigm, your 50+ running that 1000 for a long time, me I'm 26 and just discovering the gs1000

-ryan

I was only 22 when I "discovered" my GS1000. I'm 48 now and I can say it's been a fun ride. I'd do it all over again if I could. My next 100,000 miles should be even better than the first after my simple mods and the upgrades to my bike.
I could have easily afforded the head work, the cams, and all that stuff when I did my rebuild, but I chose to just give her a little more kick without sacrificing reliability. There's something to be said about a bike that runs strong and also runs and runs. Over time you see that this is more important than shaving off elapsed time at the cost of longevity or peace of mind on a longer trip.
Don't get me wrong, go fast parts are cool and have their place. But trying to keep up with the newer bikes is a waste of time and your "bullet proof" GS will lose its best trait... fast, reliable fun.
Keep the mods simple and you'll be better off in the long run.

That's why you need at least 2 of these beasts ... 8)

[Hap Call]

That's why you need at least 2 of these beasts ... 8)

Coming from a man who has GS motorcycles laying around the house like old magazines!!!

Hap

[Nerobro]

*looks at the 4 GS's around his house" And at the end of the month I'll have another one here...