Project Cooley Beast

[Charlie G]

That seemed slow and noisy to me. Nice colors though.

[loud et]

a what?

hey guys, please enlighten this GS noob (me) and tell me what the hell a cooley is? and what the hell a skunk is?

[sharpy]

hey guys, please enlighten this GS noob (me) and tell me what the hell a cooley is? and what the hell a skunk is?

Google Wes Cooley and a skunk is a early Black and white Gs1000. If you look in my photobucket site under "Cycle World GS1000 preview Feb 1978" thats a skunk

[chuck hahn]

Skunks are FIRST year GS 1000s and the only year they were made with the indented tank badge areas.. thats why they are considered rarer and desirable..

[sharpy]

Didnt know they made a blue and white 250. that rider is huge. If ray can poke a stick , can we all?

[loud et]

I been schooled

thanks for the info guys. learnin the lingo, ya know...

[chuck hahn]

Lingo was a game show hosted by Chuck Wollery..mid 90s vintage.

[renobruce]

Didnt know they made a blue and white 250. that rider is huge. If ray can poke a stick , can we all?

I'm only 6'2" and 230 lbs. Not THAT big!

[Rudeman]

Both! I'll just tell the cops the baffle fell out a few miles back.

I've run mine both ways. It sounds good with the baffle out but it is so loud that I thought better of it and replaced. I actually prefer to run it with the baffle in. It does sound better, is much quieter and less annoying.

[Rudeman]

hey guys, please enlighten this GS noob (me) and tell me what the hell a cooley is? and what the hell a skunk is?

A "Cooley" is a misnomer for a GS1000S, a sport version of the GS1000 produced in limited numbers in 1979 and 1980. They were painted in Suzuki factory racing blue and white with a fork mounted cafe fairing. Many people erroneously call it a Wes Cooley replica because Wes Cooley, a talented superbike racer for Yoshimura Racing, rode a GS1000S in 1980-81. Cooley first rode a GS1000R for Yoshimura Racing in 1978. The 1000R was basically a racebike based on a GS1000.

A "Skunk" is a 1978 GS1000. It got its name because one of the paint schemes was all black with a while stripe painted in an indentation located on the lower portion on each side of the fuel tank. The stripe extended to the tailpiece and was encircled with gold pinstriping. There were other color schemes but the black with white popularized the skunk nickname for obvious reasons.

[MelodicMetalGod]

A "Cooley" is a misnomer for a GS1000S, a sport version of the GS1000 produced in limited numbers in 1979 and 1980. They were painted in Suzuki factory racing blue and white with a fork mounted cafe fairing. Many people erroneously call it a Wes Cooley replica because Wes Cooley, a talented superbike racer for Yoshimura Racing, rode a GS1000S in 1980-81. Cooley first rode a GS1000R for Yoshimura Racing in 1979. The 1000R was basically a racebike based on a GS1000.

A "Skunk" is a 1978 GS1000. It got its name because one of the paint schemes was all black with a while stripe painted in an indentation located on the lower portion on each side of the fuel tank. The stripe extended to the tailpiece and was encircled with gold pinstriping. There were other color schemes but the black with white popularized the skunk nickname for obvious reasons.

Did not know that about the SKUNK terminology. Ya never know what you'll learn at TheGSR. Thanks!

[loud et]

thanks for the responses, I opened a lil can of worms on that one. nothing will compare to the "how to ruin a perfectly good frame" thread. ha ha entertaining, I aint coming close to jumpin into that battle.. ha ha I have to tell you what though, ad I recently looked through all the past Bikes of the Month, there are a number of 78, 1000's in there. What is it about them that makes them look so sweet.. I think that long low seat and stripes give em a vintage racing look in a way. Lucky all you who have one. Cooleys and Skunks, nice.

[IanC]

Did not know that about the SKUNK terminology. Ya never know what you'll learn at TheGSR. Thanks!

The paint scheme was also referred to as the Skink. I assume this prolly derived from the ones with blue stripes.

[renobruce]

Here's an update:

I had the bike running but it was blowing oil out the tailpipe. One of the valve stem seals was buggered up. I just finished changing it out, and just got the bike back together. She's still smoking a bit, but that's probably from the crap in the exhaust port. I'll give her a shake down ride tomorrow. Also, I took the Yoshi pipe back off until I can get it ceramic coated and a baffle in it..it was way loud! I put on a NOS Alphabet pipe I've had forever in a box. Looks good and sound good. Here's a few pics after her bath.

[rapidray]

What did you learn in buying this head from someone you didn't know? Ray.