Streetfighter Project-GS500F

[SlimKlim]

You youngin's need to learn this:

Mods are a money pit. Every dollar you spend on modifications is a dollar you can *assume* you're flushing down the toilet. Sometimes you get *some* of it back which is a happy bonus but most of the time you lose your ass.

This applies to cars, bikes, airplanes, guns, houses, women, model trains, and politicians.

Uncle Rex says it best. :lol:

[Dave]

You youngin's need to learn this:

Mods are a money pit. Every dollar you spend on modifications is a dollar you can *assume* you're flushing down the toilet. Sometimes you get *some* of it back which is a happy bonus but most of the time you lose your ass.

This applies to cars, bikes, airplanes, guns, houses, women, model trains, and politicians.

troof

Really, the only way you'll make your money back in mods is if the buyer is looking for your EXACT situation. And even then, they still also know the rule and aren't going to pay.
Virtually any mod is valued at pennies on the dollar when you're looking to sell, so you either mod to enjoy it while you have it, or mod it so reverting to stock is quick and painless. If you go that route, accept that you're going to discount the removed parts when you sell them.

[Tyler.M]

Good advice. I faced the same problem with the M when I had it, and I think I had a mini revelation over the past few days trying to sort out what I should do with the bike. The revelation goes like this:
I like money and hate throwing it away
I like things to be original, if the original is good enough
I'm not going to keep this bike for forever.

So, this kinda lead me to the path that I'll probably fix the bike up, learn some important stuff about motorcycles on it and sell it for a profit when I upgrade. From what I'm expecting to spend, and from what I'm expecting to get out of the bike, I'll at least be able to get my moniez out of it, so at the very least its a no or low-cost educational experience.

Yes, I'd like to reach the track. Yes, I'd like to mod a bike. But I think what I'd rather do is buy an old 70's CB or something and turn it into a streetfighter/cafe racer, and have that platform as one that is specifically for modding, and nothing else. Of course, this means I'll ultimately end up with a pretty filled up garage but whatevs.

So I guess this thread needs to be retitled

[CaptainHenreh]

Well, if I was you, I'd finish the single (or double) headlight at a minimum, and maybe do an exhaust, filter, and rejet. Those are all pretty cheap, will make the bike much more livable, and when you go to sell, they are "standard mods" that won't scare anyone away.

Meanwhile, the fairings on the GS500 are ugly as fuck and should never go back on one.

[Jake]

I think what you need to do is to stop giving a shit about resale value. Like, completely.

You bought this bike, much like the M3, because YOU wanted it. So do what YOU want to do to it, and who cares about mods that someone else will buy or not. Take them off when you sell the bike. If you keep treating your driveway like a shady used car lot, you'll never enjoy what you have in said driveway.

The M3 never saw anything motorsports-y and now I fear the bike will go the same way. Good intentions ultimately hindered by...something. I haven't bought any car I've owned with the intent of resale. I've bought them because they're interesting to me, they're fun for me, and I sold them when I got bored, not when the maths I did said I'd get the most profit. And I sure as hell didn't make money on any of 'em so far.

If you "like money and hate throwing it away" then you should not be buying any used motor vehicle or doing a thing to it. Buy a new Civic and drive it for 10 years, bone stock, and get every last dollar of use out of it. But where's the fun in that?

[DavidM]

I ....I haven't bought any car I've owned with the intent of resale....

Well in fairness that's probably because you know no one is going to want a leopard blue e30 when you're done with it :thumbup:

[Jake]

I ....I haven't bought any car I've owned with the intent of resale....

Well in fairness that's probably because you know no one is going to want a leopard blue e30 when you're done with it :thumbup:

I mean, someone did.

[BLINGMW]

Dang, I wanna hear more about what you did to track prep it and all that stuff. That's honestly my entire reason for getting into motorcycles in the first place. From what I've read gs500's aren't really... competive against some other smaller sized bikes, but they still seem to have a pretty devout following.

The katana rear shock is pretty popular as is the r6 one too from what I've seen. Thoughts on which is better?

if I remember correctly, getting the r6 to fit required some more work, which I am adverse to. :wink:

It isn't competitive, but that's irrelevant. You'll be in the minority, you'll find a couple other 250s or a 500 to make friends with, but most are on 600+. I think those people are crazy <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.mmsports.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7869">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7869</a><!-- l -->

:lol: a classic from my newbie days: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.mmsports.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4666">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4666</a><!-- l -->

From what I remember, here's all I ended up doing to get the bike track ready:

Tires are all you HAVE to do. Not many choices, I used a couple sets of Pirelli Sport Demons which were fine, but the BT003RS were the way to go.
New front pads.
Case sliders. hopefully there's something available, I had to get some made <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=51044.0">http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=51044.0</a><!-- m -->
Then I did the Kat rear shock, and some Sonic Springs in the front (I used .85 since I'm ~200lb with gear) with new oil, that was all it needed.
I ran some moto specific synthetic oil.
Took off the center stand and safety wired the oil drain plug.

IMHO, going/spending further is kind of silly with this bike.

I did track it a couple times on the stock suspension, which was *ok*, you just have to be pretty gentle. It's easy to bottom to the stops, then it kind of lurches back at you in an unsettling fashion. Partially responsible for the only time I went down (most of it being the rider).


As Rex mentioned, filter, exhaust and rejet is pretty popular. I just did the filter, stock exhaust and jetted for that since I didn't want it to be loud. Intake noise I like a lot though and I'm sure it added nearly as much HP as my MM sticker. My brother still has the bike so I get to ride it and hear it now and then. *I* still think it's pretty cool. :thumbup:

Good luck!

*edit*, some more thoughts and my favorite video on the topic:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=47814">http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=47814</a><!-- m -->

[Tyler.M]

IMHO, going/spending further is kind of silly with this bike.

Yeah, true. Thanks for the tips. All that stuff is relatively cheap too, which is nice. Honestly, I think the most of my expense will be in racing leathers and boots which I'll have to save up for. I'm gonna see if I can save up 2k before this summer and get everything set up. I was thinking of doing Summit Point's Xcitement racing school so I can get certified for some track days and all that jazz.

I think what you need to do is to stop giving a shit about resale value. Like, completely.

i think you're probably right, and I think that my concern about profitability is what is really screwing with my head. I'm just going to ride the damn thing and stop giving shits about it. I'll upgrade when I have a job where I can get a brand spankin' new bike and worry about shit later. I'll just fix the broken stuff and maybe do a few cosmetic things... but not too much else. I need to stop thinking about it as a money pit and just focus on the fact that I'm putting this money into something I enjoy a lot so it's not really a waste at all. Sometimes tho, when money gets tight, all I think about is profitability to get myself out of a hole and I struggle with things like that. I.E. my entire m3 experience.

I don't think I explained this proper, but I bought fairings mainly because I found them cheap, and I heard that some track schools require fairings on bikes. I don't think Summit does, but I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed to pass tech whenever that roles around. I prefer riding with fairings then riding without...its much more comfortable and I think this bike will be a good commuter/all purpose bike before too long, and I might try some longer overnight trips once I get some bags. I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance right now... so obviously the bug to do a long motorcycle trip has bitten. Graduation is coming up, and I don't see there being any better time.

[SlimKlim]

IMHO, going/spending further is kind of silly with this bike.

Yeah, true. Thanks for the tips. All that stuff is relatively cheap too, which is nice. Honestly, I think the most of my expense will be in racing leathers and boots which I'll have to save up for. I'm gonna see if I can save up 2k before this summer and get everything set up. I was thinking of doing Summit Point's Xcitement racing school so I can get certified for some track days and all that jazz.

I think what you need to do is to stop giving a shit about resale value. Like, completely.

i think you're probably right, and I think that my concern about profitability is what is really screwing with my head. I'm just going to ride the damn thing and stop giving shits about it. I'll upgrade when I have a job where I can get a brand spankin' new bike and worry about shit later. I'll just fix the broken stuff and maybe do a few cosmetic things... but not too much else. I need to stop thinking about it as a money pit and just focus on the fact that I'm putting this money into something I enjoy a lot so it's not really a waste at all. Sometimes tho, when money gets tight, all I think about is profitability to get myself out of a hole and I struggle with things like that. I.E. my entire m3 experience.

I don't think I explained this proper, but I bought fairings mainly because I found them cheap, and I heard that some track schools require fairings on bikes. I don't think Summit does, but I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed to pass tech whenever that roles around. I prefer riding with fairings then riding without...its much more comfortable and I think this bike will be a good commuter/all purpose bike before too long, and I might try some longer overnight trips once I get some bags. I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance right now... so obviously the bug to do a long motorcycle trip has bitten. Graduation is coming up, and I don't see there being any better time.

Now you're gettin' it. If you want to make money on the bike leave it along, fix every imperfection and do every maintenance item you can think of and list it for a high number when the weather warms up in March or so. Just ask Chris Levey about that.

If you like the bike and you want to keep it, keep and it and do what you like with it, whether that's leaving it alone and riding it or modding it until you can't even tell what it looks like anymore.

Not to muddy the waters any further (I'm going to muddy the waters further), but if you're seriously considering graduating, throwing a leg over your faithful steed and disappearing into the sunset for 3 months, you might consider upgrading to something like an SV650 before the trip. I loved riding my 500 when it ran, but it had some pretty significant limitations. Traveling at highway speed being one of them. Not having any pick up at 75mph isn't that big of a deal. but when you're on a 4 lane highway at 75mph, surrounded by 18-wheelers and over powered minivans, taking 3 minutes to accelerate from 75 to 80 mph becomes a much bigger issue.

Add a summer's worth of food, clothes and camping gear in there and you might as well just plan on sticking to the blue ridge parkway, the downhill parts. Maybe Channing or David M can provide some additional insight, since they both have a lot more seat time than I do.

If I were you I think I'd just do a filter + rejet on the 500, clean up any and all cosmetic issues and when it gets really cold this winter, kill some time just detailing the crap out of it. Throw it up for sale when the motorcycle bug bites, and roll the money into a fuel injected SV650 or maybe a VFR (if only because it has VTEC, yo). Both of those have significantly more power and torque than the GS for a little more confidence on the highway, and are designed to be long distance sport tourers.

[CaptainHenreh]

Eh, regarding Touring:

Honestly, if a dude can go coast to coast on a 250 dirtbike, I think a GS500 is adequate. If you're going on a roadtrip on a bike and you find yourself on a four lane highway surrounded by 18wheelers...you took a wrong fuckin' turn, Marco Brolo.

[SlimKlim]

Eh, regarding Touring:

Honestly, if a dude can go coast to coast on a 250 dirtbike, I think a GS500 is adequate. If you're going on a roadtrip on a bike and you find yourself on a four lane highway surrounded by 18wheelers...you took a wrong fuckin' turn, Marco Brolo.

Fair enough. A motorcycle road trip should involve the minimal amount of intertstate possible. Just wanted to share my personal experiences. The only thing scarier than a fast motorcycle is a slow one when it needs to go fast. hock:

[BLINGMW]

...taking 3 minutes to accelerate from 75 to 80 mph becomes a much bigger issue.

I know you're exaggerating, and as a current rider of a 200, that statement is actually true! :o
But the GS isn't that bad. I think it operates pretty well up to about 90, then getting to 100+ is a little work, or maybe not possible up a hill. But I've had Jess on the back, riding to Paintbank on the twisty hillclimb of 311, and it did well enough that my friends on 600s thought it was a pretty fast pace. :dunno: I was like.... really? You guys suck. :lol:
That being said, for a really long trip, it's certainly a bit masochistic to do it on any non-touring bike. I found the GS uncomfortable for any longer than 45 minutes. (I'm 6'2")

[DavidM]

Eh, regarding Touring:

Honestly, if a dude can go coast to coast on a 250 dirtbike, I think a GS500 is adequate. If you're going on a roadtrip on a bike and you find yourself on a four lane highway surrounded by 18wheelers...you took a wrong fuckin' turn, Marco Brolo.

I guess it depends on what you mean by touring, if you want to spend 2 weeks doing ~150 mile days in the mountains then the GS would be great, especially if you have a base camp so to speak. If you are looking to get the California and back in 4 weeks (and see anything along the way) you're not going to have much choice but to spend some days cruising on the highway and for that you might want something bigger and more comfortable. Plus, as Channing mentioned, spending 6 hours on the GS in any circumstances won't exactly be fun.

[Tyler.M]

All good suggestions. The bike can be pretty uncomfortable for long periods of time... I went on a 4 hour ride on Saturday and it was a PIA... literally. I'm happy with the bike, I just know I won't have it forever. I want a more all-rounder and I think the gs500's lack of power is its biggest limiting factor. Highway riding isn't bad on it, but I think there's better out there.

But for a beginner bike, I couldn't be happier.

[Kaan]

power is relative... I've had mostly 600s... every time i look to go bigger i remember how awesome my 600s gas is vs. the 1k. my bikes has gobs of power when i need it on the highway, it just wont wheel stand on command (which is probably safer).

6 hours with a 40lbs backpack for a weekend trip is painful. the 2.5 hours i jetted down to rex and julies was only painful because my phone ran out of battery and pandora shut down on me.

[Kaan]

also, you are pretty new to start trying to iron butt ride places. i know guys that will ride a solid 8 hours a day with gear strapped on the bike... camp on the side of the road some where... do it again. they take crazy trips. IMHO you need to work your way up in seat time... the longer the distance, the more uncomfortable you get, the less you are on your A game for riding.

[Tyler.M]

Thanks fro the suggestions Kaan, I do need to work up to some longer trips for sure. Graduation is around the corner, so I think you can see why I've been considering longer rides after I graduate.

On another note, bike has a new set of ears. Looks stock now, except for the mismatched fairings.