I'm thinking about trading in both my scooters. I'm looking at small commuter bikes from the early 80's. Something to dink around with in town, 60 mph and under. I'd like to not get one with points if I could.

 

My 81 Suzi 450 has a transistorized ignition, but the Euro model comes with points, so I'm willing to bank on early 80's for most Japanese motorcycles and perhaps a bit older depending on the model. Hell, by 84 Harley Davidson had switched to solid state system.

 

nice, one of the bikes I'm looking at is an '84 GS450L. You will have to tell me what you know about these.

http://www.cyclecentralinc.com/pre_o...R0&veh=1792835

Back in the day, I had a 1979 GS750 for a short time. Compared to a CB250 (the bike I was riding at the time), that thing was a fire breathing demon!

 

Very nice!

Mine is a GS450e modified to a cafe racer style bike with a bevvy of mods and I love the hell out of it. The E models are your basic standards, while the L is the more laid back "Cruiser" style model so there are a few differences, but they are mostly the same bike with a few bits like the tank, bars, and pegs being replaces/re-arranged.

I think they are incredibly solid bikes. The chassis is shared with the larger 850 style bike, so it's a pretty stout chassis. It handles surprisingly well for a bike of it's age, and is pretty damn comfortable for extended riding. The 450 engines unfortunately don't share the roller bearing crankshaft designs like the rest of the GS series, but they are pretty damn stout regardless, are incredibly easy to service, and in traditional Suzuki fashion, have the best air cooled oiling system in the business. Low RPM power is adequate and tractable, and the bike makes power all the way to 9000 RPM, and they sound pretty damn mean with the cans taken off, almost like a fine tuned Harley.

They do however suffer alternator problems, the stator windings have a tendency to burn out on most of them, requiring you to either re-wind the stator yourself, or buy an aftermarket unit (Not terribly expensive) to fix the problem. They also suffer problems with the fuel petcock valve, with the primary "Fuel" position malfunctioning on many models, requiring you to ride on the "Reserve" setting at all time (Not a big problem) or having the diaphragm blow out, causing a fuel starvation issue to the float bowls and thus a no start/rough running condition. fortunately petcock rebuild kits are abundant and very affordable ($30)

The GS series were fierce competition for Honda's dominance back in the 80's, and in the 400-500cc class they are easily the best bike of the era. I say go for it, you certainly won't regret it.

 

Alright well thanks for the info. I gotta give the place a call tomorrow to see if they would be willing to take 2 scooters as trade-ins and go from there.

If you know any good UJM forums let me know please.

 

GS Resources is a pretty good one.
http://www.thegsresources.com/

BikeCliffs website has just about everything you wanted to know about GS bikes and then some.
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

 

Thanks for the links... did you happen to keep track of your mileage with your '81 450?

 

I only traded in one scooter and ended up getting this bike. It is almost the same as my very first bike (1981 Yamaha Exciter 250) It's supposed to get 80 mpg and I test drove it to about 65, so it should do what I wanted my Zuma 125 to do (it failed)

BTW, it uses points, lol.

 

Nice find! Enjoy bud.

 

nice, im looking to buy a cheap older bike as well for the upcoming gas prices, lol.

im either building a lil cafe racer out of a cb or looking for a cheap ninja 250.

 

For some reason it was 60% less to insure this thing compared to my Zuma 125. I'm not complaining though!