Author Topic: What'd you ride this weekend?  (Read 9687 times)

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Offline HawkGTRider

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What'd you ride this weekend?
« on: July 24, 2016, 11:31:49 pm »
If you know me, you know I have a garage full of bikes. But as one so-called friend put it, I'm not so much a collector as I am an accumulator. Yeppers, I can accept that. But everything that's in my garage came at a price that I could live with and still puts a smile on my face.

My good friend and long-time MSTA member in eastern Oklahoma, Mike Morris, knows my 1980 Suzuki GS450E quite well as I bought it from him around 2003. He found it in a state of disrepair, put it back into running condition, and advertised it in Cycle Trader. I'd see one of these bikes on ebay and liked the looks of it. I'd put in bids on two examples of this model on ebay but got shut out on both. I sent an email to the owner of this bike through Cycle Trader not knowing it was Mike. He responded, and after a period of time we came to terms on how much and where.
Suzuki had a similar model to the 450E called a 450S, and it was pretty much the same bike with some special striping, a nice little quarter fairing, and a couple of other small variations. The fairing must be made of unobtainium as when I have seen them, they were VERY expensive (either very few of them ever existed or very few survived). However, I finally managed to find one on ebay and I had the determination to purchase it. Along with the fairing, I have also acquired a tail piece AND a gas tank, ALL with the same striping as the fairing. All it needs now is a painted front fender to replace the chrome version that came on the E model and a set of bar end mirrors to really be an "S". But I'm pretty much ok with it as it is.

Right before STAR I had a flat tire on the 450E/S a short distance from my house, but I managed to ride it home. I put the bike in the garage, and there is sat until yesterday. I swapped the rear tire and tube, put the battery on a charger, and gave the bike a good rubbing (yeah, I do that once in a great while). This morning I checked the air pressure (all good), the battery (all good), and after getting the "all clear" from the young lady, I took it for a ride.

I put about 75 miles of meandering on it, and I was reminded of just how much I like this bike. It's got zero electronic aids other than a series of lights at the top of the dash to tell me what gear I'm in. The tach is mechanical and swings rather wildly at pretty much any speed. No ABS and pretty wooden at best. No traction control other than a very modest power output. No fuel gauge. However, compared to my gps, the speedometer is quite accurate. Yeah baby! All in all, I still really like this bike. I've added a bit over 25,000 miles to this bike since getting it, and other than some almost expected charging issues (it IS a Suzuki), it's been pretty trouble free. I won't win any races with its rather modest power output, and for its size, it's even a little heavy at around 435# curb weight.

Did I say how much I enjoy riding this bike? When you look up the old rider phrase "It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow", there is a picture of this bike right next to it. It'll run highway speeds all day long (just give it time to get there), is comfortable with an upright seating position, has more leg room than several of my other bikes, and gets 55-60 mpg. With its skinny little tires, if you think about turning, you're doing it. And yet it's quite stable, and I've done 3 or 4 thousand mile days on this bike.
All in all, I give it a big thumbs up!

So I got home around 1:30 this afternoon with plans to meet my sisters and brothers in law along with their kids for dinner tonight at 5:00. We were to meet in Dandridge, Tennessee, which is about 35 miles from my house. What to do? Why, ride something different, of course! And the choice for this evening was the '88 Honda Hawk GT. There's nothing wrong with it other than a pesky slow leak in the rear tire, but STAR got in the way of riding it regularly, and it had been sitting since late May. Thinking I might get this chance, I put a battery tender on the bike last night, and today I checked the tires. Front-good. Rear...needs air. Pump it up, hit the starter, and the bike fires right up.
I bought this bike in the summer of 1995 when it had 10,000 miles on it, and it now has ~66,400 miles. I've only ridden it to one STAR, but that one was at Lake Eufaula, OK. I took it to Barber Motorsports Park to ride in the California Superbike School that I did a few years ago. It's had, let's see, virtually nothing ever go wrong with it (please karma, don't bite me for saying that). Other than a Corbin saddle, the bike is stock. It's not a garage or trailer queen, and when I get it out, it gets ridden.
Today's ride to Dandridge was pleasant. I could have jumped on the interstate and stayed there all but a very few miles, but why? I took nearly an hour to go the 35 miles, and had a fine little jaunt on mostly little backroads. The bike seems to like that, and so do I. After a good dinner with my family, the bike brought me home with no drama on different backroads than going.
This bike is actually a little lighter than the GS450E with a curb weight of around 410-415#. With it's cooler than cool single sided swingarm, removing a rear wheel takes only marginally longer than finding the right BIG socket to remove the nut. The underslung exhaust looks just right and fits nicely with a bunch of bikes that appeared a decade or two later.
After 21 years, this bike still puts a smile on my face. I give it a big thumbs up!

Tomorrow, I think the DR650S needs some exercise. We'll see.
Geoffrey Greene
MSTA Ride For Kids Coordinator (retired), MSTA Secretary (retired), TN-STAR and Tri-STAR Coordinator (retired)
Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations.

Offline Patmo

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2016, 06:13:17 am »
My sons first "road" bike was a 1978 Suzuki Gs550E.....4 cyl version of the 450....a little larger and heavier than the 450, but not hugely so.  Other than the limited range from the tank and the seat, it was a pretty good bike. Very enjoyable to throw around on back roads.  Riding it at 45-55 was like riding a "modern" bike at 65-75, and just as fun.  My new Thruxton is like that.  No real modern features (other than the FI), just a good solid bike that is made to lope along on back roads and bring a grin to the riders face.  Not a tourer by any means, and not a real "sport bike", but loads of fun and easy to ride.  Glad you had a good day!  See you down the road.
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Offline Brick

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2016, 09:03:18 am »
In... I think 2004 I bought my 1999 Suzuki SV650 from Jim and Ginny LaPoint. I love this bike. It's still going strong. This year I took the forks off and had Rick at Cogent Dynamics re-do them. It handles much better now. However I took the racers advice about how to improve performance on any bike and I lost 32 lbs. I was having trouble finding room for that 12 pack gut. It's gone now and the performance on both bikes has improved.


Let's Ride!
Brick
Brick
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1999 Suzuki SV-650

rideandfly

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2016, 09:31:34 am »
While riding a Honda Shadow (never owned a sport bike), met Brick and Billy Acklin for the first time at Marion during breakfast. Did not ride with them that day, but Billy recommended that I should buy a SV650 for the type of riding I liked.

Purchased a SV650 and really liked the bike and engine for twisty riding. Rode the SV650 in the mountains for a while before buying a new 2008 DL650 Vstrom. Wanted the Strom for twisty riding, two up riding, and because of the 90 degree V twin.

Still riding and enjoying the Strom. Debbie & I rode over to the Big Lynn Event Friday and Saturday mornings, two up on the Strom. Saw some old and new friends!

The Strom is a keeper!







 
« Last Edit: July 25, 2016, 09:59:01 am by rideandfly »

Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2016, 07:33:12 pm »
My ride of the day wasn't so much about the route, but more just about the bike.

As expected, I rode the '97 Suzuki DR650S. This is a bike I just purchased last autumn from a local fellow who's been diagnosed with Parkinson's. He knew his riding days were numbered, so he decided to part with all of this two wheelers. Not to take advantage of someone, we settled on a priced that was about 95% of his asking price.

This bike has been previously enjoyed by, I'm guessing, several people. And true to that sort of experience, it needed more help than I expected to get back to a certain comfort point in performance and functionality. It had 18,000 miles on it, but I've never been particularly shy about bikes with a few miles. The bike now has 20,000+ miles and I still think I was correct about not worrying about the mileage.
What I did do was add a few things...such as hand guards, heated grips, a bash plate, an BIG honking Acerbis gas tank, a taller (but still pretty abreviated) windshield, a bigger tool carrier, a relocation kit for the foot pegs, and a set of Pivot Pegz.

Today I had to ride to downtown Knoxville for some work with a local special events company to set up the lights, sound, backdrops, video screens, and so forth for the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame induction tomorrow night. This ride was just your basic commute, but with temps in the low 70s this morning, it was a lot more pleasant than the ride home this afternoon. But I managed to come home via "the long way" to help ameliorate the heat issue.

I had hoped to ride this bike to Quebec after STAR, but as you may find in another thread, my plans changed. I even went as far as starting towards Vermont on the DR, but on the second day from home I found it advisable to go return home and take a different route/tact. I may still make the trek to the far reaches of Quebec, but it'll be another year. And since I've got this bike all set up for the adventure, it'll be all ready to go when the time comes. Until then, fun little excursions locally on dirt/gravel roads and the occasional commute will have to suffice.

Tomorrow I pick up a new-to-me 1975 Yamaha RD125...my first two stroke bike ever. But I may work in a ride on another bike as well...we'll see.
Geoffrey Greene
MSTA Ride For Kids Coordinator (retired), MSTA Secretary (retired), TN-STAR and Tri-STAR Coordinator (retired)
Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations.

rideandfly

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2016, 10:37:39 pm »
Geoffrey,

Enjoyed hearing about current and future adventures with the DR!

Looking forward to hearing about adventures on the "new to you" RD125!!!!!Would also like
to see photos!


Offline Patmo

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2016, 06:50:06 am »
My first bike ever was a 1973 Yamaha RD125 two stroke.  Just make sure you always have an extra spark plug with you and you should be fine.  :)
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Offline stevegrab

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Re: What'd you ride this weekend?
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2016, 01:19:11 pm »
Bike accumulator not collector, for sure ;)

No riding for me last weekend, not much in general since back from STAR.
Steve Grabowski
2014 Interceptor, 98 VFR, 99 Triumph Sprint ST, 06 Ninja 650