Moving back to the UK in a few months and have decided to sell my 1200GSA over here.......for many reasons. Once back in the UK I am thinking about going back to what I understand is now called an airhead (of course they weren't called airheads when I last had them).
I guess the point of this note is what are the older GSs like these days?? - my last one was a 100 PD I bought back in '93 (prior to that I had a '90 80 GS and a '92 100 GS - I did 150,000 miles between them in four years). Well over the past few years I have pretty much bought what ever new one has come out and ridden for thousands of miles but still can't get the charm of the simpler GSs out of my mind. And besides I have got fed up spending so much cash getting the latest one all the time.
Looks as though really nice ones go for about 4k, which I guess is a lot for a bike that's fifteen years old but not if it's what you really want?
Am I just wearing rose tinted glasses? I remember going up to the 100 after the 80 and being amazed at the extra grunt - of course I realise that a 100 now will seem down on power compared with a 1200 but I figure most of the time I don't use that much of the power anyway but I rememer the 100 having it's grunt much lower down the rev range than the new 1200s do. I also remember them being very flexible - provided I had a good 2,000 on the tacho. I also found that they were rough and lumpy until way past 10,000 miles - you really did have to wear them in.
I also remeber the brakes - I loved the rear drum (well, I had to as the front disc was, well, you know........?) But seriously, I always thought that the rear drum had superb feel and the front works just fine - you just had to squeeze that bit harder!
I also remember sensible maintenance, only two valves to adjust, simple carbs with no surging, easy change gear and final drive oil, brakes that were simple to bleed, tyres that you can change yourself, a comfy seat.
I know that with the passing of time there have been issues with drive shafts and electrics / charging.
I guess what I am thinking of is a late (low miles?) GS PS with kickstart, orginal condition......not messed with. Then I would lke to fit a rear Ohlins, new fork springs / oil and a set of Zega panniers.
Do these bikes still exist...............or do I have to buy a project????
I guess the point of this note is what are the older GSs like these days?? - my last one was a 100 PD I bought back in '93 (prior to that I had a '90 80 GS and a '92 100 GS - I did 150,000 miles between them in four years). Well over the past few years I have pretty much bought what ever new one has come out and ridden for thousands of miles but still can't get the charm of the simpler GSs out of my mind. And besides I have got fed up spending so much cash getting the latest one all the time.
Looks as though really nice ones go for about 4k, which I guess is a lot for a bike that's fifteen years old but not if it's what you really want?
Am I just wearing rose tinted glasses? I remember going up to the 100 after the 80 and being amazed at the extra grunt - of course I realise that a 100 now will seem down on power compared with a 1200 but I figure most of the time I don't use that much of the power anyway but I rememer the 100 having it's grunt much lower down the rev range than the new 1200s do. I also remember them being very flexible - provided I had a good 2,000 on the tacho. I also found that they were rough and lumpy until way past 10,000 miles - you really did have to wear them in.
I also remeber the brakes - I loved the rear drum (well, I had to as the front disc was, well, you know........?) But seriously, I always thought that the rear drum had superb feel and the front works just fine - you just had to squeeze that bit harder!
I also remember sensible maintenance, only two valves to adjust, simple carbs with no surging, easy change gear and final drive oil, brakes that were simple to bleed, tyres that you can change yourself, a comfy seat.
I know that with the passing of time there have been issues with drive shafts and electrics / charging.
I guess what I am thinking of is a late (low miles?) GS PS with kickstart, orginal condition......not messed with. Then I would lke to fit a rear Ohlins, new fork springs / oil and a set of Zega panniers.
Do these bikes still exist...............or do I have to buy a project????
I guess you're a fairly unique kind of chap 
Fortunatly, thanks to some HH brake pads, the front brake is very usable.
