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http://www.motorbikes.be/en/Suzuki/1983 ... 0GR%20650/

Someone nearby is selling one in "very good" condition for $800. It is a 650, but not particularly powerful or "torquey." Kelley's blue book has it listed in "excellent" condition at $1150. I'd have to take it for a ride before I purchased it...sniff sniff...my first bike

So, yay or nay?

i know nothing about that bike, but it certainly looks tempting

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist

It'd certainly be cheaper than what I was looking for, which is a great thing. More money to spend on decent gear and MSF

At that price if everything works and it doesn't smoke, you can't go wrong. Your first bike is your first bike. It might not be your dream bike but if it starts every time for now, you can learn to ride and have a cheap way to get around. Plus, that would be a reasonably simple bike to learn to wrench on. How many miles?

cb360 wrote:At that price if everything works and it doesn't smoke, you can't go wrong. Your first bike is your first bike. It might not be your dream bike but if it starts every time for now, you can learn to ride and have a cheap way to get around. Plus, that would be a reasonably simple bike to learn to wrench on. How many miles?

It's got 10,000 miles on it. And sorry my noobishness but what does "wrench on" mean? Is that biker-talk for "work on" or tune up or keep a bike running or what?

I'd assume it means learning how everything works so in future, more complex bikes you at least have some idea of what you're doing.

Aaaah, knowledge will flow forth like streams of...stuff

Oh, yeah - 'wrench' is just a euphemism for working on. And I don't mean rebuilding an engine. But that motor is simple enough that you could learn how to do your own maintenance at the least. Oil changes, bulb replacements, chain lube, changing spark plugs, bleed the brakes,etc. Set the timing, or synch the carbs. Maybe even do your own valve adjustment if you have the aptitude. Basically, it's a smaller bike. It has carbs, not efi and it's old enough that there's no computer chip to worry about and you can see most of the major parts. I did just about all the work on my non-running cb360 when I got it. But I didn't do anything more complicated than removing and rebuilding and cleaning really simple carburetors with a kit. To some folks that's like brain surgery - to other real pros around here (like TechBMW or Gummiente or Zootech or 9000white) it's a really simple thing. I'm in the middle somewhere. I just took my 'new' old bike in for a complete tune-up because there was a special at my shop and I needed new rubber anyway. I'll do the ongoing maintenance but the guy I bought it from hadn't had it in a shop in a decade and I wanted a pro to go through it well before I got in there. I'd like to learn how to adjust the valves but it's more complicated to work on than my last bike. I'll do the next one hopefully.

MAN! I had the very bike....'til someone stole it. It was a great bike even with two people on it. I rode quite a bit with my wife for the 5 months we owned it.

I'd say good starter bike too.

Looks like a good starter to me..similar to a early kawasaki vulcan 500 in power, and setup..wheel sizes, etc. My son learned on a 1994 vulcan and he rides it to work all the time. He also owns a cbr 600 hurricane, so he isn't riding it because he has to. I say go for it.