The nearer I got to home the louder became the engine rumble. I had only owned the GS450 for about half an hour. It was a cheapie. Two hundred quid for a 1987 example. With the total of just over 79000 miles on the clock. Most of its time spent as a despatch hack. Something reflected in its condition. Looking about 15 years old and as if it had been dragged through a sewer backwards.
This vertical twin, with a gear driven balancer, was not supposed to vibrate very much. My example sent severe shivers through the chassis. It was much worse than a Bonnie I had once ridden. The combination of vibes and rumble inspired a sense of dread. I rode with my hand on the clutch ready for the worst. The chassis was equally lacking in inspiration. It felt only moments away from fear and loathing territory. I had already noted bald tyres, shot bearings and pitted forks. So it came as no great surprise.
We eventually reached home. Engine covered in a protective layer of ancient oil. Tickover off beat, accompanied by a chassis that seemed to shimmy in the evening haze. A haze, incidentally, caused by the two stroke like pall of black smoke coming out of the rotten exhausts. The silencers a patchwork of welds, jubilee clipped old tin cans and rivers of rust. One kick, I thought, was all that was needed to turn them to dust. In the garage, the still running engine echoed its groaning noises off the concrete walls. Rumbling mains, I thought. The next day, I took the engine out and split the cases. Enough slop in the bearings and gearbox to convince me that the motor would only be useful for the odd spare part. I knew where there was a low mileage ‘89 version out of a crashed bike just waiting for 200 notes worth of liberation. So no big deal.
The chassis was stripped down to the frame, bearings renewed, rust replaced with paint. The cycle parts done in a nice shade of dark blue. Chrome and alloy bits were polished. Consumables replenished with nearly new stuff from the same breaker who provided the engine. For a lot less than £500 total and a week’s work I had a decent bike ready for the road. That would fetch twice its cost when I felt inclined to sell. I wondered how the engine would react to the Bonnie style silencers I had fitted. I need not have worried.
The motor eventually growled into life. At tickover the noise was reasonably subdued. Opening up the throttle for the first time almost burst my ear drums! But the engine ran very sweetly once on the road. No carb glitches and hardly any vibration. Whenever I saw the cops, I used a tall gear and low revs to subdue the cacophony.
After the first forty miles the engine kept cutting out. Going on to one cylinder and sometimes stalling completely. Coming back on to two cylinders, power exploded on to the back wheel, sending the tyre scurrying across the road. Intermittent electrical problems are the worst kind. I spent many a happy hour poking about at the wires and cleaning already clean connections. Eventually, the motor refused to start again after stalling. I did what I should have done in the first place. Replaced the spark plugs. No more problems!
The GS weighs in at only 380lbs. In town, handling is as easy as could be. What with the narrow DOHC engine and flickable chassis, not much can escape from the 450 in drags through traffic. The single front disc was not really adequate for the more desperate point and grab manoeuvres and the rear drum was wooden in feel. Near collisions occurred on several occasions until I tempered my right wrist a little.
Not that engine performance was all that scintillating. The engine had only done 19000 miles, but showed great reluctance to push the bike above the ton. Or provide tyre burning take offs. What it would do, was provide 80 to 90mph cruising for long periods of time without complaint. The motor prefers 6000 revs plus, when the off beat exhaust (from having pistons moving up and down out of phase) smooths out. It's possible to go down to less than 2000 revs in top, but acceleration is sluggish. I could not fault the gearbox which was slick. Nor the clutch which was both light and controllable.
The chassis was not in such a good state. Even though new bearings were installed in wheels, swinging arm and headstock. The problem was down to worn out suspension. The forks needed re-chroming to allow them to hold some damping oil. The shocks just needed replacing. Nothing too serious. The frame seemed straight and rather strong, though it was an old style tubular steel type. Suzuki has been churning out these middleweight twins for 15 years and had found out something about geometry in that time.
The bike liked to wag its back end when I was over-indulgent with the throttle in the lower gears when leant over. Fast acceleration over bumpy going shook the front forks. Beyond 85mph a weave developed even on straight, smooth motorways, where the machine could just maintain its pace amid the mad traffic flow. The possibly of a dangerous wobble was always there at speed. All it would take was one particularly vivid bump or pot-hole to set the machine off. At times, all the aforementioned ailments occurred at the same moment. Which would make the tortuous progress rather interesting. Although it felt dangerous, backing off the throttle always solved the problem.
I was convinced that all the machine needed was decent suspension. As mileage increased the shocks became less and less interested in insulating the rider from bumps or keeping the swinging arm under control. They were original items so could be forgiven for being worn out. Their replacement with newish Konis appreciably tightened up the back end. The front forks were still troublesome but never became any worse so were never replaced.
As mentioned, the single front disc was not much cop in town and even less use on motorways and the like. I took it apart a few times, bled the hydraulics and tried several different types of pads to little avail. | eventually found some used Goodridge hose which reduced the spongy feel to a considerable degree but did nothing for the braking power. I have known old TLS British drums that were much superior.
At least pad life was reasonable, at over 14000 miles a set. Other consumables were equally moderate with a rear Roadrunner going for 12000 and front for 13500 miles. The chain was OK at 8000 miles but it also needed a new sprocket set each time it was replaced. Fuel stubbornly stayed at 50-55mpg regardless of how the throttle was treated.
Reliability, of a relatively new motor, has been excellent. I have done 36500 miles in less than 18 months with no problems. Regular oil and filter changes combined with a couple of carb and valve adjustments are all it's required. I doubt if you will push the engine around the clock, 83000 miles is the most I've heard of one doing. The camshafts, chain and tensioner usually need attention around 47500 miles. Thereafter, watch out for crankshaft bearings which are not as long lasting as earlier GS twins.
Things I don't like about the machine include a certain remoteness in its ride and the way it has burnt out two alternators along with associated expensive electrical components. I finally got wise and fitted items off a Honda CB400N, which seems to have done the trick, along with a re-wound alternator. That remote ride can combine with the recalcitrant disc to make wet weather work a dangerous business. Sliding tyres are all too common. But I haven’t actually fallen off yet, so it can’t be that bad. And the fuel economy was very disappointing given the engine’s mild nature.
I still have the bike but have also bought a nice condition Kawasaki GPz500S for just under two grand. This shows the strides made in engine performance, handling and braking. It's even more economical than the Suzuki! The GS is wheeled out from time to time but suffers badly by way of comparison. I can’t find any area in which it is superior to the GPz! It isn't even stylish enough to appeal on the retro count.
By the time you read this I will probably have sold the GS450. I might buy another some time in the future, but only if the price was very low.
Gerald Bunting