l knew exactly what I wanted, the definitive, ultra reliable Jap middleweight, the Suzuki GS550. Absolutely ideal for my needs. I wanted a W or X reg, clean and tidy, mileage fairly academic. Looking through the local paper, a secondhand dealer from whom I had bought a bike before was offering a V reg GS for £400 and it was stated to be tatty.
I thought l might as well take a look. How wrong can you be? Tatty was a total understatement, it was just a wreck on wheels! Anyway, I went in to see the shop owner to pass the time of day, that was when I noticed a very clean, black Y reg GS650GT, shaft drive, in the corner of the showroom. On closer inspection it was very tidy, had 19000 miles on the clock, a Motad 4-1 and a poxy Invader fairing. I immediately thought this is just the job, shaft drive and all.
Anyway, I took it for a quick spin, the motor felt solid and everything appeared fine, apart from a well worn front tyre. l haggled and got £200 off for cash. Soon as I arrived home. the fairing came off (it was held on with brackets that could have supported the Forth Bridge) and my old Euro Design rack went on. It was originally off a CB900FZ. It wasn't difficult to put on using the appropriate spacers. Then on went a top box just to finish things off. That was August 1987.
Oil and filter were changed at 20500 miles, judging by the reasonable state of the oil it signalled to me that the previous owner had not only looked after the outside but, more importantly, the inside as well. I assumed the bike had had a gentle life. New plugs went in at 20700 miles, and a week later the arrow shaped Michelin (which had made the handling bloody weird, it kept wanting to fall into corners) was replaced with an ME33 Lazer to match the rear ME99A. The result was a massive improvement in handling, it now actually went round corners without trying to touch the mirrors down!
I was very pleased with the bike The shaft drive was very positive, as was the gear change, and power delivery was well metered - good low and mid-range power allied to clean carburation makes town riding a doddle and very smooth, despite the mass of the across the frame four.
Two up handling was a bit dubious unless you jacked the rear shocks up to maximum and kept the tyre pressures at the tap of their range. A weave was especially noticeable in long sweeping bends unless everything was set up perfectly. As tyres wear handling deteriorates... a word of warning, here, I replaced the rear with a 130 section tubeless tyre, same as originally fitted, and found the old tubeless tyre had been fitted with an inner tube because the 130 section is too big to seal properly. A 120 section tyre solves the problem.
This was my first shaft drive motorcycle and l was really impressed with it, so much so that l changed the shaft oil at 24000 miles - it was very dirty and probably original. A full engine service was done at 25300 miles, although I do all the other stuff myself. Remarkably, the tappets and carbs weren't far out and the ignition was spot on and the plugs didn't need replacing.
Not long after the service, starting became a third or fourth stab at the button affair. Put down to a dry battery and duff plugs. ln went new plugs, the battery was topped up, and an oil and filter change at 28000 miles. I also added a rear mudflap to stop road crud covering the number plate and light. The three disc brakes had been impressive so warranted the £36 cost of a set of replacement pads.
Around 30000 miles the handling took a turn for the worse. The bike shimmied about all over the place coming out of the bends, this nasty trait emanated from the rear end. Reason, shot swinging arm bearings. Getting the swinging arm out isn’t a difficult job, getting the bearings out is. They had to be beaten out with a special tool — you can't knock them out from the other side because the inside of the swinging arm is blocked off. Bearings cost £30 a pair.
While the swinging arm was out l was able to tackle another problem, oil was leaking out from the engine output shaft into the rubber gaiter that covers the universal joint. At the next oil change (31000 miles) I took the opportunity to add synthetic oil and I swear the bike runs better.
The choice of Metz tyres was a good one. The front lasted 12400 miles and was good in the wet too. Had a new speedo cable at 33700 miles, bit expensive at £5.50. The rear tyre was replaced at the same time having done nearly 11000 miles, damn good for a rear boot - probably down to the lazy power delivery.
The whole bike was going as well as the day I picked it up. To reinforce this belief I managed 110mph two up, a bit frantic at that speed but entirely believable that it could achieve its quoted 120mph solo. Speed is not related to mpg, it does 45mpg whatever you do with the throttle. The bike is comfortable for 100 miles which coincides with reserve -should be at least five gallons capacity!
Just before 34000 miles the clutch cable went. I was halfway home from work when it snapped. Have you ever tried riding three miles, mostly in a built up area, without stopping? It was a bloody miracle. I got to the local Suzuki dealer, bought the cable (£10.95, daylight robbery) and put it on there and then; good job it wasn't raining!
The steering head bearings needed replacing at 34500 miles. They lasted quite well, I suppose, although it appeared there had been little or no grease put in at the factory. The new ones went in packed with grease. This brought the steering back to life again. Don’t they use grease in Japan?
As 38000 miles came up on the clock, the engine began to run very roughly and noisily, due to having a hole in the exhaust. It had done 12000 miles since the engine was touched. lt deserved a service. This was duly done and we were also able to braze up the hole in the exhaust, not bad for £10 on top of the service bill (which included a fork oil change). Would have cost me well over £100 for a brand new Motad.
Riding home after the service it felt like a new bike, smooth, quiet, responsive. Up to now I haven't said anything about the camchain - because I haven't had to. It is a self adjusting unit and at the service they reckoned it was good for a few more thousand miles. 40000 miles out of a camchain is OK by me. They also confirmed that compression was still good.
Coming home from work in the dark, the headlamp blew. £6.40 for a new one. By 39000 miles it needed a new set of front pads, expensive at £27 but they had lasted 14000 miles, so I wasn't complaining. On the whole the brakes were good in the dry, slightly less so in the wet. The rear disc is actually very usable, progressive but firm - l have never managed to lock up the back wheel.
Whilst doing a check over of the bike I noticed that the battery's plates were covered in white fur. It was becoming harder to start so a new battery was shoved in, a Blue Label for £20, half the price of a Yuasa original.
Five months after brazing the exhaust it blew again, only this time it was much worse. There was nothing for it, £125 for another Motad, at least it was very easy to fit. Just after this the rear shock broke coming home from work. Good job I wasn't going very fast or cornering at the time. I was almost opposite a secondhand dealer when it happened. He agreed to put the bike in his workshop if I'd buy a pair of shocks from him. Two days later I was £74 worse off, but at least I had a new pair of dual rate R&Rs. On the lowest settings they were firmer than the originals.
A few days. later there was a nasty, whirring noise from the top end. I opted for a linked camchain rather than an end-less one which required removal of the crank and hundreds of hours of labour at £18 an hour - it would be cheaper to pay off the Mexican national debt! Instead, it cost me £91. The damage that can be done if the old camchain gives up on you does not bear thinking about.
Riding home that evening the bike felt as smooth as the day I had bought it four years before. In the time I've had the bike it has done nothing but convince me that l made the right choice. As soon as the odometer turned 40000 miles I went out and bought a new pair of handlebar grips as a way of thanking the bike for keeping me on the road for all but a handful of days.
To sum up, the throttle is a bit heavy, as is the whole bike, and the tank is far too small. I can live with that, because on the plus side it has only once failed to start, it is smooth, fast enough, comfortable, handles OK and has got a damn near bullet proof engine.
I have done 21000 miles on it and am looking forward to the next 21000 miles. Can't understand why the GS didn’t outsell the CX500. Looks a hundred times better, amongst other things. As you might have already gathered l'm dead chuffed with my 650GT and intend to keep it for the foreseeable future.
Anyway, it’s such a contrast to my H reg Honda VFR750 (the bike mags were right, it is a brilliant bike), I can certainly feel the eight years difference between them. That's no discredit to the GS, back in the early eighties it was a good bike and with retro biking coming in for the nineties, the GS is right up there with them. Well done Suzuki!
P Cooper