My first big street bike, 1978 Suzuki GS750E. Mine was black with tri-colored pin striping and a 4 into 1 header. I loved that bike, took it with me when I moved from Iowa to Indiana, then down to Georgia, and out to California, put over 30,000 miles on it. I finally sold it to some Japanese dude in Long Beach, was moving back to Indiana and needed the money.
So, I'm killing time in Fairfield, Iowa this afternoon, stopped by my old hometown dealership, Duke's Yamaha/Kawasaki. Always good to chat with Duke, have known him since I was a kid and he's been in business going on 50 years, has many good stories to share.
Guess what was sitting in Duke's showroom? 1978 Suzuki GS750, black with a tri-color pinstripe and a 4 into 1 header! 32,000 miles, average condition body wise but Duke says it runs great and he replaced the valve cover gaskets and rebuilt the carbs. Asking $995, if I remember right I paid $1800 for mine back in 1978 and sold it for $800 in 1987. Spitting image of my old bike other than this one has some high rise bars and custom grips, but it still brought back a lot of memories when I sat on it.
Yeah, pocket change. Nah, it was a bit rough and I know it would be a crude machine compared to what I already have at home in the garage. Just a bit of fond nostalgia!
Those were decent machines, actually handled great for the period - but the four valve version was the one I would prefer if I was in the market for one of those old UJM's......
Out of the big four, I'd rather have the GS than a KZ, CB or XS
The KZ might of been the brother of the legendary Z1, but anyone who has been around knows the Kawasaki's are built to be fast, not made to last. There are just too many little quality and engineering quirks that put the Kawasaki's in last place for me, most of the time.
The XS 750 was a triple, sure, it had the sound and made the torque, but handling, well, not good, think of is as an Oldsmobike......
The Honda CS was the reliability kind, a sewing machine of a motorcycle, sold the best, but whatever, it was too steril to really get my blood pumping, even in "F" fashion back then.
The GS750 would of been my preference, you're a lucky guy.
Wish I still had some pics of my old bike, suppose there's some hiding away somewhere. It was fast for its time, could easily take my buddy's CB750. I thought it was the most beautiful bike in the world when I was 18 years old, still pretty decent looking 30 years later. Of course any modern 600 would kick its ass now, probably even Gin's 599, but it's all relative, it rocked back then!
Wish I still had some pics of my old bike, suppose there's some hiding away somewhere. It was fast for its time, could easily take my buddy's CB750. I thought it was the most beautiful bike in the world when I was 18 years old, still pretty decent looking 30 years later. Of course any modern 600 would kick its ass now, probably even Gin's 599, but it's all relative, it rocked back then!
So true, the modern 600cc "Standards" (599, SV650, FZ6...) pretty much run the 1/4 in nearly the same times as the old "superbikes" did - The GS1000, the KZ1000, the older big bore 2 valvers -
There are times I think about it like this - what used to be the baddest bikes in the land, the ones only those well versed in riding would dare ride - can be matched (or beat) by what we now consider to be an entry level machine.
That's very true, a Yamaha RD350 used to be a big fast bike back in the day. My brother had one, it was certainly fast, but not big by today's standards.
If you have room you should buy it. What a coincidence I just picked up a 79 GS1000E black with blue pin striping also good shape. It belonged to a good friend of mine who needed a change, besides I need another winter cleaning project. Last winter was consumed with my 74 Z1, which I got into a little more than I planned, but isn't that the way it happens? Now all I need is a 1970K0 to complete the 70's UJM's. One things for sure, when you get on that 919, you thank god for the technology advancements. Pics to follow.
Those "old" motorcycles are appreciating in value like very few imagined - well, some of them are.
One thing that a lot of people forget, in a street race, it is more rider than machine -
The RD350 may not be quick by todays standards, but it can flat embarrass 99% of the motorcycles out there in a short street race, when ridden by a rider that understands how to ride it.
Fun stuff, and stomping Harley's is not easy as blowing away the kids on sport bikes - sport bikes are too hard to launch and they are some of the easiest machines to beat in a short (1/2 block) street race -
Big VTwins are tougher, thanks to all that low end torque they generate - I smoked more than a few CBR600/1000RR's, R1's and Gixxers in short street races on a VTX1800N I used to ride, that machine would launch hard, and played out right, well, it was a fun machine in certain situations......
Well I always have room for another bike, the home garage is full of the six that we ride, but I have a 35,000 sq ft office building with a 10,000 sq ft shop where I keep the non runners, currently only the CB350-4 and the Alfa are taking up space there. The bigger question is what I'd do with it, really just more of a trip down memory lane, I think I'd rather have a nice CB750 these days than another GS750. Plus you guys are trying to talk me into a Hurricane in the dog thread!
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