Rattlehead
Forum Supporter
i'm old, but i still can't bring myself to ride a cruiser. I've got two on the street.
One is a suzuki '03 sv1000n (the only year they made them).
the other is a frankenbike i've named legion (for it is many), that is an sv1000s based bike that incorporates parts from honda, yamaha, and kawasaki, as well as other suzuki models.
Here is my beast! She is a 1981 Suzuki GS 550L. One of the older japanese 4 cylinders. Best part is got for about a $200 too! I traded a laptop that I got broken, fixed it with a few parts, and made a straight up trade for the unrunning bike. 4 new plugs, clean the carbs, and fork seals and I was out cruising again!
I'm old, but I still can't bring myself to ride a cruiser.
Nice bikes guys!
Nice GS! A few years ago my Dad really wanted a bike but due to being on a disability check wasn't able to afford one. So I found a non-running 1980 GS 1000 on Craigslist and traded my old Spectrum XLT for it. Cleaned out the carbs and got it running again, but there was another problem. My dad who is 5ft-nothing was way to short to ride it. So I ended up chopping it, lowering it, and making it into a bobber. It looked pretty cool but being a hardtail it rode like a horse & buggy. Here's a before and after pic.
I can't give it up. As a matter of fact, I've become a suspension fanatic since chasing more horsepower isn't an issue with the newer bikes. It's why I built "Legion" with the components that I chose. It has '06 GSXR750 forks sprung for my weight, Racetech gold valves, Redline 5wt oil (level is my spec), and Yamaha monoblock radial calipers (a 500gm unsprung weight savings). The rear has a Kawi ZX10R shock body (KYB), revalved it with Racetech parts, Redline 2.5wt oil, and is also sprung for my weight.I still miss the days of carving up the curves on my previous sportbikes though.
I've been a speed junkie my whole life, but now that I'm getting old (pushing 60) I'm starting to slow down. Cutting bambi in half with the bike in the pic below 6½yrs ago didn't help.
It should! I got busted up a fair bit, and was off work for six months. I was lucky.I know what you mean. In the last 15 years I've hit 5 deer... all of them in cars or trucks thankfully. The thought if hitting one on bike scares the hell out of me.
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