2 weeks, 2 bikes and all for under 600.00: New User Content

Good morning all! I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and share my small story with you. About 2 months ago a colleague of mine asked if I wanted to go ride for the day. It had been 8 years since I had gotten on a bike so of course I was excited. We rode 200 miles through the winding redwood forests of northern California. I was on his slightly modified GS450. When I got home that night I started looking for one of these bikes and came across a deal in Santa Cruz for 650.00. I was able to talk the guy down to 450.00 and it was that quick I had just bought my first GS450L. Previous owner has some odd taste but it's all good to each is their own. It had the bones and a clean and up to date title.

Fast forward a week. I went and got my permit so I could legally ride and I stumbled on another ad. The title said my wife is making me get rid of it. Again the guys was asking for around 650.00. I made a shot in the dark offer at 300.00 and assured the po that it wouldn't be parted out, but put on the road to be enjoyed. He agreed and there was one last thing to see. I asked if there were any back fees since the bike hadn't been on the road for over a year. Seller told me he Nonopped it before he parked it so there should be. After checking dmv I found out there were back fees. I let the seller know and his response was amazing and awesome. He stated "so I'll see you Sunday with $150.00?.". Obviously I agreed and that is how I came to own a completely unmodified GS450S. 2 bikes, 2 weeks all for $600.00.









Looking forward to sharing my progression with the pair and hearing feedback on the work to come!

Since then I have put a fair amount of work into the green one... well its not green anymore. I did front and rear brakes, front and rear sprockets with chain, shorter cables to help the fitment of the bars and remove the increase in idle when making a sharp right hand turn, bolt kit and most importantly paint!

Welcome to the forum. Nice pair of finds you have there, the GS is a great bike and for that price you can't go wrong


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Thanks. I have tried a few different forums but still have not found a solid one. A buddy told me about this one so I decided to give it a try!

The red one... yeah, the red one. I dig that one. I rode one of those many years ago. Cool little cafe from the factory.

Love that story and hope I can have one similar to it soon. Also love the new paint.

Thanks guys. I have been searching for a good seat replacement to get rid of the two up but everything I'm finding is to short or not even close. Also not really finding anything made directly for the gs450. Does anyone have a recommendation?

No help with the seat, but welcome! Great scores! Thanks for sharing

canyoncarver said:

The red one... yeah, the red one. I dig that one. I rode one of those many years ago. Cool little cafe from the factory.

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Yeah that's the GS450 E? I believe? I had an L, and I remember being disappointed when I had the wrong letter : - that is a great looking bike, I would keep it as is if I were you.

As far as the seat goes, a lot of whats out there on the aftermarket is going to be pretty universal and require at least minor modification to get proper fitment. One option that requires a bit less fabrication is to modify a stock seat pan. Since the stock seat you have is in good shape, you may want to turn to eBay and buy a cheap one with a crappy covering that you won't mind messing with. from there you can build a custom seat on the stock pan which avoids a lot of the headache involved with fitting a custom pan.

adventurco said:

Yeah that's the GS450 E? I believe? I had an L, and I remember being disappointed when I had the wrong letter : - that is a great looking bike, I would keep it as is if I were you.

As far as the seat goes, a lot of whats out there on the aftermarket is going to be pretty universal and require at least minor modification to get proper fitment. One option that requires a bit less fabrication is to modify a stock seat pan. Since the stock seat you have is in good shape, you may want to turn to eBay and buy a cheap one with a crappy covering that you won't mind messing with. from there you can build a custom seat on the stock pan which avoids a lot of the headache involved with fitting a custom pan.

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That is a very good option. Thanks for the suggestion. This would also allow me to leave the seat long enough for the Mrs.

Vortexjunkie as in.....VW Vortex?

coyote13 said:

Vortexjunkie as in.....VW Vortex?

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Interesting... yes it is. And Audizine

Vortexjunkie said:

That is a very good option. Thanks for the suggestion. This would also allow me to leave the seat long enough for the Mrs.

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I did something similar on the GS 550 I've been working on, theres a couple posts on it in the thread there in my sig if you're interested in seeing what I did. Its significantly less work than a one off custom seat.

Vortexjunkie said:

Interesting... yes it is. And Audizine

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Haha knew it. I was on the 'zine for 4-5 years, seems to be a few of those guys have migrated over here over the years.

coyote13 said:

Haha knew it. I was on the 'zine for 4-5 years, seems to be a few of those guys have migrated over here over the years.

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Oh I'm still there! Not so much on vortex anymore but I just needed a new project. Cars are fun but it seems to be redundant. The older bikes seem to be very individual and unique.

Next up is to work on a seat.