jmlcolorado
Well-known member
Well folks, I managed to get myself ANOTHER project. My ADD appears to be becoming more prevalent in my garage projects these days.
This one I picked up for a cool $800. 1980 Suzuki GS1000. Are you starting to see a pattern here?
This bike is the second bike I ever really modified, though it never finished. Owner saw the first bike I did, picked up this one for me to go to town on, moved out of his house and in the process lost the title. I had it all pretty much mocked up, but then he lost interest. It's been moving house to house with me, and has sat in storage for the last 4 years.
Being that I was building this bike prior to some of my acquired tools and knowledge, the quality isn't quite there. It looks okay, and would probably do just fine as a rat bike, but I know if I put more time into it, it could end up being a much better bike.
It's got a -3" DNA springer, and hard tail on it with a springer seat. Being that the bike wasn't stretched or raked, it's got a squatty look to it, which I actually kinda like. Fits the "bobber" theme pretty well.
One thing I DO know is the springer isn't setup right on it. I don't have much knowledge in springers, but I do know new rockers need produced to get the steering trail back into spec. My buddy rode it a few times (this being the first bike he's EVER ridden, but I never did. Based off the math, I suspect the bars are 'heavy' at slow speeds. Again, I know this can be corrected with new rockers.
When I built this bike, I didn't have a wife and kids in mind, and now that I have both, I would prefer to have a soft tail one-up seater. I'm not sure I can accomplish that goal from this bike (but I'm sure I could if I put a bunch of thought into it). I REALLY want a bike me and the wife can enjoy together.
Even if that means I build this one, and sell it to get a better suited bike for that need.
With that said, I'm very open to what to make this one into so I want some opinions. Should I keep the bike "as-is", clean it up, sport it for a minute and sell it? Or should I take the whole thing back to the drawing board to make it more extreme and appealing to perspective buyers to sell?
Or should I try my hand at a soft tail one-up bike and hang onto it?
It is a shaft drive, so that limits some things, but not a bunch.
As far as the title goes, I have an identical make/model bike in storage with clean title (again, from ANOTHER buddy who bought and lost interest) who is willing to part with for a few hundred. That bike is totally un-modified. Either way, one has to go to be a title doner so I can only have one of the two.
Here she is:
This one I picked up for a cool $800. 1980 Suzuki GS1000. Are you starting to see a pattern here?
This bike is the second bike I ever really modified, though it never finished. Owner saw the first bike I did, picked up this one for me to go to town on, moved out of his house and in the process lost the title. I had it all pretty much mocked up, but then he lost interest. It's been moving house to house with me, and has sat in storage for the last 4 years.
Being that I was building this bike prior to some of my acquired tools and knowledge, the quality isn't quite there. It looks okay, and would probably do just fine as a rat bike, but I know if I put more time into it, it could end up being a much better bike.
It's got a -3" DNA springer, and hard tail on it with a springer seat. Being that the bike wasn't stretched or raked, it's got a squatty look to it, which I actually kinda like. Fits the "bobber" theme pretty well.
One thing I DO know is the springer isn't setup right on it. I don't have much knowledge in springers, but I do know new rockers need produced to get the steering trail back into spec. My buddy rode it a few times (this being the first bike he's EVER ridden, but I never did. Based off the math, I suspect the bars are 'heavy' at slow speeds. Again, I know this can be corrected with new rockers.
When I built this bike, I didn't have a wife and kids in mind, and now that I have both, I would prefer to have a soft tail one-up seater. I'm not sure I can accomplish that goal from this bike (but I'm sure I could if I put a bunch of thought into it). I REALLY want a bike me and the wife can enjoy together.
Even if that means I build this one, and sell it to get a better suited bike for that need.
With that said, I'm very open to what to make this one into so I want some opinions. Should I keep the bike "as-is", clean it up, sport it for a minute and sell it? Or should I take the whole thing back to the drawing board to make it more extreme and appealing to perspective buyers to sell?
Or should I try my hand at a soft tail one-up bike and hang onto it?
It is a shaft drive, so that limits some things, but not a bunch.
As far as the title goes, I have an identical make/model bike in storage with clean title (again, from ANOTHER buddy who bought and lost interest) who is willing to part with for a few hundred. That bike is totally un-modified. Either way, one has to go to be a title doner so I can only have one of the two.
Here she is:
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