still hankering after one!!

[johnakay]

it has been nearly 4 since I sold my T500.
yes I wish I haven't but its gone now
still hankering after another.
my wife and boys and friends think I'm mad thinking about getting a T500 or GT500.
the problem is that are fetching good money unrestored.
when I bought mine it cost me £450 even then I thought it was a bit much
now they start from any where from a £1000 for a none runner.
and another thing is availability of some spares as some are now no longer available.now that I'm not working full time, only self employed selling my rack's and rails . I can't really afford to throw money around.
so now I have to be careful what I spend my money on.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUZUKI-T500-1 ... 2ebf177836

[yeadon_m]

John,
I see the problem. Thats a shedload of £ for a shed of a bike. OK, it will be a good base for a resto but a lot of money will go into it. Its love not break even, let alone profit at that price.
I was glad to get my pair of GT550s at a bit over £2K. Not cheap, but at least I can eventually sell one on to someone else who doesn't mind a money pit!
Good luck to you. You will get one eventually because the bug is still alive. You know you want to :-))
Mike

[johnakay]

if I was working I would have bought it.
but being self employed and earning peanuts.
I've just got be carefull in what I buy.
the nearest to that sort of style is the W650/800 so I'm considering those to.

[2strokejohnny]

twin is a sin
triples r triffic
fours a bore

[johnakay]

thought about a triple but a 380 but I think it maybe a little under power for 2 up.
the 550 gobble to much juice as do the 750.

and I've never owned any triples just twins.
just T350 AND 2 X T500,2 X GT500.
I may go for the GT500 if one comes up at a right price.
my current bike is a ER6F face lift model.
I get this year out and then will sell it in 2013.
and I'll see what is available then.
there is quite a few bikes I have in mind biut mainly 4 strokes.

[didge]

the 550 gobble to much juice as do the 750.

It wouldn't be so bad nowadays would it, bearing in mind it probably wouldn't be an everyday ride, but more a ride for fun occasional bike.

[Alan H]

You might be surprised when comparing fuel consumption between bikes. 'Back in the day', I had mates with 380s and GT500s and when we went on a run, my 550 was always better on fuel. Driving at silly or sensible speeds.

[johnakay]

the 500's were good for 45mpg and the T500 tank range was about 90 miles.
I don't know what the GT500 does to a full tank but all the ones I had yes just 2 did 45mpg.
my understanding is that the 550 did around 30mpg?

[Alan H]

Well my old 550 used to do between 35-45 depending on 'twist'. I could get it down to about 15 on a good day on the way home from a race meeting. Very little stayed in front in the days before motorways were commonplace. I did get tabbed doing 106 on the M18 mind.

Strange how the consumption was always less on the way BACK from a race meeting after watching the likes of Hailwood, Ivy, Sheene, Smart, Cooper, Ago and the likes. Must be a reason that escapes me at the mo'..........

[yeadon_m]

Alan,
I have the same memory, more like 'the older I get, the worse my MPG was in my youth'. And it was. I definitely pushed my GT380 into the low 20s a few times. And that was on roads that didn't include M'ways so I must have been thrashing the nads off it. Riding today I'll admit I'm more timid - lean angles smaller, braking distances further. When I restored the GT380, I was amazed to find all the undersides of the pipes and levers scraped, as if some lunatic had been cornering it hard, often and on both sides. Since I bought it almost new in 1978, I guess I was once that lunatic!
Cheers,
Mike