Coming from a road bike background the worst bike I have ever owned was a 1996/1997 (can’t recall exact year) Suzuki GS500.
When I first moved to Wollongong I had a great little ZZR600 that was a magic bike, but deciding to get a commuter instead I decided to swap the ZZR for the GS500 that was athen available in a local dealer. Unfortunately, the big mistake was not test riding the GS first but assuming that it would be the same as a 1989 GS500E that I had previously owned. It was a magic bike and with race compound rubber front and rear shocked a lot of guys on the Old Pacific Highway before it became what it has today.
So, I did the swap and regretted it almost immediately.
The bike seemed to run smooth but fuel economy was pathetic. Then after a few hundred kays it just started stopping suddenly, although would always restart but still not good. Then and without blowing blue smoke nor dripping it started using oil, and I mean a lot of oil (around 1 litre for every 600 kms). It also broke 2 speedo cables, three clutch cables and numerous other odds and sods.
Throughout all the dramas the dealer was good, they tried to sort it out, even went as far as giving me ne tyres free because of the problems I had been experiencing but no matter what they tried, or what others tried it was still a piece of shit.
So, after all the frustration I woke up one morning and decided that enough was enough and took it to a wreckers to offload it. Lost heaps and regret ever getting rid of the 600 for that GS but I sure as heck learnt a lesson.
Garry
