As much as I love the Goose its time for me to get a new bike. In the long run the goose is going to hurt my wallet. I've spent about £160 in the past couple of weeks. Also gotta buy a new battery to cure the starting problem. The riding postition gives you avhes and pains after a while.

So whats lined up. As I'm still under restriction I don't want anything to fancy thats going to kill my insurance.

I've decided that I want a 500 twin of some kind.

The line up so far is:
. Honda CB500
. Suzuki GS500
. Kawasaki ER-5
and the Kawasaki GPZ500

I know a few people on here have owned and still do own bikes like this. So my question is what are these bikes like in terms of

. reliability
. economy
. comfort
etc

I know they tend to be pretty good on these grounds as they are used as training school bikes. But some figures in terms of reliability etc.

If you can think of another bike that might be a good choice, feel free to give your opinion.

Thanks, Phil.

I've owned a GS500 and a GPZ 500 and they're both good bikes. I prefered the GS but I can't put my finger on why. The only problem with either of them is that they're not the biggest bikes in the world and at 5'10 and 17 stone I dwarfed them. If you're skinnier than me you'll be ok.
Performance wise the GPZ was quicker but any of your choice of bikes will put a smile on your face.

I own a GPZ500s, reliable, had to do a lot of work on it but I got it cheap. Fun to ride, can be lumpy below 3,000rpm, and your left foot will be working the gears frequently. I get about 200 miles from a tank, performance is apparently 0-60 in about 4.5 secs, top speed of about 120mph, you would have to get it restricted as its more than the restricted allowance in horsepower. Comfortable to ride, half way between laying on the tank and sitting upright for me. Can carry pillions no problem, easy to maintain. Any questions do ask!

I had a GS500 - I did my DAS on one so got it because I was familiar with it. I am definitely not skinny though I am shorter than Wilf. I found it very comfortable for sitting position but the vibration on long journeys caused me problems - however as I have a slightly dodgy right wrist this didn't help!

It was very realiable - I had hardly any problems with it in the two years I had it - and you pick them up at a pretty reasonable price.

TBC had one too and I know she really liked it.

I also have a pal with a GPZ500 - she likes the riding position and I understand that hers is very realiable too.

Thanks for the replies. Just got to find a bike now. Its the wrong time of year to be looking really.

Looks like I'll have to travel as there aren't many bikes in my price range within 60miles of my house.

Hey Phil,
I've got a CB 500 & it's very frequently my favourite bike, which is saying a lot because my other is a K6 Gixer 6.

In terms of reliability, it's a Honda from the best time when they had something to prove & did. They are extremely popular with couriers (maybe over 50% of London couriers (ab)use them, because they are dead cheap and do everything a real world bike needs to do more than adequately. They're very reliable, handle very well (for cheap suspension), have cracking brakes (I could consistently stop the bike from 30MPH in a e-stop test, as measured by someone else, in two bike lengths- measure it out), will happily do 90MPH+ all day long, do 50MPG+ even when you're cracking on, can be serviced at home by a clueless idiot.

The only downsides that I can think of is that the seat isn't as comfortable as I'd like it to be and it doesn't take loads of weight easily. Last week I did 1900 miles in 6 days on my Gixer on the tiniest back roads in France, with highly variable (loads of gravel) road surfaces, so I was in the saddle for 7-8hrs a day. Since I got back I've done around 800-900 in three days on my CB on similar roads & without a shadow of doubt, the Gixer's thin foam on a plank seat is more comfortable.

Also, if my mrs wants a pillion ride somewhere, without messing about with the rear preload, the back suspension bottoms out very easily with us hefty lumps on it.

My CB is so good, I can't ever see myself selling it.

There are basically three types of CB 500 owner (& this probably goes for the other bikes too):
a) Couriers- ride all day every day, in all weathers, do just enough servicing to keep it going (which is shockingly little), bumps & scratches all round, put huge_mungous mileages on them. When they eventually sell them on, they're shot, but because of the build quality can be surprisingly well clocked- Beware!

b) Riding schools. See comments above.

c) Ultra conservative first big bike buyers. Bought brand new, bugger all mileage, rarely knowingly riden in bad weather, squared off tyres & bolloxed chains. Buying a bigger bike for the prestige & because their developing observation & planning skills make them think they need more power.

Look for owner c), get there early & fight off the couriers with a sh!tty stick.

Hi phil not sure what your budget is but have you looked at anglia motorcycles at ipswich they have a few bikes that might suit they have a web site that you can look at first www.angliamotorcycles.co.uk best of luck in your search.

I've had one of those. Good bikes, reliable, not too cramped, fairly quick, not too heavy on fuel and not too bad to insure, and the fairing works well enough. It'll need restricting though.

I was surprised to find the CB500 I've had a a loan bike a couple of times was less comfortable than my fireblade!

agreed!

rode one on my DAS and it was terrible lol

Thanks, bit out of my range but thanks anyway.

I'm going to look at a GPZ on saturday so we'll see how it goes

there is a few things to look out for!

1) check the inside of the main fairing to see if its still intact where the indicators are, you will find a lot filled with paper mache (sp?) or some other form of bodging.

2) the exhaust cans have a tendency to thin, and are bloody expensive to replace.

3) check gasket seals, fork seals for signs of leaking

4) some can rattle like a bag of nails, had to say what it usually is, but I would walk away. sometimes it can just be the needle jets are blocked which is simple enough.

that's about it really, just loads of general checks in and around the body, rusting etc etc

Good Luck

Thanks Farrow. I'll give it a good look over.

Its got a Nexus exhaust on it (may just be the can unsure) so that save the can issue.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I went to see the GPZ today and didn't get it.

He got it out of the garage and it started fine. Compared to my mates GPZ which sounds smooth on idle this sounded a bit lumpy and ratly.

The cosmetics, first it was a bluey / purple colour. The front fairing was cracked on one side and one mirror was loose. I put my hand behind the fairing and you could feel cracks so its been repaired at some point.

The forks were pitted and had some bad chips in the paint. There was some rust of the discs, chain and downpipes.

So I walked away. A 120mile round trip, but you win some you loose some. The best part was the bacon and sausage baguette on the way back whilst listening to 70's rock in the car

Looks like its back to the drawing board and start searching again .....