What's it worth? 1981 Suzuki GS450 1298 miles - like new out of the box
11-04-2012, 06:05 AM
#1
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Join Date: Nov 2012
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What's it worth? 1981 Suzuki GS450 1298 miles - like new out of the box
Hello,
I have a 1981 Suzuki GS450 that I just aquired from the original owner. It has been garaged since 1989 and has very low miles (1298 miles). It purrrrrs.
Anyone know what it's worth or what I should do with it? Should I ride it or just keep it in the great shape that its in and house to keep the miles low for a later re-sale?
Any advise would be greatly apprecieted!
Jules
I have a 1981 Suzuki GS450 that I just aquired from the original owner. It has been garaged since 1989 and has very low miles (1298 miles). It purrrrrs.
Anyone know what it's worth or what I should do with it? Should I ride it or just keep it in the great shape that its in and house to keep the miles low for a later re-sale?
Any advise would be greatly apprecieted!
Jules
04-19-2017, 04:52 AM
#2
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 1
Before you can figure out the value of this motorcycle you need a letter or two. That is to say Suzuki make several models of GS450 in 1981. They all shared major mechanicals but have different frames in some cases and different appearance in others.
A cruiser was GS450L but there may have been a second cruiser model. There was a standard/sporty bike (a precursor to later sport bikes.
The 1981-85 the GS450E series were more of a standard crossed with a pre-sportbike.
In the 1981-1985 generation there were also GS450E, GS450EX,GS450ES and GS450ET sport bike models. The ES & ET were precursors to the sport bikes of the late 80s through today that had tiny little cafe racer style fairings and alloy wheels. All of them had long narrow two-up seats. The tanks were flat topped and narrow (easy to lean over.) It really was like a cafe racer with narrow handle bars.
I bought 1981 GS450EX new at 18 and only had it 9 months. My parents made me sell it as a condition of continuing to pay for college. I had ridden a 250cc bike in High school but I never took that on the highway.. Once they knew I was taking 500 mile trips (each way) on long weekends and that almost all those miles were on mountainous interstates they put their feet down on my continuing to ride. The bike rode well and was easily controlled.
Just so you know even in the mountains at fairly high speed I could go 250 miles on a tank without using reserve. I took the same trip twice each time using the same exit in each direction. It had nothing more than a small restaurant and Exxon station right next to each other at 250 miles according to the trip odometer.
Whether you keep the bike and ride it or sell it I hope knowing something from someone who once owned a new one is helpful. I wish they made something close to it new today. My current 500 6-speed liquid cooled is certainly more powerful but is far more complex, harder to work on, and has a maintenance schedule requiring many more things at several different intervals. I'd love to have my GS450EX back.
A cruiser was GS450L but there may have been a second cruiser model. There was a standard/sporty bike (a precursor to later sport bikes.
The 1981-85 the GS450E series were more of a standard crossed with a pre-sportbike.
In the 1981-1985 generation there were also GS450E, GS450EX,GS450ES and GS450ET sport bike models. The ES & ET were precursors to the sport bikes of the late 80s through today that had tiny little cafe racer style fairings and alloy wheels. All of them had long narrow two-up seats. The tanks were flat topped and narrow (easy to lean over.) It really was like a cafe racer with narrow handle bars.
I bought 1981 GS450EX new at 18 and only had it 9 months. My parents made me sell it as a condition of continuing to pay for college. I had ridden a 250cc bike in High school but I never took that on the highway.. Once they knew I was taking 500 mile trips (each way) on long weekends and that almost all those miles were on mountainous interstates they put their feet down on my continuing to ride. The bike rode well and was easily controlled.
Just so you know even in the mountains at fairly high speed I could go 250 miles on a tank without using reserve. I took the same trip twice each time using the same exit in each direction. It had nothing more than a small restaurant and Exxon station right next to each other at 250 miles according to the trip odometer.
Whether you keep the bike and ride it or sell it I hope knowing something from someone who once owned a new one is helpful. I wish they made something close to it new today. My current 500 6-speed liquid cooled is certainly more powerful but is far more complex, harder to work on, and has a maintenance schedule requiring many more things at several different intervals. I'd love to have my GS450EX back.
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