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Nerobro Accidentaly a Concours - Chicagoland Member

N

nerobro466

Member
Member
Well Hi everyone.

I'm a proud new owner of a 1993 Concours. It's got.. 70kish miles on it. It's shaggy and rough, but mostly complete. And I've got the documentation from it's last set of maintaince. So... I'm pretty pleased. The price ($1200) was hard to beat too. It'll seem weird, but the bike I've really been pining over is the GTS1000. But... who wants to own a bike where dropping it means you never get to have it whole again.

So a little about me. I started riding in 2004. I lucked into a Suzuki GS550, and fell into the fold with the GS people. I, to this day, have friendships from that group that I can rely on. The current stable has my Concours, A 1982 GS650E, a 1980 GS550E, a 1983 GS550ES, and a 1972 Yamaha LT2. I will probally always identify as a suzuki person.

I am loathe to pay anyone to work on my bikes, and I generally refuse to be paid to work on peoples stuff. I enjoy helping people get bikes going. I am an enabler, and will help people get their first bike, or their next bike. Or help them through their next project.

Need carbs rebuilt? Show up, you'll go home with clean and fixed carbs. Emulators installed? Fork rebuilt? some weird seal changed? Need new tires installed on a sunday? I gotchu.

I also am likely to do.. weird stuff. For instance, my GS550E, has the top end off a GS650, ZRX1200 shocks (to steepen the head angle, and get rebound adjustment), a cx500 r/r, a GS650 fork (to get dual disks and air forks), progressive springs, wide superbike bars, and a 100w headlight. I helped a friend convert his GS750 to a GS850. I went completely nuts on my Peugeot and got the little moped doing 45mph. ... Yaknow.. weird stuff.

That leads us to why I'm here. My bike needs the plastics cleaned up, as it shows it's age. The bags are getting a little faded, and the top box needs help. My gas tank is mismatched and my exhaust cans need some attention with steel wool to make the rust go away. After cleaning the thing up... I'd like to awaken the this ninja wearing cargo shorts, with some ninja engine parts. ZX10? ZX11? But that's for another thread.

So.. that's my hello. Glad to be here.

Because you might find it amusing, here's the .. exciting.. list of what I've owned.

1980 GS550E, 1977 GS550E, 1979 GS550E, 1983 GS550ES, 1983 RM250, 1977 GS400E, 1979 GS425E, 1983 GS450L, 1986 GS550ES, 1984 GS550EF, 1980 GS550E, 1971 Yamaha LT2, 1978 Puegeot 103, 1996 WR250, Yamaha AT1, Suzuki TS100, Yamaha DT175, 1978 GS400X, 1983 GS650E, 1993 Concours. I think.. that's everything.
 
Welcome! I started on a Yamaha DS7.
Bought a new RD400 that rarely ran properly. Traded that for my first Suzuki.
It was a 1974 GT750 in 82? Rode that to Boston and back with a friend from IU. Also took that west on a big loop through NM. Then came the 4 strokes. Not in this order. GS1150es, GS1150e, GS1100e, GS1100GK, GS1100G, GS1000e, GS1000G, 2 GS850G's and a GS750es.

Honda 500 Interceptor.
Honda 700 Interceptor bought wrecked and rebuilt.

I bought my first C10 (2005) when the GK had a blown head gasket. Researched that a bunch before finding one for $1900. It was a bit rough but not anymore. Sold it this year to my next door neighbor for $2500 this year. It's still in my garage and I still ride it occasionally to keep it rideable. The only reason I sold it was because I have the 01 that's set up the way I wanted it when I stole it.....I mean I bought it.šŸ˜‰ Picked up an EX250 that I am gaining an appreciation for. So the current fleet is:
2008 EX250
1983 GL650 silver wing
2001 C10 + wrecked 2001 C10
1982 GS1100GK + GS1100G parts bike.
2013 C14.

So you're not the only weirdo in this bunch. We have quite a selection here šŸ¤£. There's this one guy who thinks red is the fastest color. We humor him regularly. Sometimes Harry whips out the flog o matic. Very entertaining šŸ˜.
 
Welcome!
I had the pleasure of learning about the GTS1000 at "Riding into History" in St Augustine a few years ago. A Jacksonville man had a pristine example. Beautiful bike that was decades ahead of its time. I think it's more a museum piece; so rare and unique that parts must be scarce.
Good luck finding the plastic for yours. Advantage is that for the bike's 21 years there are a LOT of shared components.
I enjoyed a 2005 for 65,000 miles until I killed it in Northern Georgia...great bike!
 
Welcome nerobro. You're gonna like it here!
It sounds like you're a tinkerer/modifier.
""Yahooo""
We need more of those.

Most of these guys (for instance Bud) are past their prime and don't enjoy modifying things just "because it's there"!

In my case, I'm only 71 so I'm still modifying.
I'm also the guy that thinks "knows" that RED is the fastest color.

A C-10 is ideal for someone who likes to tinker. There are lots of modifications that you can do.
After you get it shiny, start your modifying with a free power mod, a free baffelectomy, (some RED paint), and doing (**Frugal) things to the suspension like you did on you're GS550.
All of these will help you maintain your need to modify, they (particularly the paint) will improve the bike and the cost is minimal.
** By the way: As a COGger doing things that have minimal cost is considered Frugal, not cheap.
{Except for ONO Bob, who is cheap)

When you're ready to start heavier modifications for power/speed we'll be here to help you spend your money.

Ride safe, Ted

PS: We'll talk to anyone. So, we (for instance Jorge) forgive you for being from Chicago.
 
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Yeah well... some of us know 1st hand what is like living in the Windy City! Go Lane!
 
Jorge said:
Yeah well... some of us know 1st hand what is like living in the Windy City! Go Lane!
Click to expand...
freebird6 said:
Yes , we do.

Key word is "IN".....not like those dudes from Schaumburg, Carol Stream, Hinsdale or other burbs..... Living in LakeView and working in Uptown was a little bit of heaven.....and I still listen faithfully to XRT 5 decades later ... streaming in my helmet https://www.audacy.com/stations/wxrt
Click to expand...

It so happens I'm there (er here) now visiting the ol' homesteads and seeing what the new owners are doing with them.
I'll be going by Lane Tech tomorrow.

Not the best place to learn how to ride a motorcycle, but I managed. It's also where I found out that knobbys don't work as well in real snow as they did in the snow in my imagination. I'm glad that my 85cc rotary valve 2 stroke Kawasaki didn't weigh much.
 
Nerobro466, what part of Chicagoland do you live?
I lived in Logan Square from age 9 to 16, then Rogers Park from 16 to 23.
 
5805 w. Warrick... from 1960-68. Then we moved to the suburbs. Grew up in bensenville...

What a small world and my father graduated from lane Tech as well...
 
Jorge said:
Nerobro466, what part of Chicagoland do you live?
I lived in Logan Square from age 9 to 16, then Rogers Park from 16 to 23.
Click to expand...
Melrose Park. I can't "quite" throw a rock and get to chicago, but I'm closer than O'Hare is to chicago. :) I've run into far to many people claiming to be from chicago but it's acutally like.. rockford. Or.. peoria. I figure i'm safe using "chicagoland", when I can get to most parts of chicago faster than someone actually living in the city.

fartymarty said:
Not the best place to learn how to ride a motorcycle, but I managed. It's also where I found out that knobbys don't work as well in real snow as they did in the snow in my imagination. I'm glad that my 85cc rotary valve 2 stroke Kawasaki didn't weigh much.
Click to expand...
My Peugeot 103 was awesome on snow. The hardest part was getting it started, but once running.. and with shoes I didn't care about, sliding about was amazing.
 
Seems like someone said Windex would bring the black plastic back to life but try a very small place out of sight first! Welcome.
 
Might not be a huge surprise because of how my name is spelled... when my family arrived from Cuba, we lived with friends of my parents "from the old country" for a couple of months in Melrose Park until my dad found work and we had a place.
Hard, but good times, that make me appreciate things.
 
So, here we go.

My radiator fan switch doesn't work. I have a replacement, so I need to install that.

Over the winter the battery (an AGM?) shorted THREE cells in it. I've never seen a battery go THAT bad. So, $55 later I have a new battery in the bike.

This years list of tasks:

Replace tail bag, as that's.. a mess.
My saddlebags are all faded, so I need to figure out how i'm going to clean that up.
I picked up a new oem clock, and i'm gonna install that.
And.. tires
 
I seem to remember that some guys have painted the bags. I think the plastic from which they're made is one that has decent adhesion to psint.
Can anyone else remember about painted C10 bags?
If they're paintable, maybe a simple spraying with a satin black would do it.
 
When I painted my 86, I painted the bags in the same color that I painted the bike.
I used a primer and PPG {2 part epoxy} paint that stuck well.

In the Satin Black, a good brand of Rattle can paint would do fine with a little cleaning and prep.

Ride safe, Ted
 
Oooh...just remembered...Rustoleoum makes a type if paint called "Textures". It leaves a finish that is close to the finish on the C10 bags. It's a little hard to find, few stores carry it.
I used it to paint a used Givi topcase I bought from a former COG member. The trunk looked pretty good, and was close to the bags.
Advantage is that this roughish finish can help hide any imperfections.
C10s look good with bags in matching color, and I think satin would also work, this is just another look to consider.
 
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