Suzuki GS 1100 E D (1983)

Nov. 1984 - April 1989    4 seasons    12,600 mi. (bought used)

I bought this bike from a snowmobile racer in Greenville.  Claimed he never rode it hard.  Low mileage and in perfect shape.  Great looking, too.  Triple disks (again).  16 valves, anti-dive front brakes.  Completely black; engine and pipes, bars, mirrors, hardware.  No chrome to polish anywhere.  Had a LCD digital gear indicator between the gauges.  Unnecessary but entertaining. The other color was a fire-engine red that was popular with some but too flashy for my tastes.

This bike was more performance oriented than the KZ1000 and had the footpegs just slightly further back.  The bars, too, were more sporty.  This represents one of the last 'naked' sport bikes where you can see the engine.  Soon after, high performance bikes were water cooled and lost the fins and everything was shrouded with plastic like my next bike (the Honda Hurricane).

I did have to fix a leaky valve cover gasket (twice, I didn't do it right the first time).  But it had excellent reliability and fine performance and seemed particularly smooth compared to the KZ1000.  The anti-dive brake feature was only so-so and the brakes vibrated a bit near the end of my ownership.  Could have been warped rotors. 

I did adjust the 16 valves at least once.   It had standard tappets not bucket-and-shims so there was some slight care needed to do the job.

Last Updated Dec. 7, 2000