Faults:

Silencers rotted through when I bought it.

No air filters fitted when I bought it.

Slight but persistent oil leak from rev cable connection on cylinder head at 19 000 miles; eventually cured with instant gasket compound.

Speedo drive in front wheel gave up at 35 000 miles.

Seat required recovering at around 35 000 miles.

Pistons in front brake calipers were badly pitted and were replaced at 25 000 miles.

All brake hoses perished and replaced with braided hoses at 25 000 miles.

Seems to cook batteries if run without lights switched ON. I modified the wiring to allow lights to be turned off to cure poor starting (US model GS850 GLZ has no lights on/off switch as standard)

General Comments:

This bike was in a sorry state when I first rescued it from a back garden in 2001 where it had laid for 3 years, but fired into life immediately after a carb strip down & clean up, a fresh battery, 4 new plugs and a gallon of fresh petrol, testament to the bullet proof nature of these legendary tourers.

The GLZ or L model is more of a custom style cruiser than the standard UK G model, but as it shares the same engine, I knew I couldn't go far wrong. Not as smooth as the V4 Honda I'd previously owned, but far more reliable, comfier, more economical and has much more character.

I've covered 25 000 miles on a 26 year old bike in six years, and it has never let me down, except when I dragged it out of the garage last year after the winter to find the battery was knackered, but that's only to be expected really.

Basic maintenance is just that - basic - change the oil & filters regularly, replace the plugs now and again and that's about it. Try to keep the engine 'full' of oil rather than let the level drop to the minimum mark, or they tend to give the regulator rectifier a hard time. And DO run them with the headlights on all the time; the regulator rectifier puts out too much power for the battery otherwise.

Suzuki replaced the GS with their V4 (the GSV Madura in Europe), but we never saw it over here in the UK, what a shame.

Faults:

When I bought this bike it had been dry stored in a heated garage for twenty odd years, and although in mint condition, both silencers had rusted on the underside. These I replaced with a pair of SITO pattern silencers, which actually seemed to be of better quality than the originals.

They also sounded better than the originals without being noisy.

General Comments:

Having owned almost sixty bikes from 1960 until now, this is my favourite for smooth, comfortable and completely reliable riding.

Wherever I go, people admire it and can't believe how old it is.

My wife agrees it's the most comfortable bike she has ever ridden pillion on.

Because it's the first version of this model, it has contact breaker points and coil ignition, which makes maintenance easy with no fears about ignitor suddenly dying in the middle of nowhere.

Only problem with this bike for me is that the seat is a tad high for my short legs, making slow speed manoeuvring a tad scary! But that's my fault, not the bikes.

Faults:

Nothing in six months of ownership.

I tidied/re-soldered the electrics, as some of the joints looked dry.

General Comments:

By modern standards this is a heavy bike.

It is a great long distance tourer, and has a bullet-proof feel to it.

Shaft drive is great to have.