New member from Belgium

[Peter Vee]

Hello Lads (and ladettes  )..

Peter from the Flemish coast calling in ,greedy on all the info I can get before buying a Gsx 1400..

I am 61 (but don't look a day older then 45... ) and a lifetime moto freak
yep from back in 1984 my first bike  , a Yamaha RD 350 YPVS  then a ELR 1000 KAWA , lots of BMW's
touring Europe with my mates and sometime girlfriend , seeing all the GP races across the continent..
Then when we had kids , the missus was to scared to go on (long) motorcycle trips so I began buying sport bikes again..Aprilia falco ,GSXR 1000 , MV AGUSTA F4 1000 Mamba (still got it) , Brutale 1090RR still my daily ride...also own a project ZRX1200 Wich I'm quite famous for making all sorts of carbon stuff for on the ZRXOA site (I have my own product page there)
But as I said , now looking for the "king of nakeds"  to add to my collection.
I must say that the brutale  is kind of a sportsbike without the fairing ,so low bars,high up footrests and lack of saddle comfort , so the GSX1400 would sute my "old age" touring capabiltys more ..
Als love the looks  of the retro bike...I'm a kid of the 80's when CB 900's,Kawa Z1000's and Suzuki GS's
ruled the world...

First question here   is the 2005 model with it's minor updates much better then the previous models?
I read that the 2005 models got that suzuki  diamont or so cylinder liner treatment , so high milage bikes would be better after 2004... I read that high milage bikes before 2005 tend to have oval cylinders or is this false...? also the 2005 + models have ignition and injection updates..could be good or bad (talking euro norms here..) I see red springs on the rear suspension , are they any better ?
You see lots of questions here and I've only getting started ..lol
love to hear from you all
cheers
 
Peter

[Mick_J]

Welcome to the forum Peter. 
I would say the 2005 and above would be a better bet if only for the immobiliser.  The front and rear suspension were also upgraded and the exhaust is different, it's a 4 into 1 rather than a 4 into 2.  I have no experience of earlier models as mine is a 2007 which I've had for 17 years without any problems other than the front disks.  I believe the 2005 and up rear shocks are a bit better than the earlier ones.  Good luck with your search and I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts.

[Peter Vee]

Thanx Mick

I woud be fitting a nice aftermarket 4/1 exhaust anyhow , not keen on the double exhaust set up
but to each his own..so the oem exhaust makes no differance to me ..

[GSXKING]

G'day Peter and welcome to the nuthouse. There's tonnes of information here and we love questions.
Your introduction is one of the better ones we've seen lately.
Well done and good luck with your search.   

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Welcome Peter, happy to have you.  Have a read on here, lots of info.

They're pretty bulletproof.  Haven't heard of oval pistons in any year on these.  Great all rounder, probably can't compare to an F4 or a Brutale, but for an old school, no  nonsense naked bike, the 1402 just rocks.

Some have gone the turbo route, they make good drag bikes too, in std form the crank is good for about 160bhp before you need to consider alternatives.  The meaty torque and nice manners in std trim just works.

[Hooli]

Ayup Peter, I honestly would just buy on condition & them having the bits/colour scheme you want.

The main differences are the immobiliser & better rear shocks fitted from K5 onwards. The shocks aren't any better to ride on, but they fixed the issue where the early ones tend to spring a leak when adjusted.

The later, K5 onwards, bikes run leaner with the different ECU. Meaning it's more important to flash them or use a Power Commander if you do many mods. Early bikes can't be flashed at all, so it's always a power commander on them.

As for mileage, my first K2 got to 186k miles before it was stolen & didn't burn a drop of oil & went as well as it ever did. I've got it back but it's a mess so won't be running for a year or so to prove it's still ok. All it'd needed was a few sensors, fuel filters & servicing. Even the valves never needed adjusting, I just did oil & filter every 4k miles.

Oh I just thought of the other difference people notice when riding early & late bikes. There's twice as many LEDs illuminating the gauges on the later bikes which a lot of people prefer, I've never found the early ones hard to read except occasionally at dusk or dawn.

You're right about 14s touring well too, mine had been to Croatia on one trip & round europe countless other times too.

[KiwiCol]

Gidday Peter, welcome to the forum.  Yes a very good informative intro, well done mate.     The cylinder coating you're referring to is called Nikasil and it appears it works very well in the 1402 engine, they just last & last.   

[GSXKING]

Peter I've owned my K2 from new purchased October 2001.
Other than the things that wear out I've never modified the motor, no pairs blanks, the 4-1 exhaust from day one, so using the Suzuki in line tool we turned all injector related settings to max. I use a reusable K&N air filter.
I'm guessing it's traveled more than 185k KMs. 25 years of ownership with hopefully plenty more to come. It's a raw ride, no traction control or ABS.
It requires a reset when changing from my BMW R1200RT.
Also in that time I've always owned two bikes by choice, so the second bikes during that 25 years numbers around ten.
My opinion on the GSX is that it does a bit of everything well so IMHO it's the best old school allrounder I've experienced.
I've spent many years riding most new models as I'm a bit of a bike slut and have a network of bike shop owners whom I've known since we were all young.
The critical thing for longevity of a GSX1400 is regular oil and filter changes. The tolerances these bikes were made too probably won't be repeated unfortunately.

[grog]

Welcome Mate👍None of the different models stand out as better. K4 a bit rarer, it's sort of the crossover model from early to late. Theres lots of differences between models, reading/asking on here the way to go. Theres a new owners check/ adjust list under General Technical, well worth a look.

[Mr Gee]

Welcome.

You won't regret your purchase, although you might regret not, having made it sooner. 

  

Oh and when you get it, plenty of photo's please. 

[Peter Vee]

Cheers Lads 

I'm not in to much of a hurry , it's offcourse the wrong time of year to get a good deal .
Riding season just getting started and I'm not the only one looking for a new or differant set of wheels
to start off with..
For the moment there are only about 3 bikes on the market in the whole of Belgium...(only 11 million poeple live here , so that's about the size of a middle great city everywhere else in the world)
.and man do they know the prices...for example there is a guy that asks 6500 euro(5700 pounds)  for a 2006 model with 38.000 km on it (that's about 24.000miles)...
Others are all high milage bikes and they go even around for 4500 pounds...
I mean thew will probeply not going to be sold for these prices , but they can try till the riding seasons over , then it's time to negotiate..
My other option is , to buy abroad (still needs to be a EU bike for import reasons) ,Germany has lots of them at more deacent prices , but being silly season , the most interesting ones are all gone in a few days..
I do have to travel a fair amount of miles to see them , and kind of hard negotiating when they know you traveld say 500 miles and get there with a trailer on your car...
Also a bit of hassle to to get the Belgian papers afterwards , you will have to MOT the bike again go thru customs , insurance and taxes needs to be done also (even when you plan not to ride the bike for a while)
So I have time to look the cat out of the tree (as we say over here) and see what great deal comes around in the coming months..right now it's a sellers market the demand is far mor greater then the offers ....
cheers
 
Peter

[Peter Vee]

Cheers Lads 

I'm not in to much of a hurry , it's offcourse the wrong time of year to get a good deal .
Riding season just getting started and I'm not the only one looking for a new or differant set of wheels
to start off with..
For the moment there are only about 3 bikes on the market in the whole of Belgium...(only 11 million poeple live here , so that's about the size of a middle great city everywhere else in the world)
.and man do they know the prices...for example there is a guy that asks 6500 euro(5700 pounds)  for a 2006 model with 38.000 km on it (that's about 24.000miles)...
Others are all high milage bikes and they go even around for 4500 pounds...
I mean thew will probeply not going to be sold for these prices , but they can try till the riding seasons over , then it's time to negotiate..
My other option is , to buy abroad (still needs to be a EU bike for import reasons) ,Germany has lots of them at more deacent prices , but being silly season , the most interesting ones are all gone in a few days..
I do have to travel a fair amount of miles to see them , and kind of hard negotiating when they know you traveld say 500 miles and get there with a trailer on your car...
Also a bit of hassle to to get the Belgian papers afterwards , you will have to MOT the bike again go thru customs , insurance and taxes needs to be done also (even when you plan not to ride the bike for a while)
So I have time to look the cat out of the tree (as we say over here) and see what great deal comes around in the coming months..right now it's a sellers market the demand is far mor greater then the offers ....
cheers
 
Peter

For example
this one went for 2300 euro ..(2002 model , very low mileage)
it has been tampered with ,stood still for about 20 years..he's honest that he sayed that the tank is rusted beond repair (leakage) he's bought another tank , then to find out it was rusted and leaking aswell..so he gave up..
Asfar as I know the fuel pump is located in the tank aswell , so great chance this also needs to be replaced
so we are looking at a fresh tank + fuel pump assy , give or take 1500 euro new(ish) + the other problems you will find from a bike that stood still for about 20 years..
I offerd him 1800 , we negotiaded up to 2000 , but then he found someone else who would pay evenmore ...to muchof a risk to me...

[Hooli]

The fuel pump is a Mitsubishi item, someone on here has found the part number for cars & it's MUCH cheaper that way. There's Chinese versions about that I think a few on here run without issue too, same as the high pressure filter that forms the pump mount. Tanks can be hard to find in good nick as they tend to dent when the bike is dropped or crashed. If it's structurally good, then you can chemically flush the tank & line it. That's worked for some people I know, so is always an option.

I wouldn't discount it, if you're happy doing all the work it needs. Years ago I put one back on the road that hadn't run in 10 years. I expected all sorts of seals & gaskets to leak but it never had a problem, just started up with a fresh fuel & battery. Obviously I rebuilt the brakes & clutch hydraulics etc though. None needed seals, just freeing up, cleaning out & fresh fluid.

[Peter Vee]

The fuel pump is a Mitsubishi item, someone on here has found the part number for cars & it's MUCH cheaper that way. There's Chinese versions about that I think a few on here run without issue too, same as the high pressure filter that forms the pump mount. Tanks can be hard to find in good nick as they tend to dent when the bike is dropped or crashed. If it's structurally good, then you can chemically flush the tank & line it. That's worked for some people I know, so is always an option.

I wouldn't discount it, if you're happy doing all the work it needs. Years ago I put one back on the road that hadn't run in 10 years. I expected all sorts of seals & gaskets to leak but it never had a problem, just started up with a fresh fuel & battery. Obviously I rebuilt the brakes & clutch hydraulics etc though. None needed seals, just freeing up, cleaning out & fresh fluid.

The fuel pump is a Mitsubishi item, someone on here has found the part number for cars & it's MUCH cheaper that way. There's Chinese versions about that I think a few on here run without issue too, same as the high pressure filter that forms the pump mount. Tanks can be hard to find in good nick as they tend to dent when the bike is dropped or crashed. If it's structurally good, then you can chemically flush the tank & line it. That's worked for some people I know, so is always an option.

I wouldn't discount it, if you're happy doing all the work it needs. Years ago I put one back on the road that hadn't run in 10 years. I expected all sorts of seals & gaskets to leak but it never had a problem, just started up with a fresh fuel & battery. Obviously I rebuilt the brakes & clutch hydraulics etc though. None needed seals, just freeing up, cleaning out & fresh fluid.

Thanx Hooli
Well its gone now , to the highest bidder ,
Did not like the seller aswell , we kinda made a deal and I would come look at it for that price, then he sends me he needs more money for it...
A man is good as his word..

As I am planning for a major uphoal , I don't mind some work, I got a lathé , milling machine, paint booth
and know   my way around carbon and polyester manufactering.
I'm planning an an nice beefy USD fork , modern headlight , gsx 1100 ET tail and side covers   with guilliani
 saddle , custom paint job etc.. going for 80's look on a modern(ish) naked bike..

Just looking for a great deal ,I have time..

[Hooli]

Yeah I'd walk away from a seller like that too.