Hello from Sydney!

[j_rider]

Hi,

Long time lurker on this excellent site. Have been riding for a bit over a decade now and having daydreams about owning a 1400 for much longer than that, hence the lurking.

For the last few years have been riding a nicely sorted Suzuki SV650S. Have resisted switching bikes for a while now because I love the SV and it suits 95% of my riding - upgraded suspension front and rear, change from clip-ons to handlebars with a new top yoke, Sargent seat, etc. Only real downside of the SV for my use that has no easy fix - pillion accommodation not the best for rides over an hour or larger passengers.

I really want to do some light touring (3-7 days type of stuff) with my wife or daughters in the future and some recent life events have reminded me that life is short. So after much consideration I have finally decided to bite the bullet, sell my SV and buy a 1400.

Thanks for creating such a welcoming and informative corner of the net. Hope to be a more active member of this community in the future.

[Notty]

Welcome Lurker 

[T 24]

Welcome 

[Yetiman]

Welcome,
I'm sure you will love the 1400 it's an exceptional bike comfy-torquey-with a touch of old school cool easy to work on and super reliable.

[KiwiCol]

Gidday J-Rider & welcome to the forum.  Dunno if you've seen this thread (https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=7099.0 ) but there's a very nice bike up for sale round your way.

[Snapey]

Welcome to the forum j_rider, you certainly won't be sorry with your decision to buy a GSX1400. A completely different bike to the nimble little SV650S but better all round for comfort and general real world riding. Many years ago I used to organise group rides with the SVdownunder forum so I know what the SV's are capable of but after a bit of time in the saddle it was obvious the riders welcomed a break.

A good start in your search for a 1400 would be to look at Johno's bike as KiwiCol suggested.

I've ridden & restored quite few 14's since 2001 so if you want another opinion of a bike you're looking at then give me a call. I'm in the south west of Sydney at Picnic Point. What area are you?

[VladTepes]

Officially then...

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Welcome mate

[GSXKING]

G'day J welcome to the nuthouse I think you'll fit in nicely 👍
Great intro
GSX is the best allrounder does a bit of everything well imho after 21 years of ownership ✅✅

[grog]

Welcome Mate

[j_rider]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome!

A cool coincidence - I actually found Johno's bike ad on Bikesales the other day, before my intro post here, and had organised to see him tomorrow morning. From the recommendations in this post, plus finding a couple of Johno's posts about his 14 on the site, I am now feeling pretty confident that I will be the owner of a 14 soon.

[grog]

Looks a great bike to me in pics.Seems a bargain at his price.

[Mick_J]

Welcome to the forum j_rider.  SV is a great little bike, my wife had one for 10 years but when she gave up riding her own bike we had to sell it as it was/is a little bike, too small for me.  The 1400 has plenty of room to move around on.

[Nic]

Welcome mate, I'm tempted to sell my 14, I'm sort of lusting after a blackbird, hiding under chair 

[j_rider]

Welcome to the forum j_rider, you certainly won't be sorry with your decision to buy a GSX1400. A completely different bike to the nimble little SV650S but better all round for comfort and general real world riding. Many years ago I used to organise group rides with the SVdownunder forum so I know what the SV's are capable of but after a bit of time in the saddle it was obvious the riders welcomed a break.

A good start in your search for a 1400 would be to look at Johno's bike as KiwiCol suggested.

I've ridden & restored quite few 14's since 2001 so if you want another opinion of a bike you're looking at then give me a call. I'm in the south west of Sydney at Picnic Point. What area are you?

Hey Snapey,

Thanks for the offer of assistance. I had read a number of threads that showed your restoration projects of various 14s. 

I have bought Johno's bike. NBD organised for Friday. Reading through his posts here on the forum about his  bike over the years gave me a level of comfort about the purchase that I confess to not having before in previous second hand vehicle purchases. Saw the bike and met John yesterday. Believe it to be a good bike, sold by a good bloke.

I have a short list of minor functional mods that I will hope to sort out in the near future, then hopefully just a lot of years and kms of riding fun (with oil/filter/tyres as required).

Would still welcome the opportunity to meet you at some point and talk life and bikes.

The Sargent seat I was lucky enough to source second hand early on in my ownership of the sv resolved all my niggles with the stock seat. Comfy enough for me for a tankful of kms.