1980 Suzuki GS1000s
aka: Wes Cooley
Miles: 22k
Clean NC Title
$18,500
Raleigh, NC
Seller
1980 GS1000S, aka Wes Cooley to some.
22k miles, ready to ride.
Clock works, all other gauges work except oil temp gauge.
New Metzlers in 2021, might have a thousand or so miles on them now.
New 630 chain, sprockets October 2022.
Suzuki Carburetor manifolds (intake pipes) and float bowl gaskets last
summer.
Suzuki fork seals last fall.
Suzuki service manual.
Suzuki factory tool kit and air gauge.
One factory key, one factory key blank (uncut) and one by Ace Hardware.
Clean NC title in my name.
$18500
RSBFS
We have seen about a dozen of these pop up throughout the past 15 years, another one even this month. They are super cool and not getting any cheaper.
I have always enjoyed this site and continue to appreciate your commitment to keeping it going but if you don’t do something to create more dialogue in the comments section of each post this site will wither and die. I am not suggesting that you should revert to the old format (maybe) but you need to at least make the comment button prominent, the comments themselves need to be visible (don’t make me click another link just to see the comments), and the number of comments should be easily visible for previous posts.
@Mwe – Thank you for this comment! We are working with our webmaster and trying to do just that. So this helps me see that we are not there yet.
Agree with Mwe. And glad to hear this site is working on it. I look at the bikes here, but am just as interested in the posts (what few there are). As motorcycle enthusiasts, I think we are always looking to share our experiences and knowledge with others who can appreciate it. Looking at the other sites…BAT does it right and has gathered a HUGE following. I have learned a lot from the many contributors. I think one of the reasons they get such high prices on their auctions is that all the items all highly scrutinized. And the buyer is then better educated or at least made to feel the bike is worthy (or not) of his purchase. Iconic Motorbike Auctions, however, does not do a very good job on their site and has very limited posting. Many, if not most listings there, go without any posts from the members. I actually brought this up with them recently but they feel it is okay as is. I have won auctions on both sites but was made to feel “good” about my win at BAT from all the positive posts before and after I won. I could not tell you how to attract more readers (posts), all I can do is tell you what would appeal to me. Just one bike listing as the main event is not enough. Here we are encouraged to view the most current listing. If it’s a bike we have no interest in, we leave. But if there were multiple listings in a uniform setting, you would have the option to click on the bike of your choice to get more info, pics, etc. Similar to haw BAT does it. There are many bikes listed here I have no interest in but having say, a dozen or more listed on the screen where I have an option to read about the bikes I like would be much more appealing to me. You have the bikes already, they just leave the “main” page so quickly. It’s possible people don’t continue to post because they figure no one is going to read it anymore. By leaving the bikes up in a more accessible manner it may promote a higher return rate as people come back to see if there is a response to their post resulting in higher traffic for you. I did not mean for this post to be so long, lol. Hope you stick around a long while.
@Dan – thanks for the thoughts, much appreciated. I too love reading the comments on the BaT auctions and sometimes I use old comments when I am posting a current bike. The comments from enthusiasts can be both informative and entertaining. We are not an auction house like BaT, but perhaps there is a way we could partner with them and in doing so, promote more bikes. Something to think about for sure. I’m curious if you ever check out our “latest bikes” page? You are making me think about how we present the bikes.
@LL
No, I did not notice the “latest bikes” page. This is much closer to what I was thinking. Not a fan of single column layouts but I would favor this as the main page over the current one. I guess I haven’t explored this site since the ownership change. And overall, it is much nicer! I do see a lot of potential here too. Ever thought of having a section for members to ask questions about troubleshooting or just anything motorcycle related? I would sure use it.
Also curious how you come up with the bikes you list.
@Dan – Thanks again for the feedback. Our intent was to keep the functionality of the site close to what it was, while upgrading the design. We needed an update for technical issues. And we wanted the featured bikes to get more attention. For sure we love the idea of getting more input from readers, and we have thought about a “Reader Submission” area. Definitely open to ideas. Red finds all of the bikes that I post. He is a luddite that works with his hands, loves drag racing and collects old, fast motorcycles. Since I’ve been helping Red with this site I have grown fond of the Italian motorcycles. We might have to branch out and explore beyond Japan, lol.
@dan I forgot to give huge gratitude to Tad & William for helping out. The contributors find their own bikes and they have much better writing skills – so we love it when they post bikes! If you ever want to start writing posts, just let me know! The more the merrier!
Dan, there was an ’83 Eddie Lawson Replica listed on BAT. The members pointed out a number of issues with it. One being Kawaski did not call it an ELR. The bid got to $6K but did not meet the reserve.