Obscure Cycle Syndrome, 93 GTS1000, single sided front swingarm, ebay

[chuck peterson]

Pretty sure these went the way of the do-do...gotta give them credit for trying something different...wonder how well it actually works

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Yamaha-GTS-1000A-/132285826225?hash=item1eccd984b1:g:ko0AAOSw3QpZanmZ&vxp=mtr

[cruzziguzzi]

Haven't seen one of those fro a VERY long time.

The shape of things to come.... No, wait, that was the TR-7!

I remember at the time thinking: "OK, single RADD arm up front, water cooled Genesis engine, ABS, OMEGA chassis and yet... a conventional rear swing-arm?"

Interestingly, it is listed as its predecessor being the FJ1100 and its successor being the FJR 1300.


Todd.

[Bisbonian]

I had one for a while.
The braking was extraordinary with no diving of the front suspension.
The ABS was problematic enough that it has steered me away ever since. Failure to properly flush the brake fluid through the ABS hydraulic unit led to valves being frozen in place and no ABS. The problem was common enough that Yamaha instituted a single replacement of the hydraulic unit at no charge regardless of age (I did mine around 2004).

Parts were difficult to come by, most everything had to be ordered from Japan and there was very little aftermarket for them.

The amount of heat generated was incredible. There is a little glove box on top of the "tank" that I swear you could cook a grilled cheese sandwich in on the highway. I never kept anything in it that might be heat sensitive.

All in all this was the only bike I ever regretted selling...until I got my 1200 Sport. The riding experience is very similar between the two; riding position is similar (in, not on the bike), power is close.

1200 Sport is better looking.

[jbell]

I remember reading great reviews about the handling.  Apparently, that RADD front end worked very well.  It looks like someone has related some first hand experience that I would take to heart.  If it were close to me, at that price and low mileage, I'd take a serious look just to maybe have something that rare (ie, something nobody else wanted at the time).

[kirb]

The idea of separating steering and suspension functions is what drove this. BMW continues this trend, Bimota Tesi also toyed with it.

There is solid engineering behind it, but it just never took off.

[groundhog105]

I had 2 of those. A 93 and 94.  Rode them for about 10 years and they were a fantastic sport touring bike that handeled very well.  It's a shame Yamaha didn't continue to develop the bike because the front end was great and very compliant, nothing upset the bike.  Breaking over bumpy corners changing lines or whatever you threw at it. 

[Arizona Wayne]

The bike looked extremely heavy to me and not being shaft drive was a turnoff.  In GP racing that setup never made the bikes have an advantage to win races vs. a conventional front fork setup.  Met the guy that designed that setup at a MGNOC Moto Guzzi National Rally later. Forget his name.


My Piaggio MP3 front fork setup has very little fork dive when you brake it hard either.  It's nice. 

[oldbike54]

 Put a few hundred miles on one that belonged to friend . Incredibly hi-tech , fairly fast , smooth , as someone said , great brakes . Center Hub steering designed by James Parker , he called it RADD . Very expensive when new .

 Dusty

[Nic in Western NYS]

Great bike. Always wanted one.  This one's been sitting for 10 years.

[Lesman]

Another one is for sale on Craigslist in the Houston,TX area

[not-fishing]

Haven't seen one of those fro a VERY long time.

The shape of things to come.... No, wait, that was the TR-7!

Todd.

Hey don't be Haten on a TR-7 unless you owned one like my brother that was yellow and one of the biggest Lemon's known to man.  That TR made the Chang Jaing look like it was highly reliable in comparison.

[decotriumph]

Met the guy that designed that setup at a MGNOC Moto Guzzi National Rally later. Forget his name.

Designed by James Parker. He has a regular column in Motorcyclist magazine.

[SemperVee]

  I have a riding buddy in Spokane who has a 1994 model and uses it as a daily rider and loves it.

[Travlr]

Pretty sure these went the way of the do-do...gotta give them credit for trying something different...wonder how well it actually works

I toured on one for several years.  I added tube bars and it toured very, very well.  I'm a sport touring guy and have nothing but good memories of it.  I sold it because the complexity and lack of support scared me.   A broken GTS1000 in rural America probably won't get fixed easily.  But if you do your own repair work you could do a lot worse.

Mike




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