I have recently purchased my first ST. It is a 55,000km ST1100PY (NSW) still white with single seat which I will not be changing given the cost advantage of QLD single seat registration and my aversion to pillioning. It does bear a couple of battle scars and that is unlikely to change given the price of plastic. The registration process was slightly more complicated than it needed to be due to its being on the WOVR as a repairable write-off back in 2005 in NSW.
I am not new to motorcycling having had a motorcycle licence since 1970 and having ridden for most of the intervening years. I started off on BSA's, including a couple of ex-police Thunderbolts. After a disastrous 1971 oil-in-frame Lightning I finally wised up and went Japanese starting with a CB750. I have owned a variety of all of the big four Japanese makes, with the last one being a 1995 GPZ1100 (ZX1100E), which I still own at this stage, and a Moto Guzzi 850T.
I bought the ST because of its more relaxed geometry, given that the GPZ's sportier riding position was showing signs of my age, and because of its legendary longevity. I did a fair bit of work on the ST prior to registering it including changing all fluids, the fork oil and dust seals, timing belt, checking the valve clearances and a new rear tyre (the latter at the bikeshop). The quantity of plastic you have to remove before doing anything is my only gripe about the bike so far. The braking power of the bike is also nothing to write home about after the GPZ although there is some oil contamination of the RH front pads due to a previously leaking seal. I will be putting organic EBC pads on the front in the next week or so and hopefully that will improve things a bit. The desire for improved braking is so that I can stop if someone ahead of me slams on the anchors or slams into a vehicle ahead as my boy-racer days passed years ago.
I have not done any serious miles on the bike yet and have no immediate plans to do so. I am still getting over the rides between Adelaide and Brisbane in the early 70's.
I value function over form so I will probably only make changes to the bike which enhance its function such as the transfer of the throttle lock from the GPZ to the ST and possibly a slight rise in the handlebar height in the near future.
I have already used this and the US site of the same name to good effect while I was performing the work I referred to above and expect I will continue to benefit from others' experience with the ST in the future. My thanks in anticipation.
