1982 Suzuki GS550L - Bags, Trunk, and Windjammer installed!


alabamatom69

Grasshopper
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Some photos of the freshly installed vintage bags on my vintage bike.

I bought this 1982 Suzuki GS550L motorcycle a few years ago from someone in Kentucky. I don’t remember exactly, but I paid around $100-$200 for it. It was all there except that it appeared that the previous owner had been in a small wreck and had taken the bike apart but never put it back together. It was literally a “basket case” complete with a box full of loose parts. I worked to get it back together and have had many wonderful adventures, taken lots of great pictures and videos, and had one terrifying accident on this bike. I have loved it exactly the way it was, but I always wanted a little more. I had a dream of creating my perfect vintage adventure bike by finding vintage accessories like removable saddlebags, maybe a trunk, maybe a fairing. I wouldn't be able to afford these things, but a guy can dream.

Well a few weeks ago, my best buddy Josh told me he had a surprise for me and to be sure my back seat was empty. Josh had gone and found a set of bags. (The very same set I missed on Facebook marketplace - another cool story) The current owner was a friend of Josh’s and was downsizing. He GAVE me the bags and the trunk, and while I was there, he GAVE me the fairing as well! Everything I wanted for my bike, all the right color, all proper accessories for a 1982 model bike! Josh even made sure I had what I needed to install them on my bike.

I spent my free time over the last couple of weeks getting everything mounted and was able to take the bike out for a ride today and show Josh what he had been responsible for. It may not seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but my wife and I have been through an awful lot the last couple of years with her cancer (https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aubreyblizzard/journal), so I am thrilled to have this bike as a diversion, and even more thrilled to have a great friend to share it with!

1982 Suzuki GS550L with Windjammer and Vetter Bags.jpg
1982 Suzuki GS550L Windjammer SS with CycleSound.jpg
1982 Suzuki GS550L  Complete Vetter Bags package.jpg
 

drttrkderrick

Grasshopper
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That's awesome man! Looks great! I too was given a Windjammer fairing, and 2 trunks by a buddy of mine for my 1983 gs650! I ended up buying a set of bags & mounts off the same guy for $150.
 

KGBnut

Learning the Ropes
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That look terrific. Nice Job. I have a 1978 Suzuki GS550 (not the L version). I was never able to find correct saddlebag brackets for mine, but rather had to adapt a set from a later model. Are your bracket made for your bike, or did you need to modify them?

Ken
 

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alabamatom69

Grasshopper
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That look terrific. Nice Job. I have a 1978 Suzuki GS550 (not the L version). I was never able to find correct saddlebag brackets for mine, but rather had to adapt a set from a later model. Are your bracket made for your bike, or did you need to modify them?

Ken
I modified them. I got a brand new-in-the-box set of saddlebag mounts for a Kawasaki KZ650 and had to barely modify to fit perfectly. I got lucky. The fairing bracket was a similar story. The eBay ad said "I don't know what it fits, but it WON'T fit my Suzuki 1100" - It fit my 550 perfectly though.
 

drttrkderrick

Grasshopper
Country flag
That look terrific. Nice Job. I have a 1978 Suzuki GS550 (not the L version). I was never able to find correct saddlebag brackets for mine, but rather had to adapt a set from a later model. Are your bracket made for your bike, or did you need to modify them?

Ken
That's a damn nice bike man!

I believe the mounts I used were off an old goldwing. The brackets that are supposed to mount the rack that the trunk mounts don't fit, they're too narrow.
 
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