The secound bike I purchased was a 1988 Suzuki GSXR750J for $8.500 plus on road costs in late 88. This was the first bike I bought brand new. It was a bike that was easy to ride from the start being very forgiving of rider mistakes. The bikes handling was outstanding with the low weight a big plus. Visit this link to look at kevs gsxr a site that covers other bikes but also a gsxr750h which he loves (the changes from the J to the H were minimal).
No matter how good a bike is, when a car comes into the equation no amount of good handling will help you! In May 89, at an intersection in Bathurst,a car went straight through a give way sign in front of me. As a result the bike was written off and I had a number of minor injuries.
After the accident and three months of physio,I bought the bike back from the insurance company for $2.000. I proceeded to fix it up over the next two months to almost as good as new. This bike was a good bike but it was never the same after the accident. I eventually sold it in 1992 to fund my university education.