Newbie from Central Arkansas

[Arkygs250]

Hello people. I just bought a red 2001 GZ250 last week to save gas going to work. I originally was going to get a scooter but the licensing requirements are the same for a scooter over 50cc's and a motorcycle in this state so I started looking into bikes. I didn't want to spend a lot. I looked at some of the new Chinese bikes out now but I was just scared of the reliability and parts availability. So I scanned the Little Rock paper's classifieds and ran across this GZ with 5,800 miles for $1,400. I went and looked at her and ended up getting it for $1,300. I will have to get some tires though. I hope I didn't get took too bad. She sure is pretty and runs good. It is a little small for me since I am 6'1" and 220lbs but I only have 20 miles round trip between work and home. I can deal with the small size especially since my truck gets about 14 MPG and this thing will get 60 plus.

[Sarris]

Welcome brother. You've made an excellent choice in motorcycles and web sites. We're glad you're here.

Ride safe.

:chop:

[music man]

Thats Two Fellow Arkansas GZ riders, Its only a matter of time before I see another GZ going down the road. :2tup:




Later :rawk:

[Orpheus]

$1400 actually sounds like a really good deal for one of these bikes right now; I've been looking around just to compare prices around the country and it's hard to find one under $2000 that doesn't need some kind of work on it. As far as your height and weight, I'm right around 6' and weight about 200-210 lbs and I like the GZ just fine.

[music man]

I am 6'1" and around 190 and I am also fairly comfortable on the gz.

[davtnn]

you'll find that not just a few of the people here are not on the petite side so size is not a consideration .. and you did get a good buy on the bike .... also you might want to crunch some numbers and figure the money saved over a year of riding the bike as opposed to the truck (should produce warm fuzzy feelings toward the bike).

[Arkygs250]

Thanks for the warm welcome and comments. I get new tires put in her today and have some saddle bags on order. My wife has come up with a pretty good name for the bike. I started jokingly referring to my bike as my "HOG" when ever I talked about it. My wife said that ain't a HOG that's a PIGLET! So the name stuck

[El Diablo]

Welcome, went through the same process of looking for a scooter ending up with a GZ. Glad I did because I love it.

I like the name. My bike's name is Betty Lou (from the Bob Seger song).

[RichInFla]

Welcome !! As a newbie myself, I researched the Scooter craze, and all I found was how bad the Chinese junk scooters are. Most everyone recommended a small bike rather than a scooter. I think you found a good deal. I found my 2000 locally with 5k miles on it. Ended up buying it for $1700. I will also soon (after much practice), be riding for work.

Similarly, I'm 6' about 170, so I wanted a bike with the foot controls more "forward", as when I took the MSF test, I was on a Honda Shadow with controls straight down from the waist (looked pretty goofy with the knees out wide so my feet were on the controls, LOL).

This site is great, everyone is very helpful. You'll get opinions good and bad, but that's pretty much why I joined as well, to get good info on this particular bike.

Congrats on the purchase,
Rich

[arsuzukied]

Great to see another Central Arkansas rider. I bought my bike for the same reasons you did and am enjoying it. I commute from Sherwood to Ft. Roots every day - nice 20 minute ride in the morning these days, but kinda warm in the afternoon. I picked up a sling bag for my laptop and I'm in business.

This is a great forum - I posted a question late last week and already have a couple of leads on the problem. Kudos to the folks hosting and running the forum.

[Arkygs250]

Thanks arsuzukied. I know where Ft. Roots is. I grew up living on Scenic Hill. Yep I'm loving my 10 mile commute to Conway in the morning but as you said with the heat index being around 110 degrees in the afternoons lately it is a bit warm. It won't keep me from riding though!

[patrick_777]

I'm sorry to say, but it's actually kept me from riding. I can't wait for the temps to come down even into the low 90s.

[Graydog]

Hey Arkie...bet you bought that bike from the Doug Reynolds Suzuki lot on I-30 right? I watched that bike for a while to see how long it would stay on the lot. Didn't last long! I started to buy it even though I already had two bikes. It seemed to be in extra fine shape and I thought I could sell it for a little more than the $1400 since everyone seems to want a 250 suddenly.

I actually went back to the lot to buy it for a friend and you had just bought it! Let me know how it works out.

[Arkygs250]

Hey Graydog. Nope that must have been another bike. I bought this one off an individual in Ferndale. I actually ended up only paying $1,350 for it and he threw in a nice touring jacket, some gloves and a nice helmet. I did have to buy tires for it though but I still think I did ok.

[Graydog]

Sounds like you did ok. Maybe see you on the back roads.

[Blues]

I see there's several more Arkansawyers in here. Y'all know where Blytheville is? If you haven't been here, you aren't missing much...flat country and cotton fields, but it's home (for now). I have ridden many a mile and have yet to see another GZ out on the road. Perhaps I'll run across another one sometime. Anyhow, howdy to my homeboys. Graydog..I'm guessing you to be a Marine. I'm (was for years) Air Force, so a salute to another GI. And I'm pretty sure the Marines will get to the 29 virgins before any martyrs. You might find that they've all been deflowered and there's the slight scent of jet fuel in the bedsheets, but you'll still beat any damn martyr!

Carry on
Aaron

[Arkygs250]

Dang Blues Blytheville? Yeah I know where it is and the will NEVER forget the last time I was there. I was on a business trip in Chicago with 2 other associates on 9/11/01 and was scheduled to leave the day after. Of course NOBODY in the US was gonna fly that day. So we all piled up in the rental car and headed home. Drove through the Blytheville area on the way down from Missouri. If I remember right it was pretty exciting. We looked to the left and saw fields of corn. We looked to the right and saw fields of cotton. I think I took like a 2 hour nap and woke and looked out the window. You guessed it. Fields of dang corn and cotton! Anyway have fun in the GZ