Can barely walk after Day 1 !!

[Dman5000]

I just purchased my GZ250 on Sunday night 8/10/08 and yesterday I was out and about bright and early. I live along the lakeside in northern ohio, and I went from one end to the other and back, cycling for around 8 hrs. I had breaks in between of course, but my legs are like spaghetti today. I never had rode before and it was too much fun to stop. I took a couple of pics along the way, check the links below.

I got the bike for a steal, my buddy just purchased a new Boulavard and was looking to put the bike on eBay, for around $1200 bucks,as he wasn't able to get it started. The bike was almost new, a 2004 with around 700 miles on it. I became interested and asked how much would he take right now for it, he said $1000 bucks, I said SOLD :2tup: I said I would come Sunday with a my meter and tools and try to get it started. I then found this website and got the schematics for the electrical system. I showed up Sunday and within 15 minutes found a blown 20 amp fuse on the starter relay :neener: . Replaced the fuse and she started right up, the look on his face was priceless. He is a good friend though, and seemed pleased with how excited I was.

Looking forward to riding and sharing on here, this site has already helped me out and I am much appreciative of that.

[Dman5000]

Heres some pics along the way:

http://www.postimage.org/Pq1XFEc9.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Pq1XFEc9)



http://www.postimage.org/Pq1XG28A.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Pq1XG28A)

[countrydad]

Welcome Dman! You will find a wealth of information on this site, and the guys and gals here are great! Enjoy your new ride!

[Sarris]

Welcome brother, beautiful color. And that ache thing will go away with time.

Now just practice, practice, practice.

:)

[buck-gz]

I showed up Sunday and within 15 minutes found a blown 20 amp fuse on the starter relay :neener: . Replaced the fuse and she started right up, the look on his face was priceless. He is a good friend though, and seemed pleased with how excited I was.

Looking forward to riding and sharing on here, this site has already helped me out and I am much appreciative of that.

Welcome Dman! This is a great site with great people.

I am curious how you found the blown fuse. Were you able to eyeball and see it or did you check from the battery side of the fuse to ground? O_o

Thanks,

[RichInFla]

Welcome Dman! You will find a wealth of information on this site, and the guys and gals here are great! Enjoy your new ride!

I agree with CountryDad, this place is way too informative in a great way !! You get the good, the bad, AND the ugly, and how to deal, fix, troubleshoot everything !!

Welcome from Newbie with just over 100 miles !! Of course, now I gotta get new tires.....DAMN !!

[Dman5000]

I showed up Sunday and within 15 minutes found a blown 20 amp fuse on the starter relay :neener: . Replaced the fuse and she started right up, the look on his face was priceless. He is a good friend though, and seemed pleased with how excited I was.

Looking forward to riding and sharing on here, this site has already helped me out and I am much appreciative of that.

Welcome Dman! This is a great site with great people.

I am curious how you found the blown fuse. Were you able to eyeball and see it or did you check from the battery side of the fuse to ground? O_o

Thanks,

Just visual, funny thing I had a cheapo meter and the 1st thing I checked was the battery. Unfortuanatly I had the meter set to 1.5V instead of 9V and it blew the fuse on my meter. :blush: So yea visual inspection from that point on.

[alanmcorcoran]

...Except for the color, your 2004 looks identical to my 2008, that I just forked over $4500 for. You got in at a very good price. If you decide to sell for any reason, you can probably get twice what you paid. In this part of the country smaller displacement bikes are at a premium (new and used) cause they didn't ship enough of 2008 250cc's.

I've had mine two and a half weeks and I'm almost at 400 miles. Lost a couple days to the service department (I'm also a little envious of your mechanical skills - I tightened my own mirrors and was damn proud of myself!)

I'm impressed you rode the thing for eight hours on the first day. What's the ride around the lake like?

[Dman5000]

...Except for the color, your 2004 looks identical to my 2008, that I just forked over $4500 for. You got in at a very good price. If you decide to sell for any reason, you can probably get twice what you paid. In this part of the country smaller displacement bikes are at a premium (new and used) cause they didn't ship enough of 2008 250cc's.

I've had mine two and a half weeks and I'm almost at 400 miles. Lost a couple days to the service department (I'm also a little envious of your mechanical skills - I tightened my own mirrors and was damn proud of myself!)

I'm impressed you rode the thing for eight hours on the first day. What's the ride around the lake like?

It's pretty nice, wish there were less 55 MPH zones though, this thing floats at 35 mph. I've always driven my cars kinda fast, but on the bike slow and steady, sit back and enjoy the ride ! :rawk:

[jonathan180iq]

Great find and nice story. Welcome to the forum.

[Easy Rider]

...Except for the color, your 2004 looks identical to my 2008,

Wow, that's the first time anybody has ever said that....NOT! :lol:

You can pretty much plug in any 2 years back to about 1995, I think. :tup:

[davtnn]

WOW allen .... 4500.00.. I thought i was getting ripped at 3200.00 (title tags set up and delivery)...

[rexolio]

Welcome, DMan... BEAUTIFUL bike... beautiful color.

And is that a pin stripe on the tank or just the way the light is hitting it?

[Dman5000]

Welcome, DMan... BEAUTIFUL bike... beautiful color.

And is that a pin stripe on the tank or just the way the light is hitting it?

That is a silver pinstrip, the picture doesn't really show that well, its from my cell phone. I will get some better pics up one of these days.

[Moedad]

Welcome, DMan... BEAUTIFUL bike... beautiful color.

And is that a pin stripe on the tank or just the way the light is hitting it?

Here's a view of the pin striping on my tank.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/danmartin56/Miscellaneous/GZ250001.jpg

[bigwonton]

DMan,

Looks great and sounds like you had a blast. I'm another Northeast Ohioan - from Richmond Heights (Eastern 'burbs). I believe there's also another member on this board from the Akron area.

[Jer]

Nice to meet ya. I'll echo the "SWEET COLOR!" thoughts from previous messages.

[Jenny]

...Except for the color, your 2004 looks identical to my 2008, that I just forked over $4500 for. You got in at a very good price. If you decide to sell for any reason, you can probably get twice what you paid. In this part of the country smaller displacement bikes are at a premium (new and used) cause they didn't ship enough of 2008 250cc's.

I've had mine two and a half weeks and I'm almost at 400 miles. Lost a couple days to the service department (I'm also a little envious of your mechanical skills - I tightened my own mirrors and was damn proud of myself!)

I'm impressed you rode the thing for eight hours on the first day. What's the ride around the lake like?

In my area any used 250cc bike is prime. They are impossible to come by. The guy at a local bike shop told me that it's because so many new users ride stupid and crack them up so there just aren't as many used 250s. I'm not sure that I believe that. I'm sure that's part of the problem, but I think it's more a matter of so many people wanting 250s to learn on and then either sticking with them or reselling them immediately. Add that to the fact that there just aren't as many 250s being produced as the larger bike, and you've got a product that people need.

I was extremely lucky to find a 2000 GZ250 last month, and I had to pay $200 over blue book value before the guy would even talk to me. I was willing to pay it (and would have gone $300 over but didn't tell him that), and handed him the cash immediately. I am amazed at the awesome price the original poster got for their new bike. That's INCREDIBLE!

The MSF class that I took had more GZ250s than any other bike. I had been told that most MSF classes have Honda Rebels, so I was surprised to see seven or eight Suzukis, a couple of Kawasakis, and one sport bike that I can't remember what it was. I love, love, love the fit! The other women on the Suzukis complained that the gas tank was too big and that it was uncomfortable between their thighs, but not mine. I'm short (5'2" and had no problems whatsoever). 14 hours on the bike in two days, and I wanted to ride some more when I left the class!

[jonathan180iq]

It just blows my mind that bike salesmen continue to talk down to people looking to purchase 250s.
I was helping a buddy of mine buy a bike, and suggested the Ninja and the GZ. One of the salesmen overheard our conversation and threw in his 2 cents about outgrowing the bike in 3 months. And I'm sitting here thinking to myself that I've been riding the 250cc bikes for 6 years now. I guess I'm retarded for not leanring how to handl a larger bike. ;)

Anyway, Enjoy your bike.

The larger gas tank on the GZ is better once you get in the real world because you don't have to fill up as often as you would on the Rebel, for example. The only small bike with more range than the GZ is the Ninja and, I think, the Kymco.

[RichInFla]

It just blows my mind that bike salesmen continue to talk down to people looking to purchase 250s.
I was helping a buddy of mine buy a bike, and suggested the Ninja and the GZ. One of the salesmen overheard our conversation and threw in his 2 cents about outgrowing the bike in 3 months. And I'm sitting here thinking to myself that I've been riding the 250cc bikes for 6 years now. I guess I'm retarded for not leanring how to handl a larger bike. ;)

Anyway, Enjoy your bike.

The larger gas tank on the GZ is better once you get in the real world because you don't have to fill up as often as you would on the Rebel, for example. The only small bike with more range than the GZ is the Ninja and, I think, the Kymco.

Yeah, my newbie buddy just bought one of those Kymco bikes (he has a friend who's a local scooter mechanic). It's a nice looking bike, except I didn't like the ignition key on the front side. He paid $4800 out the door for a 2008, I paid $1700 for my 2000 GZ, so I figure that leaves me a little money for "accessories" (or tires, as previousl posts have indicated !!)

Nice ride...

[5th_bike]

And I'm sitting here thinking to myself that I've been riding the 250cc bikes for 6 years now. I guess I'm retarded for not learning how to handle a larger bike. ;)

When I was young, many an earth orbit ago, I spent five years on 50cc mopeds, a Puch the longest and most. I also went on vacation to Germany with it. Up and down the hills. I remember accidentally driving through the 'pedestrian only' zone in Trier. Oops.
I never really "outgrew" the mopeds. I just was offered a great deal on a car, and got it.

Maybe you can only "outgrow" things when you're a little kid. And once you're grown, like us - no more "outgrowing" nonsense !

[Easy Rider]

I guess I'm retarded for not leanring how to handle a larger bike. ;)



Naw, there's got to be more to it than that !!! :oops: :lol: :lol:

[Jer]

Its just more of that bigger,faster,more expensive = better nonsense.

[msrider]

Hey Dman , laughed myself silly when I read your heading . I took a motorcycle safety course in June (very new at this ) after first 6 hr shift of school got off saying I didn't understand how any fat people could be rideing bikes .Like you I hurt from head to toe . It gets better though as you relax .LOL

[Doug577]

Dman,
I bet that was a fun ride along the lake! I'm from Akron, but I also travel up to Mentor on the GZ to visit family - maybe I'll see ya on the road up there sometime. I've wanted to ride up along the lake from about Mentor to Geneva - thought that would be a good ride.
Doug