question about freeway riding

[maryes7]

I have been riding my GZ250 for 4 months. I would like to try the freeway but I wonder how it will handle the wind and if I will have enough power. Would like some advice from all of you expert 250 riders. Thank you

[music man]

I don't know about anyone else's experience, but I can tell you from mine that the little GZ gets pushed around pretty good by the wind if you are making a good speed, but it is usually not unbearable. I personally won't ride on any freeway unless I am just gonna go down an exit or two and get back off, the GZ just ain't got the juice for it. Not saying it won't go 70 but when it does it is tapped out, and being tapped out is not good in any vehicle at any speed. You lose alot of manueverability and you don't have any throttle left to get you out of trouble, But there are alot of people who ride theirs on the freeway, Just not me.



Later

[maryes7]

Thank you for the great advice.. Do you have another bike for the freeway or just use your bike for around town. I have a few places that I would love to go to that require freeway riding for about 30 min. I feel I would have to move up to a bigger bike to do that. I love my GZ250 and use it mostly to do errands around town and also to get back and forth to work which is just around the corner. Thank again, for your help.....

[alanmcorcoran]

...as a subset of, "Is a GZ fast/powerful/heavy enough?"

I think the general consensus is yes, you can go on the freeway, but you may not enjoy it. There's a gentleman that rode his GZ from KY to Alaska and he's done lots of highway miles. I don't have a windshield and I get buffetted around pretty good. There are also strong side drafts coming off semi's. Bu it's not like you don't have control. You have to sort of roll with the punches.

I'm still a newb so take my advice with a grain of salt - 30 minutes on a freeway will probably be about 20 minutes more than you will enjoy. But go ahead and try it. The bike can handle it, you just may decide to try an alternate route back. If your bike is new (like mine) it will be a challenge to get up to CA freeway speeds (70-75), so be forewarned. 65 is the best I've been able to do so far and that wasn't easy either.

Supposedly, freeways, with all of their inherent risks, are safer than "surface" streets.

[music man]

Thank you for the great advice.. Do you have another bike for the freeway or just use your bike for around town. I have a few places that I would love to go to that require freeway riding for about 30 min. I feel I would have to move up to a bigger bike to do that. I love my GZ250 and use it mostly to do errands around town and also to get back and forth to work which is just around the corner. Thank again, for your help.....



No I do not have another motorcycle, but if I were to go on a long trip I could probably deal with thirty minutes on the freeway for that one trip if it was necessary, but I have looked at a lot of places to go since I got my bike, and to be honest I haven't seen anywhere that I would want to go where I "have" to get on the interstate. There are ways to go just about anywhere with out using them. Its probably gonna take you a month of sundays to get there, but you can get there.


Later

[rusty rider]

I have ridden my bike on Interstates a couple of times I've found it is fine around 4 wheeler traffic but big trucks are another beast. Last night I was on my way home on a 4 lane highway when I came upon slower traffic. I went to pass and there was a larger truck in the passing lane, the wind pushed me around quite a bit. Another time I was passing a truck with another in front of me, the turbulance scared the crap out of me (see Sarris) :neener:

I will ride my bike on interstates in the future, but will only deal with one big truck at a time. If that requires slowing down so be it, you will find that even with a wind shield you get pushed all over the place. My bike will run 70 mph no problem with a little throttle left, I did have to tuck on inclines to maintain my speed though.

[Easy Rider]

I have been riding my GZ250 for 4 months. I would like to try the freeway but I wonder how it will handle the wind and if I will have enough power. Would like some advice from all of you expert 250 riders. Thank you

All freeways are not created equal.
The general prevailing speed and the desity of the traffic makes a BIG difference.
I would never take my GZ on some freeways, like around major cities where everybody drives like they are nuts....Chicago, NY, LA, Atlanta, etc. Same thing applies to some long-haul routes with lots of trucks and excessive speeds....like I-80, I-70 and I-90. There are, however, lots of rural Interstates where the traffic is not usually too heavy, there aren't a lot of trucks and most drivers follow the speed limit and/or respect those who do, where I would have no qualms riding the GZ at 60-65-70 all day long.

All bikes are not created equal either but most take a pretty good beating from the wind created by trucks......until you get up to the "heavy cruiser" class, which is a BIG jump.

And, last but not least, while you may THINK that you can't get from A to B without using a freeway, there are VERY few places where that is really true.....very few. You might have to look at a map or do a little exploring to figure it out but there probably IS a way. Having spent a LONG half day trying to get from North Atlanta to East Atlanta without freeways, I do know that some places it really IS almost impossible......or that the best non-interstate route is not the shortest one.

[gnu88001]

Overall, freeways are safer than other roads with all of their side-traffic. I keep mine at 55-60, let the rest pass me, and try to keep my distance away from the rear of large trucks. Turbulence ... schmurbulence! I just pretend I'm riding year-round in our normal spring gales here in southern New Mexico.

[mld85]

I agree the GZ can handle the freeway but its not too happy about it. The furthest I have taken it on the freeways is probably 20-30 miles. The GZ is a great bike but I use it just for around town and on back roads were it will happily cruise along at 50-60 mph all day long. As for wind, it can push you around on any motorcycle. I do my cross country trips on a 750, small compared to the bikes of today, and dealing with wind is something you just get used too.

[Joho]

I took my GZ from Myrtle Beach to the Ft Lauderdale area (about 630 miles), with about 85% of the driving being freeway (I95).

It was... fun. I love riding motorcycles, so it was a great experience regardless. The wind wasn't a concern, but if you've ever driven on 95, then you know that the little gz just cant keep up with the speeds. I kept it at about 70 in the right lane, and I was still getting overtook by 18-wheelers.

[El Diablo]

There is one section of interstate I take from time to time. I have a tail wind one way and easily do 70-75 without maxing out the throttle. Coming back I am full throttle and have trouble getting up much pass 55 mph. Wind is the difference maker.

[alanmcorcoran]

There is one section of interstate I take from time to time. I have a tail wind one way and easily do 70-75 without maxing out the throttle. Coming back I am full throttle and have trouble getting up much pass 55 mph. Wind is the difference maker.

Do you have a windshield? (Curious abut it's impact on speed - mine is coming on Thursday...)

[alanmcorcoran]

I took my GZ from Myrtle Beach to the Ft Lauderdale area (about 630 miles), with about 85% of the driving being freeway (I95).

It was... fun. I love riding motorcycles, so it was a great experience regardless. The wind wasn't a concern, but if you've ever driven on 95, then you know that the little gz just cant keep up with the speeds. I kept it at about 70 in the right lane, and I was still getting overtook by 18-wheelers.

Is 195 paved with asphalt or concrete? Is it "grooved" for water drainage? Is it scalloped? (not sure what purposed this serves, but much of my local freeway is scalloped (sort of carved waves in the concrete) and grooved. I suppose I might learn to get used to it, but I can't imagine going 630 miles on the freeway and enjoying it. I have trouble going 55 uphill or into the wind, and the traffic is carreening around me, blowing horns, etc. at an avg speed of 80-85. It's quite nerve wracking, and the bike is dancing all over the pavement.

[El Diablo]

To answer your question: I do not have a windshield.

[Joho]

Is 195 paved with asphalt or concrete? Is it "grooved" for water drainage? Is it scalloped? (not sure what purposed this serves, but much of my local freeway is scalloped (sort of carved waves in the concrete) and grooved. I suppose I might learn to get used to it, but I can't imagine going 630 miles on the freeway and enjoying it. I have trouble going 55 uphill or into the wind, and the traffic is carreening around me, blowing horns, etc. at an avg speed of 80-85. It's quite nerve wracking, and the bike is dancing all over the pavement.


The majority of it was concrete. There was some asphalt on the longer "open-stretches" in central florida; however for most of the ride, I remember hearing the "da-dump, da-dump".

For me at least, the first hour was the worst. After that, I popped in my headphones to lessen the noise (no music, though) and the time flew by. It was really a nice opportunity to take in the sights, and clear the mind.

[MLAN12]

Generally speaking the GZ250 is on the small side for freeway riding. It does a great job with state highways where the top speed is 55mph. My girlfriend rides a GZ250 and really loves it. We have ridden on Interstate 5 in the state of Washington for short distances. The portions of the interstate that are posted 60mph the GZ handled great. Teresa said that turbulence, and wind was not a problem, and she still had throttle left. We have ridden to Oregon and the GZ handled highway speeds, steep climbs and sidewinds with no problems. Her bike does have a Spitfire windshield. Overall the GZ250 is an outstanding bike for it's size.

[alanmcorcoran]

I've had some more experience since my previous post. Fresh asphalt is quite nice up to about 60 or so (and I still have no windshield - but I do wear a full lid and a beefy jacket.) PCH is like this north of Santa Monica and it is very comfortable (and the speed limit is 45-50.) I've gotten a little more used to the "terrain" of the grooved, scalloped concrete but I still can't really relax on it, the bike just doesn't go fast enough, and the wind is quite bothersome. Maybe in another 1000 miles I'll change my tune, but for now I try to ride around them as much as possible.

I've gone as fast as 70 on some backroads, but only on level or downhill or with a tailwind. Uphill, eventually fifth gear poops out and I've got to start bouncing back and forth between 4th and 5th. If I do get a bigger bike, uphill climbs will be the main reason. The GZ just doesn't cut it uphill.

[Moedad]

The GZ just doesn't cut it uphill.

I took mine up Signal Hill a couple of weeks ago. I dropped down to 3rd before I started the grade. Good thing it's a short climb.

My biggest issue with speeds above 65 is the how the motor sounds wound out. I still have a teenie bit of throttle at 70, but I'm afraid the motor will 'splode if I run it at that speed for a length of time. I know people do it, but...

[Easy Rider]

Uphill, eventually fifth gear poops out and I've got to start bouncing back and forth between 4th and 5th.

Better off the just leave it in 4th.
Stock riders (no 16T mod), how fast can you safely go in 4th, like up a long hill?
My guess would be just shy of 50, since I can almost hit 60 before I wuss out.

[Quimrider]

I was actually dumb enuff to ride 155 miles most of them at wide open throttle on the interstate with no stops. This probably shortened the life of my engine and was not the most enjoyable ride, but I needed to get home asap. It's all a matter of comfort level. The best answer is to try it and see how far you go before you are no longer comfortable.

[mr. softie]

The GZ is not all that comfortable on the freeway/interstate, and the bike does get pushed around a lot around traffic. Running at WOT can be nerve wracking, I would love to have a Goldwing for slab work, but I own a GZ250 so I ride it....

That being said, if the rider and the bike are in good condition, and lubrication, valve clearance, tire pressure etc. are taken care of, the GZ will handle all day rides on the slab just fine. In the higher gears you run out of power before you hit redline or float the valves anyway. I have a 15 tooth gear and I can run 60mph in fourth and 70mph in fifth all day. I keep an eye on the oil level. I don't think I am harming my engine at all.

After a long ride on I 95 I realize that most of my fellow citizens are morons and act like homicidal maniacs when out in their shiny metal boxes. I mean push push push. 95 mph in heavy traffic! It is all ME ME ME and to hell with simple courtesy or a semblance of safe driving. I don't take it personally though. I mind my own business and stay to the right. If you can time your trips on the slab to coincide with light traffic periods you will do fine.

[Easy Rider]

If you can time your trips on the slab to coincide with light traffic periods you will do fine.

Generally good advice, however.......there is a certain tiny number of people who see an un-congested Interstate just as an invitation to go even FASTER......including some bike riders. :cry:

It's not being paranoid if they really ARE out to get you! :skull: