how much freeway driving?

So all this talk about long rides got me to thinking about taking the gz250 up to my in-laws cottage to open it for the season when I have a break this spring. It's about 300 miles from where I live and usually takes me about 3 1/2 to 4 hours by car (avg. speed 75). I google mapped taking only non-highway roads and it said that the trip would take over 7 hours.

Now I'm not very comfortable on this bike on freeways to begin with; some of that's my novice status and some is that I just don't think that's what this bike does, or was designed to do. I'd rather take back roads anyway by motorcycle, but to cut down a little on the time, maybe I could mix in some freeway driving. So here are my questions: How much freeway driving at one stretch is acceptable for this bike, both in terms of how much damage it might be doing, but also in terms of how much I can take? Does anybody else use this strategy, or should I just take all back roads and forget about the time?

Keith

[music man]

I don't necessarily think that freeway driving in short distances is harmful to the GZ (it probably does cause a little extra wear but nominal at best), but I wouldn't suggest taking 500 mile freeway trips on it or anything.

[Easy Rider]

Now I'm not very comfortable on this bike on freeways to begin with; some of that's my novice status and some is that I just don't think that's what this bike does, or was designed to do.

It depends..........
On what the prevailing speed IS on the freeway in question. The GZ will "cruise" at 65 all day long; harder on the rider than the bike. So, if you would feel safe doing 65 on the road in question, go for it. Because of the boredom factor, I think a mix would be fine.
Doing it without Interstates would be better but that is a HUGE difference in time. :??:

[alanmcorcoran]

kmkindred,

I am a former freeway wuss on the GZ. I can do it okay now, but I don't really like it. There is a huge difference if the highway is smooth asphalt or Effed up concrete. (Out here it's mostly effed up concrete and very exhausting.)

If you have smooth asphalt, and low wind, the GZ should be able to do 65 without busting a nut. There are some nice freeway stretches around here that I actually enjoy riding on, but they are few and far between.

The typical speed of the traffic is another factor. If everyone is going 85 and switching lanes like Speed Racer, you WILL NOT LIKE IT.

My recommendation is to plan a shorter test ride that starts and ends at your house. (say 100 miles.) Over time, you will get more and more confident, but I really clenched up for those first few months. I suspect you might survive the ride, but you won't enjoy it very much.

Finally, it's extremely NOT recommended for various safety reasons, but in tense situations on high speed slabs, I have found a great deal of comfort in drafting behind (75 feet or more) slow moving semi's. I know I will get throttled for suggesting this, but, it cuts down the wind, you can go faster, you are protected from weavers, over all, it's a lot easier on your nerves. Just assume they CANNOT see you back there.

Wear earplugs. A full face shield and/or windshield will help too. And some heavy gloves. And sun glasses,

[alanmcorcoran]

One more thing, there are "backroads" and there is city driving. If your backroads run through the middle of every town and subdivision, you are going to loathe the trip. it will only be 3 hours of driving, punctuated by 4 hours of upshift 1-2-3-4-5, downshift 5-4-3-2-1, brake, clutch, feet down, repeat. All while avoiding someone making a left into your front fender.

[alanmcorcoran]

And finally.

Be very careful about trusting Google. Google considers a migrant bison herd's cattle trail to water to be 100% navigable. Google refuses to admit "Ya cain't get theah from heah." I speak from numerous ill-fated adventures, including a trip through a stream in my Suburban and, more recently, an 18-mile double back from, literally, a mountain sheep trail.

If there are any iffy roads, check them out with the satellite view, or better yet, the "Street view" to make sure they aren't ancient indian trails.

[Chris]

I'm a big older guy in Georgia and I travel on the interstates very often on my GZ250. This does not hurt the bike in the least, in fact it is probably good for it.
I am riding in the far right lane and even the trucks don't bother me a bit. I think five hours on the interstate would be safer than seven hours on the country highways. Interstates are always safer than other roads. I take a lot of breaks. Also I stop and even on the interstate I take walks in the woods to water a tree.
I wear a full face helmet, sunglasses, and ear plugs. And, when traveling, I velcro my leather jacket sleeves closed tightly so no wind gets in. I wear four or five layers on top and at least two on the bottom. When cool I wear two sets of long underwear under my jeans. Then I use the laces in my boots to tie around the bottom of my jeans. Any incoming wind at all will hurt you on a day less than 60 degrees. Warmer is better.
I usually ride about 70mph, sometimes faster if the road is smooth, but I am not really in a hurry. To me being in a hurry is not what my motorcycling is all about. Yesterday I rode 120 miles on country roads. No interstates were available for that trip. It was 55 degrees, too cool to really enjoy the ride. On a long trip the coolness really cuts into you.
You've had some good advice here. Perhaps the best is to try a shorter trip somewhere. Ride 50 miles on any interstate, have lunch, ride back. That will tell you a lot.

Chris, retired near Atlanta

[Easy Rider]

I think five hours on the interstate would be safer than seven hours on the country highways. Interstates are always safer than other roads.

Your opinion. Mine is a little different.

Last year I rode from Illinois to Atlanta and back. 600 miles each way; 1,200 miles total.
Had I done it on the Interstates and observed the speed limit, I would have been "exposed" to at least 100 cars and trucks an hour (probably a lot more), most of which would have been passing me. That is not counting the traffic going the other way.

On US 41, except for the cities and small towns, it was normal to only see about 10 cars an hour and I was travelling 10 mph slower.

While it is true that this is only one experience on one road, I can't agree that doing 55 in very light traffic is somehow more dangerous that doing 65-70 on an Interstate, surrounded by traffic.
For me at least, it just don't compute.

[Chris]

You drove 1200 miles on Hwy 41? When an interstate was available? You probably added a day of time and expense each way to your trip.
Interstates are always safer than other highways because all the traffic is going the same direction at roughly the same speed. If you are in the far right land no one will bother you. No one wants to hit you, wouldn't make any sense.
I live near Hwy 41 in Georgia and it is pretty busy even out in the country. Six cars an hour???? Maybe at 3am, but during the day a car a minute is much more like it.
To go slower through towns on a dangerous highway makes no sense when an interstate is available.
Each to his own - have at it. I'll be there waiting on you.

Chris, Atlanta

[Easy Rider]

You drove 1200 miles on Hwy 41? When an interstate was available? You probably added a day of time and expense each way to your trip.


Yes, as a matter of fact I added 2 extra days......each way.
I figure I increased the "grin factor" by about 10X.

Next time I plan to cut it down to 2 days each way.
300 mile, 6 hour days are easily do-able.
If I stay in a cheap motel, the gas savings almost pays for the room.
Cost is not high on the list of considerations.
If I need/want to get there in a hurry, I wouldn't be on the GZ in the first place.

As for the traffic load on 41, southern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennesee and RURAL Georgia is quite a different story. There is always a major interstate only a few miles away and that sucks almost all of the traffic away. Big trucks are non-existant.

THEN you get to the populated part of the I-75 corridor in Georgia.....where you have a choice between a 2/4 lane local road with fairly heavy traffic OR 75 with bumper-to-bumper traffic about 16 hours a day, moving around 80 mph. I'll take a few stop lights.

It is hard to imagine if you haven't done it, I guess.

[Chris]

I thought of you guys today. I was in Kennesaw, Georgia inbetween Hwy 41 and I75. Had to go eight miles south into Marietta. Now should I go the Hwy 41 way (slow with lots of traffic) or the I75 way (fast with some traffic).
Went the I75 way and did 65-70mph the whole way. Didn't take long and was not as dangerous. Just my opinion.

Chris, Atlanta

[Easy Rider]

Went the I75 way and did 65-70mph the whole way. Didn't take long and was not as dangerous. Just my opinion.


OK, I think we've got it.

That's about the place where the choice does become a little tricky as both routes from there south are heavily travelled. What time of day was it that the "flow" on 75 was less than 80 mph.......and there weren't a few "nuts" doing 90 or more ???

[Chris]

Time of day was 1pm. Traffic on I75 was light, flowing about 75mph. Of course there were some nuts doing 90mph. There are always nuts doing 90mph. Why should I worry about them? They are in the left lane and not concerned with me in the far right lane.
I was doing 65-70mph with no trouble at all.
Chris, Atlanta

[Easy Rider]

Of course there were some nuts doing 90mph. There are always nuts doing 90mph. Why should I worry about them?

What is wrong with this picture ????

For one thing, there are (usually) no nuts on US 41 doing 20-30 over.
Secondly, that nut in lane 1 can go to, or push someone else into, lane 4 in the blink of an eye.

I give up.

[dan_]

Ya know this prolly goes back to the helmet no helmet conversation ya know? All about how much yer willing to risk.

[alanmcorcoran]

This one's a bit different, I think. Some GZ's out there have just enough punch to make it on (most) highways. (Mine, I think, doesn't.) There is also the rider weight and wind profile factor. Plus, when you add in the fact that a lot of us GZ'ers are newbs, and are not used to what is an acceptable (survivable) level of turbulence, it's helpful to hear from people that are further down the learning curve. My GZ shakes, shimmies and generally bounces around quite a bit when I am riding WOT (WTFO?) on the freeway. At first, I thought I was minutes from certain death. Now I just go with the flow.

I kind of straddle the fence on this. In the first 4-5 months, I really was pretty terrified of the freeways out here. Now they don't scare me at all. But I really prefer the Strat to the GZ on the freeways by a huge factor. Partly because of reduced traction/stability of the GZ and partly because I can't keep up with the flow of traffic or safely pass slower vehicles.

I also think there is a difference between a country highway (paved with asphalt, one or two lanes, no traffic lights) and a "super-slab" (three or more lanes,mostly concrete, high speed, high traffic.) The GZ is fine on the first. It is a lot less capable on the second.

But, hands down, the absolute worst for me is city road driving, traffic light to traffic light. I did it enough times before I got over my freeway terror to know that I want to avoid it at all costs. Just not fun on a bike at all.

I think it's important to remember, different strokes for different folks. The guy that asked the question will find himself agreeing with some people on here more than others, and, in the future, will give their opinions greater weight. Don't mean there's only one right answer.

I think you are right that the helmet thing is more about risks than facts. I don't think there is much disagreement that, if you fall off your bike and hit you head on the pavement, it's probably better to have it in a helmet if you want less damage. By the same token, many of us that wear them would also agree that, the less helmet you have on, given good weather and disregarding the consequences of an accident, the better. For me, the inconvenience of the helmet is a reasonable price to pay for reducing my chances of a life-altering brain injury. Course, I'm increasing those odds tremendously by riding the bike in the first place, helmeted or otherwise.

[JWR]

The most I have done is 100 miles at one shot.
No problem at all running 65 to 70.

[Quimrider]

After doing a 160+ miles at wide open throttle into a head/cross wind it's wasn't very enjoyable. Doable, just not very fun. I do have the 16t front sprocket so that cuts down on your RPM and your max speed. If you're not comfortable on the freeway, you should get comfortable on the freeway before you try to go on a 300 mi trip. just my $0.02

[trykemike]

hey quimrider did you back out of your power mods ?
I still have 4 7/32 holes in inner ring on exhaust and 1/2 hole in intake hood and use 1/16 enricher circuit with hot idle set to 1500 rpm. Tip of plug is black but rest is light brown.
no starting problems runs good 100-115 kph on hwy cruise mainly 80-100 kph get top of 130 kph and 90-95 mpg (32 k/l ). pipes are blue/gold until 1st bend then chrome the rest some blue at weld where 2 pipes join.

18000 km on bike change oil ever 2000 kms filter every 6000 km.

Sound in good for me when riding but not obnoxious to bystanders.

try to keep rpm at 6000-6500 max cruise 5500 rpm .

[alantf]

change oil ever 2000 kms filter every 6000 km.



Oil & filter change every 5000 km (3100 miles) is good for me. 10,000 km on bike, & no problems.

[Easy Rider]

1/2 hole in intake hood and use 1/16 enricher circuit with hot idle set to 1500 rpm. Tip of plug is black but rest is light brown.


All of that is pretty much expected....HOWEVER.....what you probably have now is: Too rich at idle and WAY lean at higher speeds. Just simply plugging that hole in your air box will put things back pretty close to normal......so you can drop the idle back down and stop using the choke after it warms up good.

One should ***NOT*** monkey with the air filter or housing unless you are also going to re-jet the carb. What you are doing gains you nothing. It comes lean from the factory and that hole in the aribox makes it even LEANER. Not good. Moreover, it lets unfiltered air into the engine. :skull:

[Quimrider]

hey quimrider did you back out of your power mods ?

Beware of the off topic police :whistle: I replied in the Power Increase thread (http://www.gz250bike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=617&p=19397#p19397)

[Quimrider]

Easy,
I think he was talking about the diverter on the air filter not the air box itself.

[trykemike]

Thanks Quimrider You are correct. I was referring to the diverter not the air box itself. I tested
this by breathing through the filter when I took it out to clean it. The filter was restrictive with the elbow on it si I drilled the 1/2 hole in the elbow to reduce the restriction.It worked. I have not re-jetted the carb because my testing proved that response has now improved noticeably. I had an objective which has been acheived now. Easy is correct that these bikes are lean. The same engine on a gn250 used a 34mm carb and 130 main jet with similiar performance stats but my bike could never exceed 120 kph until mods were done. These mods are however very minimal and conservative. A mechanic advised only uping to 122.5 main jet. ( 2% richer ) I can get that with the enricher circuit on very slightly and can vary according to weather ( humidity and cold ).

[chaser2009]

yes Quimrider was correct i also think he was talking about the diverter on the air filter not the air box itself.but quimrider was the first one who commented it so nice job quimrider.,.



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