Canadian Motorcycle Newbie [Archive]

Jere

06-20-2009, 09:48 AM

Hi all. I'm Jeremiah from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Just bought my first motorcycle after years of wanting one (i'm 30); a 1999 GZ250. While 10 years old, it's in mint condition and only has 9000 km (about 5600 mi)

I've never ridden a motorcycle before and can't wait to get it on the road. I'll be taking the "Gearing Up Traing Course" in Aug. It's frustrating but the course is so booked up that's the earliest I could get in.

I'm glad I found this forum. I've gotten lots of information out of the Beginner's section!
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8365/56773811.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/)
I'll get a better picture soon. That's my dads yet-to-be-completed '49 Fargo pickup in the top corner.

alantf

06-21-2009, 05:32 AM

and only has 9000 km

Hi there,
Mine's just over 2 years old, with just over 11,000 km on the clock. The mileages are roughly the same, so if my engine is anything to go by, yours should just be coming up to "just around nicely run in"

Just one thing, though - at 9000 km it's very likely that the tires are original. If they've been on the bike for 10 years they may be showing signs of aging (is that how you spell it?) You might think about getting them checked before you do any riding. :)

Easy Rider

06-21-2009, 11:22 AM

Just one thing, though - at 9000 km it's very likely that the tires are original. If they've been on the bike for 10 years............

One should never ride on 10 year old motorcycle tires.......unless it is an antique bike and you are just taking it on and off a trailer. :shocked:

Regardless of what those 10 year old tires LOOK like, they will have lost most of their grip and the tread will be stiff and hard. Likely won't ride good, won't handle good and won't have much grip left.

Jere

07-02-2009, 11:09 AM

The back tire is a Dunlop and the front is a BF Goodrich. Do you think they only replaced the front?

bonehead

07-02-2009, 11:42 AM

As with auto and truck tires, m/c tires should have a manufactured date on the side wall somewhere. I'd look for that and determine how old the tires are and go from there.

alanmcorcoran

07-02-2009, 05:37 PM

I'm impressd with how good that bike still looks after 10 years!

kaput

07-03-2009, 01:35 AM

Looks great! I don't think I could wait so long to ride. I rode mine as soon as I got it running (illegally on back streets). Never did get around to that safety course.

Have fun!

Jere

07-03-2009, 08:49 PM

I was riding it around my residential neighbourhood until it started acting funny on me. It kept stalling and was hard to start (and it wasn't my shifting!) lol

Looks like I'll be starting the fine art of motorcycle maintenance. I'm no mechanic, but i've worked on cars a fair bit and am not afraid to give it a go. I'll start with the basics: change spark plug, clean/replace air filter, check fuel lines and filter. If that doesn't work, i'll try my hand at cleaning the carb (i downloaded the service manual.) I guess i should test the battery too.

When I bought it, it only had a few litres of gas in the reserve tank and the owner said he hadn't ridden it all year so I'm thinking they didn't winterize it properly.

Water Warrior 2

07-04-2009, 01:15 AM

Jere, drain the old gas out and put in some new stuff. Also add some type of fuel system cleaner. You get bad deposits from gas sitting un-used for an extended time. Change oil and filter if you haven't already. Check the air filter from the inside not the outside appearance. With new gas, oil and a plug it should probably run decent providing everything else is intact. The bike was running so just some TLC may be all that is needed.

alantf

07-04-2009, 05:04 AM

it only had a few litres of gas in the reserve tank

Actually, there is no "reserve tank". All the fuel is in the same tank. The petcock has two pipes - one on "run", & a shorter one on "reserve". When the fuel level drops below the top of the long(er) pipe in the "run" position, no more fuel can flow down the pipe, so switching to "reserve" lets fuel flow into the shorter pipe. From this you can see that the system is just a way of alerting you to the fact that fuel is low, & you need to fill up as soon as possible. :)

Jere

07-05-2009, 08:18 PM

Water Warrior 2

07-05-2009, 11:25 PM

Thanks for the advice WW.

I haven't been to Squamish in about 8 years now. My uncle and his family live there. When I was a real youngster (2-4 years old) we lived in Britannia Beach!

What's the new Sea-to-Sky highway like?

Jere, you would be very surprised to see Squamish now. It isn't the same place I moved to 4 years ago. The S2S highway is far different and a real pleasure to ride especially with some power to use.
As for Britannia Beach, you would be shocked. The old mine buildings have had a facelift and look pretty good. And thanks to the Olympics in 2010 Britannia Beach will be a lot greener. All of the copper bearing water running out of the old mine is being treated to remove the copper deposits. The beach actually has plant life in the water. Looks a lot more inviting than lifeless water. The treatment plant also pumps out ground water at the beach and treats it to remove the copper. Believe it or not enough copper is removed to make 90 billion pennies every year.

Jere

07-20-2009, 02:08 PM

Well, just hit my first 150 km! (100 mi give or take.) I'm starting to get more confidence and am venturing out into slightly heavier traffic. Not going to do too much yet though as I don't have my rider training course for another three weeks.

Down-shifting is starting to get a little smoother. I've learned to open the throttle a little prior to downshifting to get the engine speed right.

I still wobble a little bit at times when taking off, but sometimes it's smooth as silk. :cool:

I definitely need to get some proper riding boots.

bonehead

07-20-2009, 02:13 PM

Baby steps!!! Get your confidence level up=experience. Remember, a young ride wants to become an old rider.

Easy Rider

07-20-2009, 03:39 PM

Down-shifting is starting to get a little smoother. I've learned to open the throttle a little prior to downshifting to get the engine speed right.

Another technique, probably even better, is to actually let the engine braking slow everything down BEFORE you down shift down. If you do that, the engine speed won't be as important.
That only works when you have planned ahead, of course! :cool:

Jere

07-20-2009, 04:33 PM

I do that. Perhaps I'm downshifting too early then?

An obvious newbie question: when you come to a stop, do you put both feet on the ground or do you keep your right foot on the rear brake?

VTXorcist

07-20-2009, 05:30 PM

I keep both feet on the ground. One foot and you risk slipping on gravel or oil, plus the bike won't be perfectly balanced. That should be in your class when you take it in a bit.

The few times I put my foot on the brake is when I need my right hand to do something and need to let off the front brake. However, I only do that if there are no cars approaching from behind or the side (or they're already stopped). You want to keep your hand on the throttle and keep the bike in gear if there's a chance you might need to get moving quickly.

EDIT: By the way, nice bike! I just bought a '99 red GZ250, too. Looks just like that except the pipes are blued at the engine and it has some damage from a drop. Your badges are different (nicer), too. Mine are cheapy decals.

Easy Rider

07-20-2009, 06:33 PM

I do that. Perhaps I'm downshifting too early then?

An obvious newbie question: when you come to a stop, do you put both feet on the ground or do you keep your right foot on the rear brake?

Maybe. Hard to tell without being there. It depends partly on the reason for the downshift.

I get both feet down just a TINY bit before coming to a complete stop. This presumes that you have been able to shift all the way down to 1st AND that you have enough experience to be able to hit the friction point on the clutch just enough so that you can release the front brake and open the throttle a little to take off.......if you are stopped on a hill.

Until you are able to do that, then "holding" a hill with your right foot on the back brake is OK........after a complete stop and stable footing.

alanmcorcoran

07-20-2009, 08:31 PM

I leave it in first, pull in the clutch and put both feet down. If I am on a hill (significant uphill) I will sometimes put my foot up on the (foot) brake before releasing the hand brake (when I'm getting ready to go again.) After a while, you get where you can let go of the brake, ease on the gas and let out the clutch all smoothly enough where you don't really need the foot brake, but it's probably safer to use it in case you have a senior moment or something.

Also, for boots, I have had very good experience with a pair of Alpinestar's that come up over the ankle, half a strap, a zipper and Velcro on both sides. I've worn them almost daily for almost a year now and they are still in very good shape. Easy on and off, no slip, and good burn/pipe protection.

Jere

07-20-2009, 09:25 PM

Thanks everyone. Obviously with time and learning (from the course and maybe a book) I'll pick up more of the sublties. It's difficult though because I don't have anyone to learn from. Hopefully I meet someone at the course, though they'll be as inexperienced as me!

Thankfully, I have lots of experience with manual transmissions on cars and trucks, so the clutch/transmission concepts have been very easy for me to learn.

burkbuilds

07-20-2009, 10:17 PM

Welcome to the Forum! It sounds like you have a good plan for getting your training and asking lots of questions, never be afraid to ask questions it may save your life or at least your wallet some day. I like your bike, cool paint job! I guess they quit doing those because it added to the cost but it really looks good! Enjoy your new ride!

Jere

07-21-2009, 12:18 PM

... never be afraid to ask questions it may save your life or at least your wallet some day...

Don't worry about that! I've always believed the best way to get answers is to ask questions. :2tup: So you'll all get to know me as I plan on asking about 1000 more questions over the next little while.