Hi!

[diffluere]

Hello everyone. I just bought a black 2002 gz250 last week and I went on my first long ride (60 miles) yesterday. I love my little bike!

Here's some info about me: I'm 21, I go to UF, and I bought a bike so I could actually GET to UF (they don't give parking passes to people that live off-campus.) I'm majoring in anthropology and I'm a really big science nerd.

I've been reading the forum for a couple of days and I figured I might as well join. Everyone here seems so smart!

I'll post some pictures of my bike later. =)

[burkbuilds]

Welcome to the forum! Nice looking bike. Are you a "new" rider or just new to the GZ? If you haven't got a lot of experience riding motorcycles I'd highly recommend finding a safety course in your area that you could do over the weekend. Even a lot of very experienced riders will go back and take the course again after many years of riding and tell you that they got a lot out of it and had forgotten some very important safety tips. MSF usually has courses all over the country, you might "google" them and see if there is one near you.

Have fun riding to school!

[diffluere]

Thanks for your response! I am a 'new' biker. I took the safety course 2 weeks ago and got my license. They started me out on the Kawasaki Eliminator and it was HORRIBLE. I could NOT drive that thing! Then they let me switch to the GZ250 and I fell in love. The clutch was so much easier to use and everything just felt a lot better.

I had been researching bikes and techniques and stories for months so when I finally got my license I was ready to buy one. Taking the safety course convinced me to get my little gz and I'm so glad I did! I have so much fun on that thing, even though all my friends tell me I need a 'real' bike. =P

My friend's boyfriend has a Ninja 250 and he test-drove the gz before I bought it. He loves it too, and said it was so much fun to ride! He wants one too now.

[burkbuilds]

The GZ is a great bike, tell your friends to kiss off if they don't like it! I think you made a good choice for your first bike. There are several people on this forum that used to ride much larger bikes and finally sold them and bought a GZ because it is fun to ride and affordable and relatively easy to maintain. Of course some have gone the other way and ended up with larger displacement bikes for various reasons, I'm one of them, but the GZ was great and I only changed due to my circumstances which required me to spend several hours each week driving back and forth to the Atlanta area for the next several years and the GZ just wasn't the right bike for that type of driving. But I certainly did not change because of anything wrong with the GZ, it is a great bike but every bike can't meet every need and some do certain things better than others.

Enjoy your GZ, glad to hear you've already had the safety course, that shows a lot of wisdom on your part, keep using your head and you will be riding safely for a long, long time!

[diffluere]

The safety course was SO SCARY at first. I had never driven a motorcycle (I'd been a passenger though). I managed to learn quickly enough to pass the class and the test though!

I think eventually I will want something bigger, but my mom told me when I'm ready to upgrade I can teach her how to ride my gz! She rides with her boyfriend all of the time but he has some huge Harley softail. I can't even pull in his clutch with one hand!

Who knows. I will probably keep this bike around forever and get something bigger to go on long trips with. My friend is moving to South Carolina (we're in Florida) and there are mountain trails and stuff I'd love to go on (when I develop my riding skills a little more, of course).

=)

[Water Warrior 2]

Diffluere, welcome to the forum. We as a group are happy to have you join us. You are one off a bunch of new young riders to join that are really impressive with your choice and wisdom. No big overpowered hulks on 2 wheels, no muscle bikes or crotch rockets but simple easy to ride first bikes to develop riding skills and experience. Riding lessons are always a great choice even for a old guy like me. The GZ will serve you well and always hold a special place in your heart.