Highway riding on a GZ250

[supersquid]

The original reason I wanted to ride was to be able to hit the highways. I got a GZ250 because it was cheap, had good reviews, and was a great starter bike, but now that I have enough experience and skill to own the highways I'm worried my bike can't keep up. It's a totally stock 2001 GZ250 (except a dent on the tank and some scratches where I laid it down in the rain). How fast can I cruse on the highway without jeopardizing the bike? What mods would be easy and worthwhile so it'd be a little better of a highway eating machine? The kid I bought it from said he never really rode on the highway so I don't have any advise specific to a GZ250 yet and the guy at the dealer was useless. Any advise from y'all?

[Gz Rider]

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[Water Warrior 2]

An indicated 60 mph on the speedo is pretty much the sweet spot for the engine. That would be on flat ground and no big headwinds. The GZ is what it is. Learn to appreciate the bike for what it is. Ridden within it'e capabilities it will take you anywhere that does not require high speed travel to keep from being run over. Stay off freeways and such. Do your wandering on secondary highways with less traffic and lower speed limits. Ride Safe Ride Smart.

[5th_bike]

Yes I third that. Sorry, there are no easy mods that make it a highway eating machine.

I stay away from the highway, and restrict myself to roads where the maximum posted speed is 50 mph.

It quite easily gets to 60 mph, above that it's all a matter of time, slope, and wind.

Like WW said, it is was it is, and if you're not happy with it, getting another bike is much easier than modding it to squeeze another HP or two out.

[supersquid]

Okay, thanks guys.

[Viirin]

16 tooth sprocket would help you get higher top speeds but it would make the bike more gutless than it already is - what little torque there is in 5th gear with a 15 tooth (stock) sprocket is almost completely lost with the 16 tooth upgrade - it's kind of dependent on how big you are and if there's a head wind or not - i don't do much time on the motorway (Ireland) so i kept my 15 tooth sprocket but a lot of the guys on here changed them out for the 16 tooth ones - as far as i know they were all pretty much happy with the results of the upgrade - might be cheaper than buying a bigger bike if the highway stretch isn't too long

Vii

[supersquid]

I've heard a ton of people complain about the little 250 being gutless, but I drive my truck like a grandma so I inevitably drive my bike fairly conservatively and don't mind the lack of power. I worry about doing engine damage riding at 65 for a few hours. I want to get out and do some long distance stuff but I'm concerned about stressing the bike too much if I ride for too long too fast. I sorta want to know how far y'all have pushed your machines. But the 16 tooth sprocket sounds like a definite investment in the near future if I can find one

[Gz Rider]

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[jonathan180iq]

I did two long road trips on the GZ back in 2006 and 2007. One was from Dalton to Franklin, GA. which is a 3 hour trip.
The other was from Dalton, GA to Dalhonega and then into Gatlinburgh. I don't remember how long it took, but it was a good haul.

Both trips were planned using larger highways, although no interstates, and some faster backroads. We maintained speeds in excess of 65 for the majority of our travels and had a great time. There were two of us on both of these trips and we both rode GZ 250s.

If the bike is in a good state of tune, it can handle it. These things aren't so fragile that you have to putt around at 45 mph all day. I wouldn't jump on I-75 and goose it at 80 for 6 hours straight. But I also wouldn't fear an arbitrary speed-limited number.

Franklin, GA meet pics:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=558&hilit=Franklin%2C+GA.+meet (http://gz250bike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=558&hilit=Franklin%2C+GA.+meet)

http://p1.bikepics.com/2006%5C09%5C22%5Cbikepics-685200-full.jpg

http://p1.bikepics.com/2006%5C09%5C22%5Cbikepics-685196-full.jpg

http://p1.bikepics.com/2006%5C09%5C22%5Cbikepics-685198-full.jpg

[jonathan180iq]

You can easily beat most cars off the line but this bike will not out accelerate other bikes (except maybe a scooter).



On the aforementioned road trip, I paced a Harley Sportster up to about 58 mph. He was kind of surprised and then had to run off and leave us after 65 with his loud pipes making my ear drums bleed. :neener:

But yeah, it's not the world's fastest bike off the line. But it's no slouch.

[ecr959]

Very nice pictures, Jonathan.

[jonathan180iq]

Very nice pictures, Jonathan.
Thanks.

I've always like that first one most of all. Suzuki should pay me for advertising ;)
That's my friend Mauricio @ 80mph.

He was user "Trigoss"

[Viirin]

I've heard a ton of people complain about the little 250 being gutless, but I drive my truck like a grandma so I inevitably drive my bike fairly conservatively and don't mind the lack of power. I worry about doing engine damage riding at 65 for a few hours. I want to get out and do some long distance stuff but I'm concerned about stressing the bike too much if I ride for too long too fast. I sorta want to know how far y'all have pushed your machines. But the 16 tooth sprocket sounds like a definite investment in the near future if I can find one

Well the 16 tooth will take down the revs a bit and also take some of the strain off the engine - I don't really push my bike up past four thousand revs for extended periods of time so with the stock 15 tooth sprocket thats 40MPH but with the 16 tooth the bike should sit at 65-68Mph while still only cranking out a comfortable four thousand revs. I doubt sustaining four thousand revs will ever damage the bike. people on here push the bike harder than that regularly - i'm like you and probably over cautious with the revs.

So the bike would probably do 65 all day long....it just might take it all day to get to that speed :lol:

@alan's first picture - it looks like your bike has no spokes - a good look i feel

[jonathan180iq]

Even with the 16T I would hop on the interstate from time to time and pull 70 no problem. (no mods aside from maintenance.)

[Gz Rider]

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[Water Warrior 2]

[quote="Viirin"

Well the 16 tooth will take down the revs a bit and also take some of the strain off the engine - I don't really push my bike up past four thousand revs for extended periods of time so with the stock 15 tooth sprocket thats 40MPH but with the 16 tooth the bike should sit at 65-68Mph while still only cranking out a comfortable four thousand revs. I doubt sustaining four thousand revs will ever damage the bike. [/quote]
Your math is wrong. 15 to 16 is approx 7%. 40 MPH to 65 MPH is approx 60%.

[Viirin]

ah sorry ww - i was using that gear calculator thingy - i don't have the 16t on my bike so i can't give a reading from my tach

[Water Warrior 2]

ah sorry ww - i was using that gear calculator thingy - i don't have the 16t on my bike so i can't give a reading from my tach
No biggy. The RPM will drop by approx 7 % with a 16 tooth counter sprocket. The RPM at 60 mph will drop by about 400 rpm. Just enough to reduce engine stress and still enough to make reasonable power.