GZ TOP SPEEDS

[CANDY]

please forgive me as i am a newbee and a female, but i've been reading all the comments on how fast the 250 should go. my husband and i argue about this alot. he owns a harley and likes to go fast, i bought my 250 and ride it instead of my 800 because i bought it to cruise and enjoy the scenery of the ride. if you have to force it to go faster, then i feel you have defeated your purpose for buying it. if you want speed, buy a ninja or hyabusa. if you want a fun relaxing ride, buy a gz 250. "it's not the ride,but the journey".

[Easy Rider]

if you want a fun relaxing ride, buy a gz 250. "it's not the ride,but the journey".

Atta girl, Candy! :tup:

You GO girl! (But not too fast!) :roll:

[Stretch]

When I get that eyeroll from the crotch rocket set, I just grin and tell them that my bike is like me: it has a body by Buick - built for comfort not speed!
;)
-Bob

[trykemike]

Candy you have it right.

I can go out and cruise the back roads at speeds from 30 - 60 mph depending on road conditions and rarely encounter autos
north of toronto where I live. I can stay out there all day and meet freindly people of all ages out there.

I leave freeways for my car.

BTW back roads can take you anywhere.

I refer to paved secondary roads. Up here some are not very smooth ( pot holes and bumps ) just ease back and enjoy.


Enjoy.

[jonathan180iq]

I don't think you have to have a desire to ride fast in order to have a discussion about the top speed of the bike.

When you are limited to 70-80 mph, it can be helpful to hear of other's experiences with speed, since all the cars around you are traveling in this speed range. This is especially true if you use this bike for daily transportation.

[Water Warrior 2]

Getting more and more amazed at Happy Hobo's bike everytime we go for a ride. Yesterday she was passing cars uphill at well over 60 mph in 4th gear and still gaining speed. The bike really seems to like the highway and hills.

[Jaime]

Seems that european GZ250s are faster than american ones... O_o
Here in Spain, I know of some stock GZs with over 9000 miles that can max around 80-85 mph and can cruise at 70-75 mph.

It's not that fast for this bike, it can handle those speeds without having problems.

[jonathan180iq]

I toured at 70 once and could reach 80, with the 15T sprocket.
Now, with the 16T, I'm limited to 65mph max. I can get 70 on the downhill and maybe 55 uphill.

[Orpheus]

Okay, this thread's a little dead, but it seemed like an appropriate place to post this.

I just got back to Tempe, AZ from a camping trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico and I took the GZ. I had the saddlebags fully loaded, a tent, a sleeping bag, two small backpacks, myself AND my girlfriend on the bike and at one point I was cruising on a Phoenix freeway at around 82mph (no uphill or downhill grade whatsoever). I don't think it could have done that all day, but for a good five to ten minutes, it was fine. I'll post a full report, with pictures, in the appropriate forum in a little while.

[badfun]

I had my Son on the back the other day and we hit 70 mph, I am yet to top it out by my self.

[GreenStem]

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
how is that possible on our little gz250? I normally shift to 5th gear when I'm around 40 to 45 mph and feel as if the rpms are way too high when i reach 55.
how can you guys reach those speeds without feeling like the engine will blow? and with cargo and passenger!? yeah right!

[Easy Rider]

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??


All GZ's are not created equal.........and all riders aren't either!

70 is about tops for a stock US bike.....without a tail wind. It will easily do 60-65, you need not fear the sound.
European models are tuned differently and those will do 80....as will US models mod'ed to match their cousins across the pond.

And, in general, just because you haven't seen or done something doesn't mean that nobody has !!! :tup:

[jonathan180iq]

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
how is that possible on our little gz250? I normally shift to 5th gear when I'm around 40 to 45 mph and feel as if the rpms are way too high when i reach 55.
how can you guys reach those speeds without feeling like the engine will blow? and with cargo and passenger!? yeah right!

You are either a troll or you don't ride enough.

5th gear and 55 mph is the average crusing speed for this bike. If you would take it over that "buzzy" feeling at 55-60 then you would see that 70-75 is by no means a stretch.
Increasing the final drive gearing decreases top speed to somehwere between 65-70 in 5th and there is a significant decrease in the "buzzy" feeling at 55mph.

[Orpheus]

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
how is that possible on our little gz250? I normally shift to 5th gear when I'm around 40 to 45 mph and feel as if the rpms are way too high when i reach 55.
how can you guys reach those speeds without feeling like the engine will blow? and with cargo and passenger!? yeah right!

I was on a somewhat busy freeway, so there was a little bit of a tail wind. I, too, NORMALLY shift to 5th at 40-45, but I find that when I redline before shifting every gear (as on a highway), I don't have to shift to 5th until about 50-55mph. I was also surprised that I was able to exceed 80mph under those circumstances, but there's no reason that just because you haven't seen it that it didn't (or couldn't) happen.[/i]

[trykemike]

there are posts with cross reference tables for both speed and corresponding rpm

80 mph with stock gearing = 8000 rpm red-line is 8500 rpm ( same engine as GN )

55 mph = 5500 rpm which is a natural for my bike

I have reached 75-78 mph several times and never on a still day. ( 7700 rpm )

I have a tach.

On cold days I use a little choke to maintain 70-75 mph.

My verdict 55 is the best practical cruising speed .

[Orpheus]

Okay, let's assume that I'm not lying for a second and try to figure out how/why I could cruise comfortably on a highway with a passenger and luggage at speeds greater than 80mph. I don't think anything's been done to modify the bike (I do my own tune-ups, and I haven't noticed anything weird), but I bought it used with around 3000 miles on it. The gross vehicle weight at the time was a little less than 700lbs (maybe 650-680). I was on a somewhat busy freeway with a slight tail wind due to the traffic passing me (although the speed limit was 75, most of the traffic was probably going around 90); as I said earlier, there was no discernible downhill grade and I pretty much wound out every gear as far as I could before shifting (I'm not sure about the exact speeds that I shifted at, but I know that 5th was around 55mph).

Any ideas? Could a strong tail wind affect it that much? Any other possiblilities?

[jonathan180iq]

the air temperature could have been just right, you could have held the throttle at the sweet-spot* position and the slight tail wind could have helped push your heavier mass over the 80mph threshold.

Or, your speed-o could be off.

It doesn't really matter. I've been up there before. It's not impossible.


*There is a point on the throttle where WOT actually gives too much gas and you began slowing down. For me, I am faster at maybe 85% throttle than I am at WOT. All of these things combined could have yielded the speed that you claim. No one is really questioning you except for the guy who can only go 55.

[Easy Rider]

On cold days I use a little choke to maintain 70-75 mph.


I've often wondered about that; will have to try it sometime, not necessarily just when cold.

A "real" choke wouldn't work 'cause you would restrict the air flow to achieve the richer mixture.
A properly designed "enricher" wouldn't do that either as it would not be active above idle RPMs.

But what IF you have an enricher that still has a slight effect at higher RPMs ?????

[GreenStem]

Well i just wanted to make it clear that i was not trying to offend anyone on their claims of the speeds they reached. i hope the "nuts" and "goofballs" part wasn't to offensive but it was all in a playfull manner but it's hard to express that through a keyboard.

I've also read up on all the mods and sprockets changes you have done to improve the gz. Although my gz is completely stock compared to most of you fine folks, I will never try to reach those speeds stock or with any mods, ever. at least not on my gz250, i love it too much to push it that hard!

take it easy

[Easy Rider]

Well i just wanted to make it clear that i was not trying to offend anyone on their claims of the speeds they reached. i hope the "nuts" and "goofballs" part wasn't to offensive but it was all in a playfull manner but it's hard to express that through a keyboard.


Apology accepted, however.............
See those yellow things to the left of the message input page? :??: :cry: :) :cool:
They are very helpful in conveying a playful intent.

Judging from the tone of your original message:

"you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
...........................
yeah right!"

I don't really think you were joking around when you said that.
It's still alright though, as some of the rest of us (ME!) tend to get in trouble for being a little blunt at times too.

No hard feelings.
Anybody who rides a GZ can't be all bad ! :) :tup:

[jonathan180iq]

Green,

I think the point was that those speeds aren't a stretch for the bike. You don't have to force it or push it. If the bike is in proper mechanical condition and you aren't living way up in the Rockies, it should be able to cruise around at 65-70mph all day.

Currently there are only really two modifications that change the characteristics of the bike's speed. The increased sprocket lowers the overall top speed while making the cruising RPMs a little more civilized.
The change in carb jetting will provide more power and can increase the bike's top speed, but it isn't by much. Any change in jetting to increase gas flow also decreased the fuel economy. So, it's all a trade off. The bottom line is that whatever you do, the bike won't get much faster. It'll never do 100 but 65-80 is completely normal.

[Orpheus]

the air temperature could have been just right, you could have held the throttle at the sweet-spot* position and the slight tail wind could have helped push your heavier mass over the 80mph threshold.

Or, your speed-o could be off.

It doesn't really matter. I've been up there before. It's not impossible.


*There is a point on the throttle where WOT actually gives too much gas and you began slowing down. For me, I am faster at maybe 85% throttle than I am at WOT. All of these things combined could have yielded the speed that you claim. No one is really questioning you except for the guy who can only go 55.

I actually thought that the speedometer could be off, but I had my girlfriend follow me in the car around town to check it and it was ok (at least at speeds of 45 and slower). I'm just kind of curious how a 250 could go that fast with that much weight on it; I kind of figured something along the lines of what you're suggesting--that the added mass (and wind resistance) helped catch the tail wind and kind of act like a sail with the flow of traffic. I also try not to give it WOT but rather around the 85-90%.

There's a video on the Rebel forums that shows someone burying the speedo at the indicated 85, so I know that it's possible to push a 250 cruiser past 80 riding solo, but it's really weird for that much weight to go that fast. To me, this little bike is kind of scary at speeds past 70, but it's nice to know that under ideal circumstances it's possible.

[Easy Rider]

*There is a point on the throttle where WOT actually gives too much gas and you began slowing down.

While that does happen, I think you'll find that it is really because of too much air (not enough manifold vacume) and not because of too much gas. :tup:

[badfun]

I tried to get it up to a speed of 70 by my self and the back end had a lot of vibration so I eased off.

[Easy Rider]

I tried to get it up to a speed of 70 by my self and the back end had a lot of vibration so I eased off.

You need to give the "back end" a REALLY good inspection: Wheel and tire for balance and round, axle for alignment, all parts like shocks firmly attached.......it should ABSOLUTELY NOT do that. You may have a dangerous condition developing.

Now, having said that, I don't feel really comfortable riding a light bike like the GZ at that speed either. If one NEEDS to ride on the freeway, I think you need a different bike.

[badfun]

I don't need to I just did it to see how fast I could go :blush: I'll have that looked at.

[jonathan180iq]

Well, I use the freeway fairly regularly when I want to take the long way home and I have no trouble cruising around the speed limit.

[bigfour]

Never topped mine out yet but reach 75mph with only about 55-65% throttle. I never go WOT... I have a strange sympathy for machines. I don't need any more than 75, I always go the speed limit even in my car... other drivers don't scare me... maybe this is a bad thing?
But I think aerodynamics and road inclination are the biggest factors for this bike above 70mph... I don't believe that all our GZ's differ so much in tuning... only if you've done mods.

[jonathan180iq]

Well said.

[Easy Rider]

Well, I use the freeway fairly regularly when I want to take the long way home and I have no trouble cruising around the speed limit.

You are a ways away from Atlanta, aren't you? :)

Many places, just being able to do the speed limit will put you 15-20 mph below the flow of traffic !!! :cry:

[jonathan180iq]

Well. That's true but that's why they have the slow lane.

[davidc83]

Last summer, I rode my gz250 to Florida and back to Indiana. One of those days I rode from Cedar Key Fl to Huntsville Alabama. The next day I rode from Huntsville to my home in Indiana. Mostly kept the bike above 70mph, around 75mph. My speedo is off only by a couple of mph (I was passing a lot of cars). The bike trip was 2500 miles, half of Interstate doing >70mph. The little bike can handle it.

However, since I put the 16T sprocket on the front, my top speed is only 70 mph. I will be putting the 15T front sprocket back on this summer. I hate the 16T front sprocket.

[jonathan180iq]

For interstate riding, I agree with you that the lagging feeling in the top end really bothers me. Still, you don't appreciate the laid back revs at cruising speed, say 45-60mph?

I've mentioned this before but I'll write about here; When I was on a small tour with a friend of mine who also rides the GZ, I would pull away from him at stop lights and have a pretty good lead until we hit 60mph or so. At that point, the difference between his 15T sprocket and my 16T really began to show. While I was maxing out around 65, he was signaling me to speed up. I simply couldn't. If I still had the 15T sprocket, I'm sure we would have toured at a higher overall speed.
Still, the fact that I don't spend too much time touring and more time riding back and fourth to work makes me keep the sprocket it on. Ideally, and since the change is so easy, I'd like to have both sprockets on hand and use them differently, depending on the trip type.

-Jonathan

[Easy Rider]

However, since I put the 16T sprocket on the front, my top speed is only 70 mph. I will be putting the 15T front sprocket back on this summer. I hate the 16T front sprocket.

To each his own. Here's the deal for me: With the 15T (stock), you get a higher top end, that is better performance above 55 mph or so. With the 16T, you get better performance BELOW 55 MPH. So the questions IS: How much of your riding time do you spend below 55 MPH as opposed to above (Interstate)? For me, it's no contest. I intend to NEVER get on an Interstate unless I have to for a couple of miles. Even in it's stock configuration, I don't think the GZ is really appropriate for a LOT of high speed riding. If Interstate touring is your thing, then you really need a different bike.