Commuting 60 miles

[bwader]

Moved been a month now and I ride the GZ for a 1.5 hours going 60-65mph sometimes 70 when downhill. That gave me 57mpg.
The ride is 20 miles highway 60mph, 5 miles city 20 miles highway, 6 miles city, and a few miles 55mph and rest 45mph and less.

I had a day with heavy traffic on highway going from a standstill to 5mph stop and go and that trip dropped mileage to 51mpg. Still good but I was getting worried about overheating as it was 90F using the clutch to keep upright often and stopping idling.

I can maintain 60-65mph in 5th gear even though I weigh 250lbs

But that wind can kill speed to 55mph at times

For the highway miles I go I need a little bigger bike like the LS 650 or just a 350cc cruiser bike.

Can't they just make the GZ with 100 more cc's and it would be great.

[jonathan180iq]

If you search through the archives, there are plenty of claims of people putting in "350cc ENGINES!!!!!!!"

It is a bit under-powered for some applications - I'll admit. If you compare our bike to the Rebel for example, the highway speeds share a difference of like 20+MPH. The only real difference is the extra cylinder. All of the 2 cylinder 250s can touch 90 except the best tuned GZs. People have overcome this with some tuning - as it will improve with jetting and intake and exhaust upgrades. Combine that with the proper gearing and you can get more UMPH out of it on the interstate. But most people just cruise around back country roads and use it to commute mostly in town. For that, it's ideal.

I'm a big big fan of the smaller displacement bikes so I for one don't really have a problem with being underpowered on the highway - It makes the ride more of an adventure and planning long distance trips takes you places where there is more scenery than just the trees on the side of the interstate, and I like that.

It was never made to be a touring bike, and that's a good thing.

[studysession]

I have only had mine for a week... a 2005... I am riding the piss out of the thing... I am pushing the engine hard and figure the engine should be able to take it...

Dirt bikes have same 250cc engine and they are ridden hard all the time. They last a very long time long as regular maintenance is performed. Why shouldn't this....

[mainlinecoffee]

When I was working on my gz and had it stripped down to engine tires and frame with no extras it acted a lot like a dirtbike as far as responsiveness,it's no powerhouse but I have beat the hell out of mine for 8000+miles with no trouble due to stress or wear on parts. When I hit the highways. I cruse 60-65 but my 230 pound ass and up to 50 pounds of gear can still hit 70 on the flats. It sounds awful and rattles bad so I don't do it much except to merge. Take care of the bike and it will return the favor. Check oil clean carbs grease chain and haul ass.

[bwader]

Yep, been definitely checking oil ,tires , carb, greasing chain and cleaning.

I got 61mpg last night after 180 miles I hit reserve at 169.2 miles.

I just do the speed limit of up to 60mph, if I go downhill and climb speed I use it to go back up the next slope. I get behind a safe distance from a tractor trailer and cruise at 65-70mph.

I checked my gps max speed that run and it was 73mph drafting behind that trailer.
I have to be in 4th gear and it takes a while to get to 72mph on flat at around 7,500 rpms UN-tractor trailer/ truck/van assisted.

My rpms are around 5,700 to 6,200+ from 55-62mph. I use a cheap Chinese rpm/hour meter off ebay for about $12. 3rd rpm/hour meter of the same I have had and they last a year or so. I had one last a few months until it started malfunctioning.

I'm at 88 HOURS from when I put it on the bike in the last 3,700 miles!
I don't reset it so I know the total hours riding on it.

[bwader]

When I was working on my gz and had it stripped down to engine tires and frame with no extras it acted a lot like a dirtbike as far as responsiveness,it's no powerhouse but I have beat the hell out of mine for 8000+miles with no trouble due to stress or wear on parts. When I hit the highways. I cruse 60-65 but my 230 pound ass and up to 50 pounds of gear can still hit 70 on the flats. It sounds awful and rattles bad so I don't do it much except to merge. Take care of the bike and it will return the favor. Check oil clean carbs grease chain and haul ass.

I had a rattle sound from my bike I just fixed. It was a loose bolt holding a clamp on the muffler. The bolt was rusted and stuck so I ended up cutting off the bolt. I took it to the bench at work and drilled out the bolt from the hole and re tapped it to fit a bolt I had. I didn't have metric nuts so I tapped the nut too! Put it back on and haven't had that sound since.
Maybe you have something loose?

[Water Warrior 2]

Do not under any circumstances follow a big truck. You are vulnerable to a very painful mishap or death. First thing is never draft a truck. They may straddle any obstacle on the road and you will not have time to react. Second, have you thought about a blow out on a big truck. Their tires can explode and a bunch of missiles headed your way.

[studysession]

Yeah - years back I was behind a truck and it had a blow...the tire went under my car putting me on 2 wheels for a few seconds and then came down. Did not wreck however on a bike that would of been totally different outcome.

[studysession]

I am riding 50 - 100 miles a day or when I ride. I wouldn't worry over a 60 mile commute. Just keep up with your maintenance and safety

[mainlinecoffee]

A lot of my rattling is my halfassed fixes the cam chain and drive chain,and yeah avoid trucks at all costs,half the trucks I see around here need there damned licenses pulled for how they drive. When I was headed to sturgis ky I was getting knocked all over the road by them,just the side effect of a small bike.

[bwader]

I'll stay away from them, I didn't think about tire blowouts. heck little rocks getting kicked up is bad enough.

I got 62 mpg yesterday going the speed limit of 55-60 with the help of trucks. But yeah I won't be riding behind them anymore

[jonathan180iq]

Good advice. Drafting is dangerous.

...That said, I reached my highest speed ever on the GZ while drafting a big-rig - it was somewhere in the mid-90s.

Not even the frame liked that speed, but it's amazing what wind resistance can do.

[mole2]

I'll stay away from them, I didn't think about tire blowouts. heck little rocks getting kicked up is bad enough.

I got 62 mpg yesterday going the speed limit of 55-60 with the help of trucks. But yeah I won't be riding behind them anymore

You certainly don't want to wind up like this guy. And yes, he's dead.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x111/nate03d/Bike%20Crash/7.jpg

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/9646/motorcycle1.jpg


:)

[gz4me +]

This reminds me of when my father would give me his words of wisdom and him catching me rolling my eyes. His remark was always, "If you don't want to listen,go beat your head against a wall."

[bwader]

I've seen that picture before or the same "helmet stuck in back of truck, man hanging from it". I actually been thinking of that when I see big trucks so I keep my distance.

I tend to hang back from the vehicle in front of me so I don't have to slam on brakes in whatever vehicle I'm in.

I got some days off so I'll be taking time to properly clean out my carb. as I have done it my "unhook the fuel line, run out of gas, and fill fuel line with carb cleaner and run on that" carb cleaning.

I've just been leery about taking apart the carb if I have no issues. I've had experience in the past where I wished I just left something alone because I took it apart and didn't get it back right. I've cleaned carbs before the right way, just not on my gz the right way yet. I don't expect much difference anyway.

Going to check my valve clearances too, it will be a first on my bike since I got it.

[grasshopper]

Which is faster ? The gz250 or a rm-z250 ?

[Water Warrior 2]

Which is faster ? The gz250 or a rm-z250 ?
You are comparing apples to oranges. I would think the GZ is faster top end wise because of the street gearing. The RM would be a totally different bike and built to perform off-road.

[studysession]

off road bikes need more torque so would have more low end get up and go

[grasshopper]

off road bikes need more torque so would have more low end get up and go

Ok. So the gz is faster. Thanks. :cheers:

[studysession]

welcome I think :)

[Water Warrior 2]

off road bikes need more torque so would have more low end get up and go
Depends on the actual purpose and design of the off-road bike. A motocross bike mainly works with high rpm to develop useable power. A trials bike is designed to make tons of low rpm power and be very precise in it's power delivery. Some bikes just seem to do it all.
Now we get into 2 stroke or 4 stroke off-road bikes with different results again. The 4 stroke engines may be cleaner overall but I prefer the old 2 stroke engines. I had a 1988 KDX 200 Kawasaki that worked remarkably well for me. There was a mechanism in the engine to enhance low rpm power and control while it was still able to rev out like it was nuts. 30+ horsepower was a lot to handle in a 238 pound bike but it was not nearly and fast as most actual motocross bikes. The previous bike was a Yamaha 175 DT dual purpose with a whopping 12.75 hp. So many bikes, so little time.

[studysession]

So many bikes, so little time.

:clap:
:cheers: