Mine is a 2003 and has 27,900 miles on the odo, will turn over 28,000 tomorrow likely. Changed out one head gasket, one clutch cable, one chain, one set tires, one battery. I bought it in 2005, with about 9,000 miles on it. The head gasket failed a little bit over last summer, nagging me for about 6 months until I changed it out before a trip to Virginia Beach, cost about 12 or 15 dollars but a whole saturday delicately reading the shop manuel and doing the work, enjoyed it, actually, with a few beers. Clutch cable failed in the middle of rush hour in the middle of an intersection last monday, sucked. Normal ops otherwise. Killed a deer with it,summer of 2007. Had to replace windshield, headlight bracket, handlebars, front brake master cylinder and line, some other repairs with tape.
Usual mileage between 75 mpg and 85 mpg, low as 68 on interstate with cold rainy headwind. High as 90 riding on the blue ridge parkway and dipping off down to the valley before filling up. Use a full face helmet, leather boots, textile padded pants, textile padded jacket, riding gloves. By the way this saved me when I hit the deer. Open road ride most of time with deflector windshield set to barely kick slip stream over my shoulders. Will interstate cruise easy for hours at 65 to 70 or until feet get gane green. My Gz250 feels good at 65, fast, faster than 70, but it has the speed there if you know how to get it with the windshield setup and body, luggage, position.
I use valvoline synthetic 20w50 in hot weather and gastrol syntheticblend 10w40 in winter. No particular reason for the brands, except that I bought several quarts on sale. I change the oil every 2000 miles without adding in between usually.
