[burkbuilds]

Easy Rider has some experience with longer road trips on the GZ. If I remember correctly he went from Ill. to Atlanta GA a while back, mostly by Highway 41 if memory serves me. I agree with you that the GZ is hard pressed to keep up with Interstate speeds especially around the big cities where it seems to be "normal" for folks to drive 80+. I rode my GZ on mostly rural highways (Hwy. 27) and some on I-75 but mainly in areas where folks kept it under 70 mph and I didn't feel like I was going to get run over any second. When I realized I was going to have to deal with Atlanta traffic on I-75 on a regular basis, I reluctantly decided to buy a bigger bike with the capability of running those speeds. If you can't find an alternative route that suits you then maybe it would be a better choice to find a larger displacement bike to meet your needs. DFW is a pretty busy place and I wouldn't want to be riding a GZ on the interstates around there on a regular basis. Please don't get me wrong, I loved my GZ but bikes were built to meet certain applications and doing 70+ on the highway was not the intended application for the GZ. Look for an alternate route with lower speeds and less stress and leave a little bit earlier than you would if you were going to take the interstate, and enjoy riding the GZ back and forth to work if you can work it out. It is a great bike, excellent handling, stylish and better gas mileage than anything else out there in it's class! If you can find a way to get where you need to go without putting yourself in 70+ mph traffic, then do it! There's no better way to start your day than in a nice ride on the bike and there's not a better way to finish it off than riding it home at the end of the day either, so enjoy the ride, find a more laid back route and spoil yourself with a slightly longer ride each day! If that is just not possible or practical, then I'd recommend a different bike. Easy Rider has a nice Shadow V-twin that would fit your needs, I decided on the Vulcan 500 which has no trouble with any highway speed I'm interested in hitting and there are several other choices out there as well. Whatever you decide, good luck! I don't think you could find a better overall bike for shorter daily commutes than the GZ, but it just isn't made for daily 70+ driving, several guys have found that out the hard way when they blew an engine, don't go that route!