GZZZZ GZZZ from Los Angeles

[NeverAgain]

Hello everyone

My name is Ben, 29 years old, 5”7 190 LBs and I have a 3 year old son.
I just bought my first bike ever 08 GZ250 on 6/28/08 a day after my MSF and I already put 500 miles on it.
My experience is neutral at the moment . there are many things I did not put to count when I decided to fight the $4.38 gallon.
1. 25 miles each way (1:10 minutes) is not comfortable
2. Fun in the morning ( 70F ) hell in afternoon (100F )
3. Freeway is out of the question (5 line each direction in Los Angeles )
4. Gear box gives me a hard time down to 1st and up to 2nd
5. $3620 out the door (good or bad?)

I have 3 question please
1-The break use to make a lot of noise, so I use little bit of WD-40 and the noise stop but the breaks require a lot of effort now (a lot). Is there a way to undo this ?? (I can wait till the 600 miles service ($150))
2- in 100+F weather the gear box asks for shifting up 5 MPH early (1st @ 10, 2nd @20, 3@30 etc..) in the morning the bike is fine with (15-25-35-45)??
3-when you have only reserve gas and you shake the bike, are you suppose to hear the gas moving or not?? I can’t hear it in mine.

I will upload pictures of the bike tomorrow and make a YouTube video this weekend (sadly only 5 GZ videos in youtube )

If you have a PS3, my name is NeverAgain and play COD4 Rainbow6 vegas2

[Moedad]

Hi Ben,

I'm down in Orange County, commute to work in Long Beach. You must be out in one of the valleys/Santa Clarita or something with that heat. Can't answer your question about hot weather shifting, but exactly what part of the brakes did you use the WD-40 on??

Yeah, I haven't tried the freeways down here either. Same thing, lots of lanes with people going 80+.

[Sarris]

Welcome brother, we are glad you are here.

You should NEVER put WD-40 on the front disk brake pads or the rear drum brake shoes. If you put alot on them, it probably has ruined them. If not, a few stops should burn it off. All GZ brakes squeal until fully seated and usually when first applied. Hopefully the effort on the brakes will decrease as the WD-40 wears off. If not, replace the pads or shoes (whichever ones you sprayed)
:oops:

The shifting get a little easier after the first (600 mile oil change) service and will break in and get somewhat easier. The GZ is a price point bike and the transmission is a bit recalcitrant sometimes anyways. Usually when hot.

$3620 is a good deal.

Look over the site, there is a bunch of good stuff here. I recommend the 16 tooth front sprocket change (improves drivability), a good windshield, and a decent set of bags minimum.

Ride safe and practice, practice, practice.

Good Luck;

Sarris

:chop:

[NeverAgain]

yop your right
San Fernando Valley

I use WD40 on the front break behind pads and the cylinder, not on the disc

thanx

[Sarris]

The pads are the part you should not spray. You basically lubricated a friction material surface reducing its ability to provide friction against the disk. Thats why they take more effort to stop.

:oops:

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by NeverAgain

My name is Ben, 29 years old,

1. 25 miles each way (1:10 minutes) is not comfortable
4. Gear box gives me a hard time down to 1st and up to 2nd
5. $3620 out the door (good or bad?)

I have 3 question please
1-The break use to make a lot of noise, so I use little bit of WD-40

1:10 in the seat is not going to be comfortable......on the seat.......until you get a couple of dozen trips "hardening".
Not much you can do about the weather. Any chance you can adjust your starting/ending times +/- a half hour to miss some of the traffic and shorten the time in the seat ??

The 1-2 shift gives everybody trouble at first. When going up, pre-load the shifter with a slight pressure before you actually pull in the clutch; it will snap into the higher gear easier. Going down to 1, wait until almost stopped.....VERY slow.
After break-in, many folks find that using Synthetic oil makes shifting smoother.

Price sounds good to me.

So much for the good news. You didn't waste much time finding a mistake to make, did you? :oops:

WD40 on the brake pads probably RUINED them.
I advise NOT riding until you get them fixed. If you put on non-OEM pads, the squeek should be substantially reduced.
Do a search here for "brakes".

No reason to alter your shift speeds because of temperature. Not sure I understand that question but +/- 5mph is OK.

Big tank, not much gas. You probably could hear it slosh if the bike was off and your ear was close to it.

Now that you found us, please ASK before you try something that you might feel uneasy about.

[jonathan180iq]

The good news is that a brake pad change is easy and new brake pads are cheap. Just to be safe, I would replace the pads and spray the whole system with brake cleaner.

You'll find that synthetic oil greatly smooths out your shifting issues. It's really a big difference.

As far as being hot goes, you'll just have to get used to it. You know get to spend some time in the great outdoors. You're not in your airconitioned car anymore. If you wear a riding jacket, you'll find that the protection that the jacket gives you from the sun makes the ride much more pleasant.
You'll probably want a perforated leather or mesh jacket, so you'll have some cooling.

[finallyinthesaddle]

Originally Posted by jonathan180iq

You'll find that synthetic oil greatly smooths out your shifting issues. It's really a big difference.

I can definately back that up. I just gave mine her 1st service oil change not too long ago, and went with Castrol full-synthetic. It is a HUGE difference. Besides the up/down shifts between 1-2, there is no more clicking into place. Just a little kick and there you are.

[Orpheus]

Originally Posted by NeverAgain

Hello everyone

My name is Ben, 29 years old, 5”7 190 LBs and I have a 3 year old son.
I just bought my first bike ever 08 GZ250 on 6/28/08 a day after my MSF and I already put 500 miles on it.
My experience is neutral at the moment . there are many things I did not put to count when I decided to fight the $4.38 gallon.
1. 25 miles each way (1:10 minutes) is not comfortable
2. Fun in the morning ( 70F ) hell in afternoon (100F )
3. Freeway is out of the question (5 line each direction in Los Angeles )
4. Gear box gives me a hard time down to 1st and up to 2nd
5. $3620 out the door (good or bad?)

I have 3 question please
1-The break use to make a lot of noise, so I use little bit of WD-40 and the noise stop but the breaks require a lot of effort now (a lot). Is there a way to undo this ?? (I can wait till the 600 miles service ($150))

Seems like pretty much all your questions have been answered, but I'll add my $.02.
1. Yeah, I have to get up and stretch after about 45 minutes, so I can imagine what more than an hour in the saddle must feel like. Maybe just leave a little earlier and plan on stopping for coffee halfway.
2. Try living in Phoenix. It's 85-90 in the morning and 110+ in the afternoon.
3. I try to stay off the freeways too. Too many lunatics and I can't stand gridlock (at least y'all in CA can get away with lane-splitting).
4. I'm pretty sure that shifting down to 1st is a problem on all GZ's. There's a thread around here somewhere that addresses this. Mine also has the problem from 1st-2nd occasionally, but not all the time.
5. $3620 out the door is less than you'd pay for a beat-up used car. I'd say that's pretty good.

If you sprayed WD-40 on the pads themselves, change them immediately. You can ask for help around here and people will be able to suggest websites, manufacturers, etc. that you can pick up pads pretty cheap from.

[cconleyjr]

Welcome to the Forum I will second whatever Sarris said because Suzuki fixes all my problems to begin with it is cheaper that way for me that way they just fix the original problem instead of it and the one I create trying to fix it a spade is a spade and a non mechanic is a non mechanic I am a non mechanic