missing a plastic piece can't identify it

[alanmcorcoran]

Josh,

The GZ is geared very low. 1st is just to get rolling and won't get you very far. 10mph is about it, if that. Second won't get you much further. Unless you are going uphill, it's not unusual to be in fifth by 40 or 45. There's a thread on here somewhere about where people shift.

I have gotten a little more aggressive rev wise on the GZ after riding a bigger bike (I can go 50 in second on my Strat [1850cc] if I want to.) On the GZ, I tend to wind each gear out to close to what I think is redline - probably not the best practice, but you at least feel like you are going faster,sooner. I think the real key to coaxing performance out is third and fourth gear. If you are going uphill at all, stay out of 5th (some on here refer to it more as an overdrive.) When you are on a flat, and you want to go as fast as possible, wind it up as far as you can in third and fourth before you shift. On the freeway, I'll get mine up to close to 60 in fourth, sometimes even higher, before I shift. The bike doesn't have much torque in lower revs. I'm not sure what riding it so hard does to its useful life, but I'm guessing it's probably not recommended, but you can't go on the freeways out here at less than 65 unless you want to be run over.

There are also posts on here re proper chain slack. I think it's about a 1/2 inch but I don't really remember. Use the search feature.

Over the last 20 months or so I have seen numerous threads, ideas, mods, etc. to coax a little more out of the bike. From where I sit, most of the mods are pretty radical, irreversible and few have reported any significant improvement. One exception is the cog with an extra tooth that a lot of people seem to like. My own experience is that a well tuned bike (valves, carb especially) properly inflated tires and a lightweight rider in a tuck position will give you more improvement than re-jetting or cutting your exhaust. At the end of the day, I think a majority of the site members have decided if you want a faster bike it's easier to buy a faster bike than make the GZ into one.

Keep us posted on your first few weeks.