Why would an old experienced consider a new GZ250?

[birdmove]

We are (hopefully) getting close to moving from the mainland (Puyallup, Wa.) to the Big Island of Hawaii. Shipping is very spendy. We are seling our mainland motorcycles and my wife's scooter, and will buy our rides on the Big Island after the move. I am considering the GZ250 as my ride for the following reasons. First we will have a Suzuki dealer about 15 miles away (while the dealers of other brands will be 125 miles away). Next, we won't be doing any two up riding, so I won't need any big power. The speeds will be from putting around to 50-60 mph. There are certainly hills to go up, but 50-55 should be adequete. I am about 5'9" and 178 pounds. Very important (since I will be doing any maintenance) is the GZ is stone simple to work on. I will replace my own tires; do oil and filter changes; adjust valves, etc. Gas is way more there so I'd want something that gets great gas mileage. The GZ seems to have a 3.4 gallon tank. I would guess that the bike might go what--175 miles plus before reserve? That would be great.

Really, the only drawbacks are 1.will the bike fit me well? 2.The spoke wheels. I'd rather have cast wheels and carry an emergency tire patch kit with the little tanks to air a tire. I can deal with the tire and wheel situation. I'll come up with some type of tube or piece of wood that I could prop the bike on in order to pull a wheel on the road and patch the tube etc. I've replaced tires and tubes before and never pinched a hole in a tube.

Though I'm riding a bigger bike right now, I am not worried about going down in power. I recently solde a 225cc dual sport which I enjoyed riding. Even after 50 years of riding, I still love to ride--and that is big bikes, small bikes, and scooters too.

I think this old engine must be pretty bulletproff since I believe it goes back to the old GN250 series Suzukis, and is heavily related to the new TU250 engines too.

I like the looks of the GZ250, but will probably put some flatter handelbars on it if I get one. I do not like the stock bars.

Bearing all this in mind, I am not worried about "out growing" the GZ as I've already been through all that over all these years of riding.

Maybe now a question or two. Am I about right on the cruising range from a full tank to going on reserve? I mentioned maybe 175 miles? That's thinking the tank may have like a .8 gallon reserve? Are there any known weak points to this bike? Reading through the messages here I don't really see any recurring problems.

Are there many of you that are riding the GZ that had been riding bigger bikes? I had considered the Honda Rebel, but it may be a little bit physically smaller the GZ? The TU250 would be another possibility.

Thanks, Jon in Puyallup, Wa.