Hello

[Tory]

I'm Tory. I bought my '05 GZ250 about 8 months ago. I do enjoy the bike but have been disappointed by the lack of power. I do most of my riding on the freeway going to and from work. I would like to do some day trips and such but feel limited because I can't keep up with the traffic on the 70 mph freeways. I may look into that 16 tooth sprocket thing.

Ya'll have a great day,

Tory

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Tory

I may look into that 16 tooth sprocket thing.

No, don't. Freeway riding is one of the places that you do NOT want to up the gear ratio.
With a stock GZ, you should be able to keep up at 70.....absent a hill or head wind.....but just barely. With a 16T front sprocket, you will lose top speed, not gain it.
Do you have a windshield? If not, that might help a bit.

Road trips on the GZ can be fun......if you stay OFF the Interstates.

Don't suppose you have an alternate route to work that does NOT involve the freeways ????

[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!

[alantf]

Originally Posted by burkbuilds

it seems to be "normal" for folks to drive 80+.

Got the letter yesterday! I recall going past a "Trafico" jeep, hidden in the entrance to a petrol station, around 2 months ago. Apparently he had his radar gun working. Said I was doing 61 km/hr in a 50 zone. A fine of 100 euros ($140) for going 6 mph over the limit!

[alanmcorcoran]

Tory,

If you want to hit the freeways, get a bigger bike. There's lots of reasons why the GZ is not appropriate for 70mph freeway travel:

1) It's not really fun.
2) It's not very smooth.
3) I think it's dangerous (others will disagree, but I feel much safer and in control on the big bike.)
4) It's tough on the bike.
5) It's tough on your ass.
6) The GZ is light for all that wind.

If you got to do it, wind the thing up in every gear, don't be afraid to leave it in fourth, get into a crouch position (chin on speedo) and you can hit 70. Your weight and your body position can improve your speed by 10 mph. I don't know if any "mods" will get you that much. Try the synthetic Rotella oil. Use regular octane, get your carb cleaned, your valves adjusted. 75 is possible - I've got close to 80 in ideal conditions (probably with a bit of a tailwind.) But it is very stressful full out riding and I vastly prefer my Strat (which is more like cruising in a Caddy, for serious.)

There is one thing the GZ does quite well on the freeway, but I don't think it is legal in Texas: Splitting lanes. Plus it gets great gas mileage. But once you ride down the freeway on a bigger bike, you won't want to go back.