Just my thoughts

[FLAJIM]

I bought the GZ250 for my wife to learn on. Sadly she lost interest in riding. As I bought the bike new and the prices dropped so much, I am keeping it for awhile. Last month I put on the 16T sprocket and a TACH. I have to say that its a good "run around" bike. I put on over 100 miles in a few days. I still think its a 50-55 mph max bike. Going faster than that is dangerous in my opinion, just too light of a bike. I got hit with a few cross winds at about 50 mph.... wasn't fun. I will say the 16T made a world of difference.

Be Safe JIM

[Goose51683]

FLAJIM- I'm going to have to disagree with you a bit. I normally run around 60-65 mph and feel perfectly safe. I work on a wind farm so it gets pretty windy here and while I do end up leaning a good bit the bike stays straight and true. I have little doubt that it is much different from riding a larger bike but once you get used to it the issues your talking about are a lot less pronounced.

I too had hoped to get my wife on a bike but unfortunately she never found an interest in the first place.

[FLAJIM]

Very true, I do have wind problems on my 1000 lbs plus ultra but felt it much more on the 250. I guess you are right, have to get used to it. I have always been from the school, right tool for the job. To each there own, hell I have a guy on another group that rode his Yamaha C3, 49 CC scooter with his girl friend cross France......


Be Safe JIM

[Goose51683]

Ha. I guess your right to each their own. I hope you learn to love your bike as much as I have.

I do have to say that one of the things I love most about this bike is how easy it is to modify it and make it your own. The simple electrical system, the robust frame, and the incredible amount of room make up for the short falls there may be.

[Tomcat13t]

I ride mine pretty fast and feel pretty safe. Mine goes up to 83 But usually ride over 70. I know I shouldn't, but I push my bike to the max and so far she has been handling it like a champ. On a windy day it can get tough to ride at high speeds but she can handle it. Just last week I had my girl on the back and boy was it windy. It was a two hour round trip and didn't have too much trouble. I LOVE this bike. Stay safe!

[PimpS]

I have riden this bike all day, made something about 350km, on a nice road i cruised around 110km/h with no problems. Record of speed i had with mine was something around 130km/h, but just for a few seconds. Had my girlfriend on too sometimes and we cruised easily 100-110 km/h on a straight road. She was really surprised how much strength did the bike have. The only thing that is a weak point of gz is hot sunny weather with high temperature (35 degrees celsius and more), you need to have that in mind, i didn't, so the oil leaking started. Uphill it gets tired, so you must change gears, but usually the fourth gear did the job. Having the passenger behind you, resulted as minus 10 km/h with your speed (uphill) on a straight road just few moments more, to achieve normal cruise speed. It's the weight that pushes speed down with this bike. Tomcat, use it, but don't abuse it, every hour without riding gz, cause it's at the mechanic repairing or in your garage, is painful
GZ is a great commuter and sunday cruise trip bike, but you all already know that. Having now stronger bike, i can still really appreciate the gz. The major difference for me is, that now i can cruise uphill with the same speed, wind doesn't affect the ride that much... othervise (costs, mileage...) the GZ is superb bike.