Highway Riding on the GZ

[emory70]

i ride a hundred miles a day, weather permitting. half of it is city traffic and half is rural highway. on the highway, i run 60, and if there is even a moderate headwind, that is all the geezer will do. the bike runs fine at that speed, but crosswinds are a bummer.

[UH40]

I agree with you Easy on your comment - I meant to say that I would not suggest a long trip on the Freeway where the speed limit is 70 When I travel back I am going to take 2 weeks and parallel the freeway route and camp out. That will be a great trip for this bike and also my GZ250 settled in to 60MPH quite nicely - I love the bike even though I am a little tall for it at a height of 6'4

-=UH40=-

[cspan37421]

I ride mine on the highway - as I did my previous bikes. It is not uncommon for me to find the throttle stop before I find 70 mph. However, there's one free mod can help your top end speed. But you won't like it. Crouch down - way down. Wind resistance at that speed and with the profile you present to the road is a HUGE factor in knocking down your progress. It may not be safe to draft a truck, but if you happen to get behind one, you'll see why it's the wind holding you back. Anything you can do to cut wind resistance helps.

Also, IMHO, divided interstate highway is the safest place to ride, despite the higher speeds. Why? No intersections. No one will turn left in front of you. Everyone is going in the same direction. Limiting factors: deer at night (which is a factor for most roads), and someone coming up on you fast from behind (ditto, but maybe elevated risk on the interstate). Overall though, I think it is safer, and I think the data bear it out.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by cspan37421

Overall though, I think it is safer, and I think the data bear it out.

It depends on what you are comparing it against......and exactly what Interstate you are on too.

In general, I suspect you are right .......if you are comparing a non-metro Interstate to a heavily travelled 2-lane........or heavy city traffic.

IF, however, you are talking about a heavily travelled metro Interstate, then you are absolutely wrong. One almost never sees a bike on the "freeways" near Chicago for a very good reason; bikes just don't last long in that environment. :skull:

So.......it depends on speed and traffic density.
Higher speed + higher traffic density = more dangerous.
Lower speed + lower traffic density = safer
......generally.

Just saying "Interstates are safer" in somewhat misleading.

P.S. It depends partly on rider uneasiness too.
In your fair city, you have one of the WORST sections of metro interstate in the country IMHO.
It absolutely scares the CRAP out of me, bike or car.
I won't use it at night anymore; I'll drive throght town instead.

[alanmcorcoran]

I can attest to some of what Easy said. Did a lot of miles on Illinois backroads Saturday pretty much by myself on very straight, practically empty, two laners. Mainly ran into some Very Large Bugs. At one point I had a giant bee on my faceshield right between my eyes. Another rather large buzzing thing hit me right in the jacket gap and I spent a mile or so frantically making sure it wasn't stuck inside my jacket. Other than that, you'd have to get struck by a meteor.

[zenbutcher]

* Disclaimer: I have only been riding a year. The GZ is my first bike. And, I have already been told that what I'm about to say isn't normal and/or good for the bike.

With that said, here's my take: I ride a 4-lane median-separated highway to work everyday (US 27 from Sale Creek, TN to Dayton, TN and back). It's only about 10 miles one-way. But... I can comfortably achieve 70-75 MPH easily. I've had the bike up to 80 MPH or so for a few miles. It's an '02 with about 12k on her (I've put 4k in a year). I don't know if this is atypical because people don't want to push their bikes, are afraid, or what. But, I cruise at 70 quite regularly between Sale Creek, TN and Hixson, TN on US27.

I will say this: I have noticed that the bike performs much better (acceleration-wise) when I dump some fuel system cleaner in the gas tank at every other fill-up and keep fresh oil in it. Also, when I use the 10% ethanol mixture, I notice a drop in performance.

One caveat... I took the bike up on Sale Creek Mountain up HWY 111 last weekend and it had a LOT less power at that elevation. My normal travels are at around 700 FT and the mountain gets to around 1600, I'd guess. I *think* a lot of these varying performance issues may be related to elevation/cleanliness of fuel system/fuel used/etc.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by zenbutcher

But... I can comfortably achieve 70-75 MPH easily. I've had the bike up to 80 MPH or so for a few miles.

A stock GZ is geared so that it will do 70-75 but at some strain on the engine (lots of RPMs).
You probably shouldn't expect to get 100K miles out of it pushing it that hard.

I had trouble doing 70 because of the higher gearing with the 16T front sprocket and the drag of a big shield. It would get there, it just took a LONG straight to do it. When it did get to 70 though, it wasn't turning quite as fast; slightly less strain on the engine.

[dannylightning]

when i rode min on the highway i would do 55 or 60 or it sounded like it wanted to blow up. highway riding was not fun on the gz... not fun at all. donnt go on any highway with speed limits over 60 mph...

[emory70]

i hear ya. there are roads here in jacksonville that my geezer will never see.

[Viirin]

Originally Posted by zenbutcher

* Disclaimer: I have only been riding a year. The GZ is my first bike. And, I have already been told that what I'm about to say isn't normal and/or good for the bike.

Hahaha - I like that