Back after 4 years

[bigfour]

Hey guys. The GZ was my first bike after taking my MSF class 5-6 years ago. Spent some time on Patrick's Yahoo group then joined this forum about 4 years ago and got some great help with general maintenance. Looks like this place has gotten a facelift.
Since then I've restored, wrenched and, ridden some larger bikes, all the while the GZ waited patiently in my relatives basement. I didn't have the heart to sell it and I think in the back of my mind I'd know I'd return someday.
Well wouldn't you know, I've recently decided to sell my larger bikes and return to my faithful GZ. As I write, its 6V battery is on a charger and the carburetor is off for some tuning work I wanted to do 4 years ago. Should be firing up pretty soon.
When you guys decide to upgrade, you might want to consider keeping the thumper around... it is one hell of a nostalgia trip when you sit on your first bike again.
BTW, I had some pics here of my cafe modded GZ but links died over the years... I'll try to get new ones up soon.
Anyway, it's good to be back.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by bigfour

As I write, its 6V battery is on a charger

WHAT ??
The 12V battery from the GZ isn't going to charge much if the charger is set for 6V !!! :biggrin:
Typo ??

[bigfour]

Yep just a typo, the battery on the GZ is about half the size of the batteries Ive recently worked with so I goofed.
I guess the point of my post was that the GZ is more than a starter bike, and people should really evaluate if their next purchase is much of an upgrade

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by bigfour

I guess the point of my post was that the GZ is more than a starter bike, and people should really evaluate if their next purchase is much of an upgrade

Some days I wish I had my GZ back; most days not !! :cool:

[blaine]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Some days I wish I had my GZ back; most days not !! :cool:

Just sold mine 3 weeks ago to get a bigger bike.Wish I could have kept the G.Z. but could not afford to do both.

:itsokay:

[ArizonaKev]

Wow, that's kinda' cool to think that after riding all those bigger bikes, you came back to your GZ. I, like a lot of us I'm sure, often think about getting something bigger. And someday, I probably will. But I always wonder if I would actually want to sell my GZ, or perhaps keep it around. I mean, I absolutely love the thing, and just don't know that I would want to actually get rid of it.

After reading your post, I think I know what I will do now if I ever do get a bigger bike. Thanks for the post, and welcome back to the forum :2tup:

AZ Kev

[emory70]

after having mine barely over a week (and 600 miles), i think about what i wanna do next. bigger? how much? my dad made a similar comment to yours, bigfour... is a step up from a 250 to a bigger bike enough of a step up to make it worthwhile? i like my gas mileage, but it varies a LOT. i'm thinking of getting another after i know what changes i wanna make, and have a project bike while i still ride the one i have.

[GZ Jess]

I have had my GZ for about 3 months or so and feel very confident on it. I feel I can keep up with anyone and take curves like any other rider. Now of course I don't beat anyone off the starting line but I get there.

I had just started to really think I wanted a bigger bike. So I have started to take hubby's HD Superglide out when I ride alone. It is fun and I do enjoy the looks and power it has but...that sucker is heavy and I don't quite flat foot it so I am always really nervous when it comes to parking it. I have been riding it for a couple weeks and feel pretty confident in riding but my drive way is a gravel hill and I always have hubby back it down the drive for me and then when I return I very carefully pull up the drive into the garage. Today I was feeling good and rushing a little to get in the garage and the door didn't go up as quickly as I thought it would. I had to try and stop on the hill in the gravel. Well as you can imagine it didn't work out so well. I was able to get out from under the beast and try to soften it's fall but it did go down. I felt like such a tool standing there looking at a bike laying on it's side in the drive. Hubby and I got it up and amazingly the only scratches were on his black clutch lever I had just bought him. I will replace it, it was only $20. The bike and I were super lucky today despite my stupidity.

So anyway, I got to thinking, do I really want to have to have help with my own bike? I know for a fact that if my GZ had started to go over I could have saved it. I'm not so ready to upgrade now. I can ride with everyone else, I never need help with my own bike and I can manhandle it way better than most people (even men) with their big bikes. I will stick with my GZ for now and maybe forever who knows.

Jessica

[alanmcorcoran]

Don't feel so bad Jess. We've all (well most of us) have been there. Part of the learning process I think. I would suggest you not ride a bike you can't put your feet down on. A good formula for droppage.

There is a bit of a tendency on here for people to push what they have -- the Geezers tend to exalt the GZ a little too much and the upgraders push whatever they upgraded to. Makes sense. I still have my GZ plus my "bigger bike" and I am like Sarris and some of the others - I still find a use for it around town, but I never take it on the freeway or long distance. I think I'd like to have a "bigger, smaller" bike, cause my GZ usually poops out at 65 or so (contrary to all the reports of 80 plus I've seen on here [although to be fair, I never messed with the carb or pipes.])

I think there are three other good reasons for keeping the GZ, though. One - it is a good bike for other family members to learn on. Two - I will never get a decent buck out of it (cause I foolishly bought it new.) Three - gas mileage. All-in-all though, I suspect it will be going to a Beemer dealer someday as a minor dent in a "GS adventure something or other."

[emory70]

for city driving i love my geezer. for the ride to work every day it gets a little uncomfortable. i try to only go 50, with a few trips way up to 55 when traffic warrants it. going 60 makes me feel it's going to hit critical mass, and the mileage suffers drastically. besides, even if i could get it on an interstate, i wet my pants every time a semi passes me.