GZ TOP SPEEDS

[GreenStem]

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
how is that possible on our little gz250? I normally shift to 5th gear when I'm around 40 to 45 mph and feel as if the rpms are way too high when i reach 55.
how can you guys reach those speeds without feeling like the engine will blow? and with cargo and passenger!? yeah right!

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by GreenStem

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??

All GZ's are not created equal.........and all riders aren't either!

70 is about tops for a stock US bike.....without a tail wind. It will easily do 60-65, you need not fear the sound.
European models are tuned differently and those will do 80....as will US models mod'ed to match their cousins across the pond.

And, in general, just because you haven't seen or done something doesn't mean that nobody has !!!

[jonathan180iq]

Originally Posted by GreenStem

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
how is that possible on our little gz250? I normally shift to 5th gear when I'm around 40 to 45 mph and feel as if the rpms are way too high when i reach 55.
how can you guys reach those speeds without feeling like the engine will blow? and with cargo and passenger!? yeah right!

You are either a troll or you don't ride enough.

5th gear and 55 mph is the average crusing speed for this bike. If you would take it over that "buzzy" feeling at 55-60 then you would see that 70-75 is by no means a stretch.
Increasing the final drive gearing decreases top speed to somehwere between 65-70 in 5th and there is a significant decrease in the "buzzy" feeling at 55mph.

[Orpheus]

Originally Posted by GreenStem

you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
how is that possible on our little gz250? I normally shift to 5th gear when I'm around 40 to 45 mph and feel as if the rpms are way too high when i reach 55.
how can you guys reach those speeds without feeling like the engine will blow? and with cargo and passenger!? yeah right!

I was on a somewhat busy freeway, so there was a little bit of a tail wind. I, too, NORMALLY shift to 5th at 40-45, but I find that when I redline before shifting every gear (as on a highway), I don't have to shift to 5th until about 50-55mph. I was also surprised that I was able to exceed 80mph under those circumstances, but there's no reason that just because you haven't seen it that it didn't (or couldn't) happen.[/i]

[trykemike]

there are posts with cross reference tables for both speed and corresponding rpm

80 mph with stock gearing = 8000 rpm red-line is 8500 rpm ( same engine as GN )

55 mph = 5500 rpm which is a natural for my bike

I have reached 75-78 mph several times and never on a still day. ( 7700 rpm )

I have a tach.

On cold days I use a little choke to maintain 70-75 mph.

My verdict 55 is the best practical cruising speed .

[Orpheus]

Okay, let's assume that I'm not lying for a second and try to figure out how/why I could cruise comfortably on a highway with a passenger and luggage at speeds greater than 80mph. I don't think anything's been done to modify the bike (I do my own tune-ups, and I haven't noticed anything weird), but I bought it used with around 3000 miles on it. The gross vehicle weight at the time was a little less than 700lbs (maybe 650-680). I was on a somewhat busy freeway with a slight tail wind due to the traffic passing me (although the speed limit was 75, most of the traffic was probably going around 90); as I said earlier, there was no discernible downhill grade and I pretty much wound out every gear as far as I could before shifting (I'm not sure about the exact speeds that I shifted at, but I know that 5th was around 55mph).

Any ideas? Could a strong tail wind affect it that much? Any other possiblilities?

[jonathan180iq]

the air temperature could have been just right, you could have held the throttle at the sweet-spot* position and the slight tail wind could have helped push your heavier mass over the 80mph threshold.

Or, your speed-o could be off.

It doesn't really matter. I've been up there before. It's not impossible.


*There is a point on the throttle where WOT actually gives too much gas and you began slowing down. For me, I am faster at maybe 85% throttle than I am at WOT. All of these things combined could have yielded the speed that you claim. No one is really questioning you except for the guy who can only go 55.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by trykemike

On cold days I use a little choke to maintain 70-75 mph.

I've often wondered about that; will have to try it sometime, not necessarily just when cold.

A "real" choke wouldn't work 'cause you would restrict the air flow to achieve the richer mixture.
A properly designed "enricher" wouldn't do that either as it would not be active above idle RPMs.

But what IF you have an enricher that still has a slight effect at higher RPMs ?????

[GreenStem]

Well i just wanted to make it clear that i was not trying to offend anyone on their claims of the speeds they reached. i hope the "nuts" and "goofballs" part wasn't to offensive but it was all in a playfull manner but it's hard to express that through a keyboard.

I've also read up on all the mods and sprockets changes you have done to improve the gz. Although my gz is completely stock compared to most of you fine folks, I will never try to reach those speeds stock or with any mods, ever. at least not on my gz250, i love it too much to push it that hard!

take it easy

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by GreenStem

Well i just wanted to make it clear that i was not trying to offend anyone on their claims of the speeds they reached. i hope the "nuts" and "goofballs" part wasn't to offensive but it was all in a playfull manner but it's hard to express that through a keyboard.

Apology accepted, however.............
See those yellow things to the left of the message input page? :??: :cool:
They are very helpful in conveying a playful intent.

Judging from the tone of your original message:

"you guys are either nuts or hopped up on goof balls .... 70 - 80 mph !!??
...........................
yeah right!"

I don't really think you were joking around when you said that.
It's still alright though, as some of the rest of us (ME!) tend to get in trouble for being a little blunt at times too.

No hard feelings.
Anybody who rides a GZ can't be all bad !