LOWERING MY 2000 GZ250

[dannylightning]

well you never know, you might find some shocks that actually work better and dont feel like your bouncing off every thing like when your on a dirt bike.. that's kind of how the gz suspension felt to me. so putting different shocks on there might end up being a big upgrade but there is still the chance it will make it worse.

if you can find some for cheep give it a try and see how the bike rides. if you can i would stick to the bike the way it is till you really get the feel for it and than you can decide if the new shocks are better or worse.

that is my opinion on the matter

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by sharon_koontz

I was told it will only do about 50 but I've only had it up to 35 so far.

So, here's the deal: You should STOP listening to whoever told you that; likely they will feed you some other mis-information too. IOW, they are blowing smoke out......well you know!

A stock GZ will do 70....not easily but it will. And it will sustain it too on a flat road with no head wind.

As far as the handling goes, it's about as close to a bicyclye as you can get.
It handles VERY good for a motorcycle.

[dannylightning]

[quote=Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by "sharon_koontz":1k37el20

I was told it will only do about 50 but I've only had it up to 35 so far.

So, here's the deal: You should STOP listening to whoever told you that; likely they will feed you some other mis-information too. IOW, they are blowing smoke out......well you know!

A stock GZ will do 70....not easily but it will. And it will sustain it too on a flat road with no head wind.

As far as the handling goes, it's about as close to a bicyclye as you can get.
It handles VERY good for a motorcycle.[/quote:1k37el20]

i had my gz up around 73 maybe 74 mph, easy to do as long as your not going up hill just takes a min to get up to that speed. it felt like it had some more get up and go left in it but i figured that was pushing it enought, i was just testing it out to see what it would do.

it handles great around corners, but its a rough going over bumps, at least mine was.

[sharon_koontz]

I don't care about top speed...I need to find inexpensive 11" shocks that will fit so I can safely ride this bike.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by sharon_koontz

I don't care about top speed...I need to find inexpensive 11" shocks that will fit so I can safely ride this bike.

that may be a hard task, like mentioned there are virtually no aftermarket parts made for these bikes, there is a way to lower your bike using a metal bar to replace the shocks but you will have no suspension at all, not recommended but it can be done. a friend of mine did this to her Harley, she says go over bumps and it will pretty much bounce you off the road.

my suggestion is call some places that sell after market motorcycle parts. just say i need this size shock with a hole in this diameter to bolt them on, do you have any thing like that. its worth a shot. or as mentioned some one might be able to fab something for your bike.

i take it you can not put both of your feet flat on the ground when setting on the bike??

and you will find at some point in every thread people start to bs about thing and the subject can get changed a few times. but you did bring up the top speed of the bike and we were just letting you know the correct information on that.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by sharon_koontz

By the way have you guys ridden a GZ250 and do you know the top speed is only about 50mph

I've been riding mine for well over 2 years now.

The handbook (for the European spec) says that max speed is 110 km/hr. that's around 69 mph, but I can easily add another 6 or 7 mph to that, with favourable conditions. :2tup:

[sharon_koontz]

I really appreciate all the input and suggestions. I wanted this bike because I assumed it woul keep up on the highway and it's good to know that it will if I ever get to ride it that fast. I've dumped it three times since I started practicing and I'm starting to wonder if it's just too much for someone of my size and strength to handle. It seems to take everything I have to turn it. I was wondering if anyone out there is or knows of any very petite ladies who own bikes and what they ride. I am 4ft 10 (maybe slightly less) and quite small. I don't want a little kids bike but I guess I have some limitations. I am determined to ride a motorcycle. Giving up is not an option. Thanks to all of you. This has been really interesting and helpful.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by sharon_koontz

I really appreciate all the input and suggestions. I wanted this bike because I assumed it woul keep up on the highway and it's good to know that it will if I ever get to ride it that fast. I've dumped it three times since I started practicing and I'm starting to wonder if it's just too much for someone of my size and strength to handle. It seems to take everything I have to turn it. I was wondering if anyone out there is or knows of any very petite ladies who own bikes and what they ride. I am 4ft 10 (maybe slightly less) and quite small. I don't want a little kids bike but I guess I have some limitations. I am determined to ride a motorcycle. Giving up is not an option. Thanks to all of you. This has been really interesting and helpful.

well my dad went to look at a scooter the other day, the lady selling it just upgraded to a Yamaha v star classic 650 she couldent have been any more than 5 foot tall. the lady i bought my gz off of was really short, she upgraded to a big monster honda,

it's really not about streingth unless the bike starts to go down and you need to keep it from going down. once the bike up up and you are going it pretty much balances it's self. when you stop or back up the bike is really about the only time you got to worry about balancing the bike. if you are not getting your feet flat on the ground and new at riding that really could be your problem. some of the bigger bikes out there like the honda shadow have a lower seat height than the gz. i think those are either 25 or 26 inch seat height and the gz is around 28. the shadow is a heavier bike but it did not feel any heavier when i rode it. that is do to how well the bike is balanced. but i would not reccomend getting one of those if you are dumping bikes,

one thing you might be able to get are some of those shoes with really big souls on them, this girl i know has these shoes that make her 2 or 3 inches taller cus the soul on the shoe is huge. or the right pair of boots might help too.

sorry to hear you have dumped the bike a few times. did you do much bicycle riding when you were a kid??

[bonehead]

Here's something you might want to think about. I have a 32" inseam and I tried a bike with a 28" seat height and I had to use my toes(with boots) to touch the ground. Find out what seat height you can plant both feet on the gound and research for bikes with that seat height or a little lower. Don't know if there are any out there for someone 4'10". The dealers might be able to help too.

[sharon_koontz]

I've had bicycles all my life and still enjoy riding. I had a little Suzuki 50 a number of years ago. I ran it around town but mostly on the mountain trails with my dad. I haven't driven a motorcycle for years but recently decided that it is something I really want to do again. I wanted something bigger than a 50 but I didn't think I would find something that would suit my size. I found this one on Craig's list for a good price so I figured it was as good as any. We lowered the front about an inch and that helped a lot but my feet still don't touch flat on the ground. I ordered boots and they will probably help but I wanted to balance it out by lowering the back also. I am going to go to a bike shop with my tape measure and start looking around. If I can't find a smaller size shock I'm thinking of having a part fabricated to just move the shocks back as far as possible. Do you think that would be a problem?