How's everyone doing? Me I'm fantastically well!
 

Hello my name is Sam and I own a GZ.

So I haven't ridden a motorcycle in 20 years and am super excited about my first one. I picked up my GZ for the smallest four digit number you can think of. I had a Honda Metro a few years back and it wasn't enough. I'm not a big dude so I have been looking for a 250 for a couple of months and found a grey 2008 Marauder in a pawn shop a couple of weeks ago and grabbed it up. She was running but needed a new battery, easy fix. They even delivered it for me. I have ridden around my subdivision a little trying to get back into the groove. My shifting needs practice. I got a helmet already and will get my jacket this week. I have modified toys before so I love these make and model forums, so much information to comb through. I will be asking alot of questions. I gave the bike a good once over and I can tell she's been down. She's missing the battery cover, they all are. I also noticed the front turn signals come on but don't blink and the rears don't come on at all. So I know there are some wiring issues and I'm going to have to jump into that. Which eventually lead me to a decision... replace all the lighting with LEDs. I jumped on eBay and bought a headlight, taillight, turn signals, fog lights and running lights. (I want to be seen!) which leads to this first of many questions; Do I need resistors? Or anything like that in order for the LEDs to function properly. Peace. And happy riding. That's all for now thanks in advance for any help, I do appreciate it.

Welcome to the forum MileHighGZ. You picked a great bike to get back into riding. The GZ is a very forgiving bike for new riders as well as people getting back into it after years of not riding. I am not sure about needing resistors with your LED conversions. I always defer most electrical questions to Alantf, a member on this forum, who is very knowledgeable regarding those types of issues. I am sure that he, or someone else, will get on here and help you out. There are a lot of very savvy members regarding all issues motorcycle. Enjoy your new ride and be safe. I ride an '09' GZ and love it.

Welcome to the family...You don't resistors if you use a electronic flasher...There is a "How to" in the Instructional section I believe.
:)

Welcome to the forum. The GZ riders are among the most supporting folks you will ever find online.

As for the LED's you will find(as mentioned)an electronic flasher is all you need to make the signals work properly. The front signals also serve as running lights whenever the bike is running. The rear act as signals only. The front will have a 3 wire hook-up and the rear a 2 wire hook-up.

The reason(so I've read) is the amber color of the rear lights. Only red can be used as an always on rear light.

So the bike has been down. Stuff happens all the time. I have only had one bike that I never dropped. That was back in 1978. My present bike, a 2014 Honda CTTX700 has already been down once. Just last week in my living room. Previous to that my 2005 Vstrom650 was down once a year for 7 years. First drop was a week after I bought it new in 2005 as a retirement gift from me to me. I deserved it. It was a wonderful bike and served me well.

Welcome to the forum. The GZ is a great bike and working on some of those little things will just help you become more familiar with it. Doesn't sound like anything major or expensive and I'm sure you'll have it all fixed up in short order. Enjoy riding.