Hello everyone. Glad to be here among fellow owners. I was shopping craigslist for a Rebel, Virago, GZ250 type bike when I found a suitable GZ250 for $1500, 8k miles. This one came with some nylon-type saddlebags which I needed for hauling a few tools with me to work. It's nothing too fancy, but my intention was to get a bike for learning and transportation.
It turns out it's starting to be a little project. A week or so after I bought it I finally started to get some courage to take it on the road. After some close inspection I found a few broken spokes on the back wheel. The dealership wanted an astronomical fee for re-spoking so I thought I would give it a shot. Dealership $45 spokes + $255 (3hr) labor. I knew very little about what I was doing and had the wheel off, tire off, and respoked in about 2 hours. I could have done it even faster if I had realized the spokes had two different necks. I should have paid attention that they were in two different bags... I had a lot of fun doing that tonight and thanks to the service manual found here that job was a whole lot easier. While I have the wheel off I'm getting the tire replaced, it's a bit low on tread. It would have gotten me through the season, but I'd rather just have the wheel off once and get everything done. I'm trying to keep my total cost down on this bike so I can feel like I'm getting my money's worth if I turn it around in a year.
There was a worrisome noise coming from the engine last time I ran it for 10 miles. A ticking noise, which I know doesn't bode well. Starting it cold the other day I couldn't hear it. Any feedback would be appreciated on it. After the tire/wheel is back on I'll tackle that mess as well as cleaning the carborator and changing the oil. Basically I want to give it an tuneup to where I feel comfortable riding it. The last owner was a kid in his mid-20s that had it for 5 months. He probably wanted to turn it around before he had to buy a tire and fix the spokes.
I want to do a few things to spice it up. LED engine lights for night time visibility and probably a few more pieces of gear. The bike is very nice and a lot of my friends have commented on how much better it looks than the Rebel. I have to agree.
