How long is too long for the little 250?

[IndyKTM]

I bought my 04 last week and haven't ridden a street bike in 10 years or so. I race harescrambles on my dirt bike, so I am used to holding it wide open. I use my GZ for my daily commute to work, it's about 30 miles, 15 miles country roads, 15 miles freeway. IThe bike about 3600 miles on it. While driving on the freeway I get up to around 65 for about 10 minutes. That's not WOT but the bike wont do much more as I'm sure you guys know. Well how long can I maintain this speed of around 65 and feel comfy that I wont do damage to my bike? I saw someone on another site say they had a piece of the cylinder break off and enter the engine which was devastating. I don't want to replace my engine for about 20 years so....

15-30 miles freeway driving doesn't sound like it should kill any road bike but are these things just built like crap?
Anyways, I need an answer to my question about how long can I maintain 65 or so and feel comfortable I wont kill my engine.

[turbo chicken]

I ride my GZ hard... i commute about 25 miles all but 5 are highway. I rode yesterday morning w/no traffic 65-70 all the way. Sure she screamed a little but i was having a blast... if it breaks i'll fix it I suppose.

anyways i have nothing constructive to add sorry...

but 65 seems pretty smooth to me... much more above that she does whine a little.

[IndyKTM]

Thanks, but does anyone have anymore info on this issue?

[turbo chicken]

there's a little info in here that talks about top speed and driving fast on the bike... well fast for a GZ ...

i think general consensus is that 55-60 is the sweet spot for the GZ but 65 won't really hurt it either....

i've seen it mentioned somewhere on the forum that someone runs at 65 regularly and their bike is doing fine... can't find it though

http://www.gz250bike.com/viewtopic.php?t=560

[jonathan180iq]

I took a 5 hour road trip into the NC mountains about a year ago and held 65mph+/- for 75% of the trip. It won't hurt it.

There are a handful of people on here who have tachometers installed on their bikes. If you do a search and find their posts, you'll see that the 55-65 zone isn't really nearing the top of the rpm range. It's really a rather comfortable zone.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by IndyKTM

Thanks, but does anyone have anymore info on this issue?

Like what exactly?
I don't think anybody here considers it an issue.
I think it is highly unlikely that you can do any damage regardless of what you do in 5th gear.......well, except maybe for screaming down a steep mountain road with a tail wind at 100 mpg!!

Don't abuse it in the lower gears and don't worry about it. :rawk:

PS With only 10 hours between this and your first inquiry, I suggest that a little patience would be in order. Some people only check in here every few days........and less often now that the weather is good (in some parts of the country).

[IndyKTM]

I don't think you should speak for ALL the members here.
We all have our own voice than you.

I do appreciate the help, but you may want to take it down a notch.

It may take some time to get used to a site that has very few members. I am a patient man, just not used to a forum with few people. I am sure with gas prices the way they are there will more and more members joining shortly. The Suzuki is a sweet ride.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by IndyKTM

I don't think you should speak for ALL the members here.
We all have our own voice than you.

I do appreciate the help, but you may want to take it down a notch.

I don't claim to speak for everybody but having been here a year and a half, I think I have a pretty good feel for the territory.

Notice carefully what I actually said: "I don't think anybody here considers it an issue." Read what I said and not what you THINK I meant.

And yes, there are a LOT of people joining every week now. It's a jovial group, overall, but occasionally someone pops in and asks a question that is ......well.......difficult to come up with a good answer for. It is hard to respond to something like that without expressing an (unsubstantiated?) opinion.

Welcome to the group. I AM sorry if you took offense at my remarks.
I do have a tendency to be a little blunt at times. I'm working on it.

[MYPONY]

Hi. Found this post looking for people in Indiana (BTW where is The Ville, IN ?)

People have asked how Sparky does at higher speeds. Being a new rider it was a while before I went faster-got up to 70 once just for a minute & for the most part I don't excessively break the rules (haven't been on interstate yet). To me, I feel Sparky (08) can run 60-65mph all day long, easy. I ride for miles-hundreds, hwy-only slow for traffic and towns.

My opinion is, keep gas, oil & maint up to date the bike should perform to the standards it was designed for.

MYPONY

[GZ250]

GZ has a tough engine but you have to be careful with oil level and changing oil on time. At highter speeds 70 and above it is noisy and not a fun ride for me so I ride at 60-65 and going good. Mechanical problems can occur irrespective of at what speeds you drive but obviously if you drive more at 70 and above it will be a strain on the small engine. What will happen, no one can tell for sure........