Missing my GZ250...
 

I've only had my Suzi since April 1st but I feel lost without her. She's been in the shop for the last 4 days as they try to discover why I keep losing tire pressure. I was finding myself losing 6-7 pounds every couple days in both tires...seemed too much even with the colder weather at night. Every time I step out into the garage as I'm leaving the house I see this big empty spot where my Suzi used to sit! :shocked: Never thought I would feel this way about a machine! Can't wait to pick her up and get some more practice as the weather has been sunny and warm in Central New York!

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

That should'nt be too much of an issue. Ony a few things it could be. Hope you get back on the road soon.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

You have tubes in your tires, right?

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Four days? That stinks! Do you think they keep putting off doing the job because you're a woman? Anyone more than a trained chimpanzee should be able to sort that out in a couple of hours, tops! :mad:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

sounds like bad tubes or bad valve stems to me, after you took your bike in if you had a appointment they should have your bike back to you that day or the next day.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Now that made me laugh, and my day!!

Thanks Moedad. :2tup:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

you get a used bike you never know what might happen, some one might see that the tires say tubeless on them and not realize that thy still need a tube on spoked wheels. it is actually a legit question if you ask me.

but still kind of funny.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Absolutely yes, on both counts.

One would think, however, that a competent shop could figure out air loss in the tires in a LOT less than 4 days.

I think I'd be getting a little upset by now..........OK, MORE than a little. :skull:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

I think you may need to call them, i have have called a shop many times to find out your car has been done for a while, you can come and pick it up any time. because they were too damn lazy to call me and tell me that it was finished

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Believe me, in the 30+ years of turning wrenches I have seen my share of "funny" things. O_o

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

do tell, do tell :popcorn:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Just one for now. A friend in college had a brake job done on his pristine Chevelle SS 396 while he was at home for spring break. Well he knew I was a mechanic and asked me to look at it. Well the shop had installed both inner disc brake pads backwards, so everytime he hit the brakes it was metal to metal. How he drove 8 hours from home back to school without hearing that god-awful sound was beyond me. Probably had the music up too loud!

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Finally just got home from the shop with my Suzi...my dad had to actually ride it home for me as I don't have a ton of experience outside of parking lots yet. :cool:
They could not find a thing wrong with the tires...weird. They kept it for four days so they could "monitor the tire pressure." The owner of the shop said to me "The only thing wrong with your bike is that it's extremely underpowered!" That crushed me a bit as I love my bike and it's perfect for a young female starting out...I'm only 5'3" as well. And who knows I may keep the bike for years. In my opinion less power = less likely to get in trouble! I read where in some European countries you can only buy a 250cc for your first bike until you improve your skills.
Going outside now to give her a good bath and a little Blue Magic chrome polish...happy to have her back home!! :tongue:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Think someone was pranking you? Not a very safe prank if they were.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Oh no, I hope not...I might be a newbie or novice but my dad is in his 60's and he's ridden motorcycles his whole life. He's helping me with this whole new motorcycle purchase...he goes with me to the shop etc. And I keep my bike locked in my garage when I'm not home...sometimes parked on my driveway when I'm out, but only for short periods of time. I live in a pretty nice neighborhood too.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Let me break that down for you in Motorcycle salesman language, "the only thing wrong with your bike is it is not EXPENSIVE enough, let me sell you the bigger one that you desperately need, and get the sales commission on it, that I desperately need.

Or in other cases, you will run into people that aren't salesmen that will tell you that same thing. Let me break that one down for ya in macho American "everything that's bigger is better" language....

That motorcycle is not near big enough to feed my massive ego, and it won't let people know how tough I am, it also wouldn't be comfortable for me to ride cross country on, (even though that same person not only never leaves town on their 80,000cc bike, but only puts 300 miles a year on it, because he/she can only take it out and ride it on the three or four perfect no rain/no chance of rain, not too hot, not too cold, absolutely no wind days a year).

O.K. I am back from my rant now.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

She' only 5'3", The gz aught to haul ass with her on it.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Thanks for that rant Music Man...well said! I think it's an ego thing...this is all making sense to me now! The shop owner is a rather small/short man. :tongue:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

(1) That's "rip off" language for "we just put it at the back of the shop, & did f**k all. Now give me a lot of money you brainless bimbo"
If it's losing as much air as you said, then THERE IS SOMETHING TO FIND! It's either a problem with the tyre (puncture etc) or a problem with the valve. It may be that all it needs is the valve nipping up with a valve key. A house trained chimpanzee should have been able to find the problem!

(2) What's wrong with the guy? A GZ's a GZ. I've had mine for 3 years, & o.k., it's no crotch rocket, but it's ideal for what "I" want. i.e. a VERY nimble bike in traffic, & more than adequate when most of our roads have the equivalent of a 30 mph limit. So what's he trying to do? Is it "You've got a tyre problem that can't be fixed, on a bike that's a piece of shite. Why don't you let me sell you an overpriced crotch rocket that I can't shift."

Best piece of advice I can give you is to avoid that shop like the plague. I truly reckon your dad can do as good as (if not better) than this con man (that's what dads are for - I should know :whistle: ) on the simpler jobs.

Sorry about the rant, but this guy's making sparks come out of my ears. :cry: ........... :)

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Exactly, not everyone needs a bigger bike. :2tup:

I know a guy that is about 6'2" and weighs roughly 400 pounds, he owns a Yamaha Stratoliner, When his bike rolls out of the garage, he goes on at least a 300 mile round trip, any other time, his bike stays in the garage. He NEEDS a big bike, hell he probably NEEDS a BIGGER bike.

The moral of this story is, some people need a big bike some people need a small one, I for instance needed a medium sized one, even though I don't leave town on mine very often, when I did, the GZ was just a little too cramped and uncomfortable on my 6'1" frame, and busted up back.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Is that "seen" or "done" ??? :poke2: :biggrin:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Maybe it's time for a new tire gauge......or a review of her "pressure check" proceedure......or both. :biggrin:

Tires should always be checked "cold", like in the morning before riding. Plus or minus 2 lbs probably really doesn't warrant adjustment; sometimes it's the adjustments that throw you off.

And, believe it or not, if the bike sits outside in the sun, the pressure can be several pounds different depending on whether or not the sun has been shining on it.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

That could be it in a nutshell. All or part of the above could very well be the problem. The sunshine thing is a real problem too. Just as an experiment I checked my truck tires when the sun had been shining on one side of the truck. The shaded tires were noticeably less in PSI. What I have found is the pressure can and will change a wee bit due to temp. If the pressure is a touch high today I will not adjust it because tomorrow it will be spot on. If the pressure stays a bit high I will not change it. A little higher PSI means less rolling resistance and better tire wear. 2 or 3 extra PSI doesn't make a big difference to the average rider for maximum traction and handling . How many of us actually make it to the track and need everything we can get from the tires.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I'm going to carefully monitor the tire pressure and check it at different times during the day. I'll also look into a digital pressure gauge instead of the pencil stick type one I've been using.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Dang, I think you are my new gz clone! 5'3, having tire pressure issues! Maybe us short chicks just suck at reading pressure gauges! The $10 digital one made by Slime found at WalMart is awesome! I lost mine and haven't replaced it yet so it's back to the stupid pencil gauge. =P

Anyway, my bike stays on my driveway, so depending on what time I check the pressure, the results vary. It's on the east side of the house so early morning = sunshine, late afternoon = warm temperature and direct sun, evening = no sun. Florida has stupid temperature variation so I take that into account. For example, today it was 85 outside, but now it's only 65. That's at least 2 psi lost (probably around 4psi since the sun isn't shining either.)

Also, for some reason my front tire seems to change psi more rapidly than the back tire. I think this is because the back tire is under the saddlebags and the fender, whereas the front tire is sticking out, basking in the sun. The relative size might matter too.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Good observations Diffluere.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Make sure that the digital gauge will fit between the spokes. The one I use for the car won't fit the GZ. So, I use the pencil gauge that I've had for 30 or 40 years. It's still accurate, & works fine, so I don't see a problem. :2tup:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Hey, you do sound like my GZ clone!! I'm going to look for that gauge at Walmart that you mentioned. My front tire changes more often as well...very interesting. :roll:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Time out !!
I think that is just the opposite of what we tried to say.

You should check it at the SAME time of the day, under the same conditions, as much as possible, every day.

Now, you can check it at other times just for curiosity value but you should NOT make any change in the pressure except at your "chosen time" when you will check it with the tires COLD.

And......you should not adjust the pressure unless and until it is off by more than 2 PSI.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Yes, yes thank you...I get it...I simply misspoke. Ouch...I gotta get thicker skin to be on this forum. I am just a newbie after all! :roll:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

I think it would be useful to know what psi your tire likes to be at certain times. If you wrote it down, you would know if your tires were WAY off from normal if you randomly decide to take an evening cruise and check them at 6pm vs. only checking them at one time per day, such as in the morning. I always check my tires around 10am before I head to school, so I figure my reading is pretty standard, BUT the tires haven't warmed up in the sun yet and with a high of 85 it's still probably only 74 outside, so my tires will probably go up 1 or 2psi just by sitting at school all afternoon. I only add air if the tire is below 24 (since I have the bigger front tire, I've been riding around with it at 27psi and it seems great, but I can't really tell a difference at 26 or 25.)

Suzi, just stick around and keep asking questions. I feel stupid asking a lot of questions but it's better to look dumb on the internet than do something in real life that gets you crashed/hurt!

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

It is difficult to really know how much to "correct".........but better to restate and be sure, I think. :)

I think you'd be surprised at how many new riders "mistunderstand" even the simplest of concepts and go running off in the wrong direction. :roll:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Yes......but only if you have OCD. :biggrin:
Sorry, couldn't pass that up.

Serioiusly, as important as tire pressures ARE, they really don't have to be that precise.
I only check mine once every 10 days or so and "kick" test them in between times.

Now.....if you have been having a problem, no question that more frequent checks are in order........but once a day is PLENTY.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Are you going through every post and responding to all of mine?! =P

I am really beginning to think I have OCD. I start/turn off my motorcycle in the same order:

clutch in, kickstand up, key on, red button (killswitch? i am going braindead today), hit starter. then stop, killswitch off, kickstand down (look at ground to see what's under it!), clutch out, key off. WEIRD.

I also HAVE to check my tire pressure, or I worry about it all the way to school. I think I read too many tire related posts on here. I blame you guys entirely!

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Yes, "we" are responsible for a LOT of bad things. :skull:
:biggrin:

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Yes, we are a very responsible lot. Diffluere, you sound like you have all your ducks lined up in a row to make life easier. That is a good thing.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Yeah, but those damn ducks don't like to STAY in a row, haha!

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Nothing weird about it IMO. Starting up I use the acronym FINE-C:
F - Fuel selector
I - Ignition switch (key)
N - Neutral
E - Engine kill switch
C - Choke (as needed)

I let the engine warm up while I don my helmet and gloves. When I'm ready to go it's: kickstand up, first gear, high beams.

For stopping, my flow is: verify first gear, low beams, kill switch, ignition switch, kickstand down (verify visually).

I think it's good to have a mental checklist to run through to help keep you out of trouble. For example, I always check the fuel selector even though I "know" I left it in ON last time I rode. There have been a few times when I realized that I had left it in RES after getting gas.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Part of our pre-ride routine is to visually verify that "ALL" the lights work.

Re: Missing my GZ250...
 

Hello!
There is nothing wrong with the 250! I love mine, it's a great starter bike and for inner cities. I dobn't even want to ride my hubby's Honda 750. I regret not getting a bigger bike, due to taking one of my boys as passengers, BUT NO REGRETS on buying it small!!!! Take it easy and ride safe, the riding course is awesome! I have not been on a bike for 16 years and i was kinda scared. The safety course took that away in a heart beat!!!
I also elieve, that the shop pranked you, i would get a second opinion, it's too dangerous (for me)!

Enjoy your ride
:smallrawk: :2tup: