It consumes oil.
I found that its performance drops off during the last half of the manufacturer's recommended oil change interval. Changing oil at the halfway point is beneficial.
The GZ250 is a perfect first bike or a dirt cheap commuter. If you are riding in town or on lower speed limit roads, you'll have few complaints about this bike. You will find that this 250 does best at the upper half of it's RPM range. Low end torque is lacking.
I was little impressed with it's ability to maintain speed at speeds over 55mph. At 65mph the bike is OK flat out with no head wind. Introduce a slight uphill grade and add a head wind, and I've seen this bike lose speed even to the point where I had to pull off to the shoulder to let traffic get by. Embarrassing.
I've had no luck finding anything available to tweak the GZ250's performance. The answer is always the same... "It's a 250, what did you expect?".
I don't care for the tires on this bike. They are typical of what you get on any new cruiser bike. My personal preference is aggressive treaded all weather skins like the British bikes had. The weather in England requires tires that stick to the road in rain, black frost and even slush. Unless you live in a desert state, you'll want these, I'd think.
The saddle could be more comfortable. One's bum could go to sleep on longer trips. Mine has.
Higher speeds are not recommended on windy days. The little Suzi is slightly more than 300 lbs with a full tank of gas. 200 lbs of me plus 300 lbs of bike is not enough in a hefty crosswind.
All that being said, This remains a very good little bike. As with any vehicle, If you stay within the parameters of its limitations, you'll be quite pleased.
This is an update. My '06 Has certainly come into its own. The little Suzi seemed to come to life at 5,000 miles. I will hold that this was my bike's true break in mileage. The performance has come up nicely. Suzi can go up hills or against the wind and even gain speed.
Oil consumption was eliminated by switching to Castrol GTX 10 W 40.
Although she can do 75, I don't recommend it; the engine is screaming and it's too light a bike for that. 55 is my Suzi's best speed with 65 readily available when you need it.
I heard about a low restriction silencer, air cleaner tricks and a carb hop up that promise to tweak the 250. There's also a little larger drive sprocket that gives it an overdrive effect in top gear at the cost of more clutch from a standstill. I would leave these to the adventurer.
I was tempted to sell the little scrapper, but thought better of it... At 70 mpg, there are few if any competitors. And face it, there are few bikes you'll like better when it comes to zipping about town.
My Honda Shadow Aero and the Beezer are a chore to ride compared to the GZ250. Their only advantage against the GZ is the Honda's weight when cruising the highway, and the BSA's brute torque when passing or accelerating onto the freeway. If you desire effortless cycle motoring on town and country lanes, the GZ250 is a winner.
Bought a used GZ250 to learn on last May, and I like the bike very much. The controls fit me nicely (I'm 5 foot 7).
On the residential streets I mainly ride, the little thumper gives me plenty of power. It starts right up every time, and it's light enough to handle easily.
Although I haven't put a lot of miles on it yet, it seems to get around 50 mpg, which is really good considering that I'm still learning and thus ride slowly a lot. The perfect beginner bike!
As a comparison, I rode a Honda Rebel in the MSF course, and I felt very cramped. I like the Suzuki MUCH better.
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