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Message started by philthymike on 06/22/19 at 17:14:28

Title: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/22/19 at 17:14:28

In my travels today I finally got to see a GZ250 Marauder in real life. I was really taken with it. It's an adorable little bike. Has a touch of class to its lines too. The fat front fender is quite distinctive looking.
I'd love to see one with a larger displacement engine. That would be a cool ride.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by Dave on 06/23/19 at 03:33:59

I agree....it is a cool looking little bike. For the roads around here the 250 single just isn't enough engine to keep up with traffic.

It would be really nice if they built it a bit larger and used the DR650 engine! :)

(And belt drive)

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/23/19 at 06:43:40

Yeah plop the DR650 engine in. Bore it out 700 CCs while they're at it.
While I was at the shop I was eyeballing the engine in a Raptor 700 quad and getting ideas but I think the cylinder leans too far forward to fit in the frame.

The specs show the GZ weighing in nearly as much as a Savage. It's a wonder the bike can get out of its own way :o

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by Dave on 06/24/19 at 03:53:26

I am not sure what happened to the small, light bikes.....these days the small bikes are far too heavy.

The Yamaha SR400 weighs 384 pounds! :(

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/25/19 at 11:47:18

I rode my Ducati to work today for the 1st time since October and my ankles, calves and knees are all pretty disagreeable now only having to heft my little LS650 all this time. Good workout I suppose.

As much as I like riding a smaller bike I hate feeling invisible on the highway. It was good to have cagers changing lanes to get out of the path of the big Duck again. Nobody ever gets out of Thumpys way because nobody notices it. Maybe I'll put a big strobe light on a pole attached to the rear fender like police bikes had back in the days.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by verslagen1 on 06/25/19 at 13:40:46

That's one thing I appreciate about the big headlight.
Get a 7" shell and put a projection LED beam in it.
People see it, at least the ones w/out their head up their a$$.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/25/19 at 15:58:39

I'm still debating the LED thing. I really like my weird iron cross headlight but the shell won't fit an LED bulb. It could fit HID but then where do I stash the ballast and crap?

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by verslagen1 on 06/25/19 at 18:30:04

if you can fit a HID, you can fit a LED

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-led-bulbs/motorcycle-h4-led-fanless-headlight-conversion-bulb-with-internal-driver-2000-lumens/5323/12255/

not as good as the HD style all in one LED but not bad.

BTW, no ballast either.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/25/19 at 19:43:13

Oh cool. It looks like it might actually fit! If not I'm sure it will fit in the Duck.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 06/25/19 at 19:45:48

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-ASTAR-1157-Dual-Color-3030-SMD-White-Amber-LED-Switchback-Turn-Signal-Lights/232517705014?epid=2101686345&hash=item3623229d36:g:Pv8AAOSwjVhc9XDA

cheeper version :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-1157-Dual-Color-16-3030-SMD-White-Amber-LED-Switchback-Turn-Signal-Lights-USA/163665735712?hash=item261b3cf020:g:nMwAAOSw96FcwnHV

so ,

ya , use these bulbs for your front turn/running lights and use clear lenses over them , the result is Bright-White running lights that turn into yellow turn signals . ;)

lens like these :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Clear-Turn-Signal-Lens-For-Suzuki-Marauder-800-VZ800-1997-2003-VX800-GSX1100G/312126017313?fits=Make%3ASuzuki&hash=item48ac290f21:g:c9sAAOSwrddY8dNQ

page 4 list these to fit Savage LS650

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by verslagen1 on 06/25/19 at 21:03:53

7C646560786475616567690C0 wrote:

Oh cool. It looks like it might actually fit! If not I'm sure it will fit in the Duck.

It will fit in the stock bucket.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/26/19 at 04:38:28

I'm pretty sure I sold the stock bucket at some point. Maybe I should just go with this so the cagers not only see me but die of heart attacks too :D
https://www.ebay.com/i/132845987310?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=132845987310&targetid=541454199052&device=m&adtype=pla&googleloc=9007257&poi=&campaignid=1881303766&adgroupid=70056983957&rlsatarget=aud-412677883135:pla-541454199052&abcId=1139336&merchantid=114612365&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8zoBRA0EiwANmvpYBpCDs495o78M07n_f8UY19jB3Gj5g-NngDwJKQdDK6bnufliKBk4xoCRxYQAvD_BwE

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 06/26/19 at 07:38:14

you never even looked ... its the turn signals your fixing not the headlight...

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/26/19 at 08:17:50

67756775786B6469622A0 wrote:

you never even looked ... its the turn signals your fixing not the headlight...

Have you actually tried this? Any pictures of it?
Can't picture how much brighter this is compared to OEM incandescent signals.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 06/26/19 at 16:38:51

They make good running light to help you get seen . Headlights they are not.

I'll try to get ya a picture after dark.

Here is the two (turn/running) small lights and the LED Head-Light . The same clear lenses from ebay and the two-color bulbs

In turn signal mode the color turn yellow on one side .

I haven't had anybody pull out in front of me in a while now ! ;)

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by ohiomoto on 06/27/19 at 06:50:56

The problem with all of these super bright lights is that nobody can see where they are going at night. Have you noticed that you can no longer see beyond the headlights of most oncoming cars until you pass them?

But people want bright lights, the pay extra for it. It sells. Unforntualy you only benefit when you are the only person on the road with the bright lights. Bunch of idiots driving around like deer in the headlight. Too much of a good thing...

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 06/27/19 at 07:22:26

LED Bright White !

I keep mine adjusted and wish everybody else did too ! :(

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/27/19 at 17:36:10

657765777A69666B60280 wrote:

Thanks alot for posting that! Those look pretty impressive. I think I'll give them a try.

Funny how life likes to make you eat your words. Today while riding the Duck 90 mph down an exit lane on 495 a car doing no more than 50 in the not exit lane decided at the last second they wanted to get off. And over they came right in front of me. I had one of those thank God for ABS moments. As big and loud and bright as that bike is its no match for sheer utter stupidity.

Anyway yeah I'm convinced Thumpy could use brighter lights. Thanks for the info all.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 06/27/19 at 22:03:18

sheer utter stupidity.

Yep ! 90 mph in a 70 zone will get ya almost every time ... ;D

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by Dave on 06/28/19 at 04:14:15

You need to pick your spots to speed very carefully.......things can go very wrong, very quickly if you speed around other traffic. It is so easy to go too fast on a bike with HP.....it is not so easy to get them under control when things to wrong.

One of the things I do to learn how to avoid being in an accident, is to watch the "Asian Scooter Crashes" or "Russian Driving" videos on YouTube. The majority of the crashes occur when there is a noticeable speed difference between vehicles. The vehicle moving significantly faster than the others usually gets in the crash because the other driver sees the normal traffic and makes a judgement based on those vehicles, and they don't anticipate the fast vehicle coming. When they start their left of right turn or lane change......suddenly there is another vehicle that "came out of nowhere". However - there are always folks just making stoopid moves without any good reason and the slower riders often have time to react - while the speeder does not have time and crashes.

Here is one example, get some popcorn and a cool one - and watch the carnage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgjsDl_iMo

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgjsDl_iMo[/media]

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/28/19 at 05:56:16

So if I went with above lighting suggestions I'd probably still have enough juice left for these too?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-CREE-LED-Angle-eyes-LED-Driving-Spot-Fog-Lights-Bar-W-Bracket/192790236765?hash=item2ce3318e5d:g:ZIcAAOSw5YlcPCRl

The exit lane I was in was a mile long and the average speed around me was about 80. Except for the one slowpoke. He was actually in the exit lane to start and then sped back into the normal lanes. He drove on like he was staying his course and then dived back over right in front of me. So yeah with most of the traffic going at least 80 I was not driving at reckless speed by comparison especially considering I had a mile of exit lane all to myself. At least until the wandering moron changed his mind the 2nd time. He was the one driving at the reckless speed. It works both directions.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 06/28/19 at 07:16:48

I'm under the impression we have about "100 watt" alt.

55/60 watts headlight
24 watt running ... tail/front lights (3 * 8 watts)

so how many watts does our alternator put out ?

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by verslagen1 on 06/28/19 at 07:28:30

Enough for 2 stock headlights if you don't want to charge the battery.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/28/19 at 11:19:14

Real men don't need no battery 8-)

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/28/19 at 15:05:21

Actually if pulse width modulation with a 50% duty cycle was used you could invert the pulse and run one light from the original pulse and the other from the inverted pulse then the stator wouldn't know any better. It would see the same load for the two headlights as a single headlight and still be able to charge the battery. Assuming a high enough switching frequency you wouldn't get noticeable flicker from LEDs and with incandescent it's a moot point since filaments still make some light for a brief moment after power cuts out.
Obviously you'd have some loss from heat in the switching devices but not much.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/28/19 at 20:19:01

I ordered the LEDs.
And these
https://www.ebay.com/p/Kuryakyn-2467-Orbit-Prism-4-1-2in-LED-Passing-Lamps-with-Bluetooth-Controlled-Multi-Color-Halo/250429136?iid=192609049910

And a pair of these to stuff the passing lamps into.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-4-5-quot-Clear-Lens-Headlight-Bottom-Mount-Black-Grill-Headlamp-Universal-/273596026189?txnId=2168178542017

Then I'll have to fab up some mounting contraption like I did for my headlight.

The headlight I have projects light in a narrow box and even a bright LED won't fix that. I'll just have a brighter box but still can't see the side or other lanes of the road. So the passing lamps will help by putting out some light beyond the box. And I can sync the ghetto color rings to my Punk rock while riding. 8-)

And if my battery starts dying I'll build the above PWM switch to alternate current between the headlight and passing lamps. And by changing the duty cycle of the modulation I can fade between the lights too.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 06/30/19 at 20:38:52

Those Orbit. Prism passing lamps were so cheap because it turns out that they do not include the Bluetooth controller module. I didn't realize that when I ordered it. The kit with the controller is twice as much money. So if I want to use them I'd have to wire a switch for each red, blue and green circuit in order to have some choices in color. But being somewhat resourceful I found this.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/rgb-led-controllers/rgb-led-controller-w-optional-rf-touch-color-remote-waterproof-6-ampschannel/4887/11058/

And there's a wireless remote for $15 to program it with. Provides good control over color selection and brightness and remembers its state after power cycling. And since it's dual channel I can set different parameters for each light. This is possibly more useful than it sounds considering I'd get fine brightness control in the event there's variation in the brightness levels of the LEDs in each light. And I can also program for portside red and starboard green for when I ride along the intracoastal canal :P

Or I can send it back. But it's still less than the kit with the controller.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by MMRanch on 07/01/19 at 23:09:51

I'm not sure that mult. colored light would be legal in all 50 States ? better check it out before any fines are payed than after any fines are payed ! ::)

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 07/02/19 at 20:03:23

I think if you set it to amber it can qualify as a running light. I've seen people doing this in my area. PA laws are somewhat ambiguous but they do specify that front running lights must be amber or white. Blue lights of any type are forbidden and the front of a vehicle cannot have any red lights. That's off the top of my head. Can't remember the rest.
I looked it up when trying to figure out if my bike should have red or amber rear turn signals/running lights and they're actually are supposed to be red in this state but there's an allowance for amber if the vehicle came with OEM amber running lights.

Title: Re: Suzuki GZ250
Post by philthymike on 07/03/19 at 19:11:39

Installed the LED in the headlight tonight and yeah this thing is a hell of alot brighter. Big difference, like night and not night.

Like I suspected I still have that constrained box of light just brighter. The rest of the lighting gear will trickle in soon. I'm already working out a mount for it. Need to go talk to the sheet metal shop. Bounce ideas off them.