SuzukiSavage.com - picked this up today

Gus Senior Member Offline Thumpers Rock! Posts: 491 Minnesota Gender:	picked this up today 04/17/16 at 10:41:12 2003 gz250. Clean little scooter w/1000 miles on it.
Back to top	WP_20160417_11_43_04_Pro.jpg 1994 BMW K75S 2011 s40 1979 Honda CT90 Trail 1964 Honda CT200 Trail One cylinder - one carburetor. Life is good! Retired/Minnesota IP Logged

DesertRat Serious Thumper Offline I love rat bikes! Posts: 1569 Arizona	Re: picked this up today Reply #1 - 04/17/16 at 11:16:56 DUDE ... SCORE ... that bike is purdy ...
Back to top	-The silence of indifference makes cowards of men. - http://www.pipeburn.com/home/category/rat IP Logged

Gus Senior Member Offline Thumpers Rock! Posts: 491 Minnesota Gender:	Re: picked this up today Reply #2 - 04/17/16 at 12:51:24 I've already had it running but the needle is stuck and floods gas out. I'm working on it now. I gotta change oil and stuff. The color is striking. I wish my Savage motor would fit in it.
Back to top	1994 BMW K75S 2011 s40 1979 Honda CT90 Trail 1964 Honda CT200 Trail One cylinder - one carburetor. Life is good! Retired/Minnesota IP Logged

engineer Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 872 Gender:	Re: picked this up today Reply #3 - 04/17/16 at 16:35:11 Looks good, I especially like the fuel tank. What do you have planned for it?
Back to top	2005 S40, Intruder shocks, Dyna, 52.5/150, 3 washers, 2 turns, modified seat, Raptor IP Logged

Gus

Senior Member

Offline

Thumpers Rock!

Posts: 491
Minnesota
Gender: male

Re: picked this up today
Reply #4 - 04/17/16 at 16:49:13

I'm just gonna boot it out of the barn when I'm done with it. Yes, I love the tank too. Before I get rid of it I'm gonna fit the tank on my savage and see how I fits.

I've determined that it needs anew petcock, little washer around the needle seat and a pair of handle bars. It has a wee bit of rash on it and the bars were bent just a tad.

Here's a pic. Of her on the ground. A nice design; I like it.

Back to top

WP_20160417_16_38_50_Pro.jpg

1994 BMW K75S
2011 s40
1979 Honda CT90 Trail
1964 Honda CT200 Trail
One cylinder - one carburetor. Life is good!
Retired/Minnesota

IP Logged

justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: picked this up today Reply #5 - 04/17/16 at 17:10:46 Just don't be needing to pick it up tomorrow.
Back to top	The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke. IP Logged

Kris01 Serious Thumper Offline Eat, sleep, RIDE! Posts: 3767 Tennessee Gender:	Re: picked this up today Reply #6 - 04/17/16 at 20:33:23 I considered one before I bought my S40 but I don't think I'd fit. They are very small.
Back to top	There's no problem that a full tank of gas and a sunny day can't fix! 2008 S40, Rotella T 15W-40 w/ZDDP added, Dyna, 140/90-15, Battery Tender Jr., Seat lift, #52.5/150/3 washers, Raptor IP Logged

Gus

Senior Member

Offline

Thumpers Rock!

Posts: 491
Minnesota
Gender: male

Re: picked this up today
Reply #7 - 04/18/16 at 04:32:30

Along side my Savage there are as many differences as similarities:

The seat is wider and more plush on the gz250
The tank is nearly a gallon bigger on the 250
Looks like the 250 came with Metzler tires(unless someone changed them out.) bike only has 1000 miles on it.
250 has a trip meter. Hah!!!��
The mirrors are rubber mounted in two different locations on the 250.
The headlights are a mirror image of one another. I think the handlebars are too.
The main frame looks to be very similar. The 250cc engine cylinder is tipped forward, therefore allowing for a radically smaller engine space.

Like the 650 the seat on the 250 is too low in the front. I think its even lower than the Savage. You really feel like your sliding onto the tank.

The carbs. Are identical in design and different in size, of course.
The fuel tank petcock is the exact poor design as the Savage.
The triple tree's on the Savage are a little more refined and cleaned up.

The buttons on the handlebars on the 250 are much more modern .

What is mostly apparent in looking at these two thumpers made the same year by the same company is this: And its been said before.
The Savage/S40 design hasn't been reviewed by the engineers in many, many years.
The S40 is obviously one of their "bread & butter bikes. They sell enough of them year after year, with no changes, to justify running the molds every year.

Back to top

1994 BMW K75S
2011 s40
1979 Honda CT90 Trail
1964 Honda CT200 Trail
One cylinder - one carburetor. Life is good!
Retired/Minnesota

IP Logged

Dave

YaBB Moderator
ModSquad

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 18094
Camp Springs, Kentucky
Gender: male

Re: picked this up today
Reply #8 - 04/18/16 at 07:11:28

Yep....it is fun to take bikes that are not running, and work on them and get them up and running again. If they are in good shape like the one you bought, it often takes very little in parts and just a bit of cleaning and maintenance (and usually a new battery). It is hard to decide what to do with low mileage tires that are really old......as that can add 2-3 hundred dollars of cost that may not be recovered when you sell the bike.

The cool part is that you can ride the bike for a bit and have some fun - then sell it with a chance to make a little profit and help finance the next neglected bike! You do have to be careful not to buy a bike that won't sell easily.....the market in this area is flooded with bikes - so you have to have something that is unique if you want to stand out from all the other bikes. That little GZ250 would be a great bike for a smaller rider that needs a bike to commute around town, or to use while learning how to ride.

Back to top

Someday I will be old......But not today!

IP Logged

DesertRat Serious Thumper Offline I love rat bikes! Posts: 1569 Arizona	Re: picked this up today Reply #9 - 04/18/16 at 07:33:53 Hey Gus, I'd be interested to know how much modding would need to be done to put the fuel tank on the S40. Is it a direct swap? The upgraded controls would be nice on our bikes. Are the bars 1" like the S40?
Back to top	-The silence of indifference makes cowards of men. - http://www.pipeburn.com/home/category/rat IP Logged

Gus

Senior Member

Offline

Thumpers Rock!

Posts: 491
Minnesota
Gender: male

Re: picked this up today
Reply #10 - 04/18/16 at 12:30:13

Dave, it can be a real craps shoot for sure buying bikes that aren't running. The good news is this: Where I live there is a shortage of good used bikes and the dealer's are pretty scattered.
I can get on CL and look at bikes in St. Cloud & Minneapolis and they are over run with used bikes. But you are right many are not as easy to sell as others. I like to stick to the moderately sized twins and, of course, the Thumpers.
I stay away from dirt bikes. The market seems way to fickle on those. So much of the time they are beat to a pulp too.

DR, I plan on trying to slide that big tank onto my Savage to see how it fits. I'll take some pictures. Doing so opens a whole other can of worms tho. One would then have to re locate the speedo.
I've been looking at the speedo on the 250 I might see if I can make it fit on the Savage too. I do know that putting it on the triple tree would require drilling the tree. That is where it is on the 250.

I haven't measured but I'm sure the bar size on the 250 is 7/8. :'(

Back to top

1994 BMW K75S
2011 s40
1979 Honda CT90 Trail
1964 Honda CT200 Trail
One cylinder - one carburetor. Life is good!
Retired/Minnesota

IP Logged

Kris01 Serious Thumper Offline Eat, sleep, RIDE! Posts: 3767 Tennessee Gender:	Re: picked this up today Reply #11 - 04/18/16 at 13:16:31 Take lotsa pics! I'd be very interested in trying this out.
Back to top	There's no problem that a full tank of gas and a sunny day can't fix! 2008 S40, Rotella T 15W-40 w/ZDDP added, Dyna, 140/90-15, Battery Tender Jr., Seat lift, #52.5/150/3 washers, Raptor IP Logged

DesertRat Serious Thumper Offline I love rat bikes! Posts: 1569 Arizona	Re: picked this up today Reply #12 - 04/18/16 at 14:55:59 thanks for the update Gus ... I appreciate it ...
Back to top	-The silence of indifference makes cowards of men. - http://www.pipeburn.com/home/category/rat IP Logged

old_rider Serious Thumper Offline Backyard Bill Productions Posts: 3147 flordia panhandle Gender:	Re: picked this up today Reply #13 - 04/18/16 at 22:51:22 I had a black one of those in 2007, nice little scooter, had trouble doing 60, but it was great in town and good on the gas. The fenders and tank make it look like a bigger bike from a distance, but when you sit on it you realize how small it is
Back to top	We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. IP Logged

Gus Senior Member Offline Thumpers Rock! Posts: 491 Minnesota Gender:	Re: picked this up today Reply #14 - 04/19/16 at 06:00:02 I was home sick yesterday. I was doing a little research on the gz. There is a forum, much like this one, out there. As you'd expect, some of those guys are getting pretty impressive performance out of these; much like some of the guys here are doing here.
Back to top	1994 BMW K75S 2011 s40 1979 Honda CT90 Trail 1964 Honda CT200 Trail One cylinder - one carburetor. Life is good! Retired/Minnesota IP Logged