2004 Suzuki GSX 250

**sapperj** · 25th March 2010, 20:19

Yeah I have ridden a GSX250R... not for me but after reading your story, good on ya for getting a bike and doing it... bit like me. I like what I have now, not the fastest but sounds nice. Keep in mind what you would like to move on to from here. For me it will be a bigger V Twin, I like the sound and the feel of it. kinda like a V8 on 2 wheels. I have had a few twins in the past and drive a 5.7L Holden SS when the missus lets me... on a 250 for the licence thing then 650 > 1000.
Enjoy!

**Scorp** · 30th March 2010, 08:26

I was thinking of having a closer look at the GSX for my first bike, and after reading this thread I'm even more interested. Sounds like a great learner bike. But I'm interested in what you guys might think of the ergos/ride position. I'm 5'8" and about 80kg, and though I quite liked the upright ride position of the Ninja, my feet felt pretty cramped, especially on the brake peg. Is the GSX as upright as the Ninja and what are the foot controls like?

Thanks for any help!

**SMOKEU** · 30th March 2010, 11:52

What kind of speed do those GSX250s top out at in 1st gear?

**s1mple_m4n** · 1st April 2010, 21:09

Scorp > I'm 5'10" and really enjoy the riding position. You can sit quite upright without being over-extended in your arms, or you can shift back on the seat and get quite low without being cramped in the legs.

SMOKEU > I usually let it get up to about 25 before changing, but it'll do more if you let it rev. And the GSX does like to rev!

**quickbuck** · 1st April 2010, 22:51

Originally Posted by Scorp

I was thinking of having a closer look at the GSX for my first bike, and after reading this thread I'm even more interested. Sounds like a great learner bike. But I'm interested in what you guys might think of the ergos/ride position. I'm 5'8" and about 80kg, and though I quite liked the upright ride position of the Ninja, my feet felt pretty cramped, especially on the brake peg. Is the GSX as upright as the Ninja and what are the foot controls like?

Thanks for any help!

I'm 6'1" and it used to fit me perfectly.
The biggest of all the 250's at the time.
The othewr half is 5'7" with 34" legs.... (Same as mine), and she never had any issues with cramped legs either.
She did feel she had a lot of weight on the wrists, but remember her body is really short for her height.
And it was her first bike, so she was most likely holding on too tight.

Foot controls are perfectly placed for my size ten boots too.

**sidecar bob** · 26th April 2010, 16:41

We've gone up one tooth on the front sproket (from 14 to 15) with our '04 GSX250.
Its brought the gearing closer to what it probably should have left the factory with.
Its still happy around town two up in top, so for solo with a medium sized rider you could probably go to 16 teeth.
Both swaps can be done by moving the back wheel & no alteration in chain length.
Im going to make some alterations to the jetting & cv carb springs to libertate a bit more power & tune out the big hollow in the mid range, as its waay to lean.
Will post up what i do & how it goes here after im done

**sidecar bob** · 27th April 2010, 17:10

Stage one. I have so far left the air intake restrictor in place for various reasons.
I have taken the main jet from 107.5 to 115 & raised the needle one position & the CV slide springs have been carefully stretched 1cm.
It has considerably more mid range & a little more top end.
A run without the intake restrictor resulted in very poor & messy mid range, but vastly better top end.
For stage two i wil remove the restrictor, move the needles another position up & stretch the springs by about 2.5 CM & go to 120 or 125 mains.
Will keep you posted.

**s1mple_m4n** · 2nd May 2010, 21:51

bob, keep up with the updates, I'm keen to hear how you're doing with it. Interested in a 15 tooth sprocket now.

**sidecar bob** · 3rd May 2010, 09:22

Originally Posted by s1mple_m4n

bob, keep up with the updates, I'm keen to hear how you're doing with it. Interested in a 15 tooth sprocket now.

Im going to leave it alone for now, its a girls commuter bike & is now heaps better than stock, but the other work I described would make it considerably swifter again.
The sproket was $23 aftermarket & took about half an hour to fit, including shifting the rear wheel & re ajusting the chain.
If youre not a paticularly big fella with a bit of expierence that rides mainly solo, id go straight to a 16 tooth,
Otherwise 15 is ok.
Also, i forgot to mention, The front suspension was saggy so I put aprox 20mm of stainless metric fender washers on top of each spring to give it a tad more preload.
I may put a few more in yet, its still quite soft.
The whole idea was to improve on stock without spending much, & we've definitley done that.

**quickbuck** · 6th May 2010, 12:36

Was thinking a 15 tooth sprocket would kill the acceleration..... BUT, it is a twin after all, and all (what there is of it) the torque is quite low down....
So, makes a bit of sense.

I guess they were short geared to stop learners doing speeds above 100mph down the interstate...

As for soft front end, it may be worth looking at heavier front springs rather than preloading the typically soft factory ones?
Just thoughts.... May be there are none that fit, bit i would be supprised at that.

**sidecar bob** · 6th May 2010, 14:33

Originally Posted by quickbuck

Was thinking a 15 tooth sprocket would kill the acceleration..... BUT, it is a twin after all, and all (what there is of it) the torque is quite low down....
So, makes a bit of sense.

I guess they were short geared to stop learners doing speeds above 100mph down the interstate...

As for soft front end, it may be worth looking at heavier front springs rather than preloading the typically soft factory ones?
Just thoughts.... May be there are none that fit, bit i would be supprised at that.

These things are extremely short geard from new, one poster earlier in this thread claims to never use first gear & we found it screamed its ring out at 120k.
As far as the springs go, im sure a set of aftermarket ones is really what it needs, as the standard ones are total crap, but we're trying to improve it for nothing or very little if we can.
If anyone has any leads on a spring we could obtain, id be keen to hear.

**quickbuck** · 6th May 2010, 16:31

Originally Posted by sidecar bob

These things are extremely short geard from new, one poster earlier in this thread claims to never use first gear & we found it screamed its ring out at 120k.
As far as the springs go, im sure a set of aftermarket ones is really what it needs, as the standard ones are total crap, but we're trying to improve it for nothing or very little if we can.
If anyone has any leads on a spring we could obtain, id be keen to hear.

Fair point Re Gearing.
I remember you could literally drop the clutch and it would tootle off at 2km/hr....

"Acquiring" a pair of heavier springs would be the way to go I agree....

**Wickmyster** · 17th March 2012, 18:53

Bob....What revs did the 15 tooth sprocket give the gsx at 100kmph? What do you think the 16 tooth would give. I would like to drop my gsx from over 8000 rpm to 7000rpm. Which sprocket should it use?? Or go for a 39tooth rear sprocket which I have found?? Any ideas on ration would be appreciated

**sidecar bob** · 17th March 2012, 20:28

Originally Posted by Wickmyster

Bob....What revs did the 15 tooth sprocket give the gsx at 100kmph? What do you think the 16 tooth would give. I would like to drop my gsx from over 8000 rpm to 7000rpm. Which sprocket should it use?? Or go for a 39tooth rear sprocket which I have found?? Any ideas on ration would be appreciated

We have sold the bike a while ago & I cant remember exactly (have a 675 Daytona now) Dont worry about the back sproket, just go straight to a 16 on the front, its cheaper & easier to change & it will be about spot on. Thats what I would have done if I re geared our one knowing what I know now.
The front sprokets are the same spline & chain size as YZ 450 Yamaha, so a range of sprokets is easily avaliable cheaply.