Why I bought a ginny

[twinkle]

No wai... have you seen any of the old singles -- AJS 350 `Boy Racer' and the Ducati singles with single downtube frames; just have the exhaust port offset to one side. In fact, the GN125 has a single exhaust, doesn't it?

I have now I think of it, but i've seen some bikes that have the port coming straight out the middle and the frame reaching around the front of it... why wouldn't they all have the port offset? expensive?

[delusionz]

Last night I rode my GN through the night from Auckland to Raetihi, (and it was raining heavily from the Harbour bridge to Cambridge) loaded up with me and my luggage, it didnt miss a beat and I never felt unsafe. It took ages, but I and my luggage are heavy, and I think it's slowness is what makes it a good safe learners bike. Although I did cruise at 100k at times, the rain and head wind made me a lot slower for a lot of the trip.

I understand the combination of Wet roads, Windy motorway (ie, harbour bridge), My 100 section front and 130 section rear tyres and My lightweight bike make the safest maximum speed of roughly 85 kph for me. And I have to be at full strength to keep it upright as large vehicles seem to want to slurp me in and the wind just wants to push me over. Now that's got to be tough for a learner who wants to keep their bike and their life.

[xwhatsit]

I have now I think of it, but i've seen some bikes that have the port coming straight out the middle and the frame reaching around the front of it... why wouldn't they all have the port offset? expensive?

You mean the frame changes tack to avoid the exhaust? Haven't seen that yet. There's a lot of twin-downtube frames that work well with a straight-out exhaust port. Either way it doesn't matter, I can't see designers sacrificing frame rigidity just for the sake of re-using an existing cylinder head design.

[Lucy]

I understand the combination of Wet roads, Windy motorway (ie, harbour bridge), My 100 section front and 130 section rear tyres and My lightweight bike make the safest maximum speed of roughly 85 kph for me. And I have to be at full strength to keep it upright as large vehicles seem to want to slurp me in and the wind just wants to push me over. Now that's got to be tough for a learner who wants to keep their bike and their life.

Heard on the news that two bikes got blown over on the bridge - hope it wasnt you!

[delusionz]

Heard on the news that two bikes got blown over on the bridge - hope it wasnt you!

Nope, But I almost got blown over yesterday morning traveling at 30kph in Mt Eden, Also nearly hit a blue recycling bin flying around the road on the way back.

[Chill]

Steve--Many er um ok many many years ago when the GN's were new on the market my girlfreind did a full tour of New Zealand on her Ginny
She was staying with me all day riding at 100-120ks

I rode mine Wellington to north of Auckland and back, no problems. Just used bungy cords to attach a backback full of clothes on the pillion seat as a backrest and off I went.

[Chill]

All I'd change with a stock GN is:

- Change the back tire to something rounder, you will notice the difference when cornering
- Remove the baffle (makes it sound much better)
- Personally, I had to change the rear vision mirrors to something wider, otherwise I was just looking at my shoulders the whole time.

And keep the chain tight, can't afford to loose power through a loose chain.

But my GN can keep up 100kph and over no problems, so don't see why it can't go anywhere you want.

[delusionz]

- Remove the baffle (makes it sound much better)

They sound like shit to begin with, why make it more obvious?

[Pancakes]

Apart from riding, the other thing all newbies need to learn is the essential art of motorcycle maintenance. The GN250/TU250 has everything accessible, parts are cheap and easy to get, no special tools or skills required and very little you can do wrong.

Call a wrecker for the price on a head with valves intact! MOST parts are cheap for these, seems like the exhaust valves are what lets go. It's a guess but the fact that they have the reserve switch makes me think that the leaning out when it dies and you have to switch over means the exhaust valves see higher temps than they should each time you run out of the main tank which for me was on the m'way most of the time. I'd advise filling up before running it out and not over revving. Good bikes tho' low bits are easy to scrape! Makes it feel like your going low!