20 years later - GPZ After Thoughts

[Charles Scappaticci]

I mentioned a few months back that I had bought a 2013 BMW F800GT and I was
going to sell my GPZ.  After a few months of ownership, I've decided that
though I really like my BMW, I'm going to keep the GPZ long term.

The BMW is very comfortable and fairly quick if you stir the gearbox and
it's a stellar handler in the tight corners.  It's light and flickable at
100 lbs lighter than the GPZ, and running the same tires (Pilot Road 4's)
it sticks to the road and certainly makes easy work of tight corners.  It's
biggest drawback is the vertical twin engine vibrations that come through
the bars which can make my hands tingle, so I will have to invest in some
foam grips before I head on any long trips.

That said, there still isn't much smoother than the GPZ and the
acceleration is still fun and enjoyable after 20 years of ownership.  Plus,
it only costs me about $100 a year to keep it insured and licensed. I had
them out back to back this last weekend for long rides and have to say I
enjoy both of them.  I have been in the mood to ride over to Aspen for
lunch and want to test out the BMW on Independence pass, but I may have to
follow it up the next weekend with the GPZ to really compare them.

I had also mentioned selling off some of my parts stash, (sorry, no cam
shafts), and will likely still do that.  Paul, I do still have those
ignition coils you mentioned along with a complete wiring harness, fuse
box, switch assemblies and a lot of other stuff I haven't bothered looking
at yet as I took most of it to storage.

Anyway, it looks like I will be a GPZ owner for a long time yet and am
hoping to do some major work on it soon as I'd like to clean and tune the
carbs and maybe do a valve job and rings to freshen up the top end.  We
will see how it goes over the winter as the company I work for is near
insolvency and I am having to look for work.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer, and if you're around
Denver sometime, look me up, I've got a spare bike to ride. :-)

Charles S.
95 GPZ1100
13 F800GT
03 WR450
99 KX-250