Here's a chance to show off your zxr400, so get them digital cameras out and show us some piccies.Rebuilding your bike or modding it then let everyone in on it.
You'll not find a more involving middle weight than this 400
CBR's are great, don't get me wrong but like a well ridden woman there's no enjoyment after the 30th time
I'd be a Honda bloke all day long if I didn't want complication , harmony , reward , essence , technique , fulfilment .....
To me a Honda can be driven fast by anyone - that is there merit and Honda's goal !
It's like blade owners boasting about how they do a circuit in "X" time - well , no toad Sherlock - Honda invested in you being able to do that nugget ! No ability required
Sorry, the green blood runs deep
MM!
Nothing worse than having an H and not being able to scratch it ! Living life on the edge,SuPposedly
the reason i like honda's is for the exact reason you hate them! so far the zxr feels stable, taut and neutral, a bit like a mini CBR...
i have always took this attitude:
when proper barrelling along, on the road or on the track, i want a bike i can completely ride automatically and instinctively. no quirks, oddities, character. just my focus on the road/track. i did the ron haslam school a few years ago, and i was amazed, apart from ground clearance (took 10mm off right peg and went through toe slider) that it completely let you get on with going banana's round a track i did not know! i want to say "i did the road/track in this time" as opposed to "the bike let me do it in this time, despite it bucking, kicking, and distracting me"
each to their own, i bought the ZXR because it was cheap, the fastest 400, cheap, the biggest/comfiest supersport 400 and cheap.
if we all rode the same bikes, the roads would be a boring place! anyway, its about riding, not what you ride, and thats the biker's biggest secret!
ameteurs practice and train unitl they can do it, professionals practice and train until they cannot fail at it..
ran lovely, absolutely lovely! very smooth and linear until 10,000 then it goes, just bloody goes! shame it was so greasy i couldn't really get into a flow, or actually get a pace going, but hey, i'm happy!
few snags, i had a bit of throttle sticking, seems there was a kink in the throttle close cable, so with that gone (now just one cable, i think i've seen a few racers with this) i can get the freeplay to zero, and the trottle snaps shut, much lighter too. the sticking was screwing up starting too, especially when hot. seems the butterfly's were cracked open just enough to screw up starting it, so she flooded, and you stand there wondering why!
suspension is good (its gonna seem a bit hard when trundling around on this greasy toad) front was a bit soft, so a touch more preload and a click of damping balanced the two ends off nicely!
i've got a 120/70 on the front, as opposed to the standard 120/60, and it is nice and stable, feels good with a fast, but stable turn in (for what its worth this weather), although 014's in this weather do feel a bit poo. stroll on sunshine!
the baffleless pipe with akra sounds mint, and whipping a plug out when i got back shows the mixture is about there, lovely biscuit colour, allied this with the smoothness of the fuelling, pulls from 3k in top,smoothly and surprisingly strongly and i'd say its about there!
all in all, including tax, MOT, insurance, buying and doing up, i've spent 800-900 quid, and at the end i've got a good sportsbike with a few nice mods, and all she really needs now is some braided front lines and she's ready for summer! bring it on!
thanks to all the people who've helped with snags, parts, info and advice!
cliff
ameteurs practice and train unitl they can do it, professionals practice and train until they cannot fail at it..
second ride out with snags sorted and oh yes, this thing is good!
suspension is much better with the front end firmed up, although i might have a weeping/the slightest ever seal leak, i think the couple of dings in the chrome are too much for the seal to handle, so i might be after a fork or two! we'll see, might be some wd40 or crap left loafing at the bottom of the chrome from a missed bit of cleaning!
also got some braided lines winging their way form the isle of ebay, goodridge for under £40 new, we'll have those, thank you! seems 21 year old rubber lines are a bit spongy, but hey, can't afford everything at once!
incidentally, now its done 100 miles or so from getting her running properly, she's starting and idleing much better, she must of got the last of the crap out of her carbs, you never get it out without some severe stripping, which i didn't do!
also seems the home brew de-restrictor works, its a cool feeling on a private road watching the speedo go well off the scale!
ameteurs practice and train unitl they can do it, professionals practice and train until they cannot fail at it..
picked up some forks off Jake last night, top geezer, forks are mint, hope you get the bike together and gook luck in your races!
i'll get some pics up tomorrow, forks are lovely for the money, i'll get some seals and oil in them tomorrow and get them on, i'll try and get some pics along the way!
god knows whats been done to these, 18 clicks of damping adjustment on these, both legs! my old ones have 16 clicks adjustment, and they have unknown internals in, is there any consisitancy in my life??? hehe!
BTW what the hell do you boys eat for breakfast up there? i can't undo the bottom bolt that holds the internals in, my ratchet gun just tried and tried, then the socket/allen key combo just shattered, twice! how effing tight are they??? lol!
so its forks tops off method, they all come apart nicely, now sat upside down in the shed, springs out, draining, ready for re-assembly tomorrow!
also, i noticed when riding that 1st goes on forever, and the gears are "close" so i looked up on the gearing database thats knocking around, and at redline in 1st, with 15/45 gearing on, (i just ordered a standard H1 front sprocket...) i'm getting 68-70mph! according to that database/spreadsheet thing, it should be more 50-55mph... (i ain't going to an exact figure, the speedo ain't gonna be that exact) so it seems there's a SP box in it... along with the ports matching the inlet rubbers really well, no steps,and lovely, smooth ports, i do wonder what i've got here! i just hope its not a time-bomb! i may do valve clearances and dyno it sooner rather than later...
the shock that was on it had a green spring, allegedly thats SP, but it could just be a green spring, no extra adjusters, and dual seat, CV carbs, i ain't got a clue which cdi std and SP's have, and i can't remember what the pulsar rotor looks like! i checked on that kawasaki database thing and it comes up as a standard H1, no J1 or SP in sight! oh god, i bought an ex-racer with a modded motor, lol! maybe i should get the rocker cover off and check out the cams...
ameteurs practice and train unitl they can do it, professionals practice and train until they cannot fail at it..
right, that's the forks done! no pics, sorry, camera shat itself, so i just cracked on! however, the plot thickens...
these new forks have progressive springs, and the steel is "thicker" indicating a heavier weight spring than whats in my original forks, plus the original forks were constant rate springs... hmmm, and the rebound damping feels in a much harder range i.e. six clicks on my old ones is about two clicks on these! plus the (unadjustable) compression damping (there is some, its just not adjustable with a screw) is harder, they feel a lot more in balance with the rear end how i've got it, which is damping on 4 (not that the adjuster seems to do anything!) about 20-25mm sag with me on, and the ride height adjuster as high as it will go! front sag is at about 25mm, set with about six turns of preload. feels good, if firm, as the weather improves and the speeds go up, i think i'll have a good baseline setup for road/track! weight transfer is lovely too, but my fat butt probably helps that!
so after todays check ride i'm starting out on:
front:
oil: 5w, 94mm below inner tube top (as dictated by the (H2) manual)
rebound: three clicks from minimum
preload: six turns from fully out (25mm sag with me on)
ride height: standard
rear:
preload: enough so my fat butt gets 20-25mm sag
damping: four of four (i don't think it does owt, it just spins round, lol)
ride height: max height, top nut a mm short off flush with threaded section, and locktited well!
120/70 front tyre, 160/60 rear tyre
i'm probably a touch over 13 stones in leathers (after a poo) and 6 foot tall, and it feels firm, but quick steering yet stable!
i'll have to see what adjustments are required when the weather and pace hots up!
ameteurs practice and train unitl they can do it, professionals practice and train until they cannot fail at it..
well, you learn something new out as you go along...
it seems with the preload i got, and the ride height adjuster on its highest setting, i've got the chain catching on the rubber guide on top of the swingarm, near the pivot! woundered what the occasional rubbing noise was! seems when the back end unloads its rubbing and adding a touch too much tension on the chain (seemed to need adjusting a lot) so i'll be dropping just enough ride height to ensure the chain runs clear! you live and learn! at least it didn't pull so tight that the output shaft seal failed... lucky me!
oh yeah, idea's time poeple, recommend me some fast road/trackday tyres, these 014's are a bit old and i'll need fresh soon! what do you reckon?
i don't really do rain, but that doesn't stop me being caught out in it...
Last edited by cdstirland81 on Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ameteurs practice and train unitl they can do it, professionals practice and train until they cannot fail at it..
we'll see, might be some wd40 or crap left loafing at the bottom of the chrome from a missed bit of cleaning!
