www.zxrworld.co.uk

Hmmm, not overly keen on that mate. Funnily enough i was looking last night to find some local sprayers in hatfield that could do my bike, seems there arent any, but plenty of car places. There is one round the corner from me so im gonna pop in see if they will do bike panels.

wtf baz, thats like poeple who stick rizla reps on kwacks its just wrong!

well got a reply from the paint compnay as i emailed them about my paint!

Hi Robert, It depends what format you bought it in...if it was aerosols kept with clean nozzles it should be OK.....if it was liquid paint (say half a litre for example) either COB or 2K but unmixed with hardeners, that should be OK too, touch ups of COB should be OK providing the lids were kept tight on....but if it was a touch up of 2K paint, then we would have added the hardener for you and will therefore have "gone off." If in doubt, use a bit on a test panel and see how it drys. Hope that was helpful, if you need further info please don't hesitate to call us on 01226 203608. Regards, RS Bike Paint

Not sure which is it, its defo in liquid form in a bottle. Pretty sure theres no hardener in it as i think i got that with the paint in seperate bottle!

So, looks like the benelli green meanie is still on! Now, just need to get someone to paint it!

whats it gonna cost ya robB? could get a compressor and spraygun and do it in my shed, turn it into a spraybooth?

dude, if you can spray coloured laquer and get an even coating all over then ill give you the bike! The coloured laquer is exceptionally hard to do from what ive been told and i think thats what put the guy off thats last came and looked at my bike to spray it.

As for getting a shop to do it i dont know how much its gonna cost yet, i havent had time to shop round, got plenty of numbers just need to ring up.

Also, i realised today that from tuesday afternoon to saturday morning i have no work, so will be popping home and getting the ZXR running, taxed and MOT and should be riding it within the next week!!

isn't coloured lacquer called paint?

no, laquer is the clear stuff you spray on top of your paint that protects it. But this laquer is tinted with green. Theres a silver base coat which goes on first then the laquer over the top. With clear laquer if you get it thicker on one part of the fairing that the other you wouldnt notice it, but with tinted laquer it will show loads. Hence you need someone who can get a good even coat with the laquer which usually requires someone with alot of experience.

i can gurantee you uneven colours, and lots of runs but hey you was gonna spray it matt black!!

and matt black paint costs 5 quid a tin, this cost me 200!

Update is a bit overdue but hey nothing has really happened!

Not long after I finished uni and sold my ZX7R I made a trip home with the intention of getting the ZXR up and running, TAX’d and MOT’d. This trip didn’t go well, for some reason beyond me at the time it would start and run, but run like a bag of shite under 5K rpm!

Left feeling disappointed, wondering what was wrong and wishing id never started!

Second trip back, armed with determination and some sounds advice from here I managed to get the bike running sweet as a nut. Turned out one of the spark plugs were knackered. Now running sweet as a nut I was very happy and could then focus on getting the bike MOT’d.

Having moved back from uni mid September a lot of progress has been made!

First task was get it legal, not much to do other than fit a chain guard just in case, construct a baffle and give it all the once over. The ‘once over’ found that the left hand fork seal was leaking which is a failure for sure. Decided to do them as a pair and off they came to go to the local garage, was quoted just over 40 quid to do the pair. However, they had a fun old time trying to get the buggers apart and 81 quid later they were sorted. I did consider doing them myself but given the trouble they had I am pretty pleased I left it to them.

Forks back on, and just by pushing and pulling of the bars in the shed I could tell the forks had new oil in them. Few days later the MOT came and it flew through, only problem he had was that the end can was blowing where it joined the link pipe. Taxed it same day and was officially road legal.

Had a few problems tho, it felt toad, really toad to ride. My initial thoughts were that im used to the 7R and getting on a smaller bike is a bigger change than I thought.

Next day me and some mates decided we would go for a blast, couldn’t have picked a better day to get reacquainted with the ZXR. Felt a bit better that day but on the way out I noticed the ZXR had a misfire, and that it was a pig to push, like a brake pad was binding. None the less, had an excellent day and as soon as I got back I got the plugs out to check the state of things. All plugs were fine except 3 which was sooty. Swapped it for plug on number 2 and took it for a run. Whipped em out and cylinder 3 had gone sooty, so wasn’t the plug messing about. I have no idea what sorted it but I made sure inlet clamps were tight, carb cap screws were tight and that the HT lead cap was well screwed on, checked mixture screws and even checked the float level, it was spot on. Took it out and it was a completely different bike, didn’t matter if I was in the wrong gear it pulled strong and ran really well, problem solved, somehow :S

Next day investigated the calipers, got each wheel in the air and turned them, no problem at all! So callipers aren’t binding.

Decided to leave that and make a start on the bodywork, mismatched panels and bare metal tank were to great to look at, happened to be looking round the shed and ‘oh whats this’ I said as I found a can of white primer. Decided id do the tank, but despite my utterly crap spraying skills the tank looked really good! Sat it on the bike and it really did look rather fucking good! Next day I bought more cans and painted everything! Oh toad what had I done! I just couldn’t believe how good it looked. The last 3 years debating on what colour to paint it got decided by an odd can I found in the shed!

So here it is in all its glory.



Masked off the number board obviously and I think that really does add a touch to it. Plans are to get it painted gloss white in the future but as it is now I am really pleased with how this is coming along. Once it all dried I went and filled the tank up and thought I would do the tyre pressures, ummmm, 16psi in each tyre!!!! That explains why it felt like it did pushing it along and why it was getting edgy when starting to lean it, cant believe I managed to hoon about for a whole day like a twat and not think something was wrong with the handling. In my defence it had been 3 years since id swung a leg over a ZXR!

Now I have had a good week on the ZXR ive done everything on it, country lanes, motorways etc… I can say with hand on heart this is better then my 7R, hands down. If anything its completely taken me by surprise at how good this bike goes, its doesnt really feel any slower than the 7R and it definitely handles better, that I suspect is down to the weight difference, refreshed front forks and some good tyres (BT090’s).

Hope you like the pics! Im in love with this bike!

















You can see more at http://www.bikepics.com/members/robb/93zxr400/

looks ok man .. bit plain .. i'd do the bottom half of the bellypan satin black ..

glad you're back out on it and enjoying it though, they really are fun bikes no matter what else you've ridden.

i hear what ya saying about doing the belly pan, that crossed my mind only the other day, but sometimes less is more? The tank will get done with a black ZXR decal and something on the side panels too, probably kawasaki.

I just cant believe the handling, point it where you want it and its there! At speeds upto 120 i can dart this bike about, the 7R needed some proper effort. What else do you need out of a bike? Its all there in one package!

Good effort mate! Does look a little plain however! Did you get those wavey's made by stealth?

Oh, and I love the indicators!

waveys came from ABE in woolwich in london, theres a story behind them somewhere here on the forum, cost me 350 for the fronts, back and a set of pads all round.

Take it you mean the front indicators? Indicators are straight off a ZX10/6R. Was a mission getting them right but worth it, luckily i had some spare knakered panels to practice on to get them right.

RedexRobB wrote:
Take it you mean the front indicators?

Yep! You've done that really well!