shovelstrokeed

Mine does it if the bike has been sitting stationary in a hard rain. Won't do it if riding all day in a similar rain, only if it sits in a toad strangler for a couple of hours. I long ago decided that the lamp was grounding by water somewhere in the harness. Give at a couple hours of sunshine and running to dry out and it goes away so I never really bothered to chase it down.

That's hilarious, damn thats like a several thousand mile road home, yea no shit... What's wrong with that? Especially on a ZZR1200. Great way to get to know your new bike. I used to fly out to SoCal back in the '80's and work there for 3 months or so on Company projects. Always bought a new, used bike to ride while spending the worst of the winter in near perfect weather. Come spring, I'd ride it home if it was a keeper. K100RS, Yamaha Turbo 650, BMW R75/5, BMW R50/2, wish I still had that one, it was white and probably one of about 20 in that color imported into the US. One recently went at an estate sale for 27K, I bought mine for 1900.

I assume you meant 16-20 HP per cylinder, right. Nope, 16 Nitrous jets, 20 fuel jets. The smallest setup available from NOS at the time. Given the weight of the bike and the tire I was using, I'd say it probably was an 80 HP improvement. There really wasn't much motor there. 1425 cc 4 valve Suzuiki with turbo pistons (8:1) compression, not much in the way of a cylinder head although the bike would also run 8.40 or so with high comp pistons, and not much in the way of cams. It did have 44 Lectrons and a Dyna 4000 ignition along with 2 different pro stock type headers and a 1,2,3 automatic. The bike was really built to do one thing and one thing only, run 8.20. I have a spread sheet somewhere in my house that shows 30 runs between 8.16 and 8.28 over a 3 week period getting ready for the ProStar meet at Gainesville, all runs done at Moroso. We went up there and the damn thing went 8.00 the first qualifying pass, 7.97 the second taking out some Nitrous, and finally 8.22 shutting it off at the thousand foot cone. Traction and air. I still have that chassis, body and wheelie bars. One day, when I retire again, I'll stick a stock 'busa motor in it and go play bracket racer.

Try this plan instead of looking at engine mods. Lower and stretch the bike. The more consistent your launches the sooner you will gain the confidence to find out what the bike really needs in terms of clutch management and launch RPM. Install an air shifter. Not having to move your legs and feet around will make you much more consistent. Improve traction. A better tire than a sport touring tire, either something like a Pilot Race or a Mickey Thompson street tire or even a slick. You might consider a lockup clutch at this point, maybe not multistage but, you can, with some experience, leave clutch modulation up to the fingers and just throw the clutch away. This will make the bike much easier to ride and, again, make for a much more consistent motorcycle. Notice a pattern here? The word consistent. You ain't gonna beat any of the 60" bikes on motor alone. You are gonna be left with bracket racing, unless, of course, your only interest is seeing how fast you can go. That is gonna relegate you to test and tune nights as you won't get past the first round of a bracket unless you learn how to make the bike run whatever number you wish. I have to suggest that you explore the world of squeeze. I used to run a Top Gas (8.20 index) bike that would, on motor alone, only run 9.30's or so at 135 mph. Added a small, and I mean small (16-20) shot of Nitrous and the thing was an 8.20 at 160 bike. Either way, it would run inside a couple hundredths of that number all night long, thanks to a slider clutch and a progressive nitrous system of my own design. Car tire eliminated wheelspin and a 70" wheelbase and bars made it a baby carriage to ride, even with 1.17 60 foot times!

A pair of E360's on the side and a 460 on the top. Nary a wiggle and I run them loaded nearly all the time when on the road. I have had aerodynamic issues with other bikes/bag combinations. My GS Adventure BMW with Jesse bags and a 50 liter Jesse top box would start to get a bit nervous above 90 mph or so and would go into a slow weave at around 110. The top box was the culprit at the lower speeds but the Jesse bags (basically big, square boxes) caused the high speed weave. With them off, the bike would happily do 126 or so.

Thank you all, for your inputs. I'll be on a 4-day ride from Los Angeles -> Lake Havasu -> Laughlin -> Flagstaff -> Sedona -> Prescott then come back so I have quite a bit to carry (tools / clothing / rain gear etc...). From what you all said, I think I'll be fine with my top case about 35 lbs and the side cases about 30 lbs each. - mike - I just did that ride with about 35 lbs in each of the 3 bag ands another 35 lbs on the seat. Actually went from Flagstaff to Tucumcari. There is/were no issue and speeds often exceeded 140 Km/hr. Do make sure you have all the bumpers properly installed on your wingrack. If the wiggling of the bags is an issue, a Rok strap through both handles and across the seat will solve it. I often run hands off the bars for miles at a time at speeds in excess of 140 KPH. I have no idea WTF XX Rider is talking about. I've been riding my 'bird in this configuration for nearly 2 years and about 45K miles, and other than a little wiggle in the wake turbulence of tractor/trailer rigs, it has been rock solid.

On a hemi combustion chamber there is probably a pretty good increase in performance. That is one very inefficient chamber. On a modern engine, I would expect a minor improvement in burn but nothing really exciting. Fact is, swirl and turbulence due help in flame propagation but, by increasing the surface area of the chamber through all those grooves, you are gonna wind up wasting more energy into the cooling system where most of the energy produced by combustion goes anyway. A gasoline fueled internal combustion engine is a pretty inefficient beast anyway. Pumping losses at part throttle operation will always limit fuel economy anyway. If I ever get around to buying another cage it will be a small, direct injection, turbo diesel. Couple one of those to hybrid technology so that the engine, when it is running, can be made to operate in its most efficient range, ala locomotive systems and you'll have a car that makes pretty good use of the available fossil fuels. A little TDI Smart car would be a lot of fun.

Not sure about EU or English birds but, here in the US, the O2 sensor did not come into play until 2002 and then, I think, only on California bikes. I know my "01 doesn't have one. Chances are Akro included the plug into the design for those bikes that require it.

You can also use a strap wrench to remove the filter. I have a nice small one I picked up at Sears. Makes it easy to unscrew the darn thing. All I ever do is pull that center panel between the lowers and then do a reach around.

The XX hardly lacks for driveability in the low and mid ranges, it is not the torque monster a 'busa is, but it will handily get out of its own way. It is a little soft below 5K but above that, particularly over 7K, it is pretty stout. Yoshimura makes some pretty good pipes, I have a pair of their slip-ons on my bike and I'm quite pleased with both the quality and the sound. Can't say they really added all that much power but they are lighter and not as bulbous as the stockers. If you can find a stock header, I have a pair of stock cans in pretty good shape I can let you have cheap.

Yup, slightly quicker steering, and a little heavier as well, when the bike is unladen. However, I do a lot (>25K miles/year) of long distance riding and mostly on highways. The bike is usually laden with about 80 lbs of luggage as well. I was gonna do the rear shock shim thing but that would raise my seat height higher than I want. Raising the tubes in the triples accomplishes the same thing (nearly) and allows my geometry to be near normal with the bike heavily laden. I do have the rear preload pretty well jacked to handle the load so the ride ia a bit harsh when running without the bags. The modification did allow me to turn the bars quite a bit forward (stock bars) and, because I rotated them forward, there is no interference anywhere. Clutch and brake levers come close to the windscreen but, I have Pazzo shorties on mine and can still get my fingers around the levers at full lock. Naturally, with the bars forward, they don't come anywhere near the tank or my tank bag. Made a bid difference in long distance comfort for me as the angle of the grips is now much more friendly to my shoulders and elbows.

20K? 20K??????? I had 15K on mine when we met, 52K just now and I'm off to California via Chattanooga, KC, Boulder and then back via KC, Chicago and then home. I'll have over 55K by the time I get home. Damn, I'm tired of buying tires for this bike. :icon_cool:

When I mounted my Heli's there was no locating tab, so I thought I could move them around. I quickly found that there is a little room but soon with the wheel turned hard over, you can easily hit the tank in one direction and the fairing in the other. I suspect the purpose of the tab is so the bars can be installed at the factory the same every time. You can grind it off, but you don't gain much. Or, +1 I disagree, I raised my fork tubes about 10mm in the triple clamps and then raised the bars so that the top of the bar clamp was flush with the top of the tube, I was then able to rotate my bars forward, which is what the OP intended doing, to give me a much flatter bar position. Greatly improved hand fatigue and even shoulder joint fatigue for long rides. No interference with the tank, since the bars are rotated forward, and no problems with the windscreen either. About a 20 minute mod if you're slow and using box wrenches instead of a ratchet to raise the tubes. Side benefit is slightly quicker steering.

I wouldn't worry about back EMF on just a relay. The load side is isolated from the control side and will feed nothing back when the contacts open. There is a small back EMF caused by the collapsing field of the relay coil inducing a voltage into the control circuit but it is generally pretty low and always very low amperage. By using the tail light bulb wiring, you will only be dumping the EMF into the tail light circuit. It can handle it.

Hmmm, '02 bird, does it have a catalytic converter and O2 sensor? If so, I'll bet the O2 sensor is going bad.

So go buy a new wax unit and install it. There are procedures for testing in the service manual, check them out first. I'm in Florida, you're in Colorado, might be a slight difference in climate. I have no issues with mine and it works exactly as I described. The GW is carbed so a different animal.

It doesn't matter if it's 50F or 80F. It's idle's the same speed from sitting in the cold overnight to 228F. It ALWAYS ised to idle high when starting up. Something is different, I'm positive That statement would lead me to think the originally, your wax unit was not operating correctly. Sounds like it is fine now. You'll have to wait for cooler weather to see if the idle speed comes back up. The way the unit works should cause a variation in fast idle with ambient temperature. The colder the temp, the higher the idle. It should not ALWAYS go to 1500 RPM. It certainly shouldn't even come into play if the coolant temperature is at 228 deg F. Mine backs off at about 130-150 deg coolant temperature, sometimes a bit earlier if the ambient is high.

Technique #1 is to slightly preload the lever in anticpation of the shift then either fan the clutch lever or quickly off and on the throttle and it will shift like buttah. Technique #2 which should be combined with #1, always follow trhough on the shift. In other words, maintain upward pressure on the shift lever until the shift is complete. A fast shift does not have to be a fast release, keep that toe under the lever and keep pushing up. Unless you have a turbo running lots of boost, there are going to be a good couple of seconds in third before you need to shift into fourth, just ease off the lever and then repeat for the next shift.

Started mine after an overnight sit, air temperature was 81 degrees. Idle was at 1200 RPM and gradually went down in <1 minute to 950 or so and then, as the motor fully warmed (a couple of blocks) it returned to 1050. So long as your bike is starting, I wouldn't worry over much about idle speed. Only time I have ever had cold idle as high as 1500 was the day I bought the bike. It was about 39 deg outside. Remember, this isn't a choke, just a fast idle device. Fuel mixture is taken care of by the inlet air temperature and coolant temperature sensors along with the MAP sensor. Out of curiosity, what was the temperature when you started the bike?

YOur wax unit may be failing but, I suspect, it is just the warmer temperatures in the morning causing this. Mine will raise the cold idle just a little on a 70 degree morning, around 1150 or so but then it falls right back down to 900 till the engine gets to about 170 degrees coolant temperature and then it picks up to normal 1050 RPM. On a hot morning, >85 degrees, no cold start at all. The wax unit controls the opening of the throttles, ECU controls the mixture based on inlet air temperature. If the bike is sitting in the sun, the inlet air temperature could creep up enough so the motor will be a bit lean for ideal running when it is cold, that will drop the idle RPM.

I plan on picking up the speed, I am still amazed at how fast this bike can be. Wait'll you see the other side of 7K at WFO. There is another bike lurking there. I'd suggest your first excursion into this range be in second or higher gear.

2 tools, actually 5, live in my side case when on a trip. 1 1/6" 1/2" drive socket, 7/8" box wrench and a fairly long handled Snap-On 1/2" drive ratchet. Little 1/4" drive breaker bar with 8mm socket as well for the adjusters This way I can whale on that nut and not have to worry about removal or re-torque at a later date. I don't remember the last time I bothered to torque a rear axle nut, it won't fall off even with the pitiful little wrench they give you in the kit and, if you back the adjusters into the tightened axle, you won't lose the adjustment. BTW, you can stomp on that little wrench with a boot to break loose one that is torqued to factory spec. Just make sure it is well seated first. Scraping your shin down the right side muffler can be painful. DAMHIK!!!

While you're there, pick up a 7/8" or 22mm box end wrench for the axle. It's a PITA to discover that the axle is turning while you're trying to torque up that nut.

Figure about 3HP for each 50cc and you won't be far off. You'll get a little bump in compression from the bigger bore assuming similar piston dome shape but you will still be a long way from 200 HP at the crank, never mind the rear wheel. You'll need cams, cylinder head work, more compression, etc. To make 25% more power, you are gonna have to get 25% or more air into the engine and then come up with some way to increase the fuel delivery in proportion. As stated above, the mods suggested will only provide the foundation for more performance, not the particulars.

I'm pretty sure the problem with coolant temperature rise on the BB is not related to either radiator size or airflow through it. Worst I have ever seen is 235 degrees and that was in 12 miles of stop and go traffic on a 98 degree day. It damn near killed me, never mind the bike. I think the real problem lies in the water pump. It is pretty hard to design a pump that will provide adequate flow at 1100 RPM and not cavitate at 11,000 RPM. I'm pretty sure the engineers at Honda built the pump to work right at high RPM and the result is not enough coolant flow through the radiator at low speeds. I submit as partial evidence the fact that my bike will heat enough for the fan to come on just trolling along at 20 mph in a school zone but won't get above 184 degrees in mile after mile running at 5000 RPM (90 indicated), even on a 100 degree day.