Hoping to get out on the Kwaka tomorrow as I finished my last shift at Work this Morning.

 

Been having the odd bit of time here and there on the Bike in Garage over the past Week, As the Bike was Serviced 300 Miles ago at the Main Kawasaki Dealership I purchased it from had Motul 10W40 Oil & a Genuine Oil Filter change plus a Coolant change. I have since done the Brake Fluid, New Tyres, New Brake Pads all round and a few other little Jobs but looking through the Paperwork the although the Air Filters have been cleaned at the last few Services they have not been replaced for a few Years.

 

On my particular Bike 2005 Model Kawasaki decided to do away with the Cleanable/Re-usable Air Filter and replace it with a cheaper Paper Element Type which is a throw away item every 7500 Miles. The earlier filters are a much better design and less restrictive and because the Air-Box Design and Air Filter Housing never changed between 2000-2006 they can be fitted on my Bike.

 

I managed to get a Brand New Pair of Genuine Kawasaki better type Air Filters for just £32 off ebay, Usually they are that much each! Have to say the Frame Design which is Monocoque is genius. Massive Air Intake under the Headlight which creates a Ram Effect when travelling and diverts Air via 2 x Intakes into the Air Filters and the actual Airbox is part of the Frame Itself, The Air Filters slot into the Frame. Very clever.

 

Spark Plugs are Platinum and good for 16000 Miles Miles, Mine had a Set 4000 Miles ago so will do for this Season and I will stick a fresh Set in over Winter as its quite a fiddly job so everyone keeps saying.

 

Had the Fairings off and gave everything a clean Not that it needed it, Applied ACF50 on any vulnerable areas and Polished the Exhaust Headers.

 

I joined a couple of Kawasaki Owners Clubs and Owners pages which are good resources for information, I had already decided that over Winter I was going to remove the Front and Rear Brake Calipers and get the fully professionally refurbished and re-painted along with some fresh Braided Brake Lines as the Rear still has the Stock Rubber Hose in place. Although they are all functional cosmetically they are showing their age a little.

 

Luckily because my Bike is a 2005 Model it has Radially Mounted Front Calipers which are the common 108MM Fitment which means there is big potential for Upgrading for more modern Design Calipers but while still retaining OEM Parts, Sadly when Kawasaki decided to fit Radial Calipers they only fitted a Standard Master Cylinder and reduced the Front Brake Disc Size to 300MM opposed to 320MM which are found on the 2000-2004 Models.

 

Plan is over Winter to fit some 2006-2012 ZZR1400 Nissin 4-Pot Calipers, A late Model ZX6R Nissin Radial Master Cylinder This is the same as the ZZR1400 Item except on the ZX6R the Brake Fluid Res Bracket mounts to the Master Cylinder so it a direct fit opposed to attaching to the Handlebars on the ZZR1400, Some earlier 320MM ZX12R Front Discs, 10MM Titanium Caliper Shims for Disc Clearance, ZZR1400 Front Braided Brake Lines.

 

Just need to decided on What Discs to go for and what Colour to go for...

 

A. Keep it OEM looking, Discs with Gold Centres, Calipers Refurbished in Gold as they are now
B. Go for a Black Theme, Discs with Black Centres, Calipers Refurbished in Black

 

Got a few Months to mull it over.

 

Couple of snaps, Very happy with how the Bike is now looking...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Airbox and Frame...

 

 

Old Paper Element Filters...

 

 

New Filters...

 

Had the 1st Service completed on the Harley yesterday and had 3M Ventureshield Paintwork Protection Film fitted on Tuesday, will post some pictures when I can find somewhere that hosts them and allows you to share on forums as photobucket want to charge you for that privilege now.

@Prykey you can attach pictures direct to this forum, just click to choose files. 

59 minutes ago, CWARD said:

@Prykey you can attach pictures direct to this forum, just click to choose files. 

 

Very true, however you have to resize them if the file sizes are large and you want to add several pictures, its easier if you use a hosting service that allows you to attach thumbnails. Photobucket used to but now want to charge you for this privilege, I guess I'm just being lazy 

Put a set of New Spark Plugs in the 12R at the Weekend, Never again 

 

Quite a few People on the Owners Club said that they had to drop the Motor slightly, A few others said they had to remove the Radiator.

 

Anyway after 3 Hours, A bit of Swearing and cut hands I did them  without removing any of the above. 

 

I went for the ZZR1400 OEM Plugs NGK CR9EIA-9's which are a much better Plug than what my Bike will have originally had, Iridium & Platinum so have a really long Service Life. They say around 16000 Miles although I will prob just replace them after 10000 Miles for what they cost....And given I only do about 2000 Miles a Year it will be many Years before they need doing anyway.

You’ve good to love bikes when working on them. 

After reading many reviews about custom ear protection, and speaking to various vendors I found a relatively local company that manufacture them - Plugzz. I've had custom sleeves for in ear monitors for years, by Puretone and they're brilliant and they also do custom protection, however after speaking to Paul, the owner of Plugzz I got nothing but positive vibes. I went down today to have impressions done at his lab in Redcar and I'm very impressed. He's a top guy and showed me literally a bag of examples of custom ear plugs in various colours and explained how the filtration works, he went through the various coms options ( not compatible with my lid unfortunately) and explained the process of making them. 

I paid £55, including impressions, a lanyard and P&P which is significantly cheaper than others where I'd have to get impressions done separately (£30). Plugzz also keep your impressions so if you want/need more, or something else you just contact them, this service usually costs too - £20 with Puretone.

 

I'll post an update once they arrive.

 

I took a bit of a detour on the way home down the coast and for being vey industrialised it's a very nice area. 

 

2018-07-02_02-10-17 by John Walton, on Flickr

Just fitted a Denali Soundbomb as I was a little bit ashamed of the standard one, it terms of tone and volume. The Denali is unbelievable, it took a few hours to actually mount the stupid thing as there's no space behind the fairing but wow it's loud. 

 

Also realised i haven't posted an update on the Plugzz. They came within 2 weeks and fit perfectly, as you'd expect. They work flawlessly, I am able to hear the coms/radio but block out the wind noise, I'd highly recommend them 

A few weeks ago now but...............

I rode the BMW G 310GS.

It reminded me of my old Honda CB250RS, albeit with a much more subtle power delivery.

Incredible little lightweight bike that was extremely sedate around town but really sat up with a twist of the throttle and responded to the higher rev range.

I liked it so much, I bought one, together with a three year service package. I had fun negotiating a good deal too.

The BMW Motorrad dealer was excellent

 

Nice one. Have fun. 

Sounds good, have fun 

The new baby beemer.

Light, simple, comfortable but great fun once you get used to winding up the single cylinder 313cc.

Still treating this one gently though unlike the demonstrator I took out.

 

 

A few small addition:

 

Givi extended screen

Hepco Becker (full face helmet size) top box

Side stand extended foot

Rear brake pedal extender. (the original is somewhat awkward if wearing boots)

 

Heated grips next on the agenda and possibly some handguards.

I cried!

No so much what I did to my bike today, but more what my mate did................he came over for a ride, sat on my new bike but failed to put it back on the stand properly. Result........bike on floor with broken brake lever, bar end and damaged exhaust cover.

I am still crying..........

37 minutes ago, kevberlin said:

I cried!

No so much what I did to my bike today, but more what my mate did................he came over for a ride, sat on my new bike but failed to put it back on the stand properly. Result........bike on floor with broken brake lever, bar end and damaged exhaust cover.

I am still crying..........

 

When is he expected to be out of intensive care?

36 minutes ago, Gyp said:

 

When is he expected to be out of intensive care?

He is 6ft 5ins and a massive unit. Apart from that, he’s a top bloke and I couldn’t get angry with him.

Repairs are all organised already with BMW. 

Hes already had plenty of stick from other mates. It will last for years too!

Bike all repaired and back to new condition after my initial service at BMW.

Finished my additions now with Oxford Heated Grips and some really excellent Barkbuster handguards I fitted this morning.

It may be advancing years on my part, but returning to a small, light, single cylinder machine has proven so much fun.

Happy as Larry with this little machine.

 

 

The exhaust on Mrs Cakemonster's CBR6 got an advisory on the last MOT, so, after much PlusGas and swearing......

 

Now just wait for her to make up her mind on it's replacement..

 

^^^^^^

Now replaced with much shineyness 

 

 

Not been on here for yonks. Not venturing into the other parts but always quite liked this section! 

 

Good to see you’ve all been busy! Likin the Baby Beemer Kev. Bet its right chuckable? Fancy your mate doin that, sounds a unit though, hope you nibbled his ankles to show your disapproval. 

 

Stainless headers on the cbr? Looks loads better. Bet you wish you did that years ago? 

 

My SP’s had a few mods. Seat cowl went on as soon as i saw pyramid plastics have started making em in the right colours. Then a rear peg delete, because you wouldnt wanna be on the back of that even if there wasnt a cowl on. 

 

Then it needed new tyres after 3k miles. So Roadtec 01’s are now on. Whilst i was doing i swapped the chain adjusters with spacers (which get put in when you remove the horrible wrap around numberplate and fit a traditional tail tidy) for Gilles anadized adjusters, their fandangled locking nut and a pre 17 axle because its shorter. Then went stainless caliper bolts etc.. so yeah, tyres were expensive... 

 

Got the DAS6 Plus on it too to remove all the dealer marks. Came up a treat. 

 

I was sposed to be keepin this one standard... 

 

I would love to report that I've done 000's of miles during the great summer that we've had but I haven't. I adopted an Alaskan Malamute who has had a massive impact on us and never had a dog as rewarding. I had looked into ways of getting the dog on the bike with me but at 42kg I can't just stick her in top box. On the plus side I've been getting plenty of fresh air. The bike is in for its MOT next month so it will be interesting to see how little mileage it has done since the last year.

 

Your bike is looking good and the Roadtec 01's are great tyres and made a big difference in grip on my big lump, although I don't think they'll last as long. I thought you were wanting to do more two up biking but I guess you've changed your mind on that with the singe seat cowl and removing the pegs.

22 minutes ago, CWARD said:

I would love to report that I've done 000's of miles during the great summer that we've had but I haven't. I adopted an Alaskan Malamute who has had a massive impact on us and never had a dog as rewarding. I had looked into ways of getting the dog on the bike with me but at 42kg I can't just stick her in top box. On the plus side I've been getting plenty of fresh air. The bike is in for its MOT next month so it will be interesting to see how little mileage it has done since the last year.

 

Your bike is looking good and the Roadtec 01's are great tyres and made a big difference in grip on my big lump, although I don't think they'll last as long. I thought you were wanting to do more two up biking but I guess you've changed your mind on that with the singe seat cowl and removing the pegs.

 

Theyre lovely dogs! But yeah, abit big for the top box . Plenty of steps in walkin that i bet! 

 

Roadtecs were good last time i had them, on the tracer, so thought id stick with what i know. PR5’s are supposed to be the latest arent they but its a risky business when you’re stuck with them   

 

nah couldnt take anyone on this tbh. The pillion seats tiny and theyd have to have the leg length of a new born. So might aswel do away with that   

 

 

4 hours ago, fabiamk2SE said:

 

Theyre lovely dogs! But yeah, abit big for the top box . Plenty of steps in walkin that i bet! 

 

Roadtecs were good last time i had them, on the tracer, so thought id stick with what i know. PR5’s are supposed to be the latest arent they but its a risky business when you’re stuck with them   

 

nah couldnt take anyone on this tbh. The pillion seats tiny and theyd have to have the leg length of a new born. So might aswel do away with that   

 

 

Nice looking machine that MT 09 with the single seat set up. Nice colour combination too.

welcome back too!

10 minutes ago, kevberlin said:

Nice looking machine that MT 09 with the single seat set up. Nice colour combination too.

welcome back too!

 

Cheers! 

 

Yanno what its like, boys and toys! Just keep tinkering don't you aha. Mainly on needlessly expensive bits like below! 

 

 

It needs a steering damper really. The front end is proper flighty n gets abit out of shape on the undulating but complex A roads we have around here. I was going to get this sorted with an ohlins damper which popped up. Didnt jump on it though cos i needed the sat nav more (which i wasnt sure how or where to relocate) and i lost a mate in august due to his R1 antics, which put me off riding briefly. 

Edited 26 November, 20187 yr by fabiamk2SE