The turbo 14 I purchased from a reputable member of the ZX community arrived here last Thursday evening. It is a particularly clean example of the breed and honestly is a lot stronger than it was advertised as being. It makes my 285 at the tire Hayabusa feel like an almost stock bike. It's so nice dealing with a reputable gentleman and having everything go right with no regrets of any kind on the purchase. Robert, I don't know if you're on this particular forum or not but I want to thank you in every venue I'm on for selling me this bike. It's exactly what I was hoping to add to our little arsenal. We carried it to the track with stock clutches after pulling out a Hays clutch and, just as Robert had said, it failed almost instantly. Hays clutch will be back in the bike before beating on it again. We'll probably go ahead and put it on a dyno (as Robert suggested we should do) to make sure everything is solid and a go before hitting the track again. Is this a 7 second 1/4 mile bike?????? Hmmmmm.......could be with a light jockey with mad riding skilz. We have that. We have crappy air until November though so that might keep us from that magic number until then. I figure Dave will practice at the local 1/8th mile until he feels comfortable and then we'll attack Dinwidde, VA or another quality 1/4 mile facility and shoot for the number. Oh yeah, this is a ride around everyday type streetbike with no compromises. 535 pounds ready to race so there is no weight of any kind taken off the bike. No brake removal, no sound deadening removal. No nothing. Heavy, heavy, heavy. I'll get some pics posted soon. Thanks for reading everyone and have a good one.

Congrats, Look forward to some pics. Bad your going to miss this one,,,,,Your Busa needs rods but your 14 needs you lol

Your Busa needs rods but your 14 needs you lol

Yeah, Busa needs rods as I've already got an 83mm set of Wossner Turbo pistons for it. Rods/pistons in the Busa is a start but it still needs the piggyback fuel system and computer to make big power. I'm hoping we can get the turbo 14 to around 325 to as much as 350 to the tire with what we already have. Got to figure out how to get it down the track even at its current power level though. Everybody throws big horsepower numbers around like they're nothing but trying to harness all that power on the track is a whole other story. Ask Sam and Dave.

Congrats!

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

I found this from when it was for sale.

Rob started out with the same Cycle-Logic kit on that bike that me and Romans are running. I wonder how much of the original kit is still on it?

Rob started out with the same Cycle-Logic kit on that bike that me and Romans are running. I wonder how much of the original kit is still on it?

No idea on that one. Maybe he'll chime in with the answer. I'm taking the whole bike over to Rodney Williford soon so he can try to tune it for around 350 horsepower. From what I've been told by others doing this same this to this bike, it's possible. Rodney is also going to look over what's here and let me know what I have to do to get this bike up over 500 to the tire. I know the motor will have to be modified to handle that kind of power, I need electronics to harness said power and I'm sure I need to change the actual turbocharger as well. I just want a bike capable of 7's @ 180+ and this bike is actually pretty close to that capability just as Robert sold it to me assuming a lightweight rider with mad riding skills pilots it. The gentleman riding my "stock" 14 fits those qualifications perfectly but he's going to need some serious seat time to extract those kind of numbers out of this bike. I'll do whatever necessary to hit the number. 1/4 mile isn't my focus though. 1/8th mile is. Anything in the 4's and I'll be happy. Anything around 150 in the 1/8th, MPH wise, and I'll be happy. Lofty goals for a heavy streetbike (535 w/o rider according to Robert) for sure but I'll get there eventually. Might (probably is a better word) need to go through and throw serious money at weight reduction to help achieve said goals. Like I said though, whatever it takes. Wish me luck as I'm gonna need it.

* Last updated by: smokinstorm on 7/4/2012 @ 2:45 AM *

Rob started out with the same Cycle-Logic kit on that bike that me and Romans are running. I wonder how much of the original kit is still on it?

Last time I spoke to Rob he told me his fuel system was totally upgraded, bigger injectors, (got rid of walbro in tank pump, surprise surprise,grrrr)running e-85 which needed 30% more fuel flow. Springs as well. Bad your not far off.

I'm taking the whole bike over to Rodney Williford soon so he can try to tune it for around 350 horsepower. From what I've been told by others doing this same this to this bike, it's possible

Wow, big number. 15lbs of boost ????? I also thought stock rods pushing the limits at 350 ???? Please keep us up to date. I will copy lol. C-16 fuel hard on the wallet and we can't buy e-85 here in Canada.

Anything around 150 in the 1/8th, MPH wise, and I'll be happy.

Smooooookin fast

Yes, the fuel system has much larger injectors (650cc I think). I wrote it down on the list of things done to the bike but don't have that list in front of me at the moment. It's got an external pump that's huge also. Yes, as long as Rodney feels good about it I plan on going with around 15 pounds of boost. I was told 16 pounds netted 384 to the tire but it was pretty much set on KILL. I'm hoping 15 PSI will make around 350 and live long enough for me to get a bulletproof motor combo done to shoot for the big numbers. I'm going to get the e85 from Rockett Brand Fuels to elimitate the inconsistency of the mix. Theirs is always 85% alcohol and 15% gasoline and I need that guaranteed mix when trying to push the envelope like I'm doing. Yes, it's several times more than what you can get it at the pump. Price I'll have to pay for what I want to do. Price a motor lately? You understand I'm sure. 150 is a monster number that we will not hit for a long time. I do expect 140+ in the 1/8th out of the stock motor though. My N/A 14 is running 131+ with half the horsepower of the turbo bike so that's my reference point. Just gotta get the turbo down the track as efficiently as the N/A bike. Tall order? You betcha! But Dave and Sam are up to the task and I hope to be reporting otherwordly numbers from a street bike really soon. Or at least when it's not almost 100 degrees every day. I'm feeling really good about this turbo 14 and all the credit has to go to Robert for what he put together and sold me. No way I could afford to do what he did from scratch. The ZX community is a good one to belong to.

. Just gotta get the turbo down the track as efficiently as the N/A bike. Tall order? You betcha!

Did you buy the Hayes clutch with the bike ???????

Did you buy the Hayes clutch with the bike ???????

Yes, but we had Robert install a stock clutch instead. My twisted thinking was that since my guys know what a stock clutch feels and launches like it'd be easier for them to transition over to turbo power on the same bike vs starting out with a clutch we know nothing about. Robert highly cautioned against this course of action and for good reason. The stock clutch has no chance of handling the power this motor is making even at its current power level. The boost gauge isn't working so I don't know what boost level it's at so I can't estimate the power with any certainty but I can assure it's much stronger than my Turbo Busa that has 285 to the tire on Rodney Williford's dyno. Robert was dead on correct on this one. I was dead wrong. The Hays clutch will be going in the bike before we take it to the track again. It's going to be a while before we even run the numbers that Robert was able to run and he's a really big guy. I just hope to get everything as good as it can be by Fall when there's some decent air back in here again. Anything around 0 DA is good air for us. We're at sea level but the heat, humidity and barometric pressure around here are bad during the late Spring, Summer and early Fall. Global warming sucks. We'll get our act together but I'm not going to try to push the issue. This bike is too much to throw caution to the wind. Be safe and be back to race another day. That's our approach with the bike so bear with us. Thanks for reading everyone and have a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1ID_0SxyGnM

Quick vid. First launch at track. Clutch set up to tight for rider. Set up for 300+ pound rider. Dave weighs 160. ET in the crapper but it did run 136 even after the antics off the line where Dave had to completely shut the bike down. This one's gonna prove interesting me thinks. Copy/paste as I can't get a link to work.

* Last updated by: smokinstorm on 7/14/2012 @ 2:19 AM *

I would love to own the Hayes

* Last updated by: Romans on 1/18/2013 @ 3:39 AM *

Though I originally thought otherwise, the Hays clutch is a necessary ingredient in getting a bike like this to show its potential. We've got some adjusting to do for sure as I don't think there could possibly be more of a difference in rider weight from the previous owner to Dave. To prove how much of a fan I am of this clutch now, both the NA 14 and the Turbo Busa are going to get this clutch as soon as money avails itself. That's somewhere around $3500 for both but it's just got to happen. I hate to get my hopes up as to how quick we'll get this bike to go but I'm cautiously optimistic.

I hate to get my hopes up as to how quick we'll get this bike to go but I'm cautiously optimistic.

To prove how much of a fan I am of this clutch now, both the NA 14 and the Turbo Busa are going to get this clutch as soon as money

Ahhhh, killing me. Post pics please when this happens

Not trying to dig up old stuff but I thought I'd update what happened to the turbo 14. It spun the #3 rod bearing on the above pass. Little Dave, the mechanic and rider finally got the time to remove the motor and tear it down to see why it lost oil pressure in the shut down area on the pass above. Apparently the oiling issue all ZX motors have had since inception has not been addressed by Kawasaki. Even though they will send out an army of hitmen to see you for even mentioning this fact, I've had this happen to me twice now on two different motors and have heard of countless other instances so I know first hand about it. New bearings, rings and a headgasket are supposed to be here Friday and Dave might even get the chance to put the motor back together this weekend. I'm just hoping to have it back up and running by the time the tracks open back up around here around the 1st of March. Rodney Williford is going to build the Busa motor and tune it to around 400 horsepower in the next month or so and then tune the turbo 14 for around 350 as soon as we get it over to him. It's going to be interesting to compare the two this year. The turbo 14, as it arrived from Texas, was way ahead, performance wise vs the turbo Busa tuned for 285 to the tire. I can't wait to see how they stack up now with an obvious horsepower advantage to the Busa. Don't count the 14 out. Dave rides the 14 @ 155 pounds. Sam rides the Busa at 230. Both rider weights unsuited. Neither bike has yet to run the times of the NA14 but I expect that to change the first time out this year with the turbo bikes. I'll post up results from the track once we get some.

Not trying to dig up old stuff but I thought I'd update what happened to the turbo 14. It spun the #3 rod bearing on the above pass.

Ahhhhh, our beloved #3 again.

finally got the time to remove the motor and tear it down to see why it lost oil pressure in the shut down area on the pass above. Apparently the oiling issue all ZX motors have had since inception has not been addressed by Kawasaki. Even though they will send out an army of hitmen to see you for even mentioning this fact, I've had this happen to me twice now on two different motors and have heard of countless other instances so I know first hand about it

Smookinstorm did any of the mechanics give you a reason why this keeps happening ???? Oiling issue is all the info anyone seems to get.

why it lost oil pressure in the shut down area

Was pressure fine prior to the run ?????

Next, can I ask, What if any oiling mods are you planning on doing during the rebuild. ,,,,,?

This issue picks on street rider and drag racer alike. Love to know more. I have ordered the Muzzy plate with new billet oil pressure valve but still not sure this is the smooking gun. No one will talk to the exact cause.

If you could provide any more info ????? New bike being built soon I would hate to find out later there was something I could have done on the service side of this issue.

Pictures would be great.

Thanks for coming here to mention. Look forward to learning more. Cheers and thank You .

I believe it had oil pressure before the run. I say "believe" because the oil pressure light was not on. It came on in the shut down area after the run according to the rider and mechanic, Little Dave. He let the bike cool down and tried to make another pass about an hour or so later but the oil light came on during the burn out so the run was aborted. This is the second time the #3 rod bearing has let go in a bike I've owned. The other time was on a ZX11-C model but that bike was well know for spinning the #3 rod. I thought they'd fixed the problem in the ZX14 and maybe they have. Robert said that this was the first time the bike had spun a bearing since he had it and he rebuilt it several times and made untold passes of nearly 170 MPH down the quarter mile with zero issues. I guess the bearings just don't like me. I don't know of any oiling mods I can do to the 14 right now to stop this from happening again but the motor is stock now and I'll not push it much past 350 horsepower. When we step up to the 500-600 horsepower level I'm going to throw every trick in the book at it in an effort to keep the bearings in it. Since it's literally made a few thousand passes both down the track and just through the gears without incident before I got it, I'm just going to chalk this up to being a fluke for now. I don't think Dave took any pictures during the teardown but I'll ask and, if so, I'll get him to post them up. This year is phase 2 on both the Busa and the turbo 14. I sure hope they stay together as phase 3 is going to make stupid power and get reallly expensive if things go wrong. I'll keep updating this as new info unfolds. Thanks for reading everyone.

I don't know of any oiling mods I can do to the 14 right now to stop this from happening again

Ouch,,,, was really praying the guys at the track would release the fix if there is one.

we were just talking about this over here. Click

Ah! An opportunity to gather facts. Ive pasted a post to Romes thread below... bear in mind i was referencing the 2012.

My schematic shows #3 and #4 rod bearings being fed from the exhaust of the 4th main bearing which also feeds the transmission counter shaft. How is an oil starved #3 rod bearing not also producing an oil starved #4 rod bearing?

Further, the exhaust of #2 main bearing feeds the #1 and #2 rod bearings and the transmission input shaft... similar to the lubrication load placed on the above.

Any complaints of #1 or #2 rods letting go? Attributed to bearing failure via lube loss?

OK, im back. Im asking if we could please get detailed views of all plain bearing surfaces. Thanks!

Read this from old thread back in 2007. 2013 and still guessing ?

I spun the #3 rod bearing. The cause was a combination of too many dyno runs, and oil starvation from the crappy stock oil pan, plus the #3 rod bearings on almost all the ZX14 in the same lot as mine where/are tight.

As everyone knows there are three different bearing sets that can be ordered for the zx14. I ordered a complete set of black ones which are the middle of the road in size. The local dealer also ordered a blue and brown rod and main bearing in case one is too tight or too loose when assembled. The clearances will be checked and hopefully with the available bearings they'll end up perfect. At least I hope so. This is the first time it's spun a bearing so I'm certainly hopeful it was a fluke and just had too many passes on it before being rebuilt this time. Dave is redoing a lot of the wiring right now as well as we're waiting on 3 more sets of piston rings that should be here tomorrow to assemble the engine. I ordered a set of rings and the parts guy at the dealership ordered just that. A set of rings for one piston. Be careful what you ask for, huh?

when assembled. The clearances will be checked and hopefully with the available bearings they'll end up perfect. At least I hope so.

Sounds like you have some great engine builders working on your team. Look forward to learning which bearings ended up being used.

A set of rings for one piston. Be careful what you ask for, huh?

End result should be well worth it Look forward to the read and the #'s