Hello Folks,

I'm a new ZX-14 owner. I brought home a 2006 ZX-14 last night, so I'm as new as they come. My 14 has a stock filter, Power Commander and a "Two Brothers" slip-on exhaust(Sounds Awesome!). Last night, I noticed that almost every time I let off the throttle to roll up on a traffic light, the bike rumbles and farts off 1-2 backfires (thunderous pops). What really worries me is that the bike is not just backfiring, it's actually emitting a blue flame (a "blue angel" if you will.

I won't lie, having fire "shootin" out of my exhaust at night, as I whiz by on this beast- is pretty cool. However, I'm afraid that my bike may be running rich and is damaging the engine.

This morning, I also noticed that the slip-on pipes have black soot. I didn't see it last night when I bought the bike (serves me right for buying a bike at night, under limited lighting). The bike runs strong, but then again, its my first time on a ZX-14 and all I have to compare it to, is my old CBR 1000.

The old owner showed me a Dyno sheet & fuel map table. He stated that the bike had a custom map built for it when he bought it from another guy in 2008.

Is this normal? Or do I have need to do take it somewhere?

PS... I forgot to add that the old owner didn't seem to care much about washing this bike. The chain was all gunked up and filthy and the overall cosmetic condition of the bike was a 4 out 10 (I'm going to have to order a new fairing kit). I bring this up, because I really don't know how long the black soot (on the exhaust) had been sitting there? He may not have washed the bike for some time and it just accumulated? I'm not sure.

* Last updated by: TexasGuy on 9/12/2011 @ 1:47 AM *

It's been like that. I doubt if he neglected the bike's condition, why take the effort to mess with the pc mapping if he's going to sell the bike? I think you'll be fine. Also, do not start chasing parts if he never dropped it. Stuff is expensive. Besides, it's something to clean. Polish it out. You'll mismatch shades of color fade from one kept garage bike to one left outside who knows... Enjoy the bike as it is.

Do yourself a favor. Look for the pc and remove the red wire from the battery or however they hooked the unit up. Shut it down. If we want to go back and forth about bangs about to blow a hole in the pipe or flame, sally running behind your bike to cross the street fast, happens to have her silk halloween costume catch fire anshit... And no, there is no lean out of any duals having a muffler system no matter how loud you think it is. It's still has packing so do not worry.

Besides, your gas mileage will become more tolerable or do you know WOT you bought? That pc is more a waste for the street if you want mileage and not set the town on call... I said, I said... set the town on fire who called in a map? Oh wait, he said it was dyno'd. Got it.

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/12/2011 @ 2:19 AM *

Thanks for the reply Hub. This guy launched an all out assault on this bike, with a black can of spray paint (I'm not kidding). It looks okay from 20 feet, but once you walk up to it.. your like- WTF? So, I'm going to buy a new fairing kit for it next month.

You might also consider going through and doing all the general maintenance to it also. Sounds like he was a dumbass and didn't take very good care of it. If he had bad habits of cleaning and taking care of the outside, imagine how bad his maintenance habits probably were. Also if I were you I would go to the powercommander website and download a new map for your powercommander. They have a map for the 14 under the heading of "M17-012-007 Two Brothers slip-ons , Stock or aftermarket air filter". Who knows if the people that made the fuel map or "Tuned" the bike actually knew what the hell they were doing (you hafta wander if the guy is doing dumb shit to the outside of it).

No Tex, thanks for that avvy. Laughed my ass off. Oh, now it's paint on all the parts? Take a polishing buffer to it. Probably come right off if he didn't rough sand the original finish to make it bond. I watched my next door painter buff out his car before a show. Lots of clear coat so it melts with the buffing You can't see swirl marks, lines, nothing but rich deep paint. Guy is good. If he's not hitting paint... How fine a pressure can you handle before you see OEM?

I like a grease filled neglected bike. Kind of like a preservative covering parts.

I wouldn't worry about it. My bike pops and rumbles on ever run and I like it.As long as it ain't blowing the mufflers off or setting fire to cars in back of you....

Mad

Yeah, I've been going through the bike with a fine tooth comb and have been finding things I wish I would have seen before buying this bike. I found that the metal cover for the engine sprocket has a hole in it and is cracked. I'm thinking his chain broke on him or something, at some point in the past? I also found what appears to be a missing engine bolt? Not sure what was there? Here's a picture, can you guys look on your bike and tell me what it was for? Its on the left side of the bike, near the engine sprocket cover and shifter.

* Last updated by: TexasGuy on 9/12/2011 @ 2:58 PM *

That empty hole is normal mine is same way.

There is even a larger one further up on the engine, I think. Not sure what they thought they were for, when they put the design in CAD/CAM a decade ago.

Who knows....maybe it could be a hole that's used for engine hoist during assembly ?????

No way to tell, never been on their assembly line before....

Thanks for the replies guys! I appreciate all the feedback!

Well, I'm super excited... I'm gonna take my first cross country ride on this beast tomorrow morning. My girlfriend and I are headed up to Pueblo Colorado (from El Paso, Texas). It's a 10-hour ride! I just changed out my plugs and oil. After reading several posts on various forums, I also decided to take the $50 plunge and loaded a "JEFFO Map".

I haven't really had a chance to test out his map yet and confirm (for myself), what all the hype is about. So, this will give me a good opportunity to stretch out her legs and really get a good grasp of how much of a difference his map makes on my bike (I've only ridden the bike at slow speed to the local grocer, since I installed his map).

However, this is what i can confirm... The only thing I did notice is that running my "GI PRO" TRE in setting "1" makes a noticeable difference with his map loaded, in terms of a crisp and fluid power band and helping remove decel pop. JEFFO recommended that I turn the GI-PRO TRE off, but my ass dynometer counterdicts his advice. Having it "on" (in setting 1) is a VERY positive and noticeable difference according to both my cheeks.

Tex, how many miles on the bike?
Shoot the drive chain. Wipe the rear chain links off for the photo shoot. Here is what I'm thinking. Are there heavy duty clutch springs in the bike? You are taking a guess about a lost chain. I'm thinking; it would take out the push rod and not push any load where you see that crack.

That looks real close to being pushed out as far as being cracked that way. I'm looking at it in the X. You see it in the Y direction. Only way to tell is if that chain has gold links, has no link you can determine on either side of the plate(s), then no, no damage with a chain thru the case/push rod cover/ect. Seems like it would be a bad design, or the springs were just too much, set the crack?

Hub, thanks for the feedback. I spoke to the guy that sold me the bike and he stated that he had the bike stretched at one point and the chain snapped on him. So, he slapped the stock chain on and removed the swingarm extensions. The bike has almost 14,000 miles.

Rook- that's a funny vid :-)

Well, that answers that. Seems that cover grew some. Makes sense it took a lot to crack it, not a few springs.