<<For my questions, scroll down>>
My sportbike is on its way....that's something I've wanted to say for a long time and equally happy and surprised to say it. I grew up on the other side of the planet; a child of the 80s. 99.99% of the motorcycles in my town were 50-70cc Hondas; utterly utilitarian and used to transport entire families from point A to B. My dad had a late-60s Vespa, which in retrospect, I wish he still did. Us kids LOVED riding on the back (and front) of it.
So until I was 9, I thought dirt bikes were the coolest things on wheels because of their uniqueness AND those glorious fender gaps. Then sport bikes started slowly showing up in my town and quickly overtook my imagination. Such beasts...though ridden by utter squids. There were may be less than 10 in the whole city but they were always everywhere; blasting down the highways at triple digits; parked prominently at strip malls for us kids to gawk over. But I don't think there was a single unblemished fairing between them (being ridden by squids and all). Kawi ZX11 showed up in the early 90s (I think only 1 in the city), as did Honda CBRs and Yamaha FZRs. All sent down from motorcycle heaven, as far as my teenage brain could comprehend.
When I came to the States for college in late 90s, my singular goal was to buy a sportbike, ANY sport bike. Honda Interceptors were hot those days. And then...Hayabusa was introduced. BLEW MY DAMN MIND! Good thing I was a very poor college kid or I may not be alive today. I bought bike mags and devoured pics and stats of the Busa, GSXRs and everything else. I still have them all.
College, grad school, employment, marriage, kids...then came time to buy a bike. That was a decade ago. Of course I wanted a 'Busa. Started a thread on sportbike forums asking if it was a good choice for a total newbie. You can probably guess what everyone said. But you what you may not guess is that I actually listened (I was a new dad...so of course I did). I also went and sat on one at a local dealer and found how cramped my out-of-shape 6'3" frame felt on it. Took my training class from MSF and got licensed.
I started looking at small muscle cruisers and settled on the Suzuki M50. Bought it used and loved the ride. Wanted to upgrade within months and bought something far too inappropriate for a newbie, a Yamaha Raider. 1900cc of abject terror in cruiser form (hey I was a newb, what did I know?) with enough torque to ride straight up a wall. A raked-out-from-the-factory, unwieldy beast in most hands.
I still have it. It's been my only bike for almost a decade and I've never crashed. I'm a survivor.
You see, I am level-headed and that kept me alive. I am also VERY lucky. I had not one or two, but FOUR unintended mid-corner lane departure excursions while riding the gazillion beautiful mountain roads we have here around Denver. Not once was a car in the other lane though (dumb luck). And one of those incidents put me in the soft dirt shoulder by my own lane but the bike and I somehow stayed upright.
I was scared and way over my head with the bike. So my riding volume went way down for a full year until I felt ready to pick it back up. I did fine the next year and put a lot of miles on the bike. But I knew I needed help. So I signed up for a local track day class with Nick Ienatasch, the author, former racer, and current chief instructor of Yamaha Championship Riding Schools. Helluva guy and a great instructor. I was the only cruiser-riding moron in the class and caused plenty of chuckles when I arrived. But glad I did.
I learned trail-braking, threshold braking and MOST IMPORTANTLY for me, proper body positioning from Nick. Surprisingly, all those YouTube videos hadn't taught me much.
I love my Raider and ride it in the mountains every weekend and during snowy months, the curvy country roads. Out long before kids wake up and back not long after they do. In the past 2-3 years, I noticed I had been riding it more and more like a sportbike. It seems I can only take the right "street" line through a curve, and feel comfortable doing so, if my inside knee is sticking out and weight is positioned to the inside, with my helmet staying vertically outside the bars.
So the sportbike bug, alive but dormant since childhood, crept up again. Combine that with the fact that I lost 70 lbs, and my waist went from 42 to 34 in the past 3 years, with greater core strength, and suddenly I felt more comfortable sitting on the 'Busa in the dealership. But I have admired the ZX for a long time too and sitting on both bikes back-to-back, there was no contest, the ZX was far more comfortable. Reading up on it over the past 2 years, I also learned of its technical superiority over the 'Busa. The 3 traction modes, 2 power modes, and ABS are EXACTLY what I need to get myself used to the very concept of sport bikes and the power they wield.
I'm also re-taking Nick's track class next month so he can point out my mistakes and help me get used to the sport bike posture. Later this year, or early next, I will take his longer class too (full day, advanced track training, max lean, etc.) once I am fully comfortable on the street.
And now back to the beginning...my sportbike is on its way! Assembled/prepped yesterday by Bellevue Motorsports in Washington and being picked up in the next hour to head to Colorado, with stops in San Fran, San Diego and Phoenix along the way, so it will get here in 7-10 days. But hey it is coming!
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So here's the main event. My questions:
- Bar risers: What is the max thickness I can use without having to re-route the wires/cables? I see both 1" and 1.25" available and some research suggests both are close to the OEM windshield but don't rub while some people say the 1.25" do rub. Which is it? And besides Helibars, it appears BlackPath is quite well-known as well, correct? I do not want to install the solid handlebar; I don't like the look on a sportbike.
- Lowered Pegs: Knight Designs seems to be universally liked. Are they wide-enough to accommodate bigger feet (size 13, width E for me) well-enough? I don't expect them to be cruiser-comfy just better than stock.
- Higher Seat: I won't do this immediately (unlike the above 2) but I read that the Concours seat is a direct swap for ours. Does the rear pillion cover fit over it for would it need to permanently stay off? If the latter, I might instead look at getting the OEM seat filled-in and re-upholstered to add some height.
- Conspicuity Lighting: I am a safety-conscious, ATGATT-believing rider. On the Raider, I have a set of small (1" OD) fork-mounted LED conspicuity lights connected to a special controller by Skene Designs that buzzes them ever so slightly to make them appear as though they are "vibrating". It helps stand out in a car driver's peripheral vision. I intend to do the same on the ZX. Have any of you done so? Is there a good mounting position on our forks? Do our bikes have a pre-wired switch for front lights or did you wire yours to the headlight?
- Taillight: How bright is the factory LED taillight? Is it plenty for traffic behind you? On the Raider, I have a brake light modulator which flashes the OEM LED taillight 3 times before going steady, each time I brake. It really gets drivers' attention, especially while approaching me from behind at a traffic light. I will do that at the minimum on the ZX, but in your opinion, if the light itself can use an upgrade in brightness, I'll skip that and get the BlasterX taillight. It is quite affordable, uses the OEM Kawi housing, but replaces the circuit board and LEDs with its own set which has the modulator built in (plus other features). Is anyone here using it?
- Frame sliders: There are far too many options online; a mind-numbing array. Forum search came up with very old threads. Which ones do you guys trust and use today? I know they are mostly useless while in motion, but for a mild tip over in the garage, I am sure they'd be handy.
- Tank Grip: Techspec Snakeskin seems to be pretty well liked but they have 2 and 3-piece options. Did you replace your OEM center piece with Techspec? I need to get used to the idea of grabbing the tank sides with my knees so these are mandatory for me.
- Thicker Throttle Grips?: Is there such an option for the ZX? I couldn't find anything online. On the Raider, I had a set of pads that slide over the smooth OEM grips but with the ZX having textured grips, that isn't likely to work. Any other options?
- Chain Maintenance: I am a DIY nerd and do all my own maintenance (and make all my own mistakes). But this whole "chain drive" thing is new to me after being used to the Raider's awesome belt drive. Again, there are far too many lube options online. Are there ones you recommend? What else should I get (a brush I believe)? I know regular maintenance is critical to maximize chain life. There seem to be automatic lubers on the market too. I want to stay away from those since I'd rather get up close with the chain routinely and do it myself.
- Race Stands or Center Stand: I have a powered lift table for the bikes but the cruiser-friendly flat-top bike jack I use on it won't work on the ZX. Do you guys prefer race stands or the OEM center stand? Searching here tells me the center stand isn't compatible with most aftermarket exhausts which isn't too bad for me because I don't intend to upgrade anytime soon. And they come in handy away from home, but is there any other advantage? Will I lose the side stand if I install the OEM center stand? Does it sag over time and start dragging in corners?
I found plenty of info/pictures here about luggage and will be figuring out my options soon. I also found a source for the reprinted factory service manual on these forums and will be ordering one soon.
If you've read all of this, I applaud your perseverance. If you can think of anything else I missed above but might want to be aware of, please let me know. Thank you.
* Last updated by: ManiZ on 6/20/2019 @ 2:20 PM *
