Horns...sheesh...what a useless do dad
Yes, I agree in theory but in practice, the exhaust is 10x more effective. I instinctively use a rip on the throttle to scare the crap out of wildlife. I don't think the horn is very audible with my engine running at 3500 rpm and in a parking lot, a 6k rpm bark will get everyone's attention even in the mall parking lot that covers about 1/8 square mile.
The stock horn is pitiful by comparison.
Rook...you don't need that dumb plastic "stem cover" on there...you couldn't possibly get a rock tossed up into
the bearing area,or the frame casting...maybe start a hairline crack in there.
Oh for crying out loud, why not just encapsualate the whole bike in a kevlar armor shell and put doors on it?
Since then my intake air temperature has dropped dramtically due to increased flow around the airbox and I lost about an ounce of weight off the front of the bike. Another unexpected bonus is the air makes a detour up around the ram-air ducts and spirals through the George Foremans creating negative pressure at the front of the bike, pulling the bike along which equated to an increase of 20 rwhp, not including the horses freed up by the lost ounce of plastic!
I try to drop weight where ever I can and at this point, even the couple ounces here and half an ounce there has added up to a few pounds. If it works the same, I'll take the weight savings.
Those guys and ladies are world class motorcyle engineering minds, and they didn't put one single nut, bolt, washer, or do-dad on the ZX14 that doesn't serve a practical purpose.
I have no doubt you are corrct for the most part, Priv. My impression is that Kaw avoids extra "stuff" on a bike not only to streamline function but to save $$$ in production(i.e., steering damper on the Hayabusa, 6 fork clamp bolts vs 4 on the 14, gas tank hinge w/ support truss...the list is longer but I have forgotten about keeping score at this point--I just like the 14 best).
That being said, we do have a belly pan and heavy ass framework that serves very little purpose on the 14. (the busa at least has the rectifier down there which is a part that requires the protection of a belly pan.
.....and what about he foremans? Yes, we need something the complete the the fairings but those fins have no function except to look cool.
Just curious, Rook... are you just letting the rear line go free with out some kind of holder by that brake disk?
I was concerned about that as well. One of the reasons I angled the fitting to the rear caliper downward instead of closer to 12 o'clock. The downward turn takes up a lot of the slack that might wobble around up by the rotor. I still have wrench access to my rear brake caliper bolt by a hair.
There is a tab that provides a screw hole to mount the stock rear brake line retainer to the swingarm. I zip tied through that hole to loosely retain the Goodridge line. Also I rolled the line with several layers of tape (to protect against rubbing). Looks a bit cheesy but I plan to fab up a small aluminum retainer with a rubber damper (like the stock line has) that will be fastened into the same hole.
I think the brake line is pretty safe from getting caught up in rotor. It is quite stiff. There is a second hole drilled farther back on the arm that was used for retaining the OEM line. If I see any signs of abrasion to the kevlar, I will be fabbing up a second retainer for that mount.
Also, I don't know if it's really that 'necessary' to upgrade the clutch line in a practical sense, but it does look cool and they usually aren't very expensive. I picked up a Russel brand for around $25 off Amazon and who would flinch at that price?
I would go with goodridge clutch line just to complete the look and the weight loss (lol --prolly another 6 oz!) but dang, I spent ~33$ for my Goodridge kevlar rear ($60 sale price for fronts) and that was ~ half price! Oh well I like 'em. Tell you the truth, even after 27000 miles, I'm sure the OEM lines were just as good as the new Goodriges but Not as good looking. I believe the brake lines are a replacement part at some point, anyway.
* Last updated by: Rook on 6/20/2011 @ 12:44 PM *
'08 MIDNIGHT SAPPHIRE BLUE Now Deceased