After 8yrs in Oregon.............love it here even more.

The previous owner.....who never rode it - only had 4445 miles on it when I got it a few days ago.....made 'em white.

I think it looks really good. I was going to powdercoat them to match the bike, but I'm diggin 'em.

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My winter storage procedures this year includes shipping the ZX14R from Colorado to California this week followed by a five months stay there riding whenever I like. The Colorado rockies are a fabulous place to ride ... for 7 months of the year.

The ride down to the shippers location in Lakewood / Denver yesterday included 15 miles in a dense fog (actually low cloud cover) between 8,500ft and 6,000ft, with temps as low as 28f (-2c). I think I've made the right choice !

If you can't beat em, join em

Brrr!

* Last updated by: Werks on 10/29/2013 @ 6:17 AM *

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Was 48 here this morning...........hated it

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OOHH 48, lol!

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This weekend I need to prepare my birds sleeping quarters. That said I'm not ready to tuck her away!

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I was able to get another ride in here in CT this past weekend. I had to clean the road salt off the wheels when I got back. Changed the oil. Just have to wash the rest of bike this weekend and then its onto the stands, trickle charger and cover. Sad time, see you in March or April.

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Does it really matter what grade of gas you use to store the bike as long as the gas has been treated with fuel stabilizer? I have been under the impression that regular gas was better for storage. I haven't heard much about this for a long time.

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Blue it's just my opinion, a little contrast is good. I like the blue and white.

If you wanted to mix it up a little, maybe consider some different colored anodized bolts and caps or something. A mix of orange and gold would probably look pretty slick on there.

I've been watching probolt to see if they ever put stuff on sale, so far no luck really. But I'm probably gonna add blue fairing bolt kit, blue bar end, gold windscreen bolts, gold gas cap bolts, and maybe one blue and one gold reservoir caps.

Vic, I bought a rear brake reservoir from China and the blue cap is virtually indistinguishable from The Probolt cap I have. I'm sure it's the same size as the front though I have not tried it. It was listed as fitting a ZX-10. cost about $16. I don't know if you could find a clutch reservoir cap. The 14 is about the only one with a hydraulic clutch.

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Fill the fuel tank as high as you can to minimize atmospheric ingestion due to temperature change. That'll keep the fuel from oxidizing and the water out of the tank.

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Vic, I bought a rear brake reservoir from China and the blue cap is virtually indistinguishable from The Probolt cap I have. I'm sure it's the same size as the front though I have not tried it. It was listed as fitting a ZX-10. cost about $16. I don't know if you could find a clutch reservoir cap. The 14 is about the only one with a hydraulic clutch.

I wanted to stick with Pro-bolt so that all the anodizing would be consistent colors. Not that a little variation would be a big deal, maybe even desirable (providing a bit of contrast).

The other issue is I read quite a few individual reviews on various brands of bolts and stuff. A lot of reviews on aluminum bolts coming from China weren't very positive with a lot of people complaining about the colors and quality. Haven't found one complaint about Pro-bolt's quality, although I'm sure they're out there. I haven't been able to find where Pro-bolts are made, for all I know they come off the same lines as the chinese stuff people complain about.

Pro-bolt does have a clutch cover too.

Vic, LOL, I think we have our threads crossed. This belongs in the gas cap thread, NO? Chinese quality may be worse as far as metallurgy. I read about a test conducted on Chinese levers compared to Pazzo and the metal was probably slightly inferior in the Chinese lever but of no real significance. Color, YES. Not consistant. The yellow anodized sliders I have look like a cheap attempt at aproximating gold in the online photos. They are yellow orange. The blue levers I bought are light blue which is too different from the other blues that seem to be more or less standard on anodized parts.

Any aluminum bolt will be a lot weaker than steel. I never tighten them more than about half the spec of steel. I broke off a Pro Bolt Ti steel screw to my front rotor. It was a small one (5mm I think) but it should have taken 20 ft lbs of torque. Was my mistake, I used the stock torque spec which is for a 6mm steel bolt.

Fill the fuel tank as high as you can to minimize atmospheric ingestion due to temperature change. That'll keep the fuel from oxidizing and the water out of the tank.

That's what I usually do. I heard high octane gas might leave behind sediment if it sits a long time. I used to store with regular gas for this reason but now I'm wondering if it's worth the risk of predetonating when the bike is taken out of storage. It's probably more important to store with gas that has little or no ethanol if you can. I fill mine up past the splashguard but not so high that it can seep into the rubber gaskets on the cap. Also, there were issues with paint starting to peel around the gas cap ring. That was years back and I don't know what the cause was.

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how long does the bike need to be stored before one should change the oil?

Good question. IMHO, you should change the oil before the bike gets stored so it will be free of contaminants while it sits over winter. I guess if you wait too long to store the bike and the weather gets damp and below 55 F, might as well let it sit with old oil until you run the bike again. I imagine condensation is worse than dirty oil.

If you stored with fresh oil, I guess it's as safe as can be indefinately.

How much damage does contaminated oil do? I doubt it would make a big difference until many years passed. ...is my guess. I mean, you run the bike with contaminated oil for 2 or three months, right?

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Here's my babies gone sleepy for winter. I put them up on pallets because last winter I had an ice rink on the floor in here (Fortunately, the bikes were still back in Michigan at that time). Snow falls off the roof and piles up right at the door. When it melts, water backs up and runs under the door and it seeps under the walls into adjoining units too....so I'll be clearing the snow from every door on the building throughout this winter. I sure don't want anyone to pour salt to unfreeze their door.

You'll notice these old pallets were reinforced with some 4 x 4s topped with a 1 x 4. Also have some 4 x 4s straight down the center and a sheet of 1/2" plywood over the lats on top of the pallets. The plywood is a little extra support and it also allows the wheels on the stands to roll. The lats on the pallets have spaces between so that would not be possible to roll the stands on.

* Last updated by: Rook on 12/1/2019 @ 12:38 PM *

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Store them in a climate controlled place...

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Someday....someday...

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morgstang,
No place in TX needs winter storage. Maybe theft prevention or Hurricane drowning.
Modern Bikes are like modern cars. Fuel injection is a wonderfully technology.