Good News/Bad News

Although I'll leave the ride report to Douglas, I will fill you guys in on something that happened at the outset of the ride. As you know from a previous blog, I had purchased a set of trackday take-offs from Ocelot on the ZRXOA and had them mounted up on the ZRX with the intent of surprising Douglas by showing up riding "mean-green". Bike has been running superb since I got the coil issue addressed and was excited to be back on the Rex with a chance to get it back in the twisties! Leaving Tulsa Saturday morning it was a little cool so the bike was running even better. I got about 100 miles north of Tulsa when I pulled over to the side of the road to check my map and to my great dismay, I was soon enveloped in a choking cloud of blue (oil) smoke emanating from my tailpipe! What to do now? First instinct was to turn around and head home so as not to get caught out on the road with a disabled bike. I called the wife to let her know I was returning and also called Dick who reinforced my decision not to push the bike any further than I needed to. Called/texted Douglas to let him know my plan and headed back to Tulsa. Once back on the road, I noticed the bike wasn't really burning oil at speed and was still running great. Since I was so close to Douglas, less than 30 miles, I stopped, texted him I was on my way, turned around and continued on to Big Brutus. Met up with Douglas at Big Brutus and was pretty bummed about what was happening. Douglas was very positive about the whole situation and suggested we ride back to Tulsa, get my Fizzy and continue on our trip which is what we ended up doing. Trip turned out wonderful but I knew rear tire on my Fizzy wasn't up to the task but had little choice other than to take it given the pickle we were in.

As for the ZRX, she starts/runs fine with no obvious noises. Bike puffs blue smoke at idle and partial throttle and throttle blips. If I idle it up to 5K, the smoke eventually clears up almost completely and there is very little noticeable smoke at speed. I initially thought it might be a valve guide/seal but when decelerating using engine braking, the smoke doesn't seem to get worse as one would expect given the vacuum this maneuver is creating. I had a valve guide/seal go on my manual transmission Z-28 and whenever I would engine brake, it would pull all the oil down the valve stem and smoke like a sum-bitch. In any case, I don't plan on messing with the ZRX before the rally and will look at it over the winter. At Dick's direction I'll start by pulling plugs to see if it's isolated to one cylinder or affecting them all. Hopefully, it's just a valve job and not a ring issue although I suppose a scored cylinder might mean it's 1224 time! Maybe this is a great thing in disguise! Any thoughts appreciated and ask any questions you might have.

Yikes!

This is what my rear tire looked like after getting home! Once again, I pushed my rear tire to the limit and almost didn't make it home. Turns out the Diablo is a steel-belted tire which is probably what allowed it to last as long as it did. After getting to the motel Sunday night, it was obvious the tire was done but there were no chords showing. By the time we got to Yellville, Monday morning, things were looking grim and I was dreading every mile home from that point on. More on the trip later.

I Wanna Park Under That!

So, you take a quick look at these pics and you might crap your pants thinking that perhaps the Corobra has met its untimely demise. Never fear, she runs strong as ever.
I took these pics this morning. I was heading in to see the doctor and low and behold, right up front in an otherwise crowded parking lot, two open spaces right there next to this behemoth truck. Big surprise! My guess is people got one look at this thing and decided they wouldn't be so lucky as to get a door ding on this day, but rather would get a side window busted out instead!
My FIRST thought was: "I wanna park UNDER that." Am I the only one who thinks this way? And I got it under there a pretty good ways. If I'd had a Come-Along in the car, I might have tried to winch it up on the Corobra's back and carried the thing away...just like I carried Chuck up that hill in the back parking lot of the Swiss Holiday. Just like that big barge that sinks and then picks stuff up from underneath.

New Mexico Trip

God I love New Mexico !! Wonder why I ever left....

John McEnroe vs. Novak Djokovic U.S Open 2009

Ran across this accidentally and thought it was pretty funny. I grew up playing racket sports and followed tennis enthusiastically in my youth. The battles between Jimmy Connors and young McEnroe still stand out in my mind as some of the best tennis ever played. Although I don't follow much now, I do try and keep up with who the current players are, Djokovic being one of them. I guess he is quite the jokester and pulled this little stunt after running through an opponent in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open. Priceless stuff!

The Butterly Effect

Just enjoying the yard and getting pics of the dogs when this little guy showed up! He looked pretty beat up but seemd to be operating normally. Took 75 pics in about 5 minutes and these are some of the better ones. Enjoy and I'll be happy to send full-res images if you e-mail me with a request.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

Enjoyed it my little man!

New Shoes for the ZRX

In order to attend the Fall Rally on the ZRX, I would need new tires for the ZRX. Cash is tight so I decided to give ocelot's Track Day take-offs a shot. Tires shipped 09/02/09 and arrived yesterday at 09/09/09. I didn't actually know they had been dropped on the porch until this morning when I tracked them through UPS. In any case, the tires have beat my expectations on all levels. It honestly looks like my tires have about 20 laps on the track and I got the guy who didn't even take them to the edge. I know where I will be buying my tires in the near future and would recommend them to all of you as well! Time to get the Harbor Freight tire changer figured out!

MotoCam Mount Trois

Here are a couple of quick pics of my latest camera amount on the ZRX. Tried a helmet cam and it worked really well from an anti-vibration standpoint but the constant head movement was nauseating. One can never say I don't look both ways... at least 4 times before crossing traffic! In any case, this was a quick mock-up using 16g tin, final version would be in aluminum plating on the order of 3/32" or 1/8". Let me know what you think, maybe some drawbacks I haven't thought of. Also, the helmet cam video I reference above is still on my FTP if you care to watch. Use a puke-bag and don't say I didn't warn you!

Front 3/4 shot. Using mounting points on the radiator.



Rear 3/4 shot...



Detail shot of mount...



View from cockpit. Quick glance will now show if camera is in record mode so there are no more "I'm sorry, I thought it was on" moments...




Front view. Mounting points are confirmed vertical but camera plate is missing lower velcro mount making camera appear off-axis. I have confidence final install will be vertical...



Front view detail showing missing velcro...



Detail from above. I'll make final version slightly longer to capture more of the mounting plate...

"The Fix"

There is nothing like one of my "super scrambles" to clear the cobwebs in the morning!

The ingredients. A little pit ham, fresh tomtoes, avacado, mushrooms, cilantro and cheese...



The eggs. A little MSG, salt, pepper, paprika and red pepper flakes.



Looking good!



Eureka! A little salt and pepper and fresh cilantro to top it off.

From the Hillbilly Garage....

I attached this to a thread I started years ago on the ZRXOA board. It's the pipe trick I use when installing the back wheel.

Happy Birthday!!!

To the guy who can ride circles around us all, who can fix whatever it is with what's in the toolkit under the seat, and who will ride it no matter how bad it's been crashed.
It's always fun riding with you, Joe B.
Here's to many more years to come!!!

Happy birthday, compadre!!!

Passion For Your Hobby

Was trolling the FZ1OA this evening, just looking for something fun and ran across the below video. This guy(CopperDawg) is well-known on the Fizzy board and makes custom parts for the Fizzy. Very expensive custom parts that is! Sure would have been nice to have something like this as a reference when I was first getting into modding the ZRX. The guy obviously has a passion for his bike and it really comes through in his video. Douglas, maybe you could produce something like this. Of course you might have to spruce up that hillbilly garage of yours to give your video any credibility! LOL...

She's 40!

Well, the ZRX flipped 40K on the way to work today, woohoo! I miscalculated and got caught on the freeway as it happened so close will have to do. Ironic that I achieve this milestone just as I am having a rekindling of my passion for the ZRX and it is nice to see her come this far and still be something to look at. There are a lot of things I like about the Fizzy, it's razor sharp handling being at the very top of the list but I just feel more "right" on the ZRX. We'll see what happens with the Fizzy but I'm fairly confident now that I could never get rid of the ZRX. Thanks to all of you for your support as I went through this time of crisis and thanks to those of you who whispered words of wisdom to me as I was contemplating the unthinkable!

Radiator Fan Woes. RTFM

Thanks for everyone’s input on my radiator fan woes. Jody saved the day and sent me his stocker. I got it in the mail on Friday. I got off work at 8pm that night and got started in the garage at around 10:30pm. I hooked up both fans and listened to each within minutes of each other and it was clear that mine had a high pitched whine to it that Jody’s fan lacked. Hard to pick up on in the video, but easier to hear in person.

The wrenching part of it was pretty much just changing out parts. As Joe likes to say, this part could have been done with the ZRX tool kit on the side of the road. The tricky part was the coolant. I called John and Chuck ahead of time and asked them about the specifics of refilling the bike with coolant after having the radiator off. I wanted it to be simple. I didn’t want to have to mess with bleeder valves and pressure testers.

So we’re off to the races. I started off by adding the coolant mixture. When it filled up to the filler neck, I started the bike and ran it and waited for the level to go down. Instead of going down, it gradually rose and then went down……..down onto the floor of my garage. I repeated this process about three times and knew I wasn’t doing something right. So into the house I went and re-read the repair manual about how to use the bleeder bolts and valves. Back out to the garage…now confident with Kawasaki knowledge. I started the bike and cracked the bleeder bolt on the water pump. A very audible hissing ensues and within seconds coolant mixture emerges. Tighten the bolt and done. I did the same with the bleeder valve on the thermostat housing. By this point, the water level had gone way down and I was able to add at least one more cup of coolant….maybe two. Also very noticeable now was that the water was swirling in the filler neck and not just sitting still with the occasional bubble. Clearly the water was now actually circulating. How cool….pardon the pun. Buttoning it up was text book.

Lesson? RTFM. Read the Fuggin’ Manual.

Man Day at the Dynos - ZRX Edition

I won't bother repeating the Dyno Day setup as it is all in the previous Fizzy dyno post. Needless to say, I had no preconceived notions as to what I expected out of the Fizzy for horsepower and the 150hp pull was a nice surprise. As for the ZRX, well that is a whole different story. You guys have listened to me complain about my ZRX over the last year and given that I pulled the numbers I did on the ZRX, I feel the majority of my issues probably revolved around the coil wire that was working during the same time frame. Although I had fixed the coil wire issue on the ZRX and confirmed it ran, I only took it around the block and never ran it hard before getting the Fizzy and putting the ZRX into hibernation. I can't help but think my ZRX was not running as it should have been for months prior to me finding/fixing the coil wire issue and that reinforced some of the negative feelings I had for the bike based on the pitted Muzzy cams and my "imaginary" pinging issues. In any case, you can see from my post documenting my return to the ZRX World, the bike is running stronger than ever and I am extremely pleased with it!

Back on topic, the first pull on the ZRX showed 142hp with an A/F above 15. Bike was so lean it was shooting flames out the exhaust which you can see in the video and really popping on decel. Driveability on the street was good but I was definitely running too lean. As dyno runs were only $20, Dick and Brett suggested we rejet the bike to see what kind of difference we could make going from 135 to 138 mains. Brett ran me to the house in his truck, we picked up all the tools needed and rejetted in the parking lot. I paid for another run and the dyno operator was confused as to why I wanted to run it again. I explained we had rejetted the bike and wanted to see where A/F was at. He seemed duly impressed! Second pull netted a solid 147hp with A/F still being well above 14. At Dick's suggestion, I will come out on the air screw 1/4 turn next time I have the carbs off but I think going up any more on the mains will kill my driveability and mileage. Also, a little lean in Tulsa would only fatten up as I gained altitude in Arkansas so all in all, I think I'd prefer to be a little on the lean side. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on the subject.

Maybe it was just my imagination but the bike seemed peppier on the way home and I am looking forward to getting it out where I can really "wick it up"! Looking at the power curve of the second dyno run, I think it explains pretty clearly why we all love the ZRX so much. Overlay that power curve over the Fizzy power curve and there isn't even a question as to which bike would be more "fun" to ride. All in all we had a great time and I feel I got my money's worth for the $60 I spent. It was nice to spend the day with my friends and a bunch of motorcycle guys standing around watching dyno runs like they were a burlesque show. There were some pretty sick bikes out there with one guy trailering his drag bikes from Fayetteville to take advantage of the dyno. Enjoy the videos and pics!














Fizzy on the dyno...


ZRX on the dyno...


How to rejet a ZRX in 7 mins...


Always willing to help...


Contrary to popular belief, I am capable of doing
some things on my own...


Lots of friendly folks around...


Sonny Crockett stopped by...

Man Day at the Dynos - FZ1 Edition

A local bike shop, Metric Cycles, had an "End of Summer" bash on Saturday at which they were offering $20 dyno pulls. I thought this would be a great opportunity to get the Fizzy baselined for horsepower and also, I hadn't had the ZRX officially dynoed since I added the hi-comp pistons and cams so was excited/nervous to get that done. I invited a few folks to join me and Dick, Brett and I headed up to the shop arriving right at 10:00am, Dick on the Fizzy, me on the ZRX and Brett in his truck. Dyno runs were from 11:00am to 2:00pm and I was just sure bikes would be lined up in the streets for the bargain dyno runs and I wanted to get in line so we would be sure to get a pull. Well, I guess the rest of Tulsa wasn't quite as excited as I was and Dick, Brett and I were the first 3 people to show up. Fortunately there were donuts and coffee available and we sat around for a while catching up and talking motorcycles. After "breakfast", I got both bikes signed in and paid for and we rode around back to the dyno which was loaded with a beater V-Max that was just finishing a wicked 90hp pull. As much as I lusted over the V-Max in the late-80s, they seem to disappoint every time I see one on a dyno!

As we were the only bikes there, the Fizzy immediately went on the dyno. Now I really had no idea what to expect as I had read so many different things on the Fizzy board concerning various mods and expected horsepower. All I have done to the Fizzy performance wise to this point has been to add an Akra slip-on I got from Scott Vint for $300 shipped, install Ivan's Fuel Cut-Off Eliminator for about $100, gutted the catalytic converter in the mid-pipe along with opening up the airbox. Collective wisdom on the FZOA says these mods require a power commander lest "extreme damage" be inflicted on the engine due to an exceptionally lean A/F ratio. "Danger, Danger!". Well, although I had intended to pick up a Power Commander at some point just to get to play with custom mapping, I almost pulled the trigger as soon as I found out about the dyno day thinking I would need it to make maximum horsepower. As you can see from the dyno chart below, that would have been an exceptional waste of money and I may still buy one but it is by no means "required".

The other guy in the video, assisting the dyno operator, is Brad and is someone I have dealt with before as he mounted my last set of Diablos for me. Interestingly enough, it turns out he has an '07 Fizzy as well but his is bone stock but more on that below. Once the Fizzy is secured on the dyno, the operator brings the bike up to speed and pulls some baseline readings. After his first full pull, I notice him glance over at Brad giving him a strange look. Although I can see the dyno monitor, I can' really tell what is going on but fear the A/F might be so out of whack that the operator is concerned to pull again. That turns out not to be the case as the operator executes another couple of pulls. As the operator finishes the run, Brad steps up to the operator who says something that I can't quite hear and to which Brad responds with a blank look. At this point, all I am thinking is that either my A/F is way out of whack or my bike has just pulled some really pathetic numbers and they are trying to decide how to break it to me. Neither is the case and the brief exchange between the operator and Brad is due to the Fizzy just pulling 150hp! The look on Brad's face was actually surprise as he had just dynoed his bike at 133hp! Cool! See video below and then dyno chart below that.

Embedded video hint: Start video then hold down the CNTRL and ALT key and then click anywhere in the video window again. This will take you straight to the Youtube version where you have access to video info and High Quality setting.

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I'm Back!!

As I e-mailed Douglas Wednesday morning last week before heading into the office, I had gotten my ZRX fired up Tuesday night with it taking a little more effort than I thought it would. I don’t know why I thought she would fire right up as the fuel tank was almost empty when I parked her 4 months ago and with all the coil issues and misfiring I was going through just prior to putting her on the rear stand, I think a couple of the plugs had been wet-fouled and were marginal at best. In any case, after draining the battery trying to get her started, I put her on the charger and finally got her cranked up. After a few minutes of idling, she smoothed right out and although I wanted to take her out for a spin, it was late so I just put her on the trickle charger and closed the door to the garage with the sweet sound of the Kerker still ringing in my ears.

Waking up Wednesday morning, I had not intended to ride the ZRX to work as she was pretty dusty and I wanted to get her cleaned up, along with an oil and filter change, before taking her out on the streets but as I walked out into the garage to saddle up the Fizzy, she just seemed to beckon to me. Having a total lack of self-control, I asked myself “why not?”, dropped her off the rear stand, rolled her out onto the driveway and at the first push of the starter, she cranked right up. After gearing up and getting on the bike, I could immediately feel the difference in weight between the ZRX and the Fizzy as I rolled the bike around in the driveway. The ZRX is definitely more of a handful to maneuver around at rest but I managed to get her out into the street with no issues, got her pointed in the right direction, snicked her into first gear and off we went.

I have been off of the ZRX and riding the Fizzy for enough time that I had forgotten all the subtleties of my ZRX. First thing I notice is that my clutch setup with HD springs all the way around is a little absurd to pull. That combined with my shorty Pazzo clutch lever and it feels like I am setting a grizzly trap every time I grab for some clutch! Although I had been commenting on the smooth shifting on the Fizzy, the Armz’s shifter rod I have on the ZRX provides very accurate feel and minimal gearshift slop, much more precise than the Fizzy shifter. I now feel the shifting issues I have complained about on my ZRX are due to improper lever adjustment which I will address by dropping the lever a spline or two on the shaft. Also, I had the clutch set up on the ZRX to begin engaging almost instantly upon release whereas the Fizzy releases much later in the throw. A quick flip of the adjusters on the Pazzos and a nice compromise was found to bring the two clutch releases to a similar point. Another difference immediately noticed was the seating position between the ZRX and the Fizzy. Although subtle, when sitting astride the Fizzy, one feels encapsulated within the bike due to the lower seating position along with the wrap around fairing and gauge package. Sitting astride the ZRX is more like sitting on my dirt bike, you are sitting “on” the bike, not “in” the bike. Other than that, the ergonomics are comparable and I find both bikes equally comfortable.

Off and running and the first thing I notice is the sound! This thing sounds like a motorcycle should sound and the Kerker is everything the Akra on the Fizzy is not. It is crude, unrefined and screams "look this way NOW"! The second thing I notice is how it keeps wanting to fall over in every neighborhood corner I go around. Yikes! I had forgotten how much attention this bike requires at slow speed! Where the Fizzy has very light steering and almost seems on remote control at times, the ZRX has to be steered through the neighborhoods and needs constant attention. The third thing I notice is how bad the suspension on my Fizzy is in comparison to my ZRX suspension. The ZRX handling is taught but still soaks of the small road variations with ease whereas the Fizzy is like, to quote Douglas, “riding a go-kart”. It is that stiff and any decision of mine to keep the Fizzy would need to include addressing the suspension issues. In all fairness, I have not spent the time adjusting the Fizzy suspension to suit my weight but I am fairly certain it would never get to the level of the ZRX suspension.

Out of the neighborhood, I chortle my way along surface streets and take the long way to get to an entrance ramp I know I can hammer it on. I let the ramp clear, get the bike straightened up and hammer the throttle in first gear as I typically do on the same ramp on the Fizzy. It didn’t take me long to remember how bad an idea this is on the ZRX as the bike proceeded to launch itself straight up in the air. WOW!! The Fizzy is geared so much taller in first whereas it seems the ZRX is geared to pull stumps out of the ground. The rest of the ride to work was uneventful with the most significant difference on the freeway being the absolute butter smoothness of the Keihin CVK carbs, especially at very small throttle adjustments.

Trust me, I am aware of all the mystique the ZRX brings to the table when talking about torque but it is incredible how different the power delivery is on the ZRX versus the Fizzy. I realize I am overstating the obvious and preaching to the crowd but it was still stunning and I was grinning ear-to-ear all day at work! I had gotten a little taste of the ZRX torque riding Dick’s bike back from Mountain View but it was nice to be back in the saddle of my own ZRX again! When purchasing the Fizzy, I knew I needed to give myself enough time on the Fizzy to let the “new” wear off before I ever thought about making a decision that would separate me from my ZRX. I know now that I could never get rid of her, end of story, as the ZRX has too much character and too much of my blood, sweat and tears in her. This bike has a special place in my heart and will be with me until the end!

Pocket Biking "Under the Lights"

Hey all. I deleted the "Fan Noise" thread because it had served its purpose and I didn't need it taking up space.

I wanted to post this Youtube video up though. We raced "exhibition style" last Thursday night in a new location here in KC. It was at a local sports bar that has a bike night. It was cool as shit racing at night, something I had never done. We we're trying to drum up a little more support for the sport.

Also wanted to show off my new camera, which shoots video in HD. Enjoy. In order to get the full effect and resolution, make sure you click the "HQ" button in the bottom right of the view window.

My First Love

Here's a pic of the first car I ever owned. It's a 1974 Toyota Celica and obviously not the actual car I owned but an excellent example highlighting the beautiful lines of the car. I have been playing around with the idea of getting one to restore but fortunately I am too lazy for such an endeavor!