[Z1000 Rider]

Since we don’t have the greatest of riding weather during winter around here and because I’m a fair weather rider, I figured it would be a great time to dig into the bike a little and take care of a few things that needed to be done as well as add some new parts while I was at it. I hate not riding for long periods of time, so working on the bike I guess is a bit of a compromise and tides me over you could say in the meantime. Anyway, here is a short list among some other things of what I’ve slowly done and added to it within the past couple of months:

-Strip bike down for full detail and going through
-Install new brake pads
-New rear tire: 190/55/17 this time ‘round
-New OEM matching rear seat cowl
-Frame sliders
-Extended swingarm spools
-New sprockets from Drive Systems to change the gearing
-SpeedoHealer
-Custom levers
-Oil change-duh
-New rear paddock stand
-New riding pants
-New helmet
-Had tank professionally repainted

Not a total make over by any means, but just some maintenance and a good going through with some new parts added. It’s a nice feeling to have it all ready to go for spring and summer. I really enjoy working on the bike and find it fairly simple to work on.

I enjoy doing these little write ups and sometimes they get kind of long but, here’s some pics of the new parts seen below as well as a few descriptions of them underneath for all who are interested.

The difference in height between the new 190/55 and the worn 190/50. Being that the 55 has rounder profile, I can quite noticably feel the difference in quicker turn-in. It definitely feels more flickable and less wallowy in side to side transitions which is awesome.

New Drive Systems Superlite 42T sprocket. I originally rode around for a short while with a 15T CS installed with the old 190/50, and it felt absolutely perfect for all types of riding. Basically it got rid of that having to wait a second or so for the revs to get into the powerband after you hit it while the rpm’s were low. Power was always on tap and had that lurch ahead as I call it at any rpm like a V-twin has. As you can see from the third picture above comparing the two tires together, the 55 is considerably taller than the worn 50 is. I figured that after the 55 was installed, it would raise the gearing back up close to what it was stock, so to compensate I bought a bigger rear sprocket, a 45T as I thought that it would even it out some while also making it slightly lower than it was before. With the 45T installed, it felt MUCH lower than how it was and I didn’t like it at all because it pulled very very short through the gears. It was basically like ruumm shift ruumm shift and so on (going through the gears constantly) while the 15/42 gearing was like ruuummmm shift. I just didn’t like it, so I bought a new 42 tooth sprocket and to my amazement, the bike feels exactly the same gearing wise as it did before with the shorter tire. I’m not sure at all why it does as I would have figured that the taller tire for sure would have made a very noticeable difference to the gearing had I originally just kept the 42T sprocket on in the first place, but it honestly feels just like it did before with the worn 190/50.

One of the best things I’ve installed on my bike is a SpeedoHealer. I give it a 10/10 for quality and user functionality. In terms of quality, the wiring and plugs of the unit is top notch and good as the stock hardware. The instructions for it isn’t some thick booklet with English printed in the back while having a zillion other different languages printed in the front, it is very simple and to the point explaining how the unit works and how to enter in/change settings, and most of all easy to understand . Very good product and well worth the money.

New OEM matching rear seat cowl.

Had to take advantage of the $49.99 deal on Scorpion helmets a while back last year.

 

[urbanassaultmachine]

B -E -A-U-T-I-F-U-L MACHINE YOU GOT THERE.. LOVE THE EXHAUST... I WISH THEY MADE IT FOR AN 07 :headshake:. NICE SLIDERS WHERE DID YOU GET THEM. ALSO THE LEVERS? HEHE SORRY FOR ASKING TOO MUCH BUT I LOVE HOW YOUR BIKE LOOKS.!! RIDE SAFE!

 

[zephyrboy738]

Nice bike love the 03-06 models

 

[Z1000 Rider]

B -E -A-U-T-I-F-U-L MACHINE YOU GOT THERE.. LOVE THE EXHAUST... I WISH THEY MADE IT FOR AN 07 :headshake:. NICE SLIDERS WHERE DID YOU GET THEM. ALSO THE LEVERS? HEHE SORRY FOR ASKING TOO MUCH BUT I LOVE HOW YOUR BIKE LOOKS.!! RIDE SAFE!

Thanks,

I got the frame sliders from the seller on Ebay D2Moto and the levers are from Ebay as well.

Nice bike love the 03-06 models

Thanks

 

[Curtie223]

That's where I just got my sliders. I like them. I noticed that you had an 05-06 636 front fender on your bike. How did you get it to work on your stock forks? I bought the 05 636 complete front end and People were saying that I have to change fenders that mine will not work with them?

 

[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

Got the exact same Pazzo levers on my 07...Same color sceme.....You'll love the Scorpion EXO helmet too, had mine nearly a year and has outperformed my Fulmer and my HJC for fit, lack of wind noise, and comfort.....The fog-proof shield is awesome in the cold but tends to weaken on the edges after awhile and condensate inside.(but still works great) I bought their chin guard as well ,and for $12, it keeps A-LOT of the wind out of the helmet...and if worn with a fleece Baclava; totally shields your face from cold wind. (I've rode 40 miles in 29* mornings to work and face was warm)...Awesome Z you got man....I'm fixing to do some more mods to mine soon...New chain is first (old one has rusted more than 1 occation this winter)....removing secondaries and installing my PC3 is next....will post how to's with pics when I do it if interested......Be safe and hope you have warm weather coming soon like we're gonna have next weekccasion:

 

[Z1000 Rider]

That's where I just got my sliders. I like them. I noticed that you had an 05-06 636 front fender on your bike. How did you get it to work on your stock forks? I bought the 05 636 complete front end and People were saying that I have to change fenders that mine will not work with them?

Yeah, they seem to be good quality sliders.

I had to modify and make a couple of different brackets to fit the 636 fender onto the stock Z1k forks.

As people have said, the stock Z1000 front fender will not bolt up to the 636 forks (and vice versa) because the mounting holes do not line up correctly and so forth, so you will need to find a 636 fender. The only reason why I put one on was purely for asthetics as I think it looks a little racier than the stock fender does and compliments the bike better with the black side panels and all.

Here is a picture that illustrates partly how I mounted it up:

A hole drilled through the mounting bracket on the fork (done on each side), then just slide a bolt through the hole in the fender and mount up with a nut. I can't remember at the moment though if this was done for the top or bottom hole on each side of the fender. If you look above the nut in the photo, you will see a hole that I had to make (again done on each side) of the inside the fender in order for it to slip around the brackets like the stock fender does. I also had to make a couple of very small mounting brackets to mount the other mounting hole in the fender to so that it would mount to the stock screw hole on the mounting bracket on the fork if that makes any sense. Everything is hidden underneath the side covers of the fender, so it is all clean and hidden.

Got the exact same Pazzo levers on my 07...Same color sceme.....You'll love the Scorpion EXO helmet too, had mine nearly a year and has outperformed my Fulmer and my HJC for fit, lack of wind noise, and comfort.....The fog-proof shield is awesome in the cold but tends to weaken on the edges after awhile and condensate inside.(but still works great) I bought their chin guard as well ,and for $12, it keeps A-LOT of the wind out of the helmet...and if worn with a fleece Baclava; totally shields your face from cold wind. (I've rode 40 miles in 29* mornings to work and face was warm)...Awesome Z you got man....I'm fixing to do some more mods to mine soon...New chain is first (old one has rusted more than 1 occation this winter)....removing secondaries and installing my PC3 is next....will post how to's with pics when I do it if interested......Be safe and hope you have warm weather coming soon like we're gonna have next weekccasion:

These actually aren't Pazzo's, but rather lookalikes that I purchased on Ebay. Honestly though which will probably sound surprising, but the quality of them seems very very good and dare I say, close to Pazzos. Even the adjusters seem very well made and click well. I guess the only thing is how they will hold up compared to them, but only time will tell.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited to get some riding in with the Scorpion, it'll be my first lid of this brand. I've heard that those chin guards work quite well and I'm sure are very nice for those cold days.

Definitely do a little write up or let us know how it goes when you remove the secondaries. I've read a little bit about it, but it would be nice to read a more in depth description of what is involved.

Thanks again guys!

 

[tomohawk]

Nice ride man. I thought about going from a 190 50 to a 190/55 or a 180/55 to get better turn in but decided to wait till I replace both tires because they didn't have the tire I needed in the 55. I'm currently doing my winter mods too, just wrapped the exhaust yesterday, waiting for my bars, manifold gaskets, fairing and brake lines to get here.

I'd be curious to see before and after thoughts on the secondary removals too from someone that took the time to dyno the bike after. From what people here say, it makes accidental wheelies a common occurrence, but doesn't actually increase power.

 

[notabiker]

nice job, i do little projects becouse our winter is mild and i ride at least 100 miles on the weekend. tinkering is great if you have long winters. very nice early ZED

 

[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

Nice ride man. I thought about going from a 190 50 to a 190/55 or a 180/55 to get better turn in but decided to wait till I replace both tires because they didn't have the tire I needed in the 55. I'm currently doing my winter mods too, just wrapped the exhaust yesterday, waiting for my bars, manifold gaskets, fairing and brake lines to get here.

I'd be curious to see before and after thoughts on the secondary removals too from someone that took the time to dyno the bike after. From what people here say, it makes accidental wheelies a common occurrence, but doesn't actually increase power.

Not doing a Dyno ......mainly doing it to get rid of lag time in throttle response and give it a kick off the line and when passing....I can always
gear it higher later if needed.

 

[tomohawk]

I know a dyno isn't necessary for it, but it will make the bike run leaner at lower rpms, which will improve power and response. I just meant someone that had dyno'd it to correct the lean-ness to prevent premature engine failure since too lean means more explosion, but hotter temps. Coming from air cooled honda's, I know that lean is fast, but also really bad for engines. That's also because air cooled engines rely on fuel to cool the head though.

 

[Z1000 Rider]

nice job, i do little projects becouse our winter is mild and i ride at least 100 miles on the weekend. tinkering is great if you have long winters. very nice early ZED

I hear ya there and sounds just like what I used to do. When I lived in SoCal, I used to religiously ride 100 miles every weekend. I would get up fairly early Saturday morning or go on a Sunday afternoon and do a loop through the Santa Monica mountains, cruise a long the PCH a little, then take the backroads through Westlake Village and T.O. back home. Man those were the days.

 

[z1 kid]

Man you have one nice machine. ccasion:

 

[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

I know a dyno isn't necessary for it, but it will make the bike run leaner at lower rpms, which will improve power and response. I just meant someone that had dyno'd it to correct the lean-ness to prevent premature engine failure since too lean means more explosion, but hotter temps. Coming from air cooled honda's, I know that lean is fast, but also really bad for engines. That's also because air cooled engines rely on fuel to cool the head though.

Got a friend having a Custom map made for it to take care of the missing secondaries....PC3 is setting in my kitchen cabinet since last summer...finally gonna get to use it LOL

 

[Barry]

Nice ride bro love the mods....Be Safe......Peace

 

[Z1000 Rider]

Thanks guys.