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Off-season tinkering
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February 3, 2010 at 11:03 am #3691eternal05Participant
Got work due in the morning, and I’m still not finished, so naturally this is the time to tell a bunch of random people about inane stuff I’ve done to my bikes in the last couple of weeks.
Let’s start off with the easy stuff: I’ve been throwing parts at my GSX-R to make it crash-ready for this season. I have race bodywork going on soon, but I won’t put it on until a few days before the first track day in March. As soon as I do, it becomes street-illegal (no lights, no signals) and I won’t be able to take the occasional joyride. So what HAVE I done? I had my suspension revalved, and also resprung for my “fat ass” (my weight is at the very edge of the stock springs’ capabilities). Hard to post pictures of that, so I won’t. I also put in ASV levers for brake and clutch. These suckers are great for three reasons. First, they’re adjustable (you can choose how far/close they are to the bars). Second, they have a warranty such that if, for ANY reason (including a crash), the levers are damaged, they get fixed or replaced for free. Third, in the event of a crash, they fold away to prevent damage:
Next up I threw on adjustable rearsets. It’s always been hard finding a good position for the stock 3-way adjustable rearsets given my height. These finally allowed me to get a good position for my pegs, as well as finally get the freaking shift/brake levers in places that I could use them (they were always too high before).
I’ll post up pictures when I get my tacky race bodywork on.
I’ve also added handguards, shorty levers, a stainless front brake line, and better brake pads to my DR-Z. I can only really get pictures of the bars:
Now for the fun stuff. Both the Ninja and the DR-Z got the jet-kit + exhaust treatment in the last few weekends. The DR-Z was a pain since there are no “off-the-shelf” kits available. I had to buy a bunch of jets and go through the methodology of determining the ideal jet size myself…which is a huge PITA. Every time you want to try a different setup you need to disconnect a bunch of stuff, yank the carbs, fiddle with them, put them back in, and connect it all again. At least it’s easier on the DR-Z than it was for the Ninja… The DR-Z also got the infamous 3×3 airbox mod, in which you drill a 3×3″ hole into the airbox to allow greater airflow, as well as a Yoshi RS2 full system. Both bikes have noticeably improved performance, though the Ninja’s gains are definitely relegated to its midrange (but that’s what that jet kit was supposed to do).
The slip-on exhaust I chose for the Ninja, unfortunately, isn’t really what I’d hoped for. I had three goals for the exhaust upgrade:
1) Get rid of that disgusting stock can (the only crappy-looking piece of the bike IMO), and save a ton of weight doing it
2) Allow a more aggressive jetting that requires a freer-flowing exhaust system
3) NOT make the bike annoyingly loudIn all respects but the last, the exhaust works great. However, when I finished installing everything at 2am (I’d been working on the jetting all afternoon/evening) and took it outside to see how it sounded, it was loud enough that I immediately shut it down for fear of waking the neighbors. Suit yourself, but I’m not a loud pipes kind of guy. I don’t like feeling guilty when I ride home from the labs late at night. Worse still, the bike is loud all the time, not just at full beans. That means that the amount of throttle required to do a simple U-turn at slow speeds will wake the baby next door juuuust fine.
Whatever. The kid who’s most likely to buy my Ninja off me in the coming year will probably like it. In the mean time, I’ll just ride it during the day when nobody can complain. Here’s what it looks like (you can also see the lowered adjustable footpegs I always go on about):
And the original stock muffler:
Oh, and the stock muffler? It’s freakin’ heavy! You could kill somebody by dropping it on their head from a foot above. The new can is featherlight. Great stuff.
February 4, 2010 at 4:17 am #24391owlieParticipantThe new exhaust can is definitely a vast improvement. Glad to hear that time for studying is going to good use!
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