Next track/race bike build - it's GREEN!!

[Marshy]

Shock horror!! I suddenly realised that I've become everything I've scorned over the past 20 years and I now own a Kawasaki!! It's never happened before, so I don't really know what to expect.

This is a track/race bike project build, not my next racebike. But I am looking forward to trying it out

Almost no damage - a tiny ding in the swingarm behind the muffler, a scrape on the right fork foot, and the rest is minor fairing damage. The tank is unmarked, as is the frame and the subframe. It still has untouched hero blobs!

As picked up:

[Marshy]

And yes, I realise that it is, in fact, black, not green. But you know what I meant

[Lets Torque]

Shhhh dont tell Wetty!!! lol

[Medic!]

Score! Looks like most of the damage is on the stuff you'd be stripping anyway.

[Little Mick]

I have the same thing as a roady...without the scratchems

[Baddie]

About bloody time to go Green......Shame it 400cc short but I'm beating that well come soon too.

Looks a great Buy

[BoB]

nice..

[Baddie]

This might help during the build..

http://garth285.com/?page_id=79


I'm just way to nice.

[Little Mick]

cheers Baddie!!!!!

[Marshy]

Thanks mate! (I actually found the service manual in a folder on my computer - completely by chance - during a clean-up of old data. No idea at all why I had it. But the other stuff will be useful too).

[Little Mick]

Thanks mate! (I actually found the service manual in a folder on my computer - completely by chance - during a clean-up of old data. No idea at all why I had it. But the other stuff will be useful too).

Closet supporter???

[Marshy]

I have the same thing as a roady...without the scratchems

Ummm, don't you race one of these??? It's a 2010 ZX6R. Or do you have one as a roady as well as a racebike?

[Marshy]

Closet supporter???

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Touche.

[Little Mick]

Ummm, don't you race one of these??? It's a 2010 ZX6R. Or do you have one as a roady as well as a racebike?

Yep - 09 on the track and a '10 on the roady... bought a same time to get used to them..done maybe 300-400kms on the Roady max...I need to get out more..

My road one is the same colour as yours...

[chubb]

nice one..

[Team Zero]

Unless it's green and has a monster sticker on it, it's not a proper Kawasaki. I so can't wait to see it at the track.

[senator8]

what happens if you like it?

[Little Mick]

me thinks Race glass in approp colours are already in stock

[chubb]

what happens if you like it?

then I can buy his yammie bits for mine..

[Marshy]

me thinks Race glass in approp colours are already in stock

Yes yes, monster energy fairings were here just waiting for a kwaka to go on

So that meets Team Zero's requirements for being green AND having monster stickers!

[Marshy]

what happens if you like it?

I don't even want to think about that yet!! God forbid I should have to go green.....

[dan]

Nice one! I do like the Kwakas...

[Little Mick]

I don't even want to think about that yet!! God forbid I should have to go green.....

You will like it Marshy....even if you dont admit it straight away..... Bazzaz, zorst and race filter... bazinga....

[Marshy]

I'm actually kinda liking working on it, if I'm honest. There are a few things that are soooooo dumb (don't get me started on the humongous axle hex nut fiasco, or the split pins on everything, or the dumbass 'dry break' clips), but there's some nice touches too (heat shielding under the tank and on the top of the airbox, the ease of access once the tank is off, the excellent steering damper/fuel tank mounting system).

[Mr.Ed]

Wait to you do an oil filter change and then you decide what you'd like to call 'dumb'...

I do like the almost indestructible faring stay though!

[CLIFFY]

That's the only thing that I preferred on the gsxr, but isn't the r6 oil filter in the same shitty position as the zx6r?

[Marshy]

Nah, the R6 filter is more accessible than the ZX6. It's still a bit of a pain to get to, but it's much easier. You can easily get a metal-ring filter wrench on the R6, unlike the kwaka, by the looks.

The kwaka has clearly just been serviced (new oil, filter, brake fluid etc). And they've done everything up massively over-tight with a rattle gun, by the feel of it. My money is on this being the reason it got crashed. It really makes you wonder about some mechanics.

[Little Mick]

Actually I find the oil filter location and undercatch tray quite tidy...just slip in a bit of thin Cardboard or foil under the end of the catch tray and you dont make a mess....

My old R6 on the other hand has nothing and mess is part of the game...

Also, you can see all the lockwiring on the sump plug and the oil filter with the fairings on....Still upsets the scrutineers if you dont take them off, but a quick inspection is easy...

The front sprocket chain guard is a bit awkward to jiggle out if you have race pattern, but it means 2 minutes instead of 1.25....

You can also (with a little bit of practice) remove/ replace the front wheel by just removing the front guard and not taking the calipers off.

Plenty of stuff I could go on about

[Mr.Ed]

Sorry, will never agree with the filter position. Ever. lol

[Little Mick]

Is that your excuse to avoid Oil Changes?

[Marshy]

Is that your excuse to avoid Oil Changes?

[Mr.Ed]

I wish... whoever designed that never had to it with the bike on the race stands. It's all fun and games when bike sits at eye level but when you have to change the oil whilst holding a piece of cardboard/tilfoil (that alone spells bad engineering for me - then again, I'm not an engineer) in one hand and the container on the other, you start to wonder if the guy who decided where the oil filter would go had ever changed the oil himself. Ever.

I've used both methods (cardboard/tilfoil) and I still find it messy... in fact, these days I use neither. I use a milk bottle I cut in half so it works as a sort of funnel and to be honest, it still sucks. It's the sort of problem I didn't have on the 600rr or the R6 I owned before and even though I believe the ZX6R is a better bike than both, the oil filter position is ridiculous.

[Marshy]

Hmmm. Should I turn the bike upside down to do the filter? With my wife helping me??

[Mr.Ed]

If that's the wife, who cares about the bike... lol

[senator8]

Hmmm. Should I turn the bike upside down to do the filter? With my wife helping me??

What bike?

Turn the wife anyway doesn't matter

[Marshy]

Update - doesn't look like much, but a fair bit has been done. Clipons are on. Slicks are on. Everything has been pulled apart and checked, including the forks. Air filter is like new.














Wondering why it's a stat? Doesn't take much these days. Small imprint in the swingarm from the muffler, and a scrape on the fork foot (plus of course the fairing scratches etc).

[Little Mick]

Swing arm and fork leg are enough to do it....

Looking good Marshy... How many kms did it have on it?

Would make a great #2 / wet bike..

[Marshy]

12k kms. Not much really. Exhaust is coming, and rearsets, and fold-up adjustable levers, and new gearing, and a couple of other little touches. It'll be a good one, this one

[chubb]

so.... shotgun on your yamaha bits!

[Marshy]

so.... shotgun on your yamaha bits!

I still haven't ridden it yet

[Little Mick]

but once you do...you can never go back....

[Mr.Ed]

It'll be a good one, this one

They all are!

[Little Mick]

35s in your sights now Marshy....

[Mr.Ed]

Actually, I should give you the same advice I give to everyone going from a 'regular' 600 to the zx6r "You won't like it for 3 sessions but they you'll be faster than you think you are and you'll start to love it"

[Marshy]

I'm very intrigued now!!

[Little Mick]

Eds right Marshy... and dont go for traditional settings of Sag etc...I made that mistake when I got mine but the front was too stiff for the rider and by increasing the rear sag, the front wouldnt turn. The manual says the springs are set up for a 68kg rider....well with gear and everything that would be me...I run 2 turns of preload on the front as compared to the 4 they recommend and I barely get 90mm of travel.. those a little heavier might have slightly different experiences.

[chubb]

Do they use progressive springs or something?

[Little Mick]

No but do have Big Piston forks....

[Marshy]

No but do have Big Piston forks....

Which I have to say are a nice looking bit of kit!

[Marshy]

More stuff done. Quickshifter fitted:







New rearsets fitted:





Uber-cool kit rear brake hose fitted:





Adjustable-length, fold-up levers fitted:





And the bike is now fully lockwired: