Spring comes early...
Posted by Scott Lian on Tue, Mar 16, 2010 @ 11:02 AM
Last year I purchased a motorcycle that I would have never guessed I would own, much less completely love... a 1999 Kawasaki ZRX1100. I picked it up from a good friend of mine who was upgrading to a BMW K1200S and coudn't justify having multiple bikes at the time.. so cash exchanged hands and I would soon learn why the "Rex" has such a devout (if not a bit crazed) following. The ZRX Owners' Association has perhaps the most extensive technical information available on any forum I've ever participated in... these guys love their ZRX's!
It wasn't long before the urge to mod the bike found it's grip on me (as it always does) so I headed down to Duncan Moto and ordered: Galfer SS brake lines, EBC HH Pads, Courtech soft luggage and a K&N "Pod" Air Filter Kit.
The soft luggage was the first to go on, as some friends and I had planned an end-of-season trip up to Lake Placid, NY for an extended weekend of riding rural NY roads. The trip would highlight the strengths and a few weaknesses of the bike, setting the stage for winter maintenance. In the midst of strafing the local country roads there were a few noticeable impressions that were made.
- All day comofort, something I've never experienced before
- Plenty of torque from low RPMs, a welcome surprise for an I-4 (rare for me at the time mostly having owned twins)
- Could use a bit more power
- Could use a bit more brakes
- By no means a sport bike, but mighty impressive in the twisty stuff
- Room for improvement on the suspension valving
As fall begun to settle in over New England, I began to dig into the ZRX for some "minor" maintenance and upgrades... not knowing it would be the rest of the winter before I finally buttoned her back up and got the chance to try things out.
First to come off were the brakes, SS lines and fresh pads are incredible "bang-for-the-buck" improvements, especially since most Japanese bikes come with rubber brake lines. Considering the Rex has 6-pot calipers borrowed off the ZX-12R land missile... the SS lines should go a long way.
Soon after the carbs were pulled which shed light on how difficult it is to work around the stock airbox. After the 3rd or 4th attempt to coax the carbs out, I made up my mind to install the K&N Pod Filter kit and ditch the rest of the airbox. Of course, this meant the bike would be sitting till I could get a new jet kit.
Away she went for the winter, with my attention turning to my Husqvarna Supermoto, which would be my escape on the occasionally warm winter day's ride... Fast forward until March of 2010 and with the rising temps came the urge to sort the rest of the ZRX out for the season.
The past 3 days have seen monunmental rain, in fact the house I'm renting a room in flooded the basement (fortunately the big screen and all electronics and furniture made it out safely), so in between trips to pick up sump-pumps and wading through ankle deep waterdownstairs... I spent some time in the garage. With the help my friend Tony, I changed the oil and filter, installed the Ivan's Performance Stage 3 jet, and tidied things up with a Moto Fab battery "out" kit to maximize storage space under the seat with the air box now gone.
I now have room enough for a gallon of milk under the seat!
Once installed and the carbs back in place, I wired up the battery (along with leads for my radar detector and heated gear), crossed my fingers and thumbed the starter. She fired to life immediately (despite finding a vacuum hose disconnected which caused the petcock to not function properly), settling into a rhythmic cadence and a solid idle. Once warm, the throttle response from idle seemed spot on and the satisfaction of a job gone right crept in. Quite happy with the day's work, I turned the key to "off" and put her away for the night, hoping for an end to the torrential rains come the following morning.
Waking up the next day my first waking act was a quick peek through the blinds, confirming that the sun was out.. with a closer look revealing slightly damp, but drying roads! I jumped in the shower and downed a cup of coffee in record time, impatient to sample the mods and changes to the ZRX that were finally complete.
Making my way out to the garage, another thumb of the starter and the Rex fired to life. I let her warm up as I plugged in my heated jacket liner and gloves and once geared up... gently pulled out of my driveway and turned down my street.
The first impression was braking at the end of my street, the initial bite was now immediate with a very stiff lever pull... just to my liking. Once past the damp roads and a few miles into my commute, the first opportunity to lean into the throttle presented itself.
While in second gear, a determined roll-on saw the front end come up slowly and with predictability... this might not seem like much... but prior to the new air filters and proper jetting, the ZRX required some significant coaxing to raise the front wheel anywhere beyond first gear.
As the temps and tires warmed, the commute settled into the familiar rhythm of brake, turn, accelerate, repeat. Before long I found myself turning onto Third Street, a mere mile from work. I thought to myself, where did the time go? A stark contrast from the past few months in the cage where time seemed to stand still amidst rush hour traffic.
One thing I do not recall, was ever thinking twice about the power delivery or throttle response. Out of the box, the Ivan's Performance Jet Kit was spot-on... which impressed me greatly (especially since I'm not entirely experienced with carb'd bikes). The 35 minute commute was more than enough to verify that the winter maintenance and mods were all exactly what the ZRX needed (the term "needed" is used loosely here, completely stock the ZRX is an incredible package). She now turns, stops, and especially gets-up-and-goes smoothly, predictably, and more rapidly than before. Improved all-around, I simply can't wait to pile the miles on this year. But that's not really what this morning was all about...
I set off today excited about increased performance of an already capable machine, but was left after only 35 minutes.. entirely absent of feeling any more power or more brakes or sharper steering. Each improvement dissolved into the overall feel of the bike, seamlessly bringing together a total package that is simply... unflappable. With each passing mile I thought less and less about the bike, and more about how good it felt to be free of the cage to start my day.
How badly I needed this. The winter may have been mild but has brought about infinite change for me personally... but as always, with spring comes a new season and a new page in life. The season has officially begun for me, and hopefully you will find yourself in the same boots soon... falling in love with riding all over again after a long New England winter.
Ride safe.