Doing up the ZXR...

[placidfemme]

ahh yes... thats another thing I need... bike stands...

[wildcat_lgf]

... your friends proberly don't have the right tools

they were probably thinking of a spanner But having said that the only tricky part is getting the top nut off - which isn't tricky at all really, just larger than any spanner I had...thank goodness for a pipe wrench.

Oh, and in the manual where they say you have to have a suction syphon thing to get the right oil level I used a good old fashioned ruler...I was padantic measuring it...but I could afford to be having saved all that money.

[placidfemme]

they were probably thinking of a spanner But having said that the only tricky part is getting the top nut off - which isn't tricky at all really, just larger than any spanner I had...thank goodness for a pipe wrench.

Oh, and in the manual where they say you have to have a suction syphon thing to get the right oil level I used a good old fashioned ruler...I was padantic measuring it...but I could afford to be having saved all that money.

lol sounds like its going to be fun when we get around to doing this...

I've got a manual in PDF format on CD that John sent me... just havn't printed it out cause the boss would notice as the printer is on his desk lol... I'll just have the PDF open on the laptop when working on it

[The Stranger:Me]

Cool thanks They also told me that (Well not Mt Eden, but the wreckers)

"better get it done professionally... your friends proberly don't have the right tools, and USD forks are really tricky and it takes about 3 hours... best not to try it yourself..."

It probably is tricky to them.
Let's face it they are wreckers.

[zeRax]

i need new discs, but meh..

[placidfemme]

Ok, well I got a response from the Aussie company, they can do me coloured floating brake disc's, but I would need to send them the old ones, this is what they said:

I'm sorry to say we can't do your discs as we replace the rotors and not the carriers so you would need to send your discs to us then back to you so frieght would be expensive but if you wish to do it anyway cost is $240 per disc.

So yeah... I will be going with normal disc's

But they can do me a coloured sprocket... just not in gold so I'll be going with the blue sprocket and gold chain...

Also, CMW returned my bike last night. They fixed the subframe, but when you turn the handlebars something is knocking against something else, but I will have to check that out when I get home as it was dark when they dropped it off...

They also did the plastic welding on the fairings, so now I only need to worry about getting the fairing cowl plastic welded or buy a new one (going to PM John and see if he still has the one he was trying to sell on TM).

They also told me that once i have fixed the bike up I should sell it right away, but couldn't really give me a solid reason why...

[aff-man]

Cause they are fuckwits. Why would you spend all this cash on the bike only to sell it at the end??

True you will be making money (if you include the insurance payout) but honestly wy would you bother. I'll find out why and stuff so don't worry

[placidfemme]

It's all good, I know I don't know a lot about bikes (Mechanically), but the guys at CMW were nothing but polite and nice to me. They only charged me $275 all up. $80 for transporting the bike ($40 each way). $60 to plastic weld my fairings, and $135 to straighten the subframe.

I know there is no reason to sell the bike, mechanically its fine. the biggest issue right now would be the forks, because if they are bent or anything once they are opened up that could be costly.

But otherwise I'm keeping the ZXR until I get all the bling bits put on (cowl and crash bars... and paint job)

Then i'll decide what to do with it... sell it and buy a 600, or give it to Sam (for a price) and buy a bigger bike for myself... don't know yet

[placidfemme]

To ninja or not to ninja

I was just talking to a few people about getting some decals done for the ZXR once the paint job is done... and on my ZXR it has a big "ZXR" on either side of the tank, and a smaller "ZXR" on either side of the tail end bit...

Now I have 3 options available to me:

1. "Kawasaki" on either side of the tank, and "ZXR" on either side of the tail. Or:
2. "Kawasaki" on either side of the tank and "Ninja" on either side of the tail. Or:
3. Big "ZXR" on either side of the tank, and little "ZXR" on either side of the tail.

I've seen some ZXR's with 'ninja' on them, and I'm not too keen on that, I also like not having the Kawasaki on the tank (because it's big lol).

I know decals need (supposedly) need to be done professionally, and I know a lady who works for a signwriter company, and she can get me the stickers done, and so can my aunt, so it's not going to be overly expensive...

What do you think?

[wildcat_lgf]

To ninja or not to ninja
I know decals need (supposedly) need to be done professionally
What do you think?

At the risk of sounding like a cheap-skate...you can do decals yourself.

I did the ZXR myself...and there were a few of those if you remember.

The key is to wet the sticky/glue side with some soapy water (and the fairings too). That way you can put them on and slide them around a little before being fully committed. Once the water dries they remain stuck and apparantly the water/soap doesn't affect the glue at all. Then you can clear-cote over them if you wish.

Getting all the air bubbles out takes some patience but I found when the decals got warm in the sun most of them shrunk out...you can use a rubber spatula or similar to squeeze any excess water out while you are sticking them on.

[placidfemme]

At the risk of sounding like a cheap-skate...you can do decals yourself.

I did the ZXR myself...and there were a few of those if you remember.

The key is to wet the sticky/glue side with some soapy water (and the fairings too). That way you can put them on and slide them around a little before being fully committed. Once the water dries they remain stuck and apparantly the water/soap doesn't affect the glue at all. Then you can clear-cote over them if you wish.

Getting all the air bubbles out takes some patience but I found when the decals got warm in the sun most of them shrunk out...you can use a rubber spatula or similar to squeeze any excess water out while you are sticking them on.

Kewl thanks, I'll remember that

It's going to be a while though, I need to get the bike painted first, but before I get the bike painted I want to get custom crash bars/bungs/knobs put on, which means they would have to cut through some of the fairings... and therefore the paint... so it's a slow process lol...

*is too much of a girl*

Oh, and I checked the bike out to find out what was "catching" when turning the handlebars, and from what I can tell it was/is the speedo cable, for some reason it seems to be shorter and everytime you turn the handlebars, it pops out of place...

[aff-man]

Kewl thanks, I'll remember that


Oh, and I checked the bike out to find out what was "catching" when turning the handlebars, and from what I can tell it was/is the speedo cable, for some reason it seems to be shorter and everytime you turn the handlebars, it pops out of place...

Well it was fine when I had it in. maybe they put it in wrong or worse yet stole yours and put a shorter one in. How much yould that suck.. Another thing it is screwed in (i did it myself) so it shouldn't "pop" out of anywhere.

When you want me to finish the bike off?

[placidfemme]

Well it was fine when I had it in. maybe they put it in wrong or worse yet stole yours and put a shorter one in. How much yould that suck.. Another thing it is screwed in (i did it myself) so it shouldn't "pop" out of anywhere.

When you want me to finish the bike off?

It doesn't pop out from where you screw it in to the wheel/brake/thingy... It has a small loop that pops into the front mudguard, when you put the cable through the hoop, it pops back out as soon as you turn the handlebars, and then sits to the side of the brake/thingy where it is screwed in, which makes it catch everytime you turn the handlebars... so it needs to be in the hoop, but keeps popping out because it's too tight or something...

As for finishing off the bike...

CMW put the lower fairings back on, but I'll need to take them off again when I change the engine cover and gasget, which won't be this week I don't think as I need to buy more oil (only have 1.6L left and the oil says 2.6L). Also I still need to buy the new brake disc's and brake pads, A guy is selling the front brake disc's for $300 brand new, and I can get the brake pads from Mt Eden Cycles for $45 each. So right now I'm saving for that (might take about 2-3 weeks).

Once I've brought those I'll then sort out the forks. But I'll have to let you know. This Friday I should recieve 3 lots of commission, so I may be able to buy the disc's this week, and the brake pads next week. And the fork seals and oil the following week.

[crashe]

and so where are all the pictures of this work in process????????

Even shots of you and Aff-man actually working on the bike...





PS: summer will be here soon....

[placidfemme]

and so where are all the pictures of this work in process????????

Even shots of you and Aff-man actually working on the bike...





PS: summer will be here soon....

unfortunaltey I don't have a digital camera, also I would like to keep the "un-vailing" of the ZXR until it is 100% complete (lol which at this rate will be in summer)

I'll take some pics of it when it is road legal, and then some more once i'm finished fixing it up completely

*will buy a disposable camera this week for that task*