The 2018 kawasaki z900rs was first shown to the public in October 2017 and ever since setting eyes on it I’ve been more than interested in knowing more. I mean sure, it looks stonking, but what does the whole package offer?
So I have been scouring the net since, tracking down all photos, specs, and ride impressions. Long story short, I’ve got my name on one and it will from the first shipment arriving in New Zealand on the 9th of February 2018. My allocation will be of the candytone orange/candytone brown variety, harking back to the original Z-1 livery in 1973.
As an update to my last skateboard post I fitted up the Dregs Ditch Surfer with the randal and 66mm wheel setup and found that there was significant wheel bite and with the lack of griptape, not so suitable for riding. Also I didn’t when to mess up the paintjob too much.
With this in mind I bought a 46″ ‘Illusion’ longboard from Koston.
I like the setup, its fast and smooth, but I’m still getting wheelbite, so on went 10mm of spacers, and wheelbite is much reduced. I have also sourced 2 sets of wedged 8-14mm and a set of 12.7mm (1/2″) spacers, but as I need longer hardware I have ordered and in waiting for those (1.5 and 2″).
Also incoming I have Saterno Green 70mm wheels ($34.98 incl. ship.). Bones Super Reds bearings ($30.95 incl. ship.)
Despite the fact I am over 50 years old… I’m exploring skateboarding again – after a 35 year hiatus I might add.
With the development of a new subdivision only metres from my house complete with white concrete footpaths and driveways and smooth hotmix roads its seemed like the ideal time to relive my youth.
So I ended up buying a budget board from a friends son. It seemed like a good enough deal at $50 having a Blind deck and Girl wheels, however the bearings are a little noisy and the truck bushes have split, so it could do with a little attention spent on it. As it is, its not so easy to ride with wads of wheelbite on the turns and little stability.
Update: I removed the trucks to get a better look at the state of the bushings and the conical bushing on one truck disintegrated into dust as I removed it ! New bushings are now a necessity, and so I ordered a set of Bones Hardcore (Hard) bushings from Hyperride ($28.94).
Specs:
Deck: Blind Ronnie Creager Eternal Life – twin kick 792mm x 197mm (31″ x 7.75″)
Trucks: No Name 124mm (4.88″) hanger width, 190mm (7.48″) axle width.
Last week I treated the Holden Ute to a Over the Radiator Cold Air Intake (OTRCAI) unit from X-Air Performance in Pukekohe.
These units replace the stock air box to supply cooler air at a greater volume and claim to increase horsepower and torque and reduce fuel consumption. Rear wheel horsepower is expected to gain up to 30kW and fuel consumption reduced by 2l/100km.
The OTR’s are available in either plastic or carbon fibre so I opted to go the carbon route.
After picked up the unit from the XAir workshop I went home and got the tools out to start fitment. Removing the original setup was painless enough and took 30 minutes or so. The XAir unit came with 10 odd pages of instructions which were helpful enough but I started to run into trouble while trying to fit the unit. The silicon hoses seemed to be the wrong size and I couldn’t get the OTR in the proper position.
Stock Airbox
After a couple of hour sweating and cursing I decided to refit the original airbox and go back to XAir to see what the hell was going on. Upon arriving at XAir I told Clint the mechanic of my issues and he said to pull it into the shop to see what was going on.
Again we pulled out the original airbox (only takes 10 minutes once you know what needs to be done) and offered up the carbon intake. Thankfully for me, Clint was having the same trouble I was, and discovered that one of the silicon hoses was cut too long (in addition to an undersized jubilee clip).
Once the hose was cut to size and a new clip used things started to fit up a lot better and we got the thing bolted in only to find a hole for a breather hose had not been drilled into the intake, so it was taken off again to get that sorted.
Third time lucky? Yes. With everything supplied as designed the fitment was pretty easy and quick, and without the issues I had, it is probably a 90 minute job – quicker once you know exactly what the process is.
The LS3 VFII has a ‘Mechanical Sound Enhancer’ fitted which is essentially a hose that runs from the airbox runner to the firewall to enhance induction roar within the cabin. XAir can supply a 90° elbow that allows the MSE to be retained – which I opted for.
XAir OTR CAI
The problem with this, is that the stock hose needs to be cut down to fit it to the new intake, which is not mention in the instructions. Had I known this I probably would have opted not to have the elbow and keep as much stock as I could. Its not a huge deal as the cut hose can be rejoined with a pipe and a couple of zip ties if i want to go back to the stock setup.
Once everything was fitted and finished it was time for the drive home.
Pulling away and driving down the road the increase in performance was immediately apparent. The engine has a lot more authority and eagerness in the low to mid-range that extends all the way through to high rpm. I can really feel the increase in torque throughout the rev range and the claimed performance gains are right on the money.
In addition to this the fuel consumption was improving considerably even on the short, 30km drive home.
Now to the important numbers – All up the OTR cost me $NZ1218 with a free elbow supplied (normally $39) and $19 off the infill panel – plus I got it fitted for free because of the issues with supply.
All in all a great modification and well worth doing considering the performance gains and improved fuel economy.
I’m neutral on the service of XAir the company, minus points for supplying incorrect equipment and incomplete instructions, plus points for the great after sales service and allowing me to work alongside them using their tools to get stuff sorted.
I removed the tailgate badge on my 2016 Holden VF-II SSV Redline Ute today.
The badge is adhered from factory using adhesive and there are no locating pins (or holes in the tailgate itself). By all accounts this differs from the VE model, and possibly the Series 1 VF where the badge has pins and corresponding locating holes in the tailgate.
Firstly I warmed the area with a Makita Heat Gun set at level 3. The same result could be achieved using a hair drier or the warmth of the summer sun. I heated the are of the badge to 40°C or thereabouts to soften the adhesive then using a 400mm length of dental floss held taught between my two hands, slid the floss behind the badge and proceeded to pull it down using a sawing action to cut the adhesive.
The floss broke maybe 4 times while doing this , but had the badge removed in a couple of minutes.
A little residue from the adhesive was left on the tailgate, which I removed by picking away with a fingernail and some CRC 5-56 (like WD40). This task was a little painstaking and took 10 minutes or more to remove all traces of glue.
The end result is a noticeably cleaner, tidier looking rear end, and in my opinion, well worth the 20 odd minutes of labour.
Got out from work the other morning to start the bike ( 2011 Ducati HM1100 Hypermotard Evo ), but it didn’t catch the on first attempt, so went to try again and all I got was a click, click, click, click, click from the starter solenoid and no turning of the starter let alone the engine.
I managed to blag a ride home and put the ute into action a couple of days later to collect the bike. Before loading onto the trailer I tried starting the bike again and it fired up no problem.
So after getting the Ducati back in the shed and hooking up the Deltran Battery Tender ( which I do religiously, daily ) I left it a couple of days and attempted starting up the bike again. First attempt it started fine, also the second attempt. The third try it was perhaps just a little laboured and by the fifth try I’m back to the click, click, click, click, click.
I was keeping an eye on the in-dash voltmeter and while running the battery was charging at a healthy 13.6V, but between each go at starting the bike the battery voltage would drop away to a low of 11.7V. This indicates to me that the battery is not holding its charge and needs to be replaced. I did this today, or at least ordered one ( Yuasa YT 12B-BS ), should be here early next week.
The battery installed is not that old, perhaps a couple of years, and as I do hook it up to the tenderiser daily I was under the impression it would last a lot longer. The battery is of the Motobatt brand, as was the previous one, and neither have offered any great reward for their cheaper price apart from lighter weight. So I am going back to the OEM brand Yuasa which I will maintain with same routine of the MotoBatt’s and test the longevity.
This is probably no bad thing as I was fearful that the starter motor itself was shot which would have entailed diving a lot deeper into the wallet. I can only hope my original fears are unfounded.
My first bike was an Honda XL 250S in 1982 or thereabouts. This was an oil burning smoke machine and was quickly sold for my first new bike – a Honda MVX 250F. This was also an oil burning smoke machine………. because two-stroke.
Next up was a Suzuki GS750E, followed by a Suzuki GS1000ST.
Keeping the GS Thou, I paired it with a Honda VFR700F. I also did bucket racing around this time, campaigning a Honda CB125S.
Another GS1000S followed later but this time an N model. The collection was added to by the purchase of a Kawasaki Z1000.
My 2nd new bike purchase was a 1998 Triumph T595 Daytona. While owning this I also bought a Yamaha RD350LC and a 1996 Bimota YB8 Evo.
The Triumph was sold to make way for my current wheels a 2011 Ducati Hypermotard HM1100.
After finding what the issue was with my windscreen wiper mechanism, it needs a repair. I removed the unit from the car to do some bench work.
I found a piece of scrap sheet steel floating around – I think its about 0.7mm – that can be used for a brace/support. Using tin snips and a small bench grinder I shaped it to an approximation of what I wanted.
Then using a ball pein hammer and a short pipe as a dolly, I beat it into shape, checking the fit and snipping and grinding away as I went to get to the finished shape.
The steelwork done, a final fitting shows this still allows some flex and movement of the joint. Nonetheless, I have a cunning plan.
A hole was drilled through the support and shaft to take a 6mm bolt. I then pre-packed the voids on the plastic end piece (with CRC Minute Mend Epoxy Putty) before finally fitting and bolting the support. Once tightened up, more putty was pushed into all the gaps and smoothed down.
After waiting about an hour for the putty to cure, the unit was painted and offered back up to the mounts on the bulkhead.
Today I had fitted kings springs for the ute suspension at ProStreet Performance in Pukekohe. The item codes are front:151sssl and rear 152sssl. Blokes did a top job, in and out in 90 minutes and with a new customer discount (cheers!), cost me $500.
The original ride height (as measured from centre of wheel cap to bottom of guard) was 405mm The spring installation has dropped the car to a 350mm ride height which is significantly more than the quoted 35mm drop – for me, that’s probably ok, even if it drops another 10mm through the bedding in period.
For the short time I have driven it since the spring swap, I can certainly feel the ride is a little less compliant, which is obviously to be expected, but ride quality is still more than acceptable.
Overall the look is excellent, not slammed as such but definitely ‘down there’. The gap between the tyre and guard has closed up probably as much as I would want to go.
I was surprised how low it feels when standing next to it, the two inch drop is just as apparent with the lower bonnet and roof height. It gives more of an impression of being a sports car than a utility vehicle now.
All in all I am most happy with the result, low cost, good service, sweet looks.
ukekohe.
