My Dream Bike (ZZR1400)

[OmegaSteve]

Hi all, I hope this is the right place for this. It's not a restoration or the like but I have recently bought the bike I've wanted since I first started riding and will be slowly revamping the whole bike to make it mechanically as fresh as reasonably possible without spending too much.

 

Back in 2006, I was just beginning my biking journey. My dad had had bikes my entire life (and a long time before me too) and I'd had field bikes and quads for years but didn't really have much of an interest in them otherwise. In 2005 my dad bought me a 1992 NSR125 in a box with the intention of it being mine when I hit 17. We built it up and it ran well. In 2006, Kawasaki launched the ZZR1400.. teenage me fell in love. I vowed I'd have one one day, to my dad's utter dismay (hes a Gixxer bloke through and through). 2007 saw me on a Peugeot Speedfight 50cc after my CBT, a CG125 at 17 for my test. I passed after the 2nd attempt at mod 1 and the 1st attempt at mod 2, which allowed me a restricted license to 33kw for 2 years.

I went and bought a '94 ZZR600 sight unseen and rode her home (slap wrist here). We took her to get the restriction fitted and I spent hundreds, maybe thousands of miles riding that all over Wales. A month before I hit 19 I passed my car test and that was it. Barely rode the bike again, never had her destricted, sold up and became a car guy for the next 10 years or so.

 

In 2023, I decided to get a bike again. After much trawling of the web, I went and bought a '97 VFR750 with 12k on the clock for £1300.

 

Steal of a bike, couldn't wait to get it. I'd read so many owners and published reviews that I had such high hopes for the bike.... I HATED IT. Everything about it, I hated the riding position, the power delivery, the high centre of gravity. Genuinely have never been so disappointed in a bike ever. My ownership catalogue was small, but as is common I'd ridden so many different bikes from friends and family but that VFR was just not for me at all.

I had it for a year, put 12miles on it and sold it for £1300.

I decided it was time.

A ZZR1400 was happening, I'd not be happy with anything else.

So here we are, my very own 2009 Kawasaki ZZR1400 Gen 1 in silver. Far too many previous owners, high mileage and yet the best bike I've ever owned by a country mile.

 

 

As most of you have probably found before, she looked good on paper and at quick glance. Full service history, loads of receipts, nice extras and a seller with fantastic communication.

I was smitten and gave a deposit on first viewing.

A week later I picked her up and the ride home left me shaking with fear and excitement. It was everything I'd hoped.

Intoxicating is the right word.

 

A more thorough inspection has revealed some niggles that need addressing and that's what this thread will cover.

Nothing major, just stuff that needs sorting to make her perfect.

 

Hope you don't mind me posting here!

 

Edited 2 hours ago by OmegaSteve

[Simon Davey]

Oh wow! @OmegaSteve, that's brilliant. 

Good for you matey. 

I know exactly how you feel about riding it, I recently replaced my ZZR1200 with a 1050. I can corner faster and work more confidence than the ZZR, it's a much more refined bike, it had loads of rider aids, it's quieter and better on fuel than the ZZR. 

BUT, boy do I miss that ZZR, there's something really special about them, they have such character, I used to actually stroke it front to back. 

Has to change for comfort though, the sport position is too painful for my ageing shoulders. 

 

Good luck luck Steve, I'm insanely jealous. 

 

[Hairsy]

44 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

I used to actually stroke it front to back

Edited Thursday at 09:14 by Hairsy

[OmegaSteve]

33 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

Oh wow! @OmegaSteve, that's brilliant. 

Good for you matey. 

I know exactly how you feel about riding it, I recently replaced my ZZR1200 with a 1050. I can corner faster and work more confidence than the ZZR, it's a much more refined bike, it had loads of rider aids, it's quieter and better on fuel than the ZZR. 

BUT, boy do I miss that ZZR, there's something really special about them, they have such character, I used to actually stroke it front to back. 

Has to change for comfort though, the sport position is too painful for my ageing shoulders. 

 

Good luck luck Steve, I'm insanely jealous. 

 

Thank you very much Mr Davey. I never had the joy of experiencing the 1200 but a friend of my dad's had an 1100 that I took out sneakily. It was mind blowing that's for sure and supposedly the 1200 was even better?! What colour scheme was yours?

I do agree that for a sport tourer they definitely lean more towards a sports riding position, I get a dead ass around 1.5 hour in to a ride.

Any pics of the 12 or the 1050 to share?

[Simon Davey]

The superb V-strom 

[OmegaSteve]

@Simon Davey Can't go wrong with a nice clean silver! Was she loaded up for any particular journey?

 

V-Strom does look smart that's for sure. Much more refined. 

[Simon Davey]

16 minutes ago, OmegaSteve said:

@Simon Davey Can't go wrong with a nice clean silver! Was she loaded up for any particular journey?

 

V-Strom does look smart that's for sure. Much more refined. 

 

I think I'd only just got the luggage, it's ugly, but the pannier frames were Givi Monokey, and were already on the bike.

At 15000 miles on the clock, I paid £1500 for her, she was a CatN because there were scrapes on the fairing, she was sat for over a year, so I spent about a grand on her because the carb's were shitted up. That was one thrilling machine to ride, but you had to ride hard to tip into bends nicely, it wasn't very stable at slow speeds in bends and big roundabouts.

I took it to Germany for a week, we stayed in the same hotel and went in a different direction each day. It was amazing, we had such a blast. You wouldn't believe how you could push something so heavy and long so hard into hairpins and up and down hills and mountains. I really learned to ride it. But it was pretty painful at times.

 

Here she is outside the hotel.

 

Here she is with my new friends for life, hadn't met any of them before I went on the trip.

The organiser, Tony, Isn't in the picture though,.

 

Sorry, your thread has become about my ZZR.

 

[OmegaSteve]

@Simon Davey no need to apologise at all. I love hearing stories like that.

What an incredible trip and something like that stays with you forever.

Are you still in touch with them all to this day?

Sounds like the zzr was a bargain too, how long did you end up keeping it for?

[Simon Davey]

1 hour ago, OmegaSteve said:

@Simon Davey no need to apologise at all. I love hearing stories like that.

What an incredible trip and something like that stays with you forever.

Are you still in touch with them all to this day?

Sounds like the zzr was a bargain too, how long did you end up keeping it for?

 

We keep in touch on Whatsapp, and we're doing it again this year  It's been done for 12 years by the same guy who organises it, but this was my first trip.

I part exchanged the ZZR just at the end of March, got £1000 for it with the luggage, not too bad, I'd have gotten £1500 privately, but couldn't be bothered. The V-Strom was reduced from £13500 to £11000 because it was brand new, but MY2023, and, I got it on 0% interest. An absolute no brainer.

[OmegaSteve]

So after the ride home and having a better look at her in my garage I realised that the steering lock didn't work .

 

Amazing what you miss when the rose tinted glasses are on isn't it? 

 

A slight cause for concern as I then wondered if it had been nicked previously but if it had, the HPI hadnt shown anything.

 

Annoying.

 

After a quick investigation, it appears that the top clamp was sitting up higher than it should and thus was causing the steering lock pin to not engage the notch in the frame. Odd? It had bar risers fitted and I began to wonder.

 

 

Hmm, someone's been here before 

 

 

I ordered a new seal cover and locking washer for the stem and once they arrived I got started.

Edited 2 hours ago by OmegaSteve

[OmegaSteve]

Stripped off the clip ons and risers, removed the top clamp and took the stem nuts off (which were only finger tight!).

Replaced the seal as the bearing looked and felt fine, according to the service history it had been replaced by a bike garage in Telford less than 3 months prior. Had they left the stem nuts loose or had it been after? Well I think i may know . 

 

 

During reassembly I fit the top clamp down correctly and torqued everything to spec and this is where the cause of the non-functioning steering lock showed itself.

With the top clamp in correct position, the bar risers could not sit flush to bolt down due to the tops of the forks? Weird? (I have no pics of this, sorry). So out came the manufacturer manual and my vernier calipers.

The forks are supposed to protrude through the top clamp by 24mm, mine were at 37mm?!? Good God. So whoever had lifted the forks through the bottom yoke had then had to raise the top clamp up the stem to make the risers fit .

 

I wanted it back to factory settings so with my limited equipment I had to get inventive.

 

 

Not sure why its rotated the image  

 

Not ideal by any means but it worked. I then loosened the fork clamp bolts and little by little raised the jack to bring the forks down through the yokes.

 

Once I had them to 24mm I clamped up the bolts, torqued to spec and removed the jack. Perfect!

Risers fitted on perfect now and everything was tightened correctly.

 

And the steering lock worked!!

 

 

Job jobbed.

 

Took her for a spin out to celebrate, bonus to this was she now felt a lot more planted. Placebo maybe, or due to the correct geometry? We'll never know. 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by OmegaSteve