Super Sleeper
Super Sleeper
High performance on the QT
DAVID EDWARDS
QUIET RIOT SPECIAL SECTION
OH, THE CLUES ARE THERE, ALL right. You just have to know where to look. Note, if you will, the scooped-out seat, upholstered in firmer-than-stock foam—the better to give your pucker some purchase. Oh, yeah, lift said saddle to reveal a 1-pound bottle for the self-contained air-shift system, good for 600 or so full-power upshifts between refills. A peek under the bottom triple-clamp is rewarded by a sano black-and-gold anodized steering damper, much-needed, as this baby’s front wheel rides only lightly on the tarmac most of the time (see sphincter reference, above). Blame for that goes directly to the big-block cylinder, a stock piece treated to a 2mm overbore then re-plated with a nickel-silicon-carbide coating (a.k.a. Nikasil, although someone else owns that tradename). Helping the extra 61cc immensely is a Stage II engine kit consistlg of cams, jets, air filter and exhaust all, good for a romp-stomping 151.4 horsepower, almost 40 more than standard-issue!
That’s no brochure-babble, either, but honest-to-Gawd rear-wheel bhp as meaon Cycle World's own in-house dyno. Hey, 100 horsepower rears its lovely head at 6000 rpm, little more than halfway into the rev range. Max torque peaks at 95 foot-pounds (stock, 82) about 1000 rpm later, but remains above 75 ft.-lbs. from not much past startermotor engagement all the way to redline. Major mojo!
In old hot-rodder terms, this Muzzy Kawasaki ZRX 1224-like the other featured machines in our “Quiet Riot” special section-is a “sleeper,” a “Q-ship,” something that looks largely stock but packs an unexpected wallop. Out on the boulevards, that element of surprise is a wicked, wonderful thing, allowing you to sandbag.. .well, just about anything this side of a well-ridden Hayabusa or ZX12R. Cars don’t stand a chance. On a day when traction was sketchy at best, our Muzzy catalog bike dragstripped at 10.49 seconds, pulling a 133-mph terminal, .35 sec. and 8 mph up on stock. Flat-out, the 1224 was good for 167 mph, almost 20 mph faster than our last ZRX 1200 testbike.
Stout is the word.
Reciting the mantra of all sleeperbuilders, Muzzys’ Doug Meyer says, “Hey, the stocker is nice, but we all need a little more power, don’t we?” Amen to that, Brother Doug.
Muzzys (www.muzzys.com) makes it pretty simple, too. To minimize downtime, ZRX owners need not send in their own cylinder blocks for reboring. Write a check for $3340 (including a $795 core charge refundable when you send in your removed cylinder), and arrives at your door several boxes of Stage II go-fast goodies. The 1224cc kit is all-inclusive-block, pistons, pins, circlips, rings, gaskets, etc. Cams are drop-in, with a grind similar to the ZZR1200 sport-tourer’s bump-sticks. The full exhaust system is capped by a nicely polished stainless-steel muffler that actually does its job-neighbors’ car alarms do not quake in fear when the 1224 goes by.
“It’s basically a top-end job, no machining, the bottomend goes untouched,” says Meyers of the install. “But if you’re not comfortable doing the work, any Kawasaki dealer can install this kit with no special tools or techniques.”
The bike we sampled also had an adjustable cam-sprocket kit, a $180 item, supplied with recommended lobe-center settings. Another addition was an aluminum six-bladed radiator fan, a measly $36. Seems the stock plastic propeller can get a little Salvador Dali when subjected to the radiant heat emanating from single-wall aftermarket headers. “The blades sag and melt, catch on something, blow fuses...it can get real expensive,” cautions Meyers. Downside is a bit more noise as the Muzzy fan bites into the air more aggressively.
Suspension is stock, just bumped up in its settings, and handles the extra urge with no problems. Likewise, the tires are Bridgestone Battlaxes, as delivered from the factory. So, let’s see, add $600 for the air-shift kit (very addictive), $400 for the steering damper (a neat installation that unlike previous efforts requires no frame drilling) and $88 for braided-steel front brake lines (wrapped in neoprene to prevent scuffing), and you’ve got yourself a sweet ZRX 1224 Super Sleeper, a big of pussycat with 150-bhp claws. Figure right at $3850 for all the Muzzys pieces.
Even added to the ticket for a showroom-new Z-Rex, we’re talkin’ less than $12,000 for one of the best-balanced tuner specials CW has ever sampled.
Of course, we can fix that. Hey, Doug, what was that you said about nitrous-injection...?
