Quick Fix
QUICK FIX
KAWASAKIZX-10R
KAWASAKI’S ZX-10R CONquered all in CW’s 2004 Superbike comparison and subsequently took home an award in our annual Ten Best Bikes competition. Strong like King Kong, making 155.5 rear-wheel horses, and banana leaf-light at 408 pounds, the ZX-10R epitomizes Open-class sportbike performance, enabling its rider to walk on-and all over-the competition. The only chinks in the Ninja’s armor were its tendency to mis-shift under full load, particularly while going from second to third gear, and the fact that it was the only gladiator sent into battle without a steering damper. Recognizing that these two issues may have cost the ZX-10R victory in the racetrack portion of our testing, we set out to find cures. We first contacted Dan Fahie, crew chief of Kawasaki’s factory roadrace team. Judging by brothers Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden’s recent AMA Superstock race results, they don’t seem to be having any shifting problems. Fahie told us his team got better shift action from rearset foot controls produced by Attack Performance, so we called and ordered a set. Machined from aluminum alloy and available for most modern sportbikes, these fully adjustable rearsets can be used with regular or reverse shift patterns. Roller bearings at the levers’ pivot points cut
down on slop and friction, and shift effort is tunable by selecting between four points to connect the shift-rod to the shift lever, which changes the leverage ratio as well as the degree of lever travel. Adjustments take mere minutes. The Attack rearsets also feature replaceable, quick-release, GP-style footpegs, cleated for grip and machined with breakaway grooves for increased crash survivability. The pegs are lightweight and strong, but are l .5 inches shorter than the Stockers, which feel like floorboards by comparison. A honeycomb of holes in the mounting plates allows a plethora of peg positions, varying as much as 2 inches in height and 1.5 inches fore and aft. Because we’d never experienced any shifting problems on the street, we took the ZX-IOR to Laguna Seca Raceway for a track day held by The Track Club (formerly known as Club Desmo). Even with the pegs set in the lowest, farthest-forward position, we found we could lean the ZX-IOR over
’til we rolled off the tires’ edges without dragging anything. Impressive! Cornering clearance wasn’t the issue, however. As the ZX’s mis-shifting persisted, so did our curiosity. We next contacted Russell Brenan, press liaison at Kawasaki, who informed us that our testbike was part of a small batch of pilot-production models. Since those were built, there had been a running change on the length of the shift arm and the stiffness of the return spring on the arm that rolls the shift drum. Those items were replaced on our testbike and it hasn’t missed a shift since on street or track, even with the stock foot controls. Meanwhile, Road Test Editor Don Canet returned from the Master Bike comparison in Catalunya, Spain, relaying the news that the ZX-IOR had again vanquished all comers, and showed no sign of shifting problems. But he also said that the bike was still a handful without a steering damper. Our solution to that was a steering stabilizer from Scotts Performance Products. This rotary-style damper mounts to the top triple-clamp and features three separate circuits that are fully adjustable. (For an in-depth explanation of how it works, go to www.cycleworld.com.) On the stocker, we were sweating bullets as the front wheel went skyward cresting Laguna Seca’s Turn 1, afraid of a hair-raising tank-slapper if we didn’t set it down perfectly straight. But with the Scotts steering stabilizer fitted, our confidence soared, and our thoughts turned to lower lap times and longer wheelies. More recently, Assistant Editor Mark Cemicky took part in a six-hour endurance race aboard a production ZX-IOR at California Speedway. He reported that during his nearly three hours in the saddle, shift action was never a problem, and with a steering damper fitted, the bike not only wasn’t scary, it was downright fun! Case closed. U
SUPPLIERS Attack Performance 562/903-7757 www.attackperformance.com Foot controls $435 Scotts Performance Products 818/248-4529 www.scottsonline.com Steering stabilizer $450
