Yamaha FZ750 Restoration - Suspenders and Fast Rides.

Cracking blast today!

I'll digress at the start of the blog today. I'm having a great day! We all met up early for a fastish blast this morning and the 2002 R1 got to pit itself against a much-too-loud 2014 S1000RR (running 196BHP at the wheel). We also had a ZX14R, Diavel, CBR600RR, CBF13000, and an MT-07. She, the R1, limped home on three cylinders in the end but really did herself proud. 

Improving Your Motorcycle's Brakes... Cheaply.

As the lever fades...
With a few miles, or years, under its belt, most bikes start to feel a little bit lacking when it comes to the feel at the lever. And I, for one, am not keen on riding bikes where the lever almost touches the bars. Now, if money is no option, there are plenty of easy fixes:

• New discs and pads
• Braided brake lines
• Rebuild the calipers with new seals, maybe pistons if damaged
• Brembo adjustable master cylinder 

But this gets expensive, and changing parts could be masking an actual problem — something that could be easily fixed. So what if you could improve your standard brakes where things have deteriorated over time? Well read on...

Changing Fork Seals — 2011 - 2013 Honda CBR600RR

One at a time...
So I was going for the approach here of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Only the RH fork seal is leaking on the little CBR, but it's long overdue (just like tutorials on this blog). Well, no more! I haven't been riding as much because of it. I seriously needed a kick up the arse.

Ducatis, Diavels, Dawn & Dusk.

I hate plans...
Always have, the best New Year's parties I've had have all been unplanned. And I live my life that way for this very reason.

I prefer to choose whether I go to a track day at 1.00am on the morning of the track day, just in case something better comes up. 😉

So, the other day, when I was out testing, playing and working on Smithy's Panigale, I fully intended to go for breakfast at the Metz, in Canungra, and then go home. But the best made plans...

Oil Filters — Part Deux.

Where are we at?
OK, so I've changed the oil twice since doing the original oil and filter change when I first got the bike. For those that remember, the filter fitted had no manufacturer's markings on it and, when I cut it up, found it to be absolute crap. 

I fitted a genuine Honda one, and since then just dropped the oil a couple of times to try and get everything running clean inside again. Today I put another flush in the engine and changed it all again. And this, my very bored friends, is how it went down.

2011 CBR600RR
Really like this bike, the paint, the shape, its agility... it's awesome. But someone decided it was a good idea to hide the oil filler cap behind that black fairing panel. Doesn't make sense that to top up the engine oil, or check the filler cap for tightness (as they do before you enter the racetrack), you have to remove part of the fairing.

CBR600's, Trackdays and Relearning.

600's...Taking a step back?
There was a certain criteria I was looking for when downsizing:

• Lighter bike 
• Better brakes
• More fun

I've never owned a 600 before, it's always been about big bikes, more power and all the hype that goes with it. But... having tried Smithy's GSXR750 (probably the best of both worlds), I wanted something that was easier to throw around and enjoy on the track. First go on the CBR was all I needed, it was like a toy. A very fast toy.

Queensland Raceway.

I've said it before, but this track is scary fast! Glenn Allerton currently holds the lap record at around 1.08 minutes on a BMW S1000RR. And I can mooch around in the 1.24's— snail's pace when you look at it like that. 

And when you turn up at the track and see this, you realise you're about to see some real talent. Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell out playing in yellow group. Think I'll stick to blue.

And how would the little CBR fair amongst the 750 and 1000 of Messrs Smith and Wadwell, on their Suzukis. Well, in a straight line, not very well at all. 

The first thing that hit me was how many gear changes were needed, still leant over. When I usually exit turn 3 on the 1000 I have plenty of time to consider going up another gear. But now I was finding myself having to hook my left foot back under the lever because i was hitting the limiter, losing time every lap. 
Going down the front straight I was also having to make a concerted effort to watch the rev counter because, again, I'd hit the limiter each time! Big learning curve.

The first session was about getting up to speed again. Too long between trackdays, and a new bike to boot. The fear of turn 4 is still firmly lodged in my brain and I found it hard to go round there at anything above walking pace (that's what it felt like). And Bryan quickly followed up with "That's what it looked like!"

With the Yamaha and Kawasaki race teams playing here today too, there was a lot of talent to watch in the yellow group, including the aforementioned Glenn. He makes it look very easy to push out 1.09's. One of the kawasaki's went down into turn 1, during the second session, so we had to wait for ambulances etc. to come and pick the poor fella up. His bike was completely mullered/torn apart.

Wayne Maxwell pulls up by my CBR for some tips... from his crew.

The afternoon is where I pick up speed, every time. But Bryan's pace has picked up immensely since I last did a trackday, so he was disappearing in all but the final session. Going up against Pat on the 171BHP GSXR1000 was ok in the corners, but a waste of time down the straights. He eventually let me go in front and left me to it (felt sorry for me).

Bryan then puts in a 1.24, now the heat is on. That's the quickest I've done on my 1000 and his 750. It's going to be hard to pull that out on the 600!

Being dragged around is a big thing, go out on your own and you end up braking way too early and go in much too slowly. Follow someone and you're always looking for places to get in front — it helps. As it was in our final session. Because he waited for me to warm my tyres for a couple of laps, it was much easier to hang on behind. The horsepower difference between the 600 and the 750 is around 30 big ones, but you can overhaul that quite easily if you're on it. 

Final session of the day, we finished on 1.25's, not too bad for a horsepower needy track. There's plenty of places for me to make up that lack of speed, the main one being bravery. Lakeside will be a more even challenge with any luck, but let's wait for some cooler weather.

Pretty consistently slow. Ready to race below.

Overall, Smithy has upped the pace immensely. Pat doesn't care and will use whatever means possible to say goodbye. I've got what I wanted, something to make me faster in the turns, but now I need to practise it. The CBR is a cracking little bike, great on the road too. And easy for my 72kg's to throw around rather than the Gixer working me over.

Seriously folks, that bike is fun!

Oil Filter Review — The True Cost!

Be afraid!
How do you really know what you're getting when you screw on a new oil filter? That little canister has a big job to do considering it's trying to protect your several thousand dollar engine. 
For those lucky enough to have a cartridge-style filter, most of these questions won't apply. You can see every part of the new filter element, you can eyeball all the components on the engine. You can clean out the housing to your own impeccable tolerances. You fit it into the engine using the original manufacturer's components. Boom, you're done.

But what about the spin-ons?

• Does the material filter out all the nasties? And to what micron?
• Does the anti-drain back valve (rubber washer) really stop the oil flowing back into the sump?
• Does the bypass valve open at the specified pressure for your bike?
• Is the filter element sealed correctly within the canister? Hmm...

The news.

Take a look around the net and read about filter reviews, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. I've been a mechanic for a long time and screwed on thousands of filters. And as long as they screw on, happy days. You get the odd leaker, or bad thread, and that's to be expected with a mass-produced unit.

But it's all fit and forget. You never look inside one, and don't know if it's done its job. In a garage, it's all completed in minutes. You don't look at the oil that comes out, couldn't care less about the old filter and send the vehicle on its way for another 20,000 thousand miles (or less, as the case maybe). And that's the harsh reality. You're relying on the fact that the filter is a quality component.

But when an engine fails, can you prove it was the filters fault?

2011 CBR600RR Review — I've Turned.

You meet the nicest people... on a Honda.
The last Honda I owned was a '91 CBR1000FL, she'd done a few miles, had a few cracks in the fairing but that old beauty took me round Europe, in comfort, with no worries at all. The old timing tensioner mod was the only real engine work it ever received. I traded it on a new Hayabusa in 2000, and stuck with Suzukis ever since.

I've owned the GSXR1000 K6 for seven years now and it's been absolutely superb. No real issues, just general wear and tear, and it's still as quick as ever. But my last stint at the track on a Gixer 750 made me realise how much extra weight I was fighting with, not to mention the power I could never really get down (I'm a wuss). It was time to trade. 

Pain.
A quick road test on a 5,000km only (honest guv), 2013 model GSXR750 with squared-off tyres at Team Moto soon put me off — for the price they wanted anyway. No history or books whatsoever, it was in desperate need of some tyres with a round profile, but they weren't interested in putting any on. The whole experience was disappointing to be fair, and I walked away... until I tried a 2011 CBR600RR Tri-colour, and within fifty yards of the dealership I was in love! Holy F*#k this thing is nimble, light, smooth with a gear shift I could barely feel. Want... now.

A process started, which could only be described as painful. In vehicle salesmanship, as with any type of sales, there should be a bit of effort from the people who are trying so hard to get that, well, sale. They should go that extra mile, make you feel like it's an easy process, put your mind at ease. Not at Team Moto it would seem, going through ten hours of labour would be easier. But it's done now and hopefully remains a distant memory.

Enter the CBR600RR.

Biketech7 - Track Days, Warming Tyres and Oops!

Champions Ride Days, Queensland Raceway - 31/05/2014.
With the bikes loaded up on the Friday afternoon, we were set to leave at 6.00am on the Saturday. Leathers, helmets, boots, food and a few tools for good measure, and straight up to the Coomera BP garage for a brew and meet the others. By 7.30am we were rolling into the massive complex that is QR to find a load of cars racing round the track, and a dose of bikes already unloaded.
Over to the control tower to get registered and we were soon ready for scrutineering and the rider's brief. The weather was perfect, not too hot and just slight cloud in the sky. 

Suspension Upgrades: Does A Six-Year Old Bike Still Cut It?

Can your bike's suspension be upgraded to match the latest technology?


This isn't about using professional racers to test on a short circuit track because that would mean nothing to the average road rider - like me. I want to hear in layman's terms if spending $500 - $1000 on your standard bike's suspension is a waste of money, or the best thing you could've done to improve it. We're the ones out there buying and riding the bikes, and most of us on the public roads only; so, can a basic upgrade to your favourite toy make it a match for the latest kit?


Let's find out.

• The bike: 2006 GSXR1000K6 
• The roads: A mix of fast, bumpy sweepers and the tightest of hairpins.
• The question: Can the oldie hold its own against a newbie?

2006 GSXR1000 K6

Pointless?

Not for the majority of riders who have to battle on with their existing bikes because a new bike is out of their price range. And maybe the riders who think that the suspension must be effective just because it's fitted with Up Side Down forks and a monoshock.

I wanted to know for sure if what I'd heard is true. That spending money on suspension is the best use of readies that a person can throw at their bike. 
Or should you just get a race can? At least it'll sound fast when everyone's on your ass trying to overtake you!

150BHP? That's about 100 more than you need for the road!
That's what I was told by Peter Clements of ProMechA. And I know he's right, strictly speaking, but when did that ever matter?
But to be fair, this guy is very switched on and tells it like it is. When you can get hold of him on the phone, you're in for a great conversation. I had an idea on what the GSXR needed - I just needed to relay it to Peter. It's simple, I wanted the bike to be plush on bumpy roads (after all, it's quite stiff as standard), but have the ability to handle high speeds too but, on top of all that, be capable of destroying anyone else on a track day (should I partake in one)!
Should be easy, just a bit of spring manipulation - or so I thought.


"You can't have it all," says Peter. "What are you going to be using it for? Track days, or the road?"


"Hmm, road work I guess."


"OK, well I can't give you a sports-tourer and a race bike all in one. You need to choose what sort of bike you want." 


And that's when it hit home. There is no best of both worlds, no adaptive suspension that works for every road or track. And that's the first thing you need to understand. 
I've watched videos, read everything i can find on the internet and bought books on the subject of tuning suspension, but until you realise there isn't a perfect fix for every road surface or track, you're bollocksed. 

20km/h? You can do better than that!

And don't forget, your suspension needs to be serviced too. 
Oil deteriorates with use, gets contaminated with metal (from the springs/sliding surfaces) and needs to be flushed out and renewed at regular intervals. 
If, like my GSXR, your bike is well overdue for fresh oil, have the shock and forks serviced before adjusting any of the preloads or clickers. Any adjustments made before this will just not be as effective and will probably put you off the learning process.
It may be daunting to start playing around with the settings initially, but once you get into the spirit of adjusting things, it starts to become clearer and, the more you play, the more you learn. Just remember to write down your original settings so you can always go back to your start point if need be.


OK, forks and shock serviced, correct weight springs fitted. What now?
Peter has a stack of information on his website covering a good variety of bikes. For me he advised a complete service and re-valve (compression/rebound pistons and shims), a linear rate spring and an anti-squat valve for the shock, and a service and re-valve on the forks retaining original springs (standard being near enough for my weight).
Although you can strip the forks yourself at home, would you know how much porting or changes in shim arrangement are required? A suspension pro will have a fair idea on what works for the chosen conditions which is going to save you time and money in the long run. These are the guys that have put in the hard hours already.


Anyway, let's get on with it. First run out, and I had a play with the rear shock. Leaving the forks at Peter's recommended starting point, I adjusted the sag on the rear and then played with the compression and rebound adjusters. This also involved a quick run with them fully unscrewed, which was against Peter's advice I might add, just to feel the difference.

This caused the Gixer to tie itself in knots coming out of bends hard! 

It wallowed and weaved its way all over the shop so probably not the best testing method, but then it's good to feel the difference:) I'm now at a base/standard setting and it's working quite well.

With only a few weeks on it, the "ripping" effect I had on the rear tyre is starting to clear up with the shock working correctly, but there is evidence of a rebound issue (uneven tread wear pattern). Hopefully fine tuning will cure this, but my idea of fast road work probably isn't the same as a genuine fast rider's - which is what it's valved for. Oops.
The forks are still harsh on most of the low-speed local roads, but then it always was. However, the faster you're prepared to push, the better it gets - is this a good thing? Probably. If the bike is safer and more capable at speed, when there's more chance of mistakes, less time to react and the unknown is lurking around every bend, this can only be a good thing.

Smooth roads, happy days.

This is a learning curve.
What I thought I wanted, and asked for, probably isn't what I actually needed. Having ridden a mate's 2006 CBR600RR, I knew how plush a sportbike's suspension could be on slow, bumpy roads. But until I actually tried pushing down on the front end of the CBR at standstill, I'd never have realised how soft they were as standard! It's like a trail bike, due to its progressive springs, where the GSXR is rock solid all the way through. 
No wonder you meet the nicest people on a Honda.
I wanted something to soak up the slow, bumpy roads and then perform well at high speed, but it's impossible - you have to decide where your trade-off is. 


Forget the bragging rights, ask yourself this question:
How often do you exploit the top speed of your bike? 
Honestly? Not very often.
As a quick comparison, I took the DRZ out for a quick spin in some notoriously tight, uneven bends. The supermoto flies round bumpy, 60-80km/h corners without a flinch whereas the Gixer, although holding its own while you bounce out of the seat, makes you work harder for it. 


Conclusion
I can see why the softer, streetfighter-styled factory bikes are so popular nowadays. Easily as fast in the real world, but with the added comfort to protect you from all the jarring and hits you take from the average, poor road surface.


I guess I ended up with a fast road bike that spends most of its life at slow speeds. In respect of whether this bike can hold its own against a new one, no problem at all, but is that due to the rider, the components, or the fact that superbikes haven't really moved that far forward in the last six years? 
A smidgen of all those I guess, but I will say this for the GSXR, now when you crack it open to make rapid progress, the world underneath it just smoothes right on out. 


ProMechA
If you're looking to upgrade the bouncy bits on your bike, give Peter a call on 03 9574 1164 and let him explain what does what, and why. He'll tell you exactly what's needed to turn your bike into the bike you actually want - and that's far more important than turning it into something you don't need!

Mutant CBR

While Bryan's return to bike riding was decidedly short-lived, it did give me a chance to look underneath the plastic of a 2006 CBR600RR. 
A nice bit of kit to ride to be fair but, unfortunately for the CBR, was launched over the side of a mountain. Luckily the bushes and undergrowth stopped it plummeting to its death!


Oops was an understatement!

Now we just need to work out how to recover it.

The trusty Ford Falcon. 4 litre, straight six powerhouse (honest).

Keep going, nearly there!

Couple of scratches - should polish out.

Mutant CBR600 - Cool As!

So, once home, it was time to rip off the plastic and check out the important bits. Looks pretty damn good actually. What a cool bike this would be - hmm, a tractor seat is all that's needed to complete her!

 A Yoshimura race can and a new fairing and she'll be pretty much sorted. Time to get the wallet out...