General Riding Performance

[KLR]

Hey Guys,

New guy again, how are you all. I have another question, this is the first time I have ridden a 900( Previous bike was a ZX6R 02 636 ) and dont know if it is due to the capacity or a tuning type problem.

Now I am no demon when it comes to riding but as you would all agree there is nothing like taking the beast out and going for a strap.

Most of my riding is commuting from work to home and back again.

As I am doing 60(most of the time) I usually ride in 3rd gear as it keeps the revs high and gives me that power when I need it.

But when going to anything higher like 4th etc it just feels like it is labouring like you need to give it more if you know what I mean.

Is this normal with a large capacity bike or would some fine tuning help.

Now due to the strictness of my accountant(Wife) performance parts are not, I REPEAT NOT an option.

Anyway if you guys could help that would be great!!

[Smitty]

hey a another newbie...
welcome

to KSRC here.....

from a 636 to a 900 ..i am assuming ZX9r....??
and
..... the 9r..doesn't wanna go ....?
did you buy the 9r new?
I suspect not
have you checked that the gearing is standard
coz a 9r should be very happy at 60kmh ..in 4th or 5th
I mean..it will go like a cut cat ..in 3rd
but why waste petrol and have accelerated engine wear
by revving it??
thought the idea was...bigger engine should need less of that.
my 750 is happy in 5th at 60kmh (yeah I can ride it in 3rd but why bother)
so why not the 9r...?
has the bike had a tune (serviced lately?)
or
does it need one???

any other issues?? is the bike hard to start..hot or cold???
excess fuel use? petrol smells?

anything else would be helpful...



cheers

[MadKaw]

Sounds like it needs a tune. If you have upgraded from the 636 to a ZX9R you shouldn't be lacking in the power dept and it should pull much better from lower revs...

[KLR]

Hiya

No she is not hard to start hot or cold, its quite good in that respect, at 80-100km/h she rides like a dream, I get about 300km's off the tank which is pretty normal I think except for my fuel problem which is getting addressed tomorrow(see previous post)

Maybe its just me, the bike has full service history etc and has not a mark on it, hasnt been crashed( well I hope not but no visible evidence, stops, pegs etc etc ) Has about 33,000k's on her.

Checked the chain and sprockets and gave them a good going over and there is no excessive slack or rounded teeth etc etc

When I take it in tomorrow for the fuel problem I will have them test ride it and see what they think. Maybe I am just a picky bastard!! I love my bike to much I think haha except when I trade up for that ZX10R in two years, hopefully pick one up for around the 14 mark!!

Thanks again for all the welcomes and look forward to hearing from those Qld'ers and have to organise a ride sometime.

[Simmo_ZX9R]

Mica,
you say the 9's done 30000 klicks,
at the 30k service were the valve clearances checked? should be in the service history, l found that my 9R was getting a bit sluggish and just regine recently did a 33000 service had my valve clearances done, made all the diff, made the throttle so crisp and engine so responsive.

[KLR]

When I bought the thing I checked and at 24,000 from memory is when vavle clearances should be done and checked the handbook and found it had been done but by a yamaha dealer( so who knows if they even checked it correctly!!)

The next scheduled service is at 36,000km's, I wish I could service here earlier but unfortunately same old story family, mortgage etc.

Tomorrow will be interesting, thanks for all the help so far. When it goes in tomorrow will have the guys check things out for me.

The bike has an aftermarket warranty which was transferrable when I bought it so if is anything expensive hopefully it should be covered.

[Nanna10r]

Hey Mica my 9 is just due for 6k service and it purrs along in 4th at 60km, its generally pretty happy as long as i dont try and grab a handful under 3krpm. The 9s are pretty Rev happy though, much more then i expected.
Cheers Brett

[MickLC]

I did a bit of a test on mine last night on the way home. 3rd at 60 it's sitting at just a whisker over 3,500 rpm and is happy as Larry. Pop it into 4th and the revs drop to pretty much 3,000 on the dot. It's happy to pull at that speed but if you let it drop off at all (58km/h )it will bog down a bit.

[KLR]

Yeah thats pretty much what happens, sits on about 3000rpm in 4th at 60km/h and it feels a big boggy if you let it drop below.

I have just dropped it off a my local kwaka dealer and explained this so they are going to take a look.

I shall post when I find out. I think basically they just love to be ridden at speed!!!! anything below 80km/h is unacceptable for the 9R's I think lol!!!!

[mrmina]

maybe your gearing has been changed.

i think a 900 should go in any gear

[Zteven]

Hate digging up an old post but I was looking for something on fuel probs & this was close to the mark.
Firstly '00 e2 ZX9R is the bike.(68k on clock)
Bought it a few months back & I noticed same as Mica9r, 3rd's a dream & 4th @ 60k on cruise feels like it's starving. Cold start on full choke will cause a backfire, so I have to hit starter & wind on the choke after a few engine turns
Last week while I was fuelling up I actually read the fuel tank tags past the 'USE UNLEADED FUEL' & saw it needed 95 octane fuel & here I was with a 91 octane pump in my hand
I have noticed down low when given a handful it rattles it's head off(ping) so I'm putting this down to not putting the correct octane in
Have it booked in for a major service with Bill out at Pablo's just so I know where it's up to, even tho it only had one 2k ago @ Brighton Kawa.
Only prob I have with returning service work to Brighton is that when I first saw bike & noticed fairing to tank alignment was out & asked salesman had it been dropped he replied 'no', so I said what about fairing alignment? He said major oops, I forgot it had a flat once & fell off it's stand once. Wasn't until a month later on cleaning I noticed left side engine cover had silastic over bottom part covering a major fall, so their credibility in mho has gone out the window & won't be getting any service work outta me!
So back to the point: Fuel I've been told Shell's top shelf unleaded is best & plan to use this, any suggestions on this?
PS: I'll keep searching for fuel posts now.

[MadKaw]

Ahh, the old fuel question again... I'm not sure if we've had that discussion on the new forum but it did get a work out on the old one.
Some people think Optimax is crap and makes there bikes run rough, others have no problem with it.
I'm in the later group and have been running it for years with no problems. The one thing that is important is to have your bike tuned / jetted with optimax in it as it can make a difference...

As far as your left side engine case being sealed up, I'd suggest its either been down the road or the previous owner was a track day demon as they can be scraped when lent over enough... Mines almost worn through.. I can not understand why they didn't chamfer them like they did on the zx6r..

[mattyv74]

I've been told Shell's top shelf unleaded is best & plan to use this, any suggestions on this?

Hey bloke, Is your bike injected or still carbies? Kwaka's only recently went efi so with yours being '00 it might not be.
If it is efi, then either Shell Optimax or Mobil 8000 is the way to go.
If its got carbies, which I assume it does, DO NOT use Optimax if the bike sits around for any time. When optimax is in small quantities and exposed to air, ie. like in the fuel bowls and tap etc.., it will go off and turn into this thick jelly stuff that clogs up the jets and all the little passages in the fuel system. Also, the density of Optimax is different, so the float levels need to be adjusted so that the needle and seat work properly.
I use Optimax occassionly, but will use the Mobil 8000 if I have a choice.
If you want to use the Shell all the time, you might want to get the float levels done and stick to it.
Even having done this though, DO NOT let the bike sit around for a month or more with Optimax in it. Almost all new cars and bikes are efi there fuel system is different so they don't have the same problems.
It happened to me, and I ended up with the whole fuel system (from the tap to the pump, and all four carbies) appart on the garage floor and it took a whole day just cleaning all the muck out.

Pit Shell does tell you it's not recomended for carbies unless you ask. Then the y say it's ok, but at the end in a sheepish wisper, "if you adjust the float levels to suit."

[KLR]

Hi Guys

Just my two cents and must agree since having an E1 model ZX9r and previously owning a ZX6R 636 I have always been told by dealers and those in the know "do not use Optimax in a Carbie'd bike"

I use either BP Ultimate or Mobil Premium( I don't think we have Mobil 8000 up here in Qld Town ) that is what I have always been recommended.

Anyway hope that helps.

[MadKaw]

You can read the info from shell here
http://www.shell.com/home/au-en/html/iw ... timax.html
go to the "shell optimax and your bike" link...

Believe it.... or not....