Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

So I took the zrx out for a spin this Sunday.
Started off from CBD, went all the way through Alexandra, Whitfield, to Wangaratta and back.
Heres a link of the route I took:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 29&t=h&z=9

A few things I noticed:

- My ass hurts like hell, so need to change the seat
Any suggestions for not so expensive fix for a good comfortable seat for long rides?

-The suspension settings needs to be fiddled with.
In process of referring to various forums and experimenting with different settings.

-Legs....
I have done lots of Kms back in India. Covered almost all the corners of the country, been to Ladakh/Leh religiously
I had a front leg guard mounted on my Enfield. So, I could easily stretch my legs and rest them on the guard while riding through the straight highways. Any suggestions on having a comfortable riding position on the zrx? Would adjustable rearsets be helpful? I like shifting around my riding position when am doing those long highway stretches, so the legs really love that.

-Wind noise
We don't (can't) ride at high speeds back in India on the freeways (thanks to the 1001 potholes, traffic and the random pedestrans crossing the highways whistling to some song). The max we hold on to is around 100 kmph. So I never felt the need of a good ear protection back there. Things are different here.
I was thinking of a pair of noise canceling earphones (Sennheiser?). The earmoulds are a bit too expensive for me to afford right away. Which earphones do you guys use while riding? I Need one with the flange-tips, so they don't hurt if you wear them for long (specially when you take your helmet off ) Any advice?

-Tyres
The previous owner had put in a Road 2 rear and a Michelin Sports front. I had Road 2 front and rear on my zx6 and loved them. The previous owner also managed to get a really nice chicken strip around the tyres I thought I could wear it off if I hit the twisties for a few days. But all through out this ride, I kept having the feeling that the front tyre isn't gripping like it should I have done these same roads on my zx6, and never had a problem. Yes, so I need to get used to the ZRX more (parking lot cone practice), but which tyre sets do you guys prefer? I was thinking of replacing the front Sport with a Road 2.

Thanks in advance

I have no problem with the num bum. But a hemroid (Airhawk) seat will fix your problems or a corbin.

Headphones are good if you get the rubber ended ones. Phillips make a few good sets for under the $100 mark.

Tyres are the same as mine when i bought it. Change them to a matched pair. I have Sportec M3's Metzlers. Great tyres for the ZRX thus far.

Get the suspension sorted soon. It make the bike handle much better.....

Go the mighty Rex

Airhawk, sheep skin, Sargent seat, Ohlins and you will do kilometers like you wouldn,t believe

marty uses his crash knobs and highway pegs, sit the legs up on em and give em a stretch!!

definately recommend the corbin and M3 Metzlers (although was thinking about having a fling with Pirellis).

there's a few good articles on the ZRXOA site about setting up ZRX suspension, I tend to go softer so it actually works but others do the opposite and hardnen everything up - that's the beauty about the REX, you'll find your own favourite settings. I found a nice 5-6 km stretch with bumps, fast corners, etc and spent a coule of hours adjusting and then doing a ride to check. Worth it.

TC

I had my suspension completely rebuilt - it is fantastic.

Airhawk will fix your sore arse ....

Suspension mods are best $$ value

highway pegs

an iPod and some good quality earphones will melt the miles away....

I had no confidence in the front end but it's a lot better since putting the fork brace on it. It still needs a bit of work on the internals to get it up to scratch but its a big improvement. The Ohlins on the rear improves the handling a lot but it also emphasises the poor front end.

The seats are shit. They slope forward and get uncomfortable fairly quick unless you move around on them. I find myself sitting further back, half on the ridge for the pillion seat a bit when doing straight boring bits. If a replacement seat was in my price-range I would be getting one but at the moment am still weighing up my options. I have seen a few modified ones but haven't found one I would be happy with yet.

I also have sliders that double as highway pegs. I put a bit of grip tape on them to make it easier to keep my feet on them otherwise they slip off too easy. I don't particularly want sliders, I just bought them to rest my legs on.

I also wear ear-plugs if there is any highway riding coming up. I couldn't handle the cords to my earphones getting in the way so I don't listen to music when I ride.

jonoZRX wrote:I had my suspension completely rebuilt - it is fantastic.

You have ridden your bike

hey warriuor - we just got back from india - rajasthan - do you have a link 2 yr experiences? wife is pestering me to go again. it was our 1st trip - u seem 2 know the ropes real well.

thx.

I use M3's they work good on the ZRX.

I had extra padding put in my seat, it is a fraction higher which helps with the knee bend. Suspension is a really personal thing, but get it sorted and you wont look back

hmmm
thanks for the pointers guys.
on a mission now to find some highway pegs (or slider and then modify them a bit)..whichever comes cheaper.

Not much of a music listener during my rides, but i thought the earphones would be multipurpose, earplugs when am riding and a some good music accessory when am doing everything else. I ll go through the Phillips website

Think I like the airhawks. Kinda confused with which size should I order though....large cruiser?medium cruiser? Do i have to get both the rider and pillion part of them to fit in perfectly?

so you guys reckon I should go for a pair of M3 instead of Road 2? The things I like about the road 2 are, good grip on wet road, the soft compund on the sides, which gives a nice grip on corners. And supposedly the hard compound in the middle keeps the tyres from wearing out fast.

I think I should bin my plans of an exhaust (for now ) and try getting som Ohlins front and rear. Fork brace sounds like a good idea to start with before I get the Ohlins maybe.

Yeah, the seats are....bad
I keep sliding on it!! Like am gonna slide and fall off After the sore arse I had, am not doing any long rides before fixing that seat

Phil, could you guide me to some (not so credit card exhausting ) highway pegs/sliders? I ll keep an eye out on ZRXOA for the Ohlins.
But maybe just gonna give all those adjusters some try once.

Snooze, Rajasthan is a lovely place, and it gets even more beautiful during the winter. We covered Jaipur/Jodhpur couple of times from Delhi. We tried doing a summer ride to Jaipur, but had to abort our plans coz 6 out of 10 bikes in our group had seized engines within 1000kms
I am from Kolkata btw, (West Bengal). Never documented any of my rides though, apart from pictures taken by the fellow riders for their own album If you are planning to visit India again, and want to do smoe motorbiking, I will hook you up with a couple of clubs I have rode with, or tell you about some nice places to visit

shadowarrior wrote:Phil, could you guide me to some (not so credit card exhausting ) highway pegs/sliders? I

Sorry mate, I only do "top shelf".

My advise - start saving

damn you!!!
or ....you could start buying me my birthday and christmas presents....

how much do the highway pegs come for? and which seat size should I choose for the airhawk?

shadowarrior wrote:damn you!!!
or ....you could start buying me my birthday and christmas presents....

how much do the highway pegs come for? and which seat size should I choose for the airhawk?

No idea, I dont use either