Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

A question for ZX10R pilots.

I took mine for a couple of runs on the weekend nice and early on both Sat and Sun. This was it's first run after the first service at 1000klm's.

The thing that stood out was that around town at low rev's ie under 3-4000 rpm it seems to be "pinging" slightly. It wasn't doing this before the service though. I'm thinking perhaps they keep them retarded slightly when new and then do something to the ignition at the first service to advance the timing slightly. Fuel should be OK as I always fill up at the Mobil at Berowra which hasn't presented any problems in the past.

Anyone noticed similar?

Hav'nt noticed this myself, happen at any other revs?

Once the revs are up it's fine, although you probably can't hear it over the induction noise anyway.

It's really only when you're accelerating up to suburban speeds.

my Cousin recently bought a new Triumph and the ist 1000kms they run a richer MAP setting and a more laxed timing. THen when they do the 1000km service they change the ECU to run leaner and advance the timing...

THe kwaka might be the same.. Have you tried running different premium fuels. I.e Optimax ect... to see if its any difference.. If it still isn't right I would ask the dealer what can be done. if its retard the timing or richin the micture up a little

Been running Synergy in it. I might give Vortex a go and see if it makes a diff.

Interestingly I heard last week that the quality of Synergy has dropped off a bit. It used to be the only thing to use in the MX race bikes as it was the most consistent fuel to test at 98RON. The crown now apparently belongs to Vortex. We used to steer clear of Optimax as it fouled plugs in the four strokes something horrible. Having said that I used to use it in the ZX9 at Eastern Creek and had no probs.

I sometimes get what I think you're talking about, usually if I've bogged it down a bit and open the throttle too much to compensate. Doesn't matter what fuel I run. The best cure I've found is revving it a bit more most of the time

Mick C wrote:I sometimes get what I think you're talking about, usually if I've bogged it down a bit and open the throttle too much to compensate. Doesn't matter what fuel I run. The best cure I've found is revving it a bit more most of the time

I think your right, although not always conducive to keeping your license.

I certainly find problems with fuels at different times. Not so much in the bike, but more clearly in the car.

I will use one brand/product for a while and then all of sudden it appears to change the cars performance (starts pinging) so I swtich to an alternative.
In the bike I prefer (in order):
1. Vortex 98 (dont be fooled by the Vortex that is 95)
2. BP Ultimate
3. The Caltex stuff (almost never use it so I dont know what its called)
4. Optimax (but I avoid it like the plague)

But then I know a guy who religiously puts Optimax in their 10 and even dynoed it to see the difference and swears a gain and no problems with plugs etc

Caltex has the brand called Vortex I thought?

Vortex is 95 & if you ring up Caltex they will tell you it's 95,
It's also cheaper than Ultimate/Optimax & the reason? It's 95 octane!
98 sold in Oz @ servo's is Mobil Synergy, BP Ultimate & Shell Optimax.
I have read on car forums that in Dyno tests BP Ultimate seems to make a small amount more HP than Optimax, but it was on 400hp+ turbo cars.

gizmo wrote:Vortex is 95 & if you ring up Caltex they will tell you it's 95,
It's also cheaper than Ultimate/Optimax & the reason? It's 95 octane!
98 sold in Oz @ servo's is Mobil Synergy, BP Ultimate & Shell Optimax.
I have read on car forums that in Dyno tests BP Ultimate seems to make a small amount more HP than Optimax, but it was on 400hp+ turbo cars.

Obviously the branding is effective. Yes Vortex is a Caltex product. But there are some servos flying flags that say Vortex 98. Either way, I dont use it. I use the Mobil one and BP. A greenie mate of mine told me that BP actually give back a percentage of Ultimate profits to some environmental thing, probably renewable energy. And if it also gives power benefits then I think it just found its way into the #1 spot for me.

Caltex sell both Vortex and Vortex 98. The Vortex is only 95 octane and is for those who don't want/need to run 98 octane. I found my ZX2 ran best on the Vortex 98 over any of the others.

Almost any high compression engine will detonate under harsh load conditions.

Use less throttle or more revs (ie. select an appropriate gear) - problem solved! An engine that revs to (for example) 12,000rpm should not be seeing WOT at 2,500rpm, it should instead be in a higher gear at higher RPM and a lower throttle opening.

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No problems. While it was a targeted question a lot of people don't have an understanding of all things mechanical so I thought the information might help someone.

I'll keep my trap shut in future!