Small Details

To say that it has been a while since I've updated this blog is an understatement for which there is no sufficient adjective. Let's start with the biggest update first.

That's right, I'm a dad now! My wife gave birth to our son Calvin in the middle of January. He doesn't do much beyond eating, sleeping laughing and discharging adult quantities of doo doo.

Of course there has been a lot of stuff going on with the bike as well. I'll start where my previous post left off. The Ohlins KA606 didn't fit the bike! A big dissapoinment.

The nub pictured above held one of four chain guard screws. I ground the nub off but then realized the shock preload adjuster still fouled the subframe on big shock compressions. While it was possible to have relocated the adjuster with a longer hydraulic line, it would have neccessitated a rebuild of the shock's entire hydraulic system. I definately did not want to do that so I chose to order an Ohlins KA345, which was well known to fit the ZX-7R (the KA606 was a bit of a gamble)

With the KA345 ordered, I focused my attention to other items on the bike like the new motor I had Gord Bush build for me last year.

first we tear it down ...

... and then we build it up

so clean

the headers installed

the cooling equipment and muffler installed

While the KA345 was still in the mail, I took on a number of small projects. For starters, I polished the engine covers.

here you can see the +4 Vance and Hines advancer in the new motor

Permatex gasket remover working hard

lots of baking soda

the clutch cover sight glass was damaged by the gasket remover so a new one was needed

I also had some of the more visible brackets powder coated. I didn't bother with the mirror and instrument brackets because they would be replaced with aluminum items in the near future.

brackets as they were removed from the bike

I replaced the throttle cable and some fuel line as well.

throttle cables

fuel lines

The new motion pro made a huge difference to the feel of the throttle. For $30 they are definately big bang for buck. New throttle cables will be a part of my regular maintenance for now on. The new fuel lines replaced existing line which connected the gas tank to the fuel filter. The new lines are longer which allows the tank to be pulled off the bike and set near by as an auxillary fuel source. The new lines are also thicker and almost impossible to pinch or kink.

The last thing I had finally gotten around to was sourcing a one piece fender.

I'm not sure which bike this fender was based off of but the sides of the fender were textured and not smooth so I definately didn't want to paint it. As a temporarily fender solution, I borrowed a spare that Chris had lying around.

That's all for now. I'll post updates of the Ohlins shock sometime soon.

MORE Ohlins

Ever since I laid hands on my Ohlins FG352 forks, I started thinking about getting a suitable Ohlins shock to match. While a couple west coast distributors were clearing out brand new 04-05 ZX-10 shocks at great prices, I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger.

However, earlier this month a brand new 06-07 ZX-10 Ohlins TTX shock poped up on eBay! I stared at the ebay listing for a few days and told myself that:

1. It was priced right. The 06-07 ZX-10 TTX shock cost the same as the non-TTX shock from the 04-05 ZX-10.
2. It's length was similar to the stock ZX-7 unit which would maintain my bike's steering geometry
3. It's reservoir was angled like the stock ZX-7 shock which would maintain the 'stockish' look that I'm aiming for. Furthermore, the angled reservoir is extremely rare for an Ohlins shock with the proper length for the ZX-7.
4. It complements the forks. Both the forks and the shock are designed for the same bike which means they should work well together in form and function
5. it was a TTX. Not a huge deal for the riding I do, but it's bragging rights I guess. At the same time it IS a little embarrasing to own a high end shock and not utilize it's potential.... like dating a horny super model and having ED

After rationalizing it in my head, I emptied my wallet and a few anxious nail biting days later, my new Ohlins TTX shock arrived!!!!!!!

Of course being a shock not designed for a ZX-7, it will take some work to bolt this onto the bike. There are two problems to mounting a ZX-10 shock (Ohlins or otherwise) to a ZX-7.

1. The ZX-7 uses M12 bolts to mount it's shock while the ZX-10 uses M10 bolts
2. The lower clevis on the ZX-7 is 32mm wide while the lower clevis on the shock is 30mm wide

To address these issues, I enlisted the help of JohnnyP636 from gtamotorcycle.com. Johnny gave me the top shock mount from a ZX-6 which fits the ZX-7 frame mount and uses a M10 bolt to mount the shock like the ZX-10. To address the bottom mount, I reluclantly agreed to bore out the lower clevis to 12mm.

Top mount

Now that all the bolt holes were the same diameter, I just needed to make sure the lower clevis would fit over the ZX-7 shock linkage sleeve. Johnny helped me mill down one end of the ZX-7 sleeve which I then chucked in my lathe to finish.

Milling sleeve

Sleeve after milling

Facing sleeve

Sleeve after facing

Even though the sleeve is what the shock is ultimately bolts on to, I still had a problem with the oil seals on the ZX-7 shock linkage. They had flanges on them which made fitting the clevis very VERY tight which restricts shock movement.

To get around this issue, I sourced some oil seals that didn't have flanges and fit right inside the shock linkage's bore.

The old oil seals are on the top, the new oil seals are on the bottom

The new oil rings have a these little spring that applies pressure to maintain the inner diameter

Old oil seal in linkage

New oil seals in linkage ...

... with the sleeve installed ...

... with lower clevis installed

So with all that in place, the shock is pretty much ready to bolt on to the bike. Hopefully this weekend, I'll get around to doing just that. In the mean time, here is some filthy Ohlins smut.