Kawasaki ZX- 1. 4R 8- second Quarter Mile Attempt | The Quest For Eight Seconds. At the press launch for the 2. Kawasaki ZX- 1. 4R held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s NHRA dragstrip back in December 2. Lowering kit Kawasaki Z1000SX 2017. Kawasaki Z1000SX lowering kits 2010-2016, top quality to a great low introduction price! Lower the seat height on your Z1000SX by.Rickey Gadson reeled off numerous uncorrected 9. R with nothing more than lowering mods and a two- teeth- smaller rear sprocket (which actually makes the gearing taller). We can recall when 1. Kawasaki ZX- 9. R (June ’9. But now it’s looking like we’re knocking on the door of eight seconds in the quarter- mile. Think about that for a second; eight seconds used to be the exclusive domain of custom- built dragracing machines, with extended swingarms, huge engine displacement, and/or forced induction with drag slicks. Try to approach eight seconds with any four- wheeled vehicle and you’re talking six figures before you even reach the start line. The ZX- 1. 4R test bike sitting in our shop suddenly got us to thinking: What would it take for us to get into the 8- second bracket with the big Kawasaki? THE PROJECTAlthough it would’ve been easier to call in a pro dragracing pilot to deal with the riding chores, we thought we’d try to keep the modifications to a minimum to start, and that includes the rider. Thus, yours truly would be put in the hot seat. While I haven’t participated in any dragracing competition since my latter days at Motorcyclist Magazine, I handle most of the acceleration testing for SR, so while I possess a modicum of skill required to traverse that 1. I hopefully would be up to the task. I have turned an 8- second quarter- mile before, riding one of Lee Shierts’ fire- breathing creations back in 2. ![]()
SW-MOTECH Crash Bars Engine Guards for Kawasaki KLR650 now bolt to the frame instead of the foot peg bolts for greater strength. Behind the Tech: SW-MOTECH's Torture. Baby ‘Busa,” April ’0. The next step was to procure the right modifications required to get us to our goal of sneaking into the 8s. Coincidentally, one of the attendees at the Kawasaki ZX- 1. R press launch was Brock Davidson, owner of well- known straight- line speed merchants Brock’s Performance (www. We recalled that the lowering components on the bike Gadson was riding at Las Vegas were from Brock’s, and a quick perusal of the company’s extensive online catalog reveals a plethora of go- fast parts are now available for the maximum Ninja. In a smart marketing move to make things easier for consumers, Brock’s compiles groups of related parts together in various packages for both the Suzuki Hayabusa and the Kawasaki ZX- 1. R that save 1. 0 percent over buying the pieces separately. We opted for the ZX- 1. R Dragracing Package ($1. Brock’s Performance Alien Head 2 full stainless steel exhaust, a Dynojet Power Commander V fueling module that is pre- mapped for your particular application (street, race, pump gas, race fuel, etc.), a set of Brock’s fully adjustable rear suspension lowering links and front- end strap- down kit, and a clutch modification kit that uses heavier springs and disables the stock slipper clutch for smoother launches. Brock’s also recommended its Brock Flash 2 reflashed ECU from Guhl Motors ($3. We turned to Kawasaki’s Joey Lombardo (former race mechanic on the factory Honda and Kawasaki AMA teams) to help with the installation of the parts, as he has extensive experience with disassembling the various components on the ZX- 1. R. This turned out to be a smart move, judging by the trickery required to remove the numerous body panels on the Kawasaki in order to gain access so we could install the exhaust, fueling module, and clutch kit. Where there surely would’ve been cursing and tools flying through the air — as well as cracked bodywork — in our shop, a monk- calm Lombardo deftly disassembled and removed the bodywork in a matter of minutes. Unlike some aftermarket components that we’ve had the, um, trying experience of installing, all of the Brock’s components went in without a hitch. Particularly impressive was the Alien Head 2 full exhaust system; everything went together and lined up perfectly without any muscling or bending required. Even the clutch kit was a literal 2. The biggest hiccup we encountered was plugging in part of the Power Commander wiring to a connector that was buried deep underneath the fuel injection. Some dragracing aficionados are probably wondering why we didn’t get swingarm extensions or a custom extended swingarm for the ZX- 1. R (extending the bike’s wheelbase makes it more difficult to wheelie, helping launches), or a quick- shifter. Again, we wanted to keep the major modifications to a minimum to start; getting into the eight- second bracket within the stock wheelbase parameters and without shifting aids was one of our goals. This credo also extended to the fuel we used, as instead of race gas that might gain us a tenth of a second or two, we opted to run pump gas this time. Continental (conti- online. Sport Attack 2 tires, the same type that are used in Gadson’s dragracing school, and Vortex (vortexracing. Strapped to Kawasaki’s Dynojet dyno, our ZX- 1. R pumped out an additional 1. THE DRAGSTRIPWith everything loaded up, we headed out to Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Mc. Farland, California, just north of Bakersfield. Things appeared to be going smoothly; too smoothly, in fact. And Murphy’s Law quickly appeared as we rolled in and met up with the Famoso track personnel.“OK, need your NHRA license number for the paperwork,” asked the Famoso gentleman. Um, I need an NHRA license? Even though we’re renting the track with our own insurance? Yes, track policy for our insurance. We can’t let you run unless you have a license.” Can I just fill out the application here? Yes, but you need a doctor to sign the physical exam form.” In other words, I needed to get a physical in order to get signed off…and Famoso Raceway is 2. Bakersfield). Ah yes, yet another magazine story snafu. As Lombardo and I quickly began searching the internet on our phones, one of the ladies from the front office nonchalantly walked over and handed me a sheet of paper with a name and number scrawled on it. This doctor will see you today if you head over there right now.” I quickly jumped on the Yamaha FJR1. I’d ridden out to the dragstrip and zoomed down to Bakersfield, despite some trepidation on just how legit this doctor was going to be. I need not have worried; the place was a fully staffed and clean medical clinic (and yes, I had to do the hernia cough test…the things we do in the name of a good magazine story…). With signed physical exam papers in hand, I managed to evade California’s finest state troopers as I zipped back up to Famoso after swiftly pissing away (yes, pun intended, I did that test as well) two hours of possible track time. While Lombardo warmed up the ZX- 1. R, I hastily tugged on my leathers in preparation to make my six demonstration runs in front of the track personnel as the final part of my NHRA license paperwork. The license demonstration runs provided a good chance to get some practice time on the Kawasaki and see how different it would be from the stock bike. When I made a full launch on the third run, I quickly discovered that getting my left foot up to make the first- second upshift was a bit more difficult than with the stocker. It basically felt like attempting to climb onto the back of a fleeing fire truck; a good deal of concentration was necessary to convert one of the two flailing lower appendages behind me into something that could activate the shift lever in time to avoid the rev limiter. We decided to try our first handful of runs with the Kawasaki’s traction control set to level 1. The ZX- 1. 4R’s TC system is one of the better ones on the market, with the least intrusive level 1 allowing just enough wheelspin for maximum acceleration while straight up without excessively intervening…as long as you don’t loft the front end too high. Allow too much wheelie, and the TC will start to noticeably cut power. My first runs were in the 9. I noticed that I was hitting what was either the rev limiter or activating the TC at the top of first gear just before I shifted. I was shifting at an indicated 1. It turns out that the Kawasaki’s engine builds revs so quickly in first gear that the tachometer can’t keep up; shifting at a lower rpm cured the power cut issue without negatively affecting times. One aspect of dragracing that isn’t well known is how difficult it can be to keep the bike headed in a dead- straight line when launching off the start (just like roadracing, traversing excessive distance when not necessary is detrimental) while dealing with all the other physical aspects of controlling the bike.
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