Kawasaki ZX10R - The First 12 Months

Why Kawasaki? Why not? Me being a Kwaka man from way back when – 1977. My first bike was a Z400 twin which I wrecked twice in the following three months of ‘L’ plates. I gained my ‘P’ plates and traded up to Z750LTD. Then a Z1000 followed by a GPz1100, ZZR1100, ZX12R, a Suzuki GSXR1000 (ring-in of the bunch) and lastly the ZX10R which didn’t survive a coming together with Paul Southwell’s CBR1000 Fireblade at Easter last year. It was 28,000kms old and was replaced nine days later with my current 10R, which was one year old on 6^th May. Boy time flies when you’re having fun, covering ground on two wheels.

It has travelled 42,365.7 kilometres with only one glitch last week, a blocked fuel strainer at the base of the fuel pump. I probably picked up a dodgy tank of fuel. I flushed the tank, cleaned the strainer, blew out the fuel filter, replaced and tested. Fixed. I have a new strainer filter on order.

The bike has had one dealer service at 25,000kms for the valve clearance check at a cost of $570. The next valve check will be at 50,000kms. All other minor services have been done by me at around 6,000km intervals. General lubrication of moving parts, levers etc, engine oil each time using Motul 5100 Ester 10W50; 4 litres $70. Every second change I replace the oil filter at $23.

Every 6,000km I service the air cleaner by cleaning, washing, and inspecting it for holes or tears. The original one lasted 30,000kms and was replaced by a K&N foam element at $78 which will see bike out.

The bike is still running the original chain and sprockets. The front is showing some wear, while the rear sprocket and chain are still in very good condition. I will go for a new front sprocket ($32) and hopefully get 10-15,000kms more from the set. No drags from the lights or monos extend chain life immensely. Good chain lube is also the go; I use Motul Off Road ($23). It is not as dry as the other chain waxes but penetrates into the chain better. Nothing kills a chain quicker than friction, so keep it lubed.

The original brake pads are almost shot. Looks like about 10% of wear left on the front pads and about 8% on the rear. I will give the bike a dose of new pads in the next 5,000kms.

Tyres - can’t remember how many there have been. Lots. There is quite a stack building up down the side of the house and I will have to dispose of them soon. I have used new, and hand-me-downs from Club members. Ex-race tyres from Dave prior to moving to Tassie (got any more rears, mate?) some ex-race from a fellow Ben knows. Michelin, Dunlop, Bridgestone and Metzerlers have all been on the bike. Like Ben says, they’re all black and round, and keep the rim off the ground. That’s true but some have a lot more grip than others. I hear you can get coloured tyres now; I wonder if they come in green?

Am I happy with the bike? Yes, Very.

I may look into is getting some compression damping taken out of the forks as they are way over damped. I am running the bike with the compression damping one click from the softest position and need more.

The bike is overdue for front and rear suspension service. I may call Krooz Tune (the suspension gurus) for a quote. Otherwise she is a rocket, mate. Each time I climb aboard for a ride and return, you can bet it’s somewhere between 450 and 1000kms extra on the speedo.

The bike has provided twelve months of virtually trouble free riding; no off road time, no money spent on repairs or problems other than normal running costs (fuel, tyres, pads, chain, sprockets, filter, oil etc.) And even some of those items have yet to be replaced.

I have just spied the 2011 model on the front cover of the Australian Motor Cycle News. It might be worth a test ride when they roll it on to the shop floor, eh?

Yes, I’d have another one. Green? Of course!

Cliff Peters