RiderForums.com - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forum banner

AusER6Guy's journey

20K views 104 replies 9 participants last post by  Ekendahl 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all, I thought id document my journey so as to help others with similar aspirations to mine.

Firstly about myself - Im not sensible. I could easily buy a better bike and be done with it but this is not about me having a better bike its about building something as an expression of me and my personality. A little unconventional or eccentric if you will. I used to work on cars but now that im older and my back isn't as solid working on bikes seems like a way for me to tinker with stuff without the pain of lifting and bending too much.

The bike is called El Diablo ***** (the black devil) - My Venezuelan mate named it because its black and its really fricken loud.
Im located in Sydney Australia and whilst other people around the world use the warmer months to ride and work on bikes in winter, we have the advantage of being able to ride all year round. Though I don't do that I did go for a 1000mile touring ride right after I got my bike in extremely cold weather. just for the hell of it.

I bought the bike in 2011 when it was about a year old. Its a 2010 ER6NL ABS. Whats an ER6NL? Basically an er6 with a throttle stop and a lower rev limiter for learners.
both of those limiters are easily removed if you want to.

I bought it used with a two brothers pipe and I like it because its loud. From some angles the bike looks pretty good and its fast enough for me. From some angles though it doesn't look great and the suspension doesn't inspire confidence and so im seeking to remedy these things as part of my "journey"
Since buying the bike I've added short levers and some bar end mirrors which have helped the appearence of the bike a little but im still not satisfied and I've decided that rather than just trade up I want to keep this bike.

So what do I plan to do ?
Upgrade front forks
Upgrade front brakes
Upgrade headlight
Upgrade rear shock
Upgrade headlight and gauge
Upgrade rear wheel
Upgrade rear sets

For the forks
Ive purchased a set from a z1000sx along with the axle, brake callipers, spacers lower triple and front mudguard
Ive got a 2006 upper triple
In theory with the exception of the handlebars (which I think will need risers) it should all bolt up including the brakes(both my bike and the donor have ABS)

For the headlight I've found a nice 5 1/4 inch LED headlight on eBay with angel eye ring around the outside which I hope looks good but well see

For the rear shock I have 2012 R1 shock which ill get revolved and an appropriate spring put in
These have much more adjustability and are the right length with some mods

For the gauge
Motogadget mini and idiot lights eventually but for the moment the standard gauge with the cowl removed should do

Rear wheel
Chemco make a 6 inch wheel and I've found a distributor in Indonesia which might be able to help me.
If not a 636 rear with a kit from blue ridge or TWF racing will get it done
Ill also need a tyre and ill do both ends when im at that point

Rear sets
Ill be getting a set of RSV racing ones from Thailand. Thanks to Tremonte for putting me on to them and also for putting some great vids online.
RSV Racing จัดจำหน่ายอุปกรณ์ แต่งรถมอเตอร์ไซค์ BIGBIKE ทุกรุ่น โดย บริษัท อาร์ เอส วี เรสซิง จำกัด

Here’s some of the threads that have information about how i got the bike to where it is
R1 rear shock conversion
2010 R1 shock on 2010 er6/650. | RiderForums.com - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forum

KOSO DB03r install
Aftermarket gauge installation on Kawasaki 2010 ER6

Headlight wiring
Headlight wiring - How to wire up a H4 Headlight on a 650 | RiderForums.com - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forum

6 inch rear wheel info

180 or 190 tire installation with 6.0 rim kit
First photo is how i started and second is how the bike looks currently
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#34 · (Edited)
So a few facts
I was mistaken about the steering stops on the z1000sx bottom triple. They aren't in the same place at all. Will need to redress this at some point
The ignition barrel from the 650 looks like it fits in the 04 z1000 top triple but doesn't. Taking the cap off the top didn't help.
The front wheel from the 650 went straight on to the z1000sx forks.
the callipers from the 2016 z1000 fit up ok. bolts arrive tomorrow
The RSV rear sets fit on ok with much swearing and tossing of toys out of my pram. The youtube video from Tremonte makes it look easy but in reality take 'some' fiddling
Cant wait for another free day so I can finish it all and actually ride the thing.
 
#35 ·
Working on the bike again today. Bought some new bits, scored a mint Versys swingarm fro 100AUD which is one quarter of what ive seen others go for. Of all places it came from here in Australia!
Today’s jobs will be
Seeing if the z750 rear wheel will bolt in. If not will figure out what needs to be done.
Bleed the front and rear brakes,
Wire up headlight
 
#37 ·
Vehicle Motorcycle Automotive tire Tire Automotive exterior
I adjusted the rearsets and checked the geometry of the bike.
The front need to come up from my measured front height (63cm from the tip of the front indicators to the ground)
I removed the handlebar risers I dont think ill use them. Added a few small billet pieces like a sprocket cover, oil plug and lever clamps to get rid of the old mirror mounts. I wired the headlight and dummied up a bracket to see how itll sit
 
#39 ·
And the brakes are now in with the standard hoses but still need to be bled. I have a set of 320mm discs from a generous forum member which will go on later as well. Im starting to think about the tail section.
My idea is to shorten the subframe and then use the stock seat base and lay fibreglass over the top to achieve the base that i want. This will mean that fixing it in place will hopefully be as easy as clipping the seat on. Then ill make a seat on top of that.. That’s my idea anyway. Don’t have much fibreglass experience so this WILL be interesting!!!
 
#43 ·
It was much lighter than the original And so should help the new shock control the suspension better. I can’t comment on its performance beyond this because I haven’t run the bike for many kms as yet. From what I’ve read it is more rigid and those that do track days say they can tell it is because they can’t feel chain friction under power so I’d say that for a commuter it’ may not be worth it. Aesthetically though it’s much better.
 
#44 ·
The 6inch rear wheel is on and so is a 180 section tyre. Used the original spacers, Cush drive and brake disc. Put the drag bars back on as I wasn’t feeling the clip ons worked well for me. Quite happy with how it’s going. Bigger brakes up next and then the rear shock and later I’ll figure out what to do with the tail.
 

Attachments

#45 ·
Received Brembo 330mm front discs, 15mm spacers and 90mm bolts for calipers. Received and fitted a Matris steering damper(with bracket)
R1 rear shock, Eibach spring with 1100 LBS spring (suited for me, bike+gear), new needle bearing to replace the top bushing. Measuring everything up.
 
#51 ·
The steering damper bracket is for a 2010 er6. It needed nothing done to it to fit the z1 top clamp. My bars are spaced up though so i did have to use a longer bolt on the head stem bracket and some spacers underneath. If it was stock it would fit straight on.
 
#53 ·
Rear shock is nearly finished just need some seals and bushes.
Waiting on some other brake components front and rear. Rear disk and front ABS ring. Going for a 250mm rear disk with Nissin rear caliper from a Versys. The front as I said going with 330mm brembo discs just need that ring. Once the brakes are set up and working I’ll measure and buy the braided lines.
Also bought a bar with some rise in it. The drag bar is nice but I don’t like the visual mass that the z1 riser adds to the front of the bike.
More to come
 
#55 ·
WOnt mention the dramas i had to day but bigger brake rotors installed front and back. Z1 master cylinder installed. All bled and working.
Need to get the back shock on now and its functionally finished. Then i can start on the cosmetic side Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Motor vehicle Automotive tire
 
#57 ·
Updated added clip ons, grips, new master cylinder, new throttle tube and cables, new clutch perch. Added lever guards, and swapped over to a smaller kill switch unit.
More info on the switch swap here

Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Car Automotive tire
Vehicle Auto part Automotive tire Tire Automotive exterior
Vehicle Auto part Motorcycle accessories Motorcycle Car
Also decided that I’ll be changing a few other bits :p
 
#59 ·
After upgrading the brakes to 2012 Z1000 spec Ive started to look at the aesthetics of the fluid reservoir. You can see in the pics that its rather large, white plastic piece atop the front end of the bike.
I started looking at different reservoirs and a company called British customs. They make a nice billet item that mounts directly on the Nissin master cylinders.

The only issue with these is that theyre tall but otherwise do without the mount and the hose .... neat yeah?
This got me looking into master cylinders themselves and after digging around i found that the most desirable cylinders are the famous brembo RCS 19. They have 19mm or 3/4 inch cylinders.
They aren’t the only ones though and some of the later z1000’s (the rr in particular) are also 19mm if you can find one. Well i got lucky and picked one up on eBay for the same price i got my 11/16inch one. Then i noticed something.... I couldn’t use the British customs reservoir as the RR uses a direct mount reservoir standard and the one i had bought didnt have it attached... no wonder it was cheap. Ive since found these rizoma pieces ct028’s and theyre specifically made to fit direct on the RR cylinder

If your looking for a standard nissin 3/4 inch master then the Suzuki gsxr600’s use them as well as others ... The 3/4 is cast on the bottom of the cylinder... happy shopping !

I also got the ****s and bought some other parts. Ill post pics for those interested.
 
#61 ·
I’ll be starting a thread in the performance upgrade section about my next fork swap.
ZX10r fork swap here
Also to come, rearset upgrade, headlight change, brake master cylinder upgrade.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top