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AV80R ZX-4RR build thread

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113K views 880 replies 49 participants last post by  steiny  
#1 · (Edited)
I just picked up mine last Friday and have already fell in love after just 300 miles.

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I'm the president of the ZRXOA and have spent tons of time and money making my ZRX1200 more powerful and way lighter. Now I'm ready to go bonkers on the ZX-4RR and do the same thing.

I called Graves today and I'm on the list for their full titanium exhaust system that is being welded up now. It should be shipping in 1-2 weeks. I opted for the high mount version since that will have more mid range than the shorty version.

As soon as I get the exhaust, I'll be shipping them my ECU to get their flash and uncork this thing.

Shipping today from Graves:
Aluminum throttle tube
High flow air filter
Aluminum gas cap
Front & rear wheel captive spacer kit
Tank grip
Axle tool
Smog block off plates
Aluminum engine mount spacer kit
Swingarm spools
Works 2.0 Bar radiator cap
Aluminum valve stems

I plan on replacing every fastener I can with titanium or aluminum, as well as titanium axles and swingarm pivot. The wheels will be changed and the ABS pump will be deleted.

I'm really interested in the details on Graves 341 lb spec bike. I will gladly turn to them to get this bike on a diet!

For now, I'm just going to keep piling on the miles until that full exhaust gets here. It's been fun putting around in 6th gear but I can't wait to spin this bad boy up to 16k!

 
#45 ·
I got most of the factory goop off the chain before I rode the bike, but I wanted to do a deep clean to get it all out of every nook and cranny and then treat it with ACF-50.

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After 763 miles, the chain was slightly loose, outside than the 25-35mm spec, so I took the opportunity to fix the rear wheel alignment which was slightly off as delivered new while also tightening the chain into spec.

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#46 · (Edited)
In preparation for my ECU to arrive back from @vcyclenut I need to remove the stock O2 sensor, plug the hole in the exhaust, and tidy up the connector on the harness.

Removed the stock sensor and bought a $12 one off Amazon to harvest the connector as a dummy plug.

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Remove the wires and pins off the Amazon O2 sensor.

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My favorite silicone is 1211, so use that to plug the rubber holes where the wires were.

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Harvest the silicone heat resistant sheath and toss the rest in the trash.

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Put the dummy plug all back together

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Look ma! No pins!

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Then grab some 1 1/4" 3:1 heat shrink without adhesive.

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Install the dummy plug

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And add heat shrink...done!

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Next I have this titanium M12 plug with washer

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Add my favorite anti seize for exhaust stuff (2000F)

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And torque to 18 ft lbs per the book.

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Now I just wait for my ECU to arrive.
 
#816 ·
In preparation for my ECU to arrive back from @vcyclenut I need to remove the stock O2 sensor, plug the hole in the exhaust, and tidy up the connector on the harness.

Removed the stock sensor and bought a $12 one off Amazon to harvest the connector as a dummy plug.

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Remove the wires and pins off the Amazon O2 sensor.

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My favorite silicone is 1211, so use that to plug the rubber holes where the wires were.

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Harvest the silicone heat resistant sheath and toss the rest in the trash.

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Put the dummy plug all back together

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Look ma! No pins!

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Then grab some 1 1/4" 3:1 heat shrink without adhesive.

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Install the dummy plug

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And add heat shrink...done!

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Next I have this titanium M12 plug with washer

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Add my favorite anti seize for exhaust stuff (2000F)

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And torque to 18 ft lbs per the book.

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Now I just wait for my ECU to arrive.
It appears that loctite has been discontinued.
 
#48 · (Edited)
Titanium goodies just arrived.

Rear axle nut
Rear rotor bolts
Sprocket studs and nuts
Rear brake caliper bolt
Front brake caliper bolts
Front brake rotor bolts
Front axle pinch bolt

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Front brake caliper, 1 rear brake caliper bolt (they don't give you both in the kit, weird...), and the front axle pinch save 110 grams (just under 1/4 pound).

They don't sell the bolts individually so I'll probably buy another pair of bolts for the rear caliper that match.

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Always use anti seize with ti fasteners and torque using the book.

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More to follow.
 
#60 ·
Titanium goodies just arrived.

Rear axle nut
Rear rotor bolts
Sprocket studs and nuts
Rear brake caliper bolt
Front brake caliper bolts
Front brake rotor bolts
Front axle pinch bolt

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Front brake caliper, 1 rear brake caliper bolt (they don't give you both in the kit, weird...), and the front axle pinch save 110 grams (just under 1/4 pound).

They don't sell the bolts individually so I'll probably buy another pair of bolts for the rear caliper that match.

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Always use anti seize with ti fasteners and torque using the book.

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More to follow.
Regarding the "they don't sell the bolts individually..." who is "they" ?
 
#50 ·
Thanks!

I'm an airplane mechanic and inspector so I'll have to turn in my credentials if I can't [emoji1787]

I won't be safety wiring any of the bolts except for the rear axle nut. This bike is gonna be a street fighter and occasional track day queen.

If I was gonna race it or go track only, then I'd wire it all up.
 
#51 · (Edited)
And lastly the ti rear axle nut saves another 30 grams.

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The steel axles have to to go. I'll be having a set of titanium gun drilled ones made eventually.

Anti seize and 72 ft lbs with some 0.020" stainless wire button it up.

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So that's a total of 140 grams or just under 5 ounces saved so far with this "titanium kit".

I'm saving the sprocket studs/nuts, and brake rotor bolts for the MOS lightweight wheels that @SCracing is working on getting built up for the 4R.
 
#52 ·
Running out of dumb things to do while I wait for my ECU, but some protection for the radiator tanks is on the list for tonight.

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Nearly invisible, but really makes cleaning bugs off the tanks much easier and also provides a layer of protection from big rock dings.

There is a super light custom carbon kevlar radiator screen in the works that should be ready soon...

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#53 ·
My ECU doesn't arrive back from @vcyclenut until Monday, so starting a couple projects for the tail section.

1. Protective film under the tail - getting some rock chips from the rear wheel

2. Fabricate a Delrin spacer so the license plate light is level with the ground and isn't shining white to the rear.

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#54 ·
The tail tidy from @SCracing is a really nice kit, eliminating the gigantic OE signals and giving you small ones with sequential lights that look pretty cool.

I made a Delrin spacer to make the license plate light flat as the cops here will ticket you for shining any white light to the rear.

Came out good, but took me way longer than it should have. All I had was a hacksaw, belt sander, and a drill.

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Also got my Kawasaki OE rear seat cowl assembled and installed.

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#56 ·
The best would be to 3D print it.

Although I work in tech, I'm illiterate when it comes to creating digital models or using those 3D printers, so someone smarter than me would have to figure that out.

Shaping it out of Delrin using garage hand tools is super labor intensive, and I'm not sure I have the stomach to build another! If mine didn't work, I'd probably throw the whole thing in the trash and give up. [emoji1787]

Here's a link to some Delrin on Amazon that will let you make a few mistakes before you get one that works. Give it a shot and let me know how yours comes out.

USA Sealing BULK-PS-UHMWB-376 Black UHMW Polyethylene Plastic Bar, 3/4" Height, 3/4" Width, 12" Length

 
#58 ·
My joke with stuff like this is I measure with a micrometer, mark with a grease pencil, and cut with a hatchet. [emoji1787]

I just sanded it until I got the angle I needed. I didn't measure. Here is a side view that shows the angle I ended up with.

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I wish I had picture of the back side of the license plate light since you'd quickly understand what all those holes are for, but here's a crude drawing (not to scale [emoji16] )

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The first thing I did is cut the wire for the plate LED so it can be removed from the assembly.

Then I drilled a hole in the spacer for the LED wire.

Next I used a piece of paper to imprint the outline of the back side of the LED housing and used that as a template to transfer over the position of the two inner M5 holes.

Once I drilled the two inner M5 holes on the spacer, I cut the heads off two M5 bolts so that they would thread into the LED housing and insert into the spacer to fix both items together. I used JB weld to glue the spacer to the LED housing using the M5 studs sticking out as reinforcement (but gluing it together came way later).

After that I cut the spacer down with a hacksaw leaving some excess around the housing so I could sand the outline to shape using the belt sander.

Once that was done, I used the belt sander to get the angle I wanted, test fitting it on the tail tidy often until I had what I wanted.

Then while holding the spacer in place, I marked, drilled, and tapped the spacer for M5 x 0.8 to mount to the tail tidy using the same bolts it came with. Here is a photo of the underside. The spacing on these holes is identical to the two outside M5 holes pictured earlier on the backside of the LED housing.

If you could get your hands on a LED light from @SCracing, it would make your prototyping for a 3D printed spacer much easier!

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Here's a 3/4 view of the spacer installed. A 3D printed spacer could match the outline of the LED housing much better than my Neanderthal hand sanding!

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#64 ·
brother you have have way to much time on your hands !!! I forgot to mention, you could just bend the mount down a tad so the tag light wasn't beaming back, i figured that out on my 1st ride, i also dimmed the light a little so it wasn't so bright ! nice job though !!
 
#67 ·
ECU arrived back from @vcyclenut so that's back on the bike and plugged in.

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The $25 eBay smoked windscreen is next

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Now for the Shorai battery that saves 5 lbs over stock

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Had to trim the positive side a little so the cable and boot can fit on. The cable terminal for the negative side had to be slightly flattened out. Super easy.

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Added some foam padding to ensure the smaller Shorai is secure in the box

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Lastly charge it up with the Shorai specific charger before first use

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#68 ·
Took off the helmet lock bracket, which with the lock itself is almost half a pound

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Then got to soldering the wires I had to cut when I repositioned the license plate light level with the ground.

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Took the huge rubber boots off the connectors for the signals and plate. They were taking up space in the limited rear seat storage area

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Some thoughtful wire routing helps maximize every bit of space for storage

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Then I added more ISC Racers tape to the underside of the tail since there were already rock chips showing with less than 1000 miles.

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Next the ABS stickers on the front fender have to go.

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The solo rear seat cowl looks great. I like it a lot.

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The bike is all back together and ready to ride so I can test out the new ECU flash.

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#81 ·
Took off the helmet lock bracket, which with the lock itself is almost half a pound

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Then got to soldering the wires I had to cut when I repositioned the license plate light level with the ground.

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Took the huge rubber boots off the connectors for the signals and plate. They were taking up space in the limited rear seat storage area

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Some thoughtful wire routing helps maximize every bit of space for storage

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Then I added more ISC Racers tape to the underside of the tail since there were already rock chips showing with less than 1000 miles.

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Next the ABS stickers on the front fender have to go.

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The solo rear seat cowl looks great. I like it a lot.

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The bike is all back together and ready to ride so I can test out the new ECU flash.

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How does it run/ride?
 
#69 ·
Figured I should install the Graves frame sliders and aluminum engine mount spacers now too.

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The aluminum engine mount spacers are way lighter than the steel ones.

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The instructions for the @Gravesport FSK-23ZX4-K frame sliders aren't on their website, so I'll use the Kawasaki spec of 44 ft lbs from the FSM to torque the bolts.

https://www.gravesport.com/instructions.html

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Do one at a time, and you can see the left spacer and slider in place below.

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The fairing on the left side installs without issue when the slider is in place.

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Not the case for the right side though. There is a bracket at the arrow in the picture below that required me to pry the slider through the hole to let it pass through.

I have an idea on how to mill away a small amount of material from the backside of the Delrin slider to solve this. I remove my fairings frequently for cleaning and inspection and won't be able to tolerate removing the frame slider every time or shoving it through the hole with the bracket binding before it slips past.

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#70 ·
#84 ·
Went for a short ride today to a grand opening for a local Dainese store here in San Diego.

I rode the beauty and made my friend who flew into town ride the beast.

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What bike is "the beast"? An ex-police C-14?
What is the tail dragger in an earlier post? Maule?