What a great weekend. I've been looking forward to this weekend's ride for two weeks now.  I just had my favorite mechanic, Jeff Crago, make some changes to my ZReX and was anxious to get out and run my modified machine through its paces.  I spent a few hours on Saturday riding up the famous Angeles National Forest here in Los Angeles. It's a climbing, winding mountain road whose fresh pavement and few intersections take you through the national forest.

The short freeway ride was no big deal but I did notice a greatly increased rush of power when rolling on the throttle over 6,500 RPM.  It was just a short freeway ride to the gas station at the bottom of the hill. I filled up the tank and was more than ready for my first ride in the canyons since Jeff installed the D207 street tires, ZX1100 cams,  and flipped the eccentrics (this raises the rear ride height making for a quicker steering bike). I started off slowly enough but was soon ripping right along, feeling the tires hooking up and the engine pulling hard. I was concerned that the taller rear ride height would make the bike unstable and having a passenger compressing the rear suspension offset the effect so I would have to wait for Sunday to know for sure.

All in all I had a good day and I came away sure the bike was better, but due to the passenger approved mountain road pace I was not exactly sure how much better. I was looking forward to a full day in the saddle. That would be the true test and that's what I'm here to tell you about. The short story: WOW WOW WOW WOW!

Let me be more specific. My solo day was awesome, this thing RIPS!!!! I met up with a fellow ZReX owner who  I haven't seen in some time.  This morning he was on his Yamaha R6 and I was looking forward to spending some time with a good friend, running my modified ZReX hard chasing someone whose riding ability is a known quantity, and getting a chance to ride his 49 state R6. He is still breaking in his new bike so he wasn't screaming it too hard. As the day progressed the biggest surprise was how well  I was able to stick with him through the tight stuff…. True, I had a big horsepower advantage, but the big ZReX handles like a bike much smaller than it actually is. In fact, the flick and stick factor reminded me more of one of the Honda600’s I've raced than an old KZ1000!!!!

With the bike eagerly flicking in, holding a given lean angle, and taking the throttle well mid corner I was able to keep up with my R6 riding friend and was especially impressed on a very tight, technical downhill section.  I was able to trail brake, flick the bike in, carry good corner speed, and oh... how great is the roll on with an extra 30 horsepower on tap?!?!?!?!?! Mr. ZReX still requires a steady throttle hand but over-all chassis composure is greatly enhanced with the raised rear ride height and D207 Dunlops.  I was concerned that stability would be reduced but from what I can tell there is no real downside to flipping the eccentrics.  The bike steers faster and easier but does shake its head a little in transitions..

During today's ride I clearly leaned the bike over as far as I'm going to lean it and I still couldn't get all the way over to the edge of the rear 170. It seems the contact patch is a little smaller than it would be on a correctly sized rim/tire combination.  I think Gary, of ZRX mail list fame, is onto something when he says this tire doesn't really fit the stock rim. I'm going to see if we can fit a ZX-9 wheel before I send the wheel off for widening but it seems certain I will follow one of these paths.  I wonder how a 160's profile would look on the stock rim, any opinions?

Conclusion:  I am totally delighted with my modified ZReX. I paid to have others do the labor so I may have a little more money in than some of the do it your-selfers but I just love this thing. It handles "well" accelerates like a ZX-9, and looks like the bike I lusted after when I was in high school. What more could you ask for???? Well.. maybe an R6 to park next to it ;-)  Riding that bike made me want to race 600’s again… but that's another story.

Mods:
ZX1100 cams.
Flipped eccentrics (raised rear ride height)
Professional jetting.
Bridgestone BT010 front and rear
130 Rear wheel horsepower!!!!
SUDCO full system with a carbon can
ZReX Racebike pics  

Some GREAT ELR/ZRX pics!

Motorcycle touring / Oregon caves pictures July 2001