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C3L1CA's Street/Strip Wanna Be Build Thread

Gen 4: 2011-15 
63K views 266 replies 40 participants last post by  C3L1CA 
#1 · (Edited)
C3L1CA's Street/Strip Build Thread

Picked up a new bike and figured I'd make a thread to help me keep track of it and what not.

It's a 2012 Kawasaki ZX10R that I brought home on June 26, 2014. It was a new left over that they wanted to move so got a halfway decent deal on it.



After picking it up I bought a right away Zero Gravity Dark Smoke Double Bubble Series Windscreen, mounted/wired my GPS and set out to California. Put a little over 7,500 miles on it and bike did just great.






Link to my blog with more pictures and a few blurbs about the trip:
Blog Archives - Brad's 'cross' country trip


After I got home I threw it on the dyno to get a baseline before I started to mod it.

Bone stock it made 155 hp to the rear tire.






After the baseline I put on a Brock's Alien Head Slip On, got flashed by Archer, and threw it back on the dyno. Also got a Competition Werkes integrated tail light and mounted the plate on the tail with some double sided tape. Really helped clean the bike up.






It made 174.5 after a slip on and flash, a 19.2 increase.





Next up was the Rifleman's insert, which was a breeze as well as the PMR tether kill switch. The throttle insert makes it like a quick turn throttle, but for only $25 and only took about 15 minutes to install because I'm a little slow sometimes. Very easy mod and worth the $25. I also had the PMR switch around from the r1 so that was a free mod. Need one of these to run 9.99 or faster, and I hope it can break into the 9s first time out.




Next up after that was my Evil Swing arm I picked up on the drag racing forums. The evil swing arm is 8-12" over so if I did my math right it should sit be sitting around 67". At the same time installed a Soupy's lowering link, 16 tooth front sprocket and a 44 tooth steel rear sprocket. This is a -1/+5 combo which makes street riding kind of suck but it's nice for the track.

Swing arm was pretty straight forward, what took the most time was trying to get the front sprocket nut off. My impact wouldn't budge it, a breaker bar with the jack handle on the end wouldn't budget it either. Eventually got a buddy to bring over his snap on impact and got it off.








Went with a black 160 link 525 EK MVXZ chain and ended up cutting out 5 links. Could have only cut out 4 links to get another inch out of the swing arm but figured the long chain would probably stretch a bit and then I would run out of adjustment if it did. I'm glad I ended up cutting out 5 links as I have definitely had to adjust the chain a few times.

This bike also uses abs type grooves in the rear rotor to get a speed reading. Since the longer swing arm, the wiring would have reached but would have looked like poo and been really stretched. I cut into the harness and extended it about 12 inches and tucks in nice on the swing arm and looks pretty good I think.






Had a productive weekend once and replaced a handful of things.
First thing I started to tackle was to replace the spark plugs, install Graves Block Off Plates and change the air filter



The air filter was just plain nasty...



There was even a good amount of bugs in the frame leading to the air box.


Then installed a MPS Engine Kill box for the air shifter. It fits perfectly where the stock exhaust servo sat. Probably throw some velcro down once I finish wiring up the air shifter solenoid.

^Can also see the Power Commander 5 installed on the side of the battery too!

Was able to get the air shifter cylinder installed as well. Used a DME mount, made it stupid easy, and parts I had left over from the r1. Using parts from gainger ... 5ZEE4 - Air Cyl for the air cylinder, 6JJ52 for the Solenoid and 4TAE9 which is a new longer clevis/yoke. Will most likely run it off nitrous so I can use it on the street and not worry about running out.


The guy that flashed my ecu said he modified his ram air and the bike went crazy lean and he said it felt faster after messing with the tune. Figured I might as well follow suit and give it a try.

The stock ram air has a lot of foam and what they call a 'birdcage' in there. Interwebz says its to help keep noise down but I just want to make the most powa I can. So time to get all that extra stuff out of there!

Took out all the foam, birdcage and a little flap that looked like it'd reduce air flow. Finished picture:

Will finish tomorrow as I wanted to get 2 screws to block off little holes to help keep as much air flow as possible

Installed the Brock's clutch mod to get rid of the slipper clutch and also installed their heavy duty clutch springs. Hopefully helps the clutch last longer on the track.
 
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#168 ·
I read through last half the thread with great interest..
My gen4 is atill a streetbike, but I made some changes to it coz in my country we have events where we can do one run and get the following read outs. quarter mile time/speed, half mile time/speed and fifth mile speed.. fifth mile is -1/+1 gearing for me as I just shy of limiter in 6th on the fifth mile

My interest in the threat is gearing and of course the use of mr12.

I have bought parts out of the gen4 race catalogue to assist the bike a bit.. what changes do I need to make, hardware for mr12? I did a race gasket with cam degree work.. limiter set to 14k rpm

Did you do ceramic bearings in wheels and gearbox?
 
#170 ·
Think you better concentrate on the gearing and do some test.
also if you can put a woolich with data loger and see your AFR and adjust...
work on your body position A LOT... free hp

I would put a busa front fender.

deleting a caliper would do more than the bearings.

seal your airbox chassis, mouth, 2 lids....
 
#173 ·
Thank you for the responses..
I admit with -1/+1 gearing I am not launching hard... I am relying on the better 1st gear to help me out... on 5th mile I am running into 14K rpm limit on the line, but acceleration is not as hard from the half mile as I wanted... My map is setup for acceleration on a racetrack, not a drag strip which means I may need a B-map which I can just switch over to. Would love to see 180mph on 5th mile and I am just just shy of it.
At the moment thinking of MR12 or E25, but would like to see where I am with the WW bearing kit first

Will check in soon
 
#174 ·
Both MR12 and Sunoco E15 are well oxygenated and both prescribe Air/Fuel of 13.9 or 14. . .

My current map is a track map with very good midrange. I accelerates hard if I change short of 13k, and then let it run through to 14k in 6th for half mile..

Looking for a map with more top end power for the straightline runs. .
 
#176 ·
lol, figured nobody would care since it'd be a while before I could get around to installing it.

But... I found a good deal on a sidewinder on facebook marketplace group so I picked that up. So gotta go pull my Arata off to try and get that sold before people spend all their tax return money lol :badteeth:



The one bummer about the sidewinder is that they don't have a wideband bung. I plan on installing 4 of these LINK on each of the header pipes for each cylinder. Then I'd like to put one on the muffler somewhere to just have a quick check on the a/f ratio while riding around/racing.


Unboxing video on the sidewinder if anybody cares lol:



I also picked up a used slightly longer arm, goes out to 72". Thinking I'll just buy a 170 link chain and see where it ends up, I'd guess it'll be 71ish inches. I was about 68.5ish before I believe so hopefully it helps me 60' better since I lack rider skillz lol. Hopeful that my shock won't need any spring change or anything since its only a little longer and I was just fine before.


Since my kiddo was born I don't feel like I'll be out racing on the street much anymore #dadlife. So was thinking of keeping on the race plastics on all the time and just getting a lighting setup like this LINK for when I do take it out. Also saw a guy that makes a grudge tank setup that would work with the stock pump and comes with a cover for $380. So if I sell my other exhaust I'm tempted to pick that up as well for the track.


After reading some threads I do kind of want to try to mod my airbox to create a smoother flow and even half tempted to try MWR XXL intake.


Lots of dumb ideas, who knows how many of them I'll actually do.

 
#178 ·
That's a good idea. Do you worry about melting the wires though if they're inside the pipe? I've burnt my leathers pretty good on exhausts before, can't imagine the wires holding up that well but maybe I'm missing something. I love the idea though!
 
#181 ·
Well since work blocked flickr and photobucket is useless I'm going to try uploading a few pics straight on here.

Last weekend I finally finished a bed I was slowly working on and since the bed is done I started ripping into the bike a bit the past few days.

I ordered up some wideband bungs and got the sidewinder fitted on the bike. I'm going to put bungs on each cylinder pretty close to the head and then put one farther down stream to collect a sample from all 4 cylinders. I found a post on the dsmlink website that said he's had 4 sensors that close to the head on his car and has been running the same sensors for 3 seasons. That is also on a boosted application so I'd imagine that the sensor would be put through a bit more on that car than just a simple NA bike.

Also got my 170 link chain from riders discount, still great discounts and customer service as always. :biggrin: I'm thinking of picking out all the orings, we'll see how the first few go doing it on the bench before I decide to do it to the whole chain.

Jim also said he has a new tweak he'd be willing to try on my head that has worked on other bikes to pick up a bit of power. I'm going to take him up on his offer and then double check my cam degreeing when putting it all back together. Hopefully can get the motor out of the bike in the next day or two, and maybe head sent out this week as well. Only thing left to do is unbolt the motor from the bike then take the head off.

Also need to order a few gaskets, wide band bung plugs and other little things as I think of them. Hopefully 2019 is a good year and I better start sticking to my diet if I wanna go fast :crackup:
 

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#182 ·
with that swingarm u should be able to remove all engine mount bolts except back lower and use chain adjusters to tilt engine foward letting chain hold engine. allows easier head removal/replacement and cam degreeing. only a few wires/connections to unplug as most move foward with engine.discussed head mods with u, hp/torque increases were substancial. worth a try.
 
#183 ·
I was able to get the motor out of the other day and have the head all boxed up and ready to go.

When its just you in the garage and your motorcycle jack is a little too thick to just wheel the motor out, you get creative to get the frame up high enough to clear the engine lol

Hope to get the garage cleaned up and start cleaning up parts in the next few days. Also going to try to get the swing arm on and anything else I can do to try and be productive.
 

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#187 ·
Well picking out all of the o rings in a chain netted me some serious weight savings lol.



It is pretty crazy how different and freely the chain moves once removing the orings though. It's all the little stuff that adds up, at least thats what i read and keep telling myself.


Also got a couple other goodies in the mail. Ended up buying the APE TDC tool. Borrowed a buddies last time I needed one and it's just easier to get your own tools. Also bought a piston to valve tool to check this time around. Last time I had no issues but if I'm checking my cam timing and possibly adjusting it, I wanted to be able to check the clearance to be sure.


Ordered up the APE Counter Balancer Removal Shaft after seeing a thread about it on here. The bike will only be ridden on the street to do some racing/tuning then be raced at the track. I have a cruiser if I want to get out and ride, so extra vibrations aren't a deal breaker for me.



Might try getting the APE shaft in and maybe DME oil pan on in the next day or two and who knows what else.
 
#188 ·
Got me new to me DME flat pan all cleaned up and parts transferred over from the stock pan so it's ready to install. I always thought these things were over priced but the amount of machine work to these is top notch and really slick.






Also removed the counter balance shaft and weight from the motor the other day.





Weight savings was right at 1.5lbs and a little change. Not bad for how cheap the part is :)

 
#191 ·
You know all the tricks! I would've rather had a few extra bucks in my pocket vs the APE TDC tool. Oh well, guess I'll have a shiny tool in my box.

got the same oil pan on my bike, that billet swivel oil pickup is the trick
Yea that swivel pickup seems very slick. I understand why they cost and arm and a leg now.


Didn't get much done in the garage last night but did "cook" my chain. It moves so freely now its crazy. Never felt a chain move like this before, usually always had some sort of resistance to it.

This was after letting it sit for a few hours and shortly after turning on the hot plate.


This was the after


Can see how the oil turned from a nice clearish golden brown to milky from all the lithium grease that came off the chain.
 
#194 ·
Last year I noticed my forks were starting to leak a bit and when I looked at them the other day I noticed both were leaking now and I really didn't want fork fluid on my brakes so I took them off to have them rebuilt by a local guy. Spent a while talking about suspension and made me want to look at my bike more when its all together and try to pay attention to how it hooks and what not at the track and try to dial it in a bit more.



Also pressed in a new bearing in the used swingarm I got. Slowly plugging away at the darn thing. Think this is the farthest it's been a part at one time :)
 
#195 ·
Got a few little things done this weekend on the bike but not a ton. I'm not sure if posted before but I picked up a woodcraft keyswitch eliminator last year when I picked up my keyless gas cap. My worst fear was driving hours to the track, only to forget the key and waste a whole day and a lot of gas money. I figured while the forks were out getting seals i might as well take out the ignition. I might run my air gauge up in the spot, we'll see if I have enough line sitting around and time. So I finally got around to removing the ignition, what a pain in the a$$ to get those bolts out.



Then I finally got around to cutting up my spare rear brake/speed sensor bracket I had lying around forever. I found another piece on the garage floor while sweeping that was .25 ounces. So saved 10.75 ounces and have a lot cleaner looking bracket.






I also ordered the MWR XXL intake to give it ago. The thing is huge...




Stock ram air was kind of heavy too coming in at just over 1lb. And that is with the 'birdcage' gutted, bar removed and little mesh over the intake removed as well.


MWR intake came in at 9.5oz


Overall from my calculations thats 2lbs of savings :)


Also had my little man in the garage with me for a tiny bit, he went straight for the tools. Think I found a new helper, even if he won't be super helpful :)
 
#198 ·
I saw a post that a guy said between this and the WSBK filter he picked up 5hp after a tune. I was under the impression that these type of mods really don't do much, if anything, for HP on the dyno so that guy saying he picked up 5hp was intriguing. Archer has an older thread that he talked about when he put his xxl intake on he had to add more hp but never really updated the post I don't think to show anything HP wise or after he replaced his fuel pump. I know when I gutted my stock ram air I had to add more fuel back when I had a power commander with the autotune.

I've also seen people posting about how much of a difference the air box modification makes at speed lately. I was talking to a guy that said between the airbox mod and gutting the ram air he picked up a whole second on his 60-180 times.

I recently picked up a dragy so if I get some time I'd like to get my tune dialed in a bit with the xxl intake and bmc street filter to get consistent 60-130 or 60-160 times. Then swap on the stock ram air and go back out and get a pull or 2 to see if the times decrease and see the logged afr. Then I plan on swapping out the WSBK filter and tuning by cylinder and see what type of gains that gets on the dragy. At least thats the hope, with 1.5 year old at home and the wife wanting a 2nd time isn't as plentiful as it used to be :badteeth:
 
#199 ·
I got my forks back last week and was able to get them installed. I just had them rebuilt to stock specs. I lowered them just a tiny bit more than I had them before as I figured with the sidewinder, flat pan and just running 3/4 fairing I'll have a bit more clearance now.

While the wheel was off I took the one rotor off as I'll be trying out the single rotor this year. Figured while going a bit longer maybe I wont need as much weight up front and I'd think it'd help to have a little less pad drag with only having 1 caliper.





I did get my head back from Jim on Thursday and was able to get it on the block Thursday night :grin2:




Then because I work in spreadsheets all day I made a little spreadsheet for checking valve clearances. It takes the thinking out as you put in the gap, old shim size and it does the math for what shim you'd need to get to each end of the clearance specs. Then you pick what you want and it'll show you what the new gap should be. If anybody would want the sheet, let me know and I can email it over. Luckily I had all the shims I needed so that was easy to wrap up quick.



Then my inlaws were over this weekend so I didn't get much time in the garage this weekend but I was able to get the exhaust cam degree'd in.



I was shooting for 108 on the exhaust cam and came up with 108.25. Figured this will be close enough.

Question if anybody smarter than me looks at this. From what I could find on reading the two numbers added plus 180 should be close to the stock duration of the cam. From the race kit manual it says stock exhaust duration is 293 degrees but my numbers only show 247.5. I remember the last time I did this the numbers were similar but I didn't do as much reading last and didn't think twice about it.


I hope to check piston to valve clearances tonight on the exhaust cam and then degree the intake cam to 110 and check clearances there as well. Then I'll just have to throw on the valve cover and other engine covers, install spark plugs and coil sticks and drop it in the bike. All downhill after getting the cams degree'd in.
 
#201 · (Edited)
Question if anybody smarter than me looks at this. From what I could find on reading the two numbers added plus 180 should be close to the stock duration of the cam. From the race kit manual it says stock exhaust duration is 293 degrees but my numbers only show 247.5. I remember the last time I did this the numbers were similar but I didn't do as much reading last and didn't think twice about it.
It's all about at what lift you measure the duration. In the car industry they tend to measure @ .050" open/close; you end up with a lot shorter 'advertised' duration that way as opposed to measuring at a point when the lobe just starts to lift, as this makes the measurements easier and more consistent. The cam in my old big block was sold as a 286/292 duration, but at .050 it was actually 248/254 (see link for reference, the cam card lists 2 sets of duration on there: 23-702-9(Three Bolt) - Xtreme Energy? Street Mechanical Roller Camshafts ) Calculating the duration from the moment the lobe moves the valve gives really cool, big duration numbers... but at that point you have to start figuring in valve lash and engine temperature if you want to be really accurate.... it's just easier and a bit more 'honest' to standardize the measurement at a given lift point. :)
 
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