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Well, it's time for my GEN 5 build.

33K views 128 replies 28 participants last post by  Neonmarine 
#1 ·
So here we go! Again lol. My 2016 zx10 was delivered in style this week. I pick it up tomorrow and will have some more pics but we all know what they look like by now. It'll be built along the same lines as my previous bike but with a few different brand components. The kit ecu/harness are already at home waiting along with a new damper and kit catch can. I'll be ordering parts shortly to really get going but for now, here she sits bone stock. She has no idea yet >:)


 
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#5 · (Edited)
I got out today for the one and only street ride I'll get on the new beast. It's hard for me to compare it to the 2011 because I didn't ride it on the road much either but so far I'm quite impressed. The QS is amazing, maybe it's because I've never had one on the road but it seems to work quite well. First gear is terribly tall and that combined with the lighter crank it makes taking off from a stop a bit of a chore but the rest of the gears are very close together and it almost feels like you didn't even upshift. The brakes are pretty darn good for street use and haul the bike down in a hurry. The suspension works quite well from what I felt, the rear was soft enough for comfort but not overly soft like the 2011 was. Forks seemed a little stiff but probably feel good if you upped the pace. I noticed the bike feels very light and flicks from left to right with little effort.

All in all I think this bike will be a big improvement over the Gen4 for racing. If I were leaving it on the street I would have to address 1st gear right away. I also noticed the bike ran quite hot and it was a cool damp day today, in the summer it would be brutal.

The only picture I got before my phone died unfortunately.
 
#6 ·
*Sniff sniff* anyone else smell burning plastic? Oh wait it's just my credit card.

Almost all the parts I need for the build have been ordered. There will be very little in common between this bike and the last. Same principal, build a fast reliable bike that's easy to work on but with all different brand components save for a few items. I'll be picking most of them up next weekend so stay tuned for some serious bike porn.
 
#7 · (Edited)
So my timing didn't work out with going to get my parts from across the boarder but I did get a few things that I had shipped to the house.

I wanted a quick release gas cap this time and I wanted to try and keep with one brand for as much as I could. I found TWM products by using google and I'm very impressed with the quality. I'll test it out once installed to see if it leaks but judging by how tight the spring is on the quick release and the gaskets I'm sure it will be fine.


They also make a nice billet remote brake adjuster that fits all brembo masters. It looks as if it would even work on the oem one. I really like that it has arrows on it to show which direction to turn it. As silly as it sounds that was a pet peeve with my last adjuster.


And finally, a piece I never got around to adding on the old bike, an air filter lol. I went with a Sprint Filter because it's dry and only needs to be blasted out with compressed air for cleaning. They also claim it filters better than oiled cotton filters. I was quite surprised with how thin the filtering media is.


I haven't started pulling the bike apart yet though. It's lasted a lot longer than I thought it would lol.

There's LOTS more to come so stay tuned.
 
#12 · (Edited)
A few key items came in this weekend.

I chose to run Speigler lines again on the new bike. I really like the Rensport line setup over the dual line and it's 100% because there's less clutter on/around the bars. I couldn't tell you if there's a difference in feel between the two because this is what I've used for the last 3 years. Another bonus of Speigler is that you can adjust the banjos to make them line up perfectly. I chose the colours to match the bike.


The exhaust also showed up and all I can say is WOW!



http://s1088.photobucket.com/user/d...295DF677-8484-43E1-96C8-69E07B906819.jpg.html

I'm really impressed with the quality of the Graves system. The flanges that bolt to the head are beautifully machined pieces that are nice and thick and won't bend when tightening them down.


The style of the muffler is very appealing to me as well. I like the slash cut tip and the carbon fiber is fantastic. I doubt I'll get a chance to test the stock exhaust against the Graves system with a stock motor unfortunately.


Another cool thing Graves has done is make it possible to upgrade to a full system after you've purchased the slipon. Most if not all the other companies don't allow for this and if you decide that you want a full system you're forced to pony up the cash for everything instead of just the headers.
 
#17 ·
I love spielers rotating banjo's. I have those lines on the ninja 300 track bike. However, i thought the Gen 5 came with stainless lines, hence no need to upgrade? Or is it one of those partial braided lines like the R1.
 
#21 ·
I got mine as a demo from the Kawi rep so it is what it is. If I had of bought it from the dealer it wouldn't have been a KRT edition and also no ABS. I know I'll never ride it on the street and my kit harness/ecu was here before the bike which deletes the ABS anyway.
 
#23 ·
Great thread, I had lots of fun building my 16ZX10R for race-track only..I just placed the order for the new 17 ZX10RR and noticed it only comes with ABS, Not sure why?, Not many racers I know want ABS on their bikes, just another thing for me to have to delete...I will keep watching your build....AWESOME.
 
#31 ·
I'm quite impressed with the improvements Kawi made under the skin of the gen 5. Things are thought out a bit better and what was already good they left alone. The ecu being in the tail completely destroyed any hopes of putting anything in the "trunk" but it removes a bunch of wiring from the front of the bike. It may be because this one is ABS and my gen 4 wasn't but there's a whole wack of relays in the tail. I'm sure the relay box on the gen 4 made up for a few of these but it seemed like everywhere I looked there was another relay. One negative to more components in the tail is the harness that travels under the tank is bigger. I hated trying to keep everything from being pinched by the tank on my last bike.

Tonight I'll finish working on removing the wiring harness and a few extra bits and brackets then it's onto removing the oem exhaust. That should give me the room to start removing the abs lines/pump. I'll be removing the swingarm to grease the pivot points and remove the last of the abs lines once my rearsets arrive.
 
#32 ·
Well this ABS is a right pain in the arse. The giant nest of wiring, the hard pipes bolted everywhere, the big clunky box on the side of the motor. I got the front hoses removed for now.



The wiring harness is a solid 20lbs. I'm actually surprised at just how much there is and thankful it's all gone!


Took the wheels off to get the street rubber removed and install a couple more goodies


These spacers look like they're going to be the cats ass. The chamfered edges are going to make wheel changes much easier.
 
#35 ·
I should also add that everyone should check as many of their fasteners as they can. I've found numerous bolts that were a 1/4 turn past hand tight including the clamps for the air box where it meets the throttle bodies and the clamps for the throttle bodies to the head. I'd guess the bike would have stayed together for maybe 20 laps before bolts started escaping.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Time for a bit of a parts update. Most of my things are here now and I've had some progress made. Things bolt on pretty easily once you get all the plastic off.

Here's a picture of the oem harness (top) and the race harness. There's quite a few plugs on the kit harness but oem is almost overwhelming.


I took care of some cosmetic and functional upgrades. I preferred GB's old style of cover that didn't leave any case exposed but I still think they offer the best protection.
The hoses were a splurge :)


And last but not least!





This exhaust is art. I'm more than happy with the fit and finish and can't wait to hear it. My terrible cellphone pics do it no justice.
 
#44 ·
The hoses were a splurge :)

This exhaust is art. I'm more than happy with the fit and finish and can't wait to hear it. My terrible cellphone pics do it no justice.
I like the hoses, nice touch.

I'm pretty much planning on going Graves as well, I like the look on this one (granted, that's probably my last concern, but still a consideration....).

Once I got used to doing wheel changes on my gen 4 it wasn't too bad but it was never easy and I got sick of it real quick. Short of a full quick change kit from Fast Frank I decided a captive caliper mount was an economic way of making my life a bit easier.


I was going to sell off all the oem stuff but now I'm undecided. The rear shock is most definitely being replaced.
Okay, I'll definitely want the captive caliper mount, adding that to my ever growing list.

Curious as to your thoughts on why you're replacing the shock - most of the guys here seem pretty happy with the rear shock (most have to respring it, but at my size, I probably won't even have to do that - one of the few advantages of being a girl LOL)?
 
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