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...the first two days of riding a few miles here and there.
1. Oh boy - this bike might get me in trouble. Something really childish happens to me around 5000 rpm. I actually giggled today on the way to the gun range...GIGGLED! I'm 42 freakin years old!
2. WHY can I never have a bike that tells me how fast I'm actually going?!?!? There is NO WAY my speedo is accurate. It should be unacceptable to Kawasaki that my old Harley Davidson had a better speedo than them.
3. Next purchase - knee savers. 'nough said. Might build them myself since I have a feeling the better half may want passenger pegs dropped a notch too.
4. 5500 rpm...seriously...wow
5. Handlebar risers eventually - not essential, but I think I'd like them.
6. Hot bike. Hot state. Leaving the lower fairings off - most likely forever since they are damaged goods anyway.
7. I bought this bike because I love the era of motorcycles and I needed a reliable highway commuter (my other bikes are currently 500cc aircooled yamahas from 1978), but there is no way I'm making it through this summer without a road trip now. I might be a little in love.
8. SIX. THOUSAND. RPM'S.
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SIX. THOUSAND. --??
C'mon, bro. It's good for 10 and a half. Take her up to at least nine, that's where the horses live.
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SIX. THOUSAND. --??
C'mon, bro. It's good for 10 and a half. Take her up to at least nine, that's where the horses live.
I'm not saying how far up I took her - I'm just saying where I started to get giddy...
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I'm not saying how far up I took her - I'm just saying where I started to get giddy...
Yepp, your hooked!!
The best is yet to come...
Now,,, Come ride with us in the twisties.
Ride safe, Ted
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I agree on points
1 I am 45 yo
5 but why do they cost so damn much?!!??!
and of course 7.
On my morning commute I am lucky if I get her above 6.
at my age I cannot justify going more than 10mph past the speed limit
But I would love to see what she CAN do some day.
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5 but why do they cost so damn much?!!??!
** Ebay is your friend!
On my morning commute I am lucky if I get her above 6.
at my age I cannot justify going more than 10mph past the speed limit
But I would love to see what she CAN do some day.
*** I'm 63. Come ride with us...
Ride safe, Ted
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5 but why do they cost so damn much?!!??!
** Ebay is your friend!
From what little I've learned so far, the 86-93 are different from the 94-06. All the ones on ebay are the 94-06. I checked...lol
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From what little I've learned so far, the 86-93 are different from the 94-06. All the ones on ebay are the 94-06. I checked...lol
The Speedo is usually off by about 3-4% unless you put a 'winged' size tire on the front (130/70r18 on mine pretty much 'zeros in' the speedo on mine). The 'wing' tires are heavier though, and change the handling characteristics of the bike (won't lean into turns as easily).
So yeah, 70 MPH indicated will usually be about 67-68 MPH actual with 'standard sized' tires.
As for the differences pre-post 93/94, that mainly relates to the front forks/suspension/wheel. Most components didn't change at all between the model years. I'm sure the pre-94 folks can point out the other differences, but I don't think the footpegs changed at all between all model years.
I put 2" handlebar risers on my bike, and this helped my posture considerably. That being said, due to the 'dreaded handlebar buzz', you may want to look at the other handlebar mods (i.e. installing 'classic' handebars, helibars, etc.) if the buzz at the higher RPMs seems to be an issue for you. If your bike isn't 'buzzing the handlebars' too much, though, then no worries.
Finally, yeah I have to pay particular attention to the speedo, as this bike is VERY SMOOTH at higher speeds. If you aren't paying attention, adding 10 mph to your speed while you aren't paying attention is easy to do. Connies have no issues going into the triple digits HP wise, although any weaknesses in your suspension/tire balance setup become noticable in the triple digits. I'm older now, so I'm kind of over the triple digit thrill...
I doubt you will ever hit 150 on this bike though. That is mostly for show... reported top speeds on this forum for the Connie fall in the 130+ MPH range, and I don't remember any reports of 140+ (The guy with the ZZR-1200 engine might be able to go that fast, and I don't know what Shoodaben's top speed is).
One of my favorite things about the Connie is how easily you can increase your speed while doing passing maneuvers, even uphill. Yeah she has power to spare going up hill. Just drop her into 5th and off you go!
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The 93/94 split I'm talking about is - again apparently - to do with front fork valves? The 94-06 risers don't have valve extensions. Footpegs are just a knee thing for me - I'm already looking at making a bracket to drop them an inch or so.
I'm definitely in the 5mph-ish slower than indicated range - riding on Pirelli 110-80s
I haven't been on a long enough trip to see about vibration, but I can't imagine they're worse than my thumpers, and they don't really bother me.
If I ever hit 150 on this bike it's because I went off a cliff about 5 seconds previously. Let's hope that never happens... I am thrilled with the usable power though.
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fork diameter and bar mounting bolt pattern on bars and top tree are all identical from 86 thru 06,
86 bars were approx 1" shorter. 86 thru 93 used air assist on the forks, and had a plastic cap to cover the air valve.
all the bar riser blocks will fit all the bikes out there from 86 thru 06. You'll just have to make or find a plug to fit the riser spacer tube that mounts above the fork, inside the riser.
McMaster carr, or Caplugs has some metric ones...
or you can simply sand down the o.d. on the OEM plastic cap to insure it is as small as the fork tube (42mm) and just use it... you will have to pull the bars off to add in air, but no big dealeo...
here are some tubular bar adapters, and you can see what I'm talking about....
these are 86 bars, with KB risers under them, I simply bought some tire valve extensions and added them to adjust height...
I was not running the air feature on those bars anyways, I went with Progressive springs from Murph's, and never had to mess with air again... makes the seals last indefinitely...
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*** I'm 63. Come ride with us...
Ride safe, Ted
Yeah 63 here to. Come ride with us old folks we can teach ya a thing or two in the twisties.