Wilsons Sandbox

On Fri, 13 Sep 2002, Bogdan Swider wrote:

> Is the ZR-7 an air cooled 750 with a 6 gallon tank ? Hard bags are >available ? How do you like it ??

739cc and 5.8 gallons, but who's counting? Yes, there are a few options for hard luggage, and the bike even has threaded bosses on the subframe already. Kawi sells a rack and 36 liter cases via their accessory catalog for $600+. Wild Hair offers a rack with three 42 liter cases (!) for about $700. For the price, it's a fine bike. It doesn't have a bunch of "tender spots" like the KLR does, so it's pretty much ready-to-go right out of the box. Like the KLR, it goes about 10-degrees down-bubble when you grab the front brake so aftermarket front springs seem like a pretty good idea. The only real area of concern is the old air/oil-cooled Kawi four engine. I've never heard of anyone overheating one of these, so maybe people are just worried about nothing. I still try to shut it down if I think the traffic light is going to be longer than two minutes or so. The five-speed gearbox has wider spacing than the six in a typical crotchrocket, which is a good thing in the real world. The engine has a broad and fairly flat torque curve, and it's nice to be able to shift up or down just one gear and have something actually happen (as opposed to a supersport where you go around double and triple-tapping the shifter in city traffic). The wind protection (faired "S" model) is a only slightly better than it is on a typical sportbike. A double-bubble aftermarket shield is available but I don't think that it really helps all that much. The bike's most important shortcoming, at least for me, is the distance from the seat to the pegs. NOW I understand why there's a demand for bikes like the V-Strom... Even though they're just glorified street bikes, they have riding positions which are not unlike the KLR's and have much more room for taller riders. The ZR places the rider in a very *slight* sportbike crouch, and it's just enough to cause me (5' 11" and 33" inseam) trouble after 200 miles. There are several engine case-guards available which are similar to the safety stirrup here: http://www.whaccessories.com/ZR7Accessories.htm ...and to which you might be able to attach clamp-on cruiser highway pegs. I plan to try this soon. The brakes won't flip the bike over with two fingers, but they *will* stoppie the bike or lock the front wheel if you try hard enough. If you do manage to fade out this twin 300mm rotor setup, then you should probably be riding a sportbike anyway. Valve adjustments are not too bad. Getting to the valve cover takes less work but getting the cover off is a pain, and it's unlikely that you'll be able to re-use the complex $26 graphite/paper gasket. It's a shim-under-bucket setup, and the difficulty of the adjustment itself is about the same as a KLR. Best of all(!), resale, like the KLR's, sucks. This means that perfect 00's with only a few k miles are available starting in the $4k range. Break a crank or throw a rod? Buy a low-miles 00 out of Cycle Trader, put all of the best parts together, and sell off the rest on eBay - they're just that cheap and disposable... RM

On Fri, 13 Sep 2002, Bogdan Swider wrote:

> Interesting bike RM. You didn't mention handling. Is this ZR-7 >stable/ solid at high speeds ? Also gas mileage, 40-45 mpg ?

I can't really comment on the handling since I have little exposure to anything else. It's obviously better than the KLR at pretty much anything faster than 10mph. The frame-and-fork geometry is remarkably similar to the VFR, which means that it's fairly relaxed yet sharp enough for some canyon-carving. Low-speed handing is good, and you can flip u-turns well within the turning radius of Squidly McCrotchrocket and his plastic wonderbike. I've had the bike up into the 120mph neighborhood and have never noticed any hint of wandering or headshake, although I hear that a few others have had some wobble issues - they probably need to check their headset or something. It also uses modern 17" sportbike rubber, which means that you can run Metzeler Sportec M1's and carve (swim?) with the squids, or switch to D220's, D205's, or BT020's and get 10k miles out of the rear and even more from the front. Or you can go cheap and get Shinko 009's. 120/70's and 160/60's are stocked everywhere (but not the Shinkos). As I mentioned, the bike is under-sprung and if you want to do a bunch of knee-down action, you might consider talking to the Progressive or the Race-Tech people. The front-end is the same setup as the KLR - no preload adjustment unless you have a pipe-cutter, and damping is adjusted by changing the fork oil weight. The rear is also the same as the KLR - Uni-trak and one coil-over shock, adjustable pre-load and rebound damping. You even get grease fittings in the linkages - great for pressurizing the pivots and popping out your seals. Supposedly a set of Connie fork-tube caps will fit and provide preload adjustment capability, but someone later bought a set and they didn't work. A little investigation will turn something up, I'm sure. The forks are 41mm. Cross-wind handling is fantastic. Winds that have you carving anus-cookies out of the KLR's saddle merely cause a bobble on the ZR. Figure 45 to 52mpg for normal highway cruising on a stock bike. A 17T sprocket will help a little, as well as relax the engine at freeway speeds (stock is 16T). I pulled the airbox cover and started seeing a 10% improvement in fuel economy. I later replaced it and I won't pull it off again until I get my hands on an exhaust analyzer. RM

> Cross-wind handling is fantastic. Winds that have you carving > anus-cookies out of the KLR's saddle merely cause a bobble on the ZR. >

Thanks very much for the info, RM. This may be the road bike for me. Curious about your problems with cross winds and general handling on the klr. Mine's rock solid at all speeds, not a lot of work in crosswinds and fine in corners. I do have a low fender and the bike is lowered. Can that make that much difference? Bogdan

> Thanks very much for the info, RM. This may be the road bike

for

> me. Curious about your problems with cross winds and general

handling on

> the klr. Mine's rock solid at all speeds, not a lot of work in

crosswinds

> and fine in corners. I do have a low fender and the bike is

lowered. Can

> that make that much difference? > > Bogdan

Bogdan, What kind of low fender do you have on your KLR and how did you mount it on the fork tubes? I like the ZR7 too, Rider mag did a favorable review on it last year and it has gotten good reviews at various web sites. British mags don't care for it because it is low-tech and too slow. But hey, I like low tech, it is easier to maintain and less costly. I like the Bandit series as well, have you looked at them yet? I think the ZR7 gets better gas milage and has a larger fuel tank than the B600. The B1200 is a great bike but more expensive and maybe has too much power for a non squid like me. The ZR7 seems a good compromise between the B600 and the B1200 and weighs less too. Later, Brad

On Sat, 14 Sep 2002, Bogdan Swider wrote:

> Thanks very much for the info, RM. This may be the road bike for >me. Curious about your problems with cross winds and general handling on >the klr. Mine's rock solid at all speeds, not a lot of work in crosswinds >and fine in corners. I do have a low fender and the bike is lowered. Can >that make that much difference?

Couldn't say. My KLR (with no fork brace and stock fender) is the only one I've ridden. Except for about four miles on Stu's bike, and about 1/4 mile on Mark Cheramy's bike, which don't count.

On Sun, 15 Sep 2002, Brad Davis wrote:

>Bandit series as well, have you looked at them yet? I think the ZR7 gets >better gas milage and has a larger fuel tank than the B600. The B1200 is >a great bike but more expensive and maybe has too much power for a non >squid like me. The ZR7 seems a good compromise between the B600 and the >B1200 and weighs less too.

I gave serious consideration to the B6, and ultimately rejected it due to its sportbike-like torque curve. The ZR and the B6 both make the same horsepower but the B6 is all top-end and the ZR has a strong midrange. The B6 uses the old Gixxer engine from the 80's, and its sportbike heritage shows. The ZR uses a close cousin to the all-purpose KZ engine that first appeared around 1977. On the other hand, I think that the current B6 is the most attractive UJM on the US market right now. The upcoming SV1000 is a sportbike that's missing some tupperware, so it doesn't count. Sweet looking bike, though, RM

If I may be allowed to chime in... I rode a friend's ZR-7 for half an hour or so, and expecially given its price, I think it's a sweet bike. The only thing I disliked about it (and I didn't dislike it too seriously) was the ergonomics -- a bit too much weight on the wrists for my comfort, and I just had the feeling that it wasn't a bike designed for 6-footers. How tall are you, RM? -Lujo

> > Thanks very much for the info, RM. This may be the road bike for > >me. Curious about your problems with cross winds and general handling

on

> >the klr. Mine's rock solid at all speeds, not a lot of work in

crosswinds

> >and fine in corners. I do have a low fender and the bike is lowered.

Can

> >that make that much difference? > > Couldn't say. My KLR (with no fork brace and stock fender) is the only > one I've ridden. Except for about four miles on Stu's bike, and about

1/4

> mile on Mark Cheramy's bike, which don't count.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., RM wrote:

> Best of all(!), resale, like the KLR's, sucks. This means that

perfect 00's with only a few k miles are available starting in the $4k range. Break a crank or throw a rod? Buy a low-miles 00 out of Cycle Trader, put all of the best parts together, and sell off the rest on eBay - they're just that cheap and disposable...

> > RM

Speaking great resale deals, for the same money you can step up to the 00 Z-Rex (ZRX 1100) and have all the on hand adreneline you will ever want and still have a respectable cruiser. I am only 5'8 so the seating is pretty roomy and I love being able to put both feet on the ground. I can see where a bigger guy might be a bit cramped but there is a tad more room than on the ZR-7. Best of all, I stole the Z-Rex in mint condition with only 6K miles, Kerker, jet kit, Corbin gunfighter and lady (backrest),a couple of cool electronic mods, and the orginal seat and muffler as extras for $3,800 plus a Barnet crossbow with accessories. I think it was the crossbow that sealed the deal. I had taken it as a part of the deal when I sold my "spare" KLR. Now I dont feel so bad about the beating I took on selling my #2 KLR. Hope you find a ride that suits you. Good Luck! K.C. Monkton Vermont A14 'Big Green F%#*er' 00 ZRX 'Vermonster' Greener Is Meaner

> Bogdan, > What kind of low fender do you have on your KLR and how did you mount > it on the fork tubes? >

It's a white Acerbis; not sure if they're available anymore. Don't know what to say about the mounting that would be informative. It's a straight-forward kit that comes with the fender.

> I like the ZR7 too, > Bandit series as well, have you looked at them yet? > > Later, > Brad >

I've looked at the bandits. The big one's too heavy and the smaller one's tank doesn't hold enough. Bogdan