Maybe I should put this down in the Good / Bad vendor sections, but.....

I've posted pictures of this winter's project, with the additional back and up movement of the grips due to optional, additional, offset risers on my LSL and a Superbike High bar. Well, this entails getting all my hoses and cables increased 7" over stock length.

Since I have to do this, I decided to do it all in stainless braided, and go ahead and do the rear brake hose too.

So I asked RoaringToyz if they could do it, and they said yes. I'm switching to a two hose front brake setup, one hose per caliper, up to a 2-hole banjo bolt at the master cylinder / brake lever. The hydraulic clutch hose will be braided also, and +7". The throttle cable assembly will be new and also +7" length.

For that, plus braided rear brake hose, I'm paying $333 delivered.

Pretty darn good price, and most places couldn't do the throttle and didn't know how to do the clutch hose. LOL

Pictures when I get the stuff in a few weeks, and then when its on. For now, I need to fire up the kerosene heater in the garage this weekend and start pulling the old hoses and cables out. Looks like I'm gonna need some DOT fluid.

* Last updated by: privateer on 3/23/2011 @ 10:23 AM *

hey privateer when your done after ya done a bit of riding please give me some feed back on the differance of feel/performance of your stoppers thanks. also ya buddy that had a stack a while back hows he going mate I've been meaning to ask if hes any better

Thanks for reply privateer so sad to hear about your riding mate look forwood to your update of the braiding brake hose buddy

Thanks for the particulars on steal lines, priv. I'd like to do that some day. The double front sounds like a good idea. Also, thanks for mentioning the supplier, Roaring Toys. You could still put a review in PRODUCTS AND PROVIDES section. Just insert a link between the threads if you want.

got the galfer shadow series lines on mine. If youve got a newer bike you will not notice any difference. where youll notice them is if your old lines have expanded. but with the braided youll not have to wory about the lines expanding on you. would highly suggest buying the quick bleeders(worth the $28 can find them on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki-Speed-Bleeders-Ninja-ZX-14-ZX1400-2006-2010-/390278579285?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ade6a8455#ht_1154wt_941

This is good info, I got a full set of Galfer brake lines for mine to install this spring -- too damn cold right now and my garage is unfinished, so heating costs more than it's worth with propane or kerosene. Guess my summer project is to get the garage insulated/finished enough to hold heat when I need it;)

Speed bleeders work great. I used to use them, but after getting a vac bleeder I no longer needed them. One of those tools that once you have one, you don't know how you did w/o for so long.

I was shopping for some stainless line kits the other day and got frustrated to find it was very hard to get the part numbers for the kits so I could compare specs and prices across the internet.
Is there a specific Brand that makes the lines that travel straight to the Master on the front?

Just call Brad Sexton at Roaring Toyz and have them made. High quality, OEM fittings, your choice of sheath colors, and a fair price. They made my fronts as two-line, my rear, my clutch, and throttle for me.

941-953-4423

* Last updated by: privateer on 2/24/2011 @ 1:02 PM *

Ok, pictures. SS braided 2-line front brakes, SS braided clutch, (no picture of SS braided rear brake, forgot), and +7" push-pull throttle assembly.

The throttle assembly came ready to install, and it was cake except I didn't remove the tank cover, and move the tank, to get it all the way underneath the tank. It should be fine halfway under.

Roaring Toyz made it all, +7" over, and the quality is excellant.

Now to remember to buy a few bottles of DOT4 hydraulic fluid during the week.

Well, it is all buttoned up except for the right ram air cover, which is waiting for my machinist friend to finish the pod I'm going to house the heat-trollers and BMW sockets in. Once they are hooked up, I'll put the cover back on.

The heated handgrips aren't wired yet, waiting on the above-mentioned pod to be fabricated since it will house the grip's heat-troller.

It was maddening to patch all those individual wires in the left and right wiring bundles that go to the switch pods on the handlebars. I just cut 20 some 7" sections of roughly 18AWG (maybe smaller) wire and then one by one, cut a wire, stripped the ends, soldered in the patch wire, taped it, and shrink wrapped groups to better protect it.

Amazingly, everything works perfectly. Well, not really amazing, I took my time, and I am quite good with a soldering gun anyway.

The XM smart antenna is mounted on a right lever perch ram mount, like the GPS is on the left lever perch.

All the hoses are bled and everything is working perfectly.

I am leaving the Illumiglo gauges for next winter, they are bling anyways, don't need them.

The mesh turned out great. I'm glad I got it from JP Cycles, its really quite good aluminum mesh, just the right thickness to not bend real easy but still be able to cut and form it.

I think that is just about the extent of major modifications. The handlebar is finally close enough that I can ride all day without my back and neck declaring war on me. I *might* get my machinist friend to help me do some one-off pegs with more drop and forward displacement, and modify the shifter and brake pedal to accomodate. I'll decide after this riding season, and maybe do it over the winter.

If I get enough back pay from my VA disability claim, I guess I'll do an Ohlins fork and rear shock, set up for when I've got the luggage mounted and full.

And if AAPERF wants to supercharge it, heck why not, I don't have to do the wrenching. Heh.

And the guy that makes highway pegs for the C14 is meeting up with a sportbike club to see one of their ZX14s and decide if he can adapt his highway pegs to the ZX14. Don't know about you, but after being in the saddle for 4 hours with just a gas stop, I put my legs down or back to stretch them, highway pegs or not. So I might have them.

My motivation for doing all this, besides the obvious physical issues, is I want to tour the USA and Canada before I am too old to do it. If the VA grants me a high enough disability rating, and a 401k I have from an old job with a ton of one particular stock recovers to 2008 levels (after it split 2-1) then I will be able to spend 6 months a year seeing America, more once I'm 62 and can get social security income and 401k retirement too.

I was never able to do it when I was making a lot of money (because I was busy making a lot of money - which was stupid) so I'm going to do it now, when I no longer care about money as long as I can put gas in it and eat, and pay camping fees, insurance, and licenses fees to keep the government happy.

This forum is cool, because I will continue to get ideas and learn new things about our great machines. And since I purchased a refurbished Dell laptop specifically to tune the bike, and can get internet with my cellphone hooked up to it, I can keep up with things on this and other forums while I'm on the road.

Pictures soon as the rain stops, and sun comes out. Time to unveil the ZX14 Express-Concours. :)

Good job, Privateer! A lot of very cool stuff you've done to make your bike the ultimate sport touring machine. Can't wait to see the pics of it all buttoned up.

Privateer, no one can charge you with not knowing your bike inside and out ! lol

Edgecrusher wrote:

Privateer, no one can charge you with not knowing your bike inside and out !

True. There is a local sportbike club, and one or two of them stop by now on weekends when the garage door is up and I'm working on it. Word is they think what I've done to it is a travesty, but they also are respectful of the work. I can live with that.

I'm not going to canyon bomb anymore, more ride in the manner so well described in the Motorcyclist article:

The Pace

I hear ya. That's been my idea of riding for a couple years now. I just don't have anything to prove and get more of a kick out of seeing how much I can do whilst in complete control. Not to mention, in my neck of the woods, drivers on the road have worsened exponentially every year and it's a job just trying to make it to work in one piece let alone finding out how fast your bike can go today sort of thing. So I amuse myself by predicting traffic and seeing how many people I can get ahead of without speeding. But then again, I'm really starting to worry about myself because I'm starting to yell at people (to myself) for speeding through school zones and rolling through stop signs and other relatively tame offenses, so maybe I'm getting a little old and crotchety? lol

Ok, we both be crotchety. Heh.

Well, I'm going to my machinist friend's shop in about 2 hours. Taking the two BMW sockets, 2 Kustom Komfort mounted remote heat controls which will heat control the BMW sockets, and the heat control for my handgrips.

He is making me a pod for them, roughly 4" x 2" x 1-1/4", with BMW socket on each end of the 4" face, and the control pot knobs arranged in a flat triangle, each KK pot knob close to its socket with its LED towards the middle of the face, while the grip heat control pot knob and LED will be the top of the triangle.

Once he gives it to me, I'll take it home and install the parts, soldier things up, then hook it all up to the fuse block. I'm going to give each of the three heat controls their own fuse. Not worried about what amp all three might draw at once, the fuse block can handle whatever its total fuses can, and the wire back to battery positive is 12 gauge and good for 80 amps easy because it is fairly short. Same with the ground wire I ran up front and just terminated waiting to get to this point.

Next weekend (not tomorrow, the next Saturday) she goes to dealer for Pilot Road 2s to be put on, and then it will be time to start my riding season trips, with a nice up into upper PA for a COG Spring Rally event in May.

Before I ride, I gotta find the allen wrench I dropped up by the steering head, putting the speakers on. It didn't drop to the concrete, and I didn't hear it bounce, so not sure where it is. I guess it will show up someday. I took the darn side cowls off looking for it. Need to check the fans and take a slow scan with a flashlight.

Privateer,what kind of speaker set up did you get ? I was just looking yesterday at the shark systems trying to decide on the 4" or the 3" speakers with 250 watts.Did you mount them on your handlebars? Post a pick.

I purchased Pyles because they are cheaper than Sharks. I'm only pushing 200 watts I think it is, that is overkill really.

I mounted the speakers on the handlebars. They came with P clips with rubber linings, and Z bars if you want to make them go back or forward from where the bolt hole is in the P clips.

The P clips didn't tighten enough on the bar to suit me, so I loosened them up to the point the speakers almost falling off, and put grip glue where I wanted them, then slid them over the grip glue, tightened it up, and wiped off the ooze with alcohol on a rag. They are solid now. :)

My machinist just called me. He found a black ABS electronics project box which is like 4" wide by 2" deep by 1-1/2" tall, so its perfect for my switch/socket pod. Plus it is not a conductor, which is cool. And its more than strong enough to stand up to the use it will be put to.

I'm cheap, and finding the ABS box just saved me $100 of machining time, so I'm all for that.

I am planning to post a full suite of pictures once its on and hooked up, that is the last thing other than putting the PR2 tires on that needs doing.

I know at least one person who is very anxious to see those pictures. Plus, it will lead to some How-To discussions possibly which will be good too.

Hey, perrier I have a question. These speakers like we got, I assume since they are motorcycle specific they are fully waterproof? My instructions don't say anything about it one way or the other. So I guess we are supposed to know?

Ok, nevermind, I went to Pyle's website. Mine are the 200w x 200w (200w each speaker, so 400 watt amplifier) ones, and I'm having my machinist mount the amplifier on the back of my switch pod.

Pyle says it is all 100% waterproof, so thats good enough for me.

* Last updated by: privateer on 4/15/2011 @ 2:07 PM *

Privateer,did you get the system at gooddeals18?

No, Amazon. I keep telling you guys, its amazing what Amazon has. They had all of Pyle's motorcycle speaker systems. And the prices for me are great, because I don't have to pay shipping because I've been a Prime member for at least a decade.