Getting a grip. Race readiness upgrades to the Ninja.

After my day at California Superbike School, I walked away with several techniques to practice to lock in the new skills I worked on at the track. One of them came from my on track coach Lyle. He wanted me to practice knee gripping the tank in my hard braking zones so that I could keep my upper body loose for the turn into the corner. Other friends have highly recommended tank pads to assist with this. I had some on order, but they arrived at home while I was at the track. When I got out to the garage on Sunday, I got to work upgrading the Ninja.

I have searched several online vendors that make or sell tank pads. Since the Ninja I have is the 'pregen' body style, performance parts are thin on the ground these days. I got connected to Tech Spec through the FZ1 Owner's Association forum as there was a thread about a group buy of tank pads for the 1st Generation FZ1. Just like with the Ninja, 1st Gen FZ performance parts are not readily available. While searching and not finding grips for the FZ, I did find that Tech Spec made tank pads for pregen Ninjas. I called up customer service and was able to get a set of pads ordered with a military discount. Bonus!

Here are the Ninja pads held up to the tank so I can gauge where I need to place it for best function. I ordered the Snakeskin grip for the Ninja since it is my track bike and I want maximum grip. There are three levels of grip with the Tech Spec pads. Snakeskin, C3 and High Fusion. The grippier pads are thicker and have a more pronounced tread pattern. Each order is a set of precut left and right side grips for your model of bike.

While I was placing the order I had them do a custom one off for the FZ1 too. I got their mid-level C3 grip versus the Snakeskin for the Ninja. It feels less grippy than the Ninja pads. They should be perfect for the street riding I mainly do with the Yamaha. Tech Spec had the pattern in their custom file and it just took a few emails to get the order locked in with the Ninja pads and shipped.

I read the directions and cleaned the tank on the Ninja. While reading the instruction sheet it said that the surface needs to be at least 80° F for the pad adhesive to properly bond. I used my infrared thermometer to check the tank as my garage is not heated and we have been having the beginnings of fall weather here in Southern California. Unsurprisingly the tank was only about 70°. I used my heat gun to gently raise the surface temp to the required level and slowly rolled the pads onto the tank from the corner by the seat and up towards the handlebars. I made sure to do it evenly so that no bubbles got under any spot between the pad and tank. The right side was first and the left followed just as easily once I mirror matched my starting point.

After getting the pads on and cleaning up my tools and trash, I sat on the bike. The bike is parked in my Harbor Freight floor chock with a rear stand under the swing arm. It is solid enough that I was able to climb on the bike and hang off left and right to test the grip. I was only wearing loose cargo shorts, but I can already feel the difference in how planted I will be when hard braking. The extra large coverage area of the Ninja's tank will be welcome. I imagine my leathers will grip even better.

All in all it only took about 20 minutes to do. I have the set of pads for the FZ that I will hopefully get to this weekend. I recommend looking for this upgrade for your track or street bike. If the company you want pads from doesn't have your specific model listed, feel free to call their customer service. They just may be able to do a custom order for that model. Most places also sell large square sheets for you to cut your own pattern.

I've got a good deal of fresh content coming soon so don't go far. See you next time!

Blue