Adding a little more R1 DNA to the FZ.

I love the internet. Buy a motorcycle, google the make and model along with the words 'forum' and shebang! You will most likely found group of people that take the time to write about the bike you have. Some of these forums are better than others depending on the cult status of the bike. If you search hard enough you might just find some surprising things to make your bike more you own. This is one such case. 

One of these examples was the tank grips for the FZ that I mentioned in a previous post mounted to the FZ's tank. The FZ1 Owner's Association has a wealth of knowledge about the FZ1. Before buying the bike, I did some research on it mainly through the site. I found out about the tank grips there. 

To get them mounted, I did the same procedure as I did when installing the Ninja tank pads after giving the whole bike a nice bath. I took the bike out this past weekend with a friend. I wore my race leathers and the grip level was phenomenal. I had much better ability to keep loose on the bars and maintain good body position while hitting the twisty parts of CA 33 out of Ojai. My buddy said I looked more confident than in rides past thanks to my new found understanding of the techniques taught at the California Superbike School.

Another example of this type of can't-get-it-anywhere-else knowledge is this little beauty right here. This is an early 2000's Yamaha R1 shift arm. Apparently in the quest to make the 2004 FZ1 a bit more touring friendly, Yamaha lengthened this part for the FZ while keeping the R1 part short. Mechanically this translates to easier shift effort for the FZ, but shorter shift throw for the R1. I checked out the part price on my favorite online parts warehouse, Ronayers.com, and picked one up for only $45 dollars shipped. I have experienced a few second-to-third gear upshifts where I didn't quite get it into gear. By adding the new R1 shift arm, you get a more positive gear engagement in quick upshift situations.

Before the weekend ride, I marked the shift shaft with a sharpie to give me and idea where to align the new shift arm. There was a dot punched into the end of shaft aligned to the split in the stock shift arm. Later after installing the new arm and testing it out, I may have to make some adjustments to the other end of the shift joint to better position the shift lever. I have also read that some people have had to put a slight bend in the shift rod from the shift lever to the shift arm for clearance through a frame piece.

Here are the two pieces side by side. You can see how much shorter the new one on the left is to the old one on the right. The old one is thicker where the shift rod attaches, but I don't think this piece experiences all that much torque. I will keep my eye on it to see if it is experiencing any metal fatigue. I will also be sure to not overly tighten the shift rod when I finish attaching it to the new shift arm.

First I popped the shift rod off of the old shift arm after peeling back the rubber boot. This was as simple as removing a single 4mm pan head allen bolt. I then loosened the jam nut on the old shift arm and removed it from the shift shaft. Reusing all of the old hardware I loosely reassembled the pieces to check for proper fit. I did have to bend the shift rod upwards slightly as it was rubbing as it passed through the frame. Before tightening the new shift arm to the old shift rod, I added a small drop of blue thread locker to the threads. I don't want this sucker backing out on me at speed going into a corner where I need to downshift.

My first impressions of the new assembly are that… I don't know. I was hoping to ride the bike a little this week, but life has been happening enough that I haven't had a chance by the time I am posting this. I will get out this weekend and give it a full evaluation. Maybe I'll run the bike through its paces with an early morning run through the Malibu Canyons.

So there you have it. A simple replacement of one part for another that could lead to a pretty nice improvement for track or street. I have a few more ideas to make the FZ a bit more track oriented. Running the Streets of Willow with it was very addicting. Some lower profile handle bars and some rear set foot controls may be in my future.

Hope to see you again soon, take care.

Blue