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Richie's New Ride Is Home!!!!

FZ1riderNY said:
Well, I'm gonna do some research as to the I.D. of the stem and find something in line of the pipe with that "X" cut in the end with the flared ends. That seems like the logical way to go. Hammer down for the bottom race and hammer up for the top race.

I'll probably have my "bloodhound" friend Tony do a search for the tool. Believe me, it can't be that much money. I'll buy it and then we can use it as a "forum tool". When another member needs it, they only have to pay the shipping and we will send it to them. When the next person that needs it, that person will pay for the shipping and so on. That would be a pretty cool idea don't ya think?!
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No, Billy what Eric is referring to is the bottom race that's pressed onto the stem just above the bottom triple tree. The races in the the steering head can be easily driven out using a long drift. No need for that fancy tool with the expanded bottom. I've circled the race in question in the attached pic.
 
FZ1riderNY said:
Well, I'm gonna do some research as to the I.D. of the stem and find something in line of the pipe with that "X" cut in the end with the flared ends. That seems like the logical way to go. Hammer down for the bottom race and hammer up for the top race.

I'll probably have my "bloodhound" friend Tony do a search for the tool. Believe me, it can't be that much money. I'll buy it and then we can use it as a "forum tool". When another member needs it, they only have to pay the shipping and we will send it to them. When the next person that needs it, that person will pay for the shipping and so on. That would be a pretty cool idea don't ya think?!
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I also have a couple of solid steel drifts (plain rods) that we can easily use for that.

Found one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices nice!!!
 
NJFZ1 said:
No, Billy what Eric is referring to is the bottom race that's pressed onto the stem just above the bottom triple tree. The races in the the steering head can be easily driven out using a long drift. No need for that fancy tool with the expanded bottom. I've circled the race in question in the attached pic.
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Thanks Tony for clarifying that for me. A picture is worth a thousand words! I'm gonna look in my Yamaha Shop Manual to see what tool they recommend for this particular race.
 
Richie is done with his fairings. A very nice job I might add. I compounded and polished the lower cowl. She looks great. I can't wait to see it all together on the bike tomorrow.

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NJFZ1 said:
I bought a similar set from Amazon. It's OTC brand. Only problem I still see is the steering stops on either side of the lower bearing will probably prevent that bearing separator from sitting flat on there. Talking about these two guys:
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Excellent point Tony. Thanks!
 
Getting Ready For Hid First Ride!

I left the house early this morning, dropped Richie off at lacrosse practice, and headed straight for the DMV. I secured the plate for the Ninja then headed over to pick up my fork parts. Thats it! I now have everything. Richie got home by 3pm and I was in the garage inspecting his chain. After a thorough soaking in kerosene, it looked good as new. I re-installed the lower fairing, lubed the chain, and then did my FZ's front brakes with the new EBC HH pads. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! I did some runs to break them in and got ready to take richie out for his maiden voyage.

Here is the chain after the cleaning and lube....
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Here is the bike ready for action, insured and registered......
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I like the bike now without any decals.
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Here is Richie out on the bike. There will be video to follow......
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First Official Ride For Richie

Here's some video I took today with both the Canon and the GoPro.....

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waPJBKT6T2A]YouTube - Richie's First Official Ride[/ame]
 
Yea, I like the bike w/o any decals myself, especially since it's red. Now it really stands out, which is not a bad thing for a motorcycle.

Richie must be very excited to be officially riding now. Oh and what a perfect day it was here. Sunny and close to 90 degrees. Broke the old record that's for sure!
 
Thanks Tony. We had a good time. I was a little nervous but he did really good for his first time out. He has a lot to learn but teenagers just soak up information like sponges. He's more comfortable "at speed" rather than putting around low speed. I remember I was the same way. I told him regardless, he needs to learn to crawl before walking. Most of the time today was spent on a street in an industrial zone, showing him clutch control and shifting, and low speed manuevers. Evenings and Sunday mornings should be a better time to be out on the street. It won't be long before I take him to the mountain on a Sunday morning.
 
Very nice! I think he did GREAT! Just needs to do a lot more head checks that I can see but very smooth rider! Well done Billy!
 
Sign him up for the MSF course ASAP. It will put your mind at ease. I paid for both my son’s to go through the course when they were 18 & 20. They are both in their thirties now and responsible riders with families. It’s like tennis or golf lessons. It teaches them the things that will take them a lot longer to learn on their own.

But they both can pull wheelies better than their dad. Oh well.....:beer:
 
FastRnu2 said:
Sign him up for the MSF course ASAP. It will put your mind at ease. I paid for both my son’s to go through the course when they were 18 & 20. They are both in their thirties now and responsible riders with families. It’s like tennis or golf lessons. It teaches them the things that will take them a lot longer to learn on their own.

But they both can pull wheelies better than their dad. Oh well.....:beer:
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My thoughts exactly Fast. I just have to see if his certificate will hold valid until he is old enough for his permanent license. If not I will have to try and set it up to coincide with his road test for automobiles since here in NY, you have to be licensed for a car before you can get your MC endorsement.
 
Talented kid Billy! He really picked that up fast. You're right about kids soaking things up. I'm glad I learned to drive a clutch at 16 years old. It made learning on the motorcycle much easier. It's difficult to learn a clutch on a motorcycle when you've been driving automatic vehicles your whole life, IMO.
 
Norm said:
Talented kid Billy! He really picked that up fast. You're right about kids soaking things up. I'm glad I learned to drive a clutch at 16 years old. It made learning on the motorcycle much easier. It's difficult to learn a clutch on a motorcycle when you've been driving automatic vehicles your whole life, IMO.
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You're not kidding! I learned to drive stick before I did automatic. Uncle had a junkyard when I was younger and I learned to drive the fork lift and tow truck when I was 13-14 years old. By the time I was old enough to get my license at 17 it was a breeze.

By the time I got my first street bike I had been driving manual cars for a while and had some dirt bike experience as well so the clutching and shifting on the street came easy.
 
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I'm simply amazed at how people "freak" out about a standard transmission----thankfully I was taught on a stick and even learned to parallel park with an old Volvo.....

I can tell you that Richie took to flying solo alot faster than I did.....I remember my very first ride home in rush hour traffic.....very slow going and ALOT of side routes.....
 
Thanks guys! I have to say that the XR50, while a "semi-automatic", did give him some insight into using a clutch and shifting. If you've ever ridden a semi-auto, you know that you have to be real coordinated with your throttle hand when shifting or you'll have the front wheel up in no time flat. Norm is 100% right with the fact that kids, if you teach them really young, soak up a ton of info in a very short time. I know why they rave about this Kawasaki now after riding it a little. It is so forgiving to a point that even someone who has never operated a clutch controlled bike, could easily learn in one afternoon. The tranny on this bike is literally like "butter"! Shifting is so smooth, either upshifts or downshifts are effortless. I'm going to address the "fork dive" issue, as well as the rear shock situation, and nothing more. I'm going to try and find some better springs for the front, (maybe the "bloodhound" can help me there), and the SV650 Adjustable Shock will be here Thursday or Friday. The SV650 will raise the rear 1.6 inches, utilize a 430lb. spring, and 7 position preload settings. Thats a world of difference to what it has now. Other than that he is absolutely loving the heck out of it. I just need to calm him down a little with the throttle. Even with the XR50, I had to constantly slow him down. He has a "heavy" throttle hand which I don't believe is hereditary.:innocent: On our ride he was taking off from lights like J Lewis at the dragstrip! The bike has a bunch of pep down low once spooled up, and he already has taken mental notes of the RPM ranges in each gear. As soon as we got to "the circle" he was rattling off all kinds of numbers to me. He was bragging how it was turning 7500 to 8 grand at 60mph. I had to take him down a notch by reminding him what the FZ becomes at 8 grand! You know, keep them humble! I can't wait for our next ride. Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement!
 
Well from some quick research I did looks like the Ninja 500 rear shock was also a direct bolt on. However, it's only adjustment was for preload.

As for front fork springs, I guess they are going to be tough to find used, but I did find these for you ;)

Progressive Suspension FRONT FORK SPRINGS from Hyperformance Parts

RACE TECH PRODUCT SEARCH

The Race Tech's are more money, but they offer a variety of spring rates. Either way one or the other is bound to be better than stock.
 
NJFZ1 said:
Well from some quick research I did looks like the Ninja 500 rear shock was also a direct bolt on. However, it's only adjustment was for preload.

As for front fork springs, I guess they are going to be tough to find used, but I did find these for you ;)

Progressive Suspension FRONT FORK SPRINGS from Hyperformance Parts

RACE TECH PRODUCT SEARCH

The Race Tech's are more money, but they offer a variety of spring rates. Either way one or the other is bound to be better than stock.
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Thanks Tony, you had me nervous when you said "more money", but to me anything 100 dollars or less for a motorcycle is a bargain in my eyes. 69 dollars for the progressives is a great price. I don't think he will ever need more than that. I just need to stop the fork dive from the supersoft springs up front. It gives a cushy ride and soaks up the bumps really well but for higher speed cornering, they suck, and could probably get him in trouble should he ever go in too hot. Thanks, I think I'm gonna look at the progressives with maybe a heavier weight oil. Nice find!
 
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