401 replies to this topic

[rwac]

I don't know, it's whatever came with the bike.
I can give you close-ups.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing ?

Those are the perfect tires for your bike, your bike was designed to corner with those tires so it's a good thing. Let me put it to you this way, when I went to change my tires the first time, I wanted the wider more expensive cool looking tires, so I bought the top of the line I could for the bike. I picked my bike up drove home, all of 3 or 4 miles. Those new tires felt like ballons, my bike lost it's cornering edge. I drove straight back to the shop and said, order me the original Bridgestones (mine were not the Battleax, the Battleax are upgrades to what I have). They started to worry about me wanting to return those tires and protested that I already rode the bike and put wear on the tires. "Yeah, I ain't asking you to take the tires back, I just want you to order me the new original tires, I'll eat the loss." They got me the originals and I've always ordered those ever since.

Your best bet is to stay with those tires for the life of your bike. They seat in the corners perfect for your bike. Check the side of the tire, let me know if it says Bridgestone Battleax.

You're totally right, It says Bridgestone Battlax BT020.

You've got a very good eye, not to mention an awesome bike.

It's interesting though. Both of these bikes come with very good tires.

That's kinda unexpected. You'd expect that they'd ship with mediocre tires,
and you'd have to add the good ones or something like that.

Thats how it works with cars.

Edited by rwac, 24 January 2009 - 05:46 AM.

[thefirstimmortal]

You're totally right, It says Bridgestone Battlax BT020.

You've got a very good eye, not to mention an awesome bike.

Thanks, I got some more posting to do on the paint job, but I want to concentrate on your bike and your tires. I can’t stress how important it is for both safety and performance to get the tires right. When you only have 2 on the road, you wanna get it right, you need to be up on that because your life is riding on it.

It's interesting though. Both of these bikes come with very good tires.

That's kinda unexpected. You'd expect that they'd ship with mediocre tires,
and you'd have to add the good ones or something like that.

Thats how it works with cars.

It’s much different with bikes. Cars usually ship with cheaper because tires are seldom a selling point, but walk into any show room for sports bike and you find that this isn’t so. Most bike enthusiast will be upon the tires and even if they aren’t, they are sure going to feel the difference on a test ride. Take car out and you might not notice cheap from good tires, throw a bike into a corner and you instantly can tell if it feels like it’s on rails or feels like it’s going into a death wobble. Dealers can’t afford to lose a sale because of a cheap tire. Check all the superbikes next time your at the dealer, note the tires, they will all be first rate good tires.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 24 January 2009 - 06:47 AM.

[thefirstimmortal]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

By they way, I’m having the time of my life dissecting your bike for many reasons. Of course it is the next generation of my bike, and basically they didn’t change much from 85 to 2003, so I’m thrilled to see the upgrades. Also, there is a very real possibility that I may never get a chance to ride again. I think the last time I was able to ride was last October, and at no time since have I been strong enough to be able to ride. Granted it’s winter, but if this were summer, I would have been out for the season. So I’m living vicariously through you. While I’m at it I get to stroll down memory lane while at the same time look to the future by talking about your bike, upgrades, ideas, advice and safety tips. Like I said, I’m having the time of my life.


All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

[rwac]

Here's a couple more pics.
The bike pic didn't turn out so well. probably because of the reflectors.

Tire pics too.
As you can see, the tires aren't fully scrubbed yet.

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Edited by rwac, 24 January 2009 - 07:23 AM.

[thefirstimmortal]

Some thoughts on just in case you drop your bike. Well, just dropping it won’t damage it much, so lets say you go into a low mileage slide ad mess your fairing up. Do what I did. When I got my bike I wasn’t even planning on keeping it for more than 2 or 3 years. I got a deal on it and planned on riding it for a few years and getting an up grade to Suzuki GSXR or some other super sport bike. I wasn’t going to do any upgrades on my Ninja but the crash forced me to make some decisions. So as part of my physical recovery plan, I stopped my physical therapy sessions and took the time to fix my bike. I’ll be posting about paint jobs in general after the we review the tires. Just think about a dream custom paint job and if you ever mess the bike up, your reward for surviving the crash can be upgrading to some amazing trick paint job. Just an idea, something to think about.

[thefirstimmortal]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Your chain looks like it might have too much slack in it. That’s something that you want to pay attention to, nothing will ruin your day faster than a chain slipping if the sprocket and jamming your tire up, especially at 60 or 70 miles an hour. You’ll be in for a bad day. That by the way, that is one of those parts that usually is cheap when it comes from the factory because a cheap chain or expensive chain won’t really show up the first few hundred miles. But they stretch and wear; obviously a cheap chain stretches faster and wears faster than a good chain. Don’t worry about upgrading until your done with that chain, but when it comes to changing, go top of the line. Your chain is new, and that’s when you get the most stretch. You should have checked and tightened it at 500 miles, I’m guessing you skipped this and you got 900 miles on that chain. Umm, how close am I Rwac.

Your chain looks dry, when is the last time you sprayed some oil on it? A dry chain will stretch faster and it will chew your sprockets up real fast. Sprokets are another one of those parts that usually come cheap and when they get worn down, you want to go with upgrades on those too. But back to the chain oil. You want to get a small can that will fit under the seat. Get a good fling resistence oil if you haven’t done so already. I personally use a product called Chain Wax, it’s in a special paraffin base that has superior lubrication and the coating when it does fly off, as they all will at high speeds, doesn’t get the rims as greasy as regular chain oil. It’s worth a buck more if you can get it. For regular driving you want to oil the chain every 150-200 miles. If you feel the need for speed and take it up into the 90 mile an hour range for a bit you want lube 75-100 miles. If you happen along salt flat and get up to 140-150 or so, it’s every 50 miles.

We will talk about the edge of your tire tomorrow, and that nasty yellow factory mark. I’ll tell you the best way to remove that.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

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[thefirstimmortal]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Oh, before I forget, get a ruler and put it at the center of you chain. Move your chain all the way up and all the way down and measure the travel of how much slack you have in it. Then, check every one of your links for a master link. If you don't know what a master link is, let me know and I'll detail that out for you.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

Edited by thefirstimmortal, 24 January 2009 - 09:16 AM.

[rwac]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Your chain looks like it might have too much slack in it. That's something that you want to pay attention to, nothing will ruin your day faster than a chain slipping if the sprocket and jamming your tire up, especially at 60 or 70 miles an hour. You'll be in for a bad day. That by the way, that is one of those parts that usually is cheap when it comes from the factory because a cheap chain or expensive chain won't really show up the first few hundred miles. But they stretch and wear; obviously a cheap chain stretches faster and wears faster than a good chain. Don't worry about upgrading until your done with that chain, but when it comes to changing, go top of the line. Your chain is new, and that's when you get the most stretch. You should have checked and tightened it at 500 miles, I'm guessing you skipped this and you got 900 miles on that chain. Umm, how close am I Rwac.

Your chain looks dry, when is the last time you sprayed some oil on it? A dry chain will stretch faster and it will chew your sprockets up real fast. Sprokets are another one of those parts that usually come cheap and when they get worn down, you want to go with upgrades on those too. But back to the chain oil. You want to get a small can that will fit under the seat. Get a good fling resistence oil if you haven't done so already. I personally use a product called Chain Wax, it's in a special paraffin base that has superior lubrication and the coating when it does fly off, as they all will at high speeds, doesn't get the rims as greasy as regular chain oil. It's worth a buck more if you can get it. For regular driving you want to oil the chain every 150-200 miles. If you feel the need for speed and take it up into the 90 mile an hour range for a bit you want lube 75-100 miles. If you happen along salt flat and get up to 140-150 or so, it's every 50 miles.

We will talk about the edge of your tire tomorrow, and that nasty yellow factory mark. I'll tell you the best way to remove that.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

You're absolutely right. I haven't done anything to it other than an oil change at the dealer.
I'll get a fling resistance oil first thing.
They should have done it at 600 miles, but then again, who knows.

I think the max speed of my bike is actually 135.
I believe the rev limiter makes it the max.

[rwac]

Do you have an opinion on the whole wax vs oil thing ?

[thefirstimmortal]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Do you have an opinion on the whole wax vs oil thing ?

Yes, think about dripping wax on something and think about oil. Which one do you think will stick better? If they don’t sell that out there, and they may not, just go with the more expensive brands. On a small can your not going to pay more than a dollar or 2 for the better oil. You can save money by getting the bigger cans but my experience has been that the can stays on the self. To do a chain up right you have to preheat it with a 5-10 minute drive, that becomes a choir. But when you have it with you all you need to do is take a break and spray the chain when you stop for gas or before you go into a store, or visit a friend or whatever. Actually, your tank has a range of about 170-180 miles, so if you spray your chain before you gas up every time, you’ll be all set.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

[thefirstimmortal]

You're absolutely right. I haven't done anything to it other than an oil change at the dealer.

Good thing you got me looking over your shoulder than. I would personally feel safer tooling down the turnpike at 130 miles an hour with a tight chain than driving in traffic going 55 miles an hour with a loose chain slapping up and down over the sprockets.

They should have done it at 600 miles, but then again, who knows.

Check you billing reciept, I doubt you'll find it there. That chain just looks like it has too much slack.

I think the max speed of my bike is actually 135.
I believe the rev limiter makes it the max.

You should have about 65-75 horse power. I'll do some checking, but it seems to me that your bike should be capable of doing 150-155 top speed. I'll get back to you on that.

Edited by thefirstimmortal, 24 January 2009 - 09:38 PM.

[thefirstimmortal]

We will talk about the edge of your tire tomorrow, and that nasty yellow factory mark. I’ll tell you the best way to remove that.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

Let’s clear that nasty yellow factory mark issue up first. All you need to do is get some Wesley’s white wall cleaner and a stiff plastic bristle brush with the finer bristles. Just spray the tire down and take a bucket of water, keep the brush wet and scrub, than hose it down. All that dirt and grime will right come off too. I always follow up with an armourall type product to shine the tire up. Always apply that when your not going to ride the bike for many hours, that will allow it to soak into the tire, never apply that before a ride because it may migrate to the edge of the tire and don’t apply it past the lip of the tire. I apply it when I’m putting my bike away for the night. The last thing you want is a slick edge on your tire, but you also want to have that deep shine on the tires. It just adds so much to the looks of a bike when the rims are waxed and the tires are glossy black.

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[thefirstimmortal]

OK, the edge. When you here about performing a bike and someone talk about taking the bike to the edge of it’s performance, well, that edge is the literally the edge of your tire. An experienced rider can literally take the bike down so that you can’t see that tell tale patch of tire that has never seen the pavement. This is not something that you yourself need to achieve. I myself won’t take my bike to those cornering extremes; it’s just too dangerous. On the other hand, your patch is a little too wide, don’t worry about it for now, I just want you to keep this in mind, if you can’t take your bike down into a deep corner, someday your going to be placed in a driving situation that is going to require that, or your going to hit something. You see where your strip is now, well imagine a mark about halfway in-between where it is now and the edge of the tire. You should eventually be able to get the bike comfortably and safely down to that. Like I said, don’t worry, we will get you there.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 24 January 2009 - 10:08 PM.

[thefirstimmortal]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Oh, before I forget, get a ruler and put it at the center of you chain. Move your chain all the way up and all the way down and measure the travel of how much slack you have in it. Then, check every one of your links for a master link. If you don't know what a master link is, let me know and I'll detail that out for you.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

I didn't see you post about this, so let me go further into this. Your looking for what is called a master link. All of your chain links will be curved like this example. look at the bottom gold link, that is what all of your links look like.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 25 January 2009 - 03:19 AM.

[thefirstimmortal]

I didn't see you post about this, so let me go further into this. Your looking for what is called a master link. All of your chain links will be curved like this example. look at the bottom gold link, that is what all of your links look like.

That’s what all of you links will look like except one. One link will be straight without the curves in the center. It will look like the pic below.

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[thefirstimmortal]

That’s what all of you links will look like except one. One link will be straight without the curves in the center. It will look like the pic below.

Here is another example.

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[thefirstimmortal]

Here is another example.

OK, that last pic sucked, let’s try this.
These are not the best pics in the world, but if you look close you should be able to spot the master link. If your bike does not have a master link than you have a continuous roller chain. That is a good sign, because it means you don't have a weak link, and it's a higher end chain that will last about 20,000 miles if you keep it wet. The only drawback is they are more expensive to install because you have to have the rear tire pulled and the front sprocket pulled also. But you will want to go with the best chain on the market when you go to replace it. For my 3rd chain, I went with a chain that was pricey but claimed to be a lifetime 100,000 mile chain. I question it going 100,000 miles, but I will say, it is holding up fine. And I noticed that it isn't stretching much after 10,000 miles. I have 50,000 miles on my bike.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 25 January 2009 - 03:39 AM.

[rwac]

Ok, I found something that might be the master link.
It's a different color than the rest of the links (it's yellow).
The shape doesn't appear any different though.

I measured the slack and it seems to be about 2 inches or so.

[thefirstimmortal]

Ok, I found something that might be the master link.
It's a different color than the rest of the links (it's yellow).
The shape doesn't appear any different though.

That's odd, I've never known a master link to not be straight, but having only one link a different color would indicate that it might be a master link. Can you post a few shots of that so I can get a look?

I measured the slack and it seems to be about 2 inches or so.

Yeah, needs to be a little tighter. A chain is something you want to learn how to do on your own because it only takes about 15 minutes after you learn how to do it once. You don't want to put your bike in the shop for something like that. Too much time and aggravation, not too mention the money you can save. Your owners manual should list how much travel on the chain. You want to pick up a repair manual also.

[thefirstimmortal]

I dug out my service manual and owners manual. The service manual cover the 600R from years 1985 to 1997. I bought the manual in 97. I found a pic of a 2002 600R. They had not changed much, a 2002 still looks more like my 93 than your 2008.

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[thefirstimmortal]

They had not changed much, a 2002 still looks more like my 93 than your 2008.

Compare, I found a pic of a stock 93. Except for the color and graphics, very little had changed.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 25 January 2009 - 01:12 PM.

[thefirstimmortal]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Now compare the difference from 2002 to 2008. your bike has the aggressive Ninja styling full fairing with aerodynamic windscreen, integrated front turn signals with clear lenses to enhance the appearance.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

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[rwac]

Long Live Freedom of Speech

Now compare the difference from 2002 to 2008. your bike has the aggressive Ninja styling full fairing with aerodynamic windscreen, integrated front turn signals with clear lenses to enhance the appearance.

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

They made the 650R styling closer to the 600R, which is really nice.
As I said before, It was love at first sight.

Pics of the chain.
Unfortunately the left pic doesn't work so well. It doesn't focus on the bike, but the car behind.
The right pic is good.

You can see that the right pic has a yellow link.
The left pic has yellow bits on a normal colored link.

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[thefirstimmortal]

Pics of the chain.
Unfortunately the left pic doesn't work so well. It doesn't focus on the bike, but the car behind.
The right pic is good.

You can see that the right pic has a yellow link.
The left pic has yellow bits on a normal colored link.

This is a first for me, but I'm fairly sure that must be the master link. That is the only reason that I can see that they would mke the link a different color. It always used to be that you always looked for the straight link. Double check the next time you happen to be by the dealers, or ask around to your friends who ride. Do you have a lot of friends who ride also?

All of my threads will be moved to the Freedom of Speech Forum Soon.

[thefirstimmortal]

They made the 650R styling closer to the 600R, which is really nice.
As I said before, It was love at first sight.

I've been trying to decide what color I would have picked if I bought one. I definitely would not have been green; I’ve never been exited over the “Team Green” color.

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[thefirstimmortal]

The silver looks too plain, too ho hum. I look at this bike color and I want to yawn.

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[thefirstimmortal]

I think the reddish swing arm and front forks look foolish. The overall color isn’t sporty, I couldn’t even get jazzed over the moving shot, I looked at the pic and I got more excited about the green in the grass and trees than the silver on the bike.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 26 January 2009 - 01:26 AM.

[thefirstimmortal]

Ahh, the blue looks better. The bike looks good, but not really sporty enough.

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[thefirstimmortal]

I’ve always been a big fan of red on a sports vehicle, car, bike, truck, you name it, red screams sporty. Looking at these two pics gets me leaning toward red. The red stands out more and it is a perfect red for the bike.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 26 January 2009 - 01:36 AM.

[thefirstimmortal]

Looking at this pic angle gets me leaning toward the black. It’s subtler to be sure, but look at the bike at that angle and it just looks sinister. You almost expect to see Darth Vader getting on it. It’s kind of a draw, I think I would have to see 2 up close and also watch them go down the road before I could decide on what color would be best.

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Edited by thefirstimmortal, 26 January 2009 - 01:43 AM.