Vlad's K7 GSX1400 "Back in Black"

[VladTepes]

Well, I figured it's well past time to start a thread documenting my GSX1400 ownership.....
 
After many years without bikes, followed by a divorce (not a coincidence) I decided it was well past time to get back in the saddle.  There wasn't a day went by when I hadn't wanted to get back on a bike, now I finally could.
 
While I had always wanted a Moto Guzzi - price was an issue as well as a requirement for a good reliable bike I could ride daily and enjoy both commuting and on weekends.
 
After much research it came down to a classic style muscle bike - either the GSX1400 or XJR1300.  Sense prevailed.
 
I was fortunate that at that that time Bov was selling his beautiful black K7. (A decision he probably regretted at some point afterward)
 
At the time it had around 67,000 kms on the clock, 1 owner from new with a full service history and rego.



"









To view the full gallery click Here
 
I was very fortunate in that the bike had a good range of mods which Bov had taken the financial hit for.  Thanks Bov!
 
They included:

Full Carbon Akrapovic exhaust system
Power Commander PCIII
K&N Air Filter
GI Pro Gear Indicator
Ignition Advancer
Mini Led Indicators
Stainless Org oil cooler cover
Custom Seat (John Moorehouse)
Michelin PR2's (new)
Iridium plugs
Braided Front, Rear & Clutch Lines
Progressive Front Springs
Givi Box & Rack
 
To say I was very happy to complete that purchase is an understatement !
 
 
So after a gap of some 20 years, I was "Back in Black" !

[VladTepes]

17 November 2011
 
Anyway....  as so often happens when one has a shiny new anything - it doesn't take long to get it's first 'scratches'.
 
After picking the bike up from Bov in the morning, and riding it to work and then home all uneventfully (but fun) I decided to go to the shops. When I got home I kicked the sidestand down and lowered the bike on to it....
...or I would have done had I actually pushed the stand down all the way.

So a 220 odd kg bike is suddenly on its side, and on my wrist, all at the same time.

As the queen would say "We are not amused". 

Turns out I didn't have the right technique to lift the bike back onto its wheels and this certainly wasn't the time to learn... I wanted to avoid any extra damage !

Anyway after copping a serve from the bloke I was living with "You shouldn't ride any bike you can't pick up", he helped me to pick it up out of the slowly forming pool of petrol leaking from the tank.
 
The butcher's bill was:
Broken clutch lever.
Bent / loose LH mirror
Lots of scrapes on the LH side crankcase cover.
The surround to the clocks took a small hit and they loosened off.
Tiny mark in the paint on the front guard.
 
At least I didn't drop it the other way onto that nice Akra can!
 
 
Ah well, it was an excuse to get some adjustable SR Racing levers anyway.

[VladTepes]

6 September 2013
 
Three weeks previously the 1400 (my only running bike) went in for a service and they found the sprocket carrier had failed or at least was that close to failing it was dangerous.
 
Given the bike was discontinued there were apparently no spares in Australia. Of course.  :(
 
So they said they'd get one from Japan....
 
Three weeks later... and today I find out that Suzuki Japan have advised they won't be able to ship one until 15 September. FFS !!!!!
So it'll be ANOTHER 2 -3 weeks before I get the damn thing back
Withdrawal symptoms well and truly kicked in !
 
20 September 2013
 
I got a call, the part had arrived the previous day and the bike is now ready to go. 
 
I was $985 poorer.     (Full service, labour, fluids, sprocket carrier, sprockets, chain)
Oh and that price is after a discount.  :wacko:
 
That's a shitload of money and I'll know better next time to come on the .org first !!!!!!

[VladTepes]

26 May 2014
 
Had a little off last week - hit the back of a ute on the highway   :blush:
Saw it in time to wash off about 99% of my speed but just not QUITE enough.
Low speed impact and dropped it on the RHS.
 
The good news - I'm uninjured.
 
The care had a slightly damaged number plate and some paint transfer to my front guard.
 
My front guard didn't even break but I'm not sure if I might not have hit his tow bar on the way through.
 
The handlebars are bent (perfect excuse for a straighter set of bars maybe renthals), the bracket holding the front brake M/C is broken (zip tied that for now).  My crash knobs and case sliders saved any more serious damage to the side. A few aesthetic scratches to the carbon akro can - nothing a new sticker wouldn't fix.
 
I managed to ride it home - carefully. Bars bent made it a little interesting.
There was no real vibration noticeable even at speed (100kmh was fine, with care and about 2 miles following distance...).  Under braking however it was really odd and jerky which leads me to believe that perhaps the rim is damaged (nothing visible) or the forks are..... (Bloody hope not though).
 
Certainly there would be at least some alignment issues......
 
 
I subsequently went through all the insurance palaver...
 
5 June 2014
 
GOOD NEWS !!!! 
 
Just got a call from QBE and they are going to fix my bike. (I'll be in the hole the $500 excess)
 
I was astounded though when they said that the repair quote is $3,285.30 !  :o
As far as I can tell all that is damaged is
1. The R&G case sliders
2. The bracket holding the front brake M/C.
3. The handlebars.
 
There may have been more, of course, but QGE won't give me a copy of the quote.  I'll have to ask the repairers if they can enlighten me as I am interested.
 
I was thinking of Renthal bars instead of the standard Suzuki, but they will only put it back "as was" - with genuine Suzuki bars.  Apparently not interested in saving money which would keep us both happy ?!
 
The not so good news is that they have quoted a repair time of 4 weeks !
Apparently they may have to source parts from Japan and Suzuki takes 3-4 weeks to send them.
 
So that will be a total of 6 weeks without the bike....... what a prospect !
 
 
Some time later.....
 
Bike back on the road (the right way up) and as good as its ever been    :wub:

[VladTepes]

21 January 2015
 
Had a wee bit of drama. Had ridden the bike to work at Centrelink Goodna (well, I was working there that day!)
 
As I exited the car park, I heard a bit of a noise as I crossed a steel speed bump in the car park then suddenly the rear was skating all over the place. My initial thought was catastrophic rear tyre failure.... until I looked back and saw a HUGE trail of oil....  I managed to turn the bike around and ride it to the McDonalds' car park (just across the street) where I parked it and where it enthusiastically continued to pour oil on the ground a rate substantially faster than my Land Rover ever has!  At least the large sump capacity meant there was still plenty of oil in it so at least there won't be any engine damage......
 
As it transpires I had managed to destroy the sump.  I think it was a 1/10,000 chance - the sump plug must have contacted one the the bolts which holds the speed bump to the driveway... causing this:
 





 
Anyway I figure that even with the $150 tow (cash) I should get out of it as DIY for less than or approx. same as an insurance excess, but without having to claim and see my premium rise......
 
It wouldn't be so bad except that I managed to rip the rear end out of my Defender on the weekend.....  no wonder the missus is unhappy. :(
 
15 March 2015
 
Had been really busy with all sorts of other shit going on but having purchased the parts at a good price from Springwood Suzuki I finally got around to fixing it myself!
 
Before:
 



 
After:

:D   :D   :D
 



 
Certainly a big sense of satisfaction having done it myself and learned a few things along the way.

[VladTepes]

17 March 2015
 
First time back on the road since the sump fix....
 
Got about 10 metres down the road... whoa that's skaty.... better check tyre pressures next servo.  100 metres down the road - cough cough splutter, Oh **** fuel.  Pulled into to servo and fuelled up. FULL tank required.  Hmm, checked tyre pressures. They were at 26/24 jeepers....  so I fixed that to 36/38.  As I rode off it was still a bit hesitant when on and off the throttle - fuel starvation I guess - but this soon settled down.  Took it for a decent run - seems to be going good now.  Finally !


September 2015

Naturally the bulk of the time has just been spent riding and enjoying the bike !
 
There are a few niggling things which do need sorting.
 
The adjusters on the rear shocks are buggered and I just can't get it set up right, so I'm going to get those rebuilt.
 
I have ordered a set of Renthal 758 bars which I'll fill with silicone so hopefully get my wrists a bit straighter (and less sore) and remove the vibe I've been experiencing from the bars.
I'll get some bar end mirrors to replace the wing mirrors at the same time. For some reason the mirrors I currently have are just the right height to hit 4WD mirrors when I am filtering.
 
Getting a set of SR Racing adjustable shorty levers, so my 'normal length' SR racing adjustable levers will be available for sale soon if anyone is chasing them here is Australia.
 
The brakes have been shitting me for a while so I paid a visit to Metal Gear and got a set of discs and pads for front and rear - walked out $600 lighter (got a slight deal which essentially equalled free rear pads).
 
I also need some new tyres.  Not sure how many kilometres we can normally expect from a set of Michelin PR2's but they were new when I bought the bike from Bov at 67,000 kms and it's just ticked over the 89,000 km mark so that's probably a good run.  Some PR4's will be replacing them. I wonder where the best place in Brissy to buy them is? (I'm on the north side).
 
Debating whether I need chain and sprockets as well. Not sure. These were last replaced 20 September 2013. What sort of life is usual for these?  Best way to tell if replacement needed?   

[VladTepes]

October 2015

 

[VladTepes]

30 October 2015

Well I'm dropping the bike off tomorrow for the shop to attack it and strip a few bits off.
Hopefully the new (2nd hand) GSXR 4-pot calipers will arrive soon.  (Tracking says they are now in Sydney so should be OK)
 
Then its off to the Powdercoater for most of the bits, and the exhaust home to try to clean it and polish it up !
The rear shocks will be going in for a rebuild.
 
Still waiting on some bits from Oberon but the bars can be done any time so not worried about that.
 
Finally some progress.....
 
It's gonna be like a new bike! (in due course).  Let's hope the whole process doesn't take TOO long....

2 November 2015

Well the shotgun is sold, so now I actually have the $ in the bank to pay for this stuff.... which is, umm, handy.
 
Hopefully will be able to drop the stuff to the PC late this week.
Still waiting for the front calipers to arrive so I hope they get here in the next few days !

3 November 2015

Well I got home yesterday and the calipers are here!  The seller in the USA did a great job of packing them, oiling them and double wrapping them to keep them protected.  Very happy. Off to MetalGear tomorrow to swap the 1400 front pads for GSXR600 pads.
 
The shop will have the bits off the bike late this week so I can drop to the PC - but unfortunately he doesn't work weekends... hmmmm....

7 November 2015

Well a few more goodies have arrived in the post in recent times.



Oberon risers, pre-load adjusters, bar ends.
 
As I may have mentioned I'll try the Renthal 758's in the OEM risers first, but I suspect the Oberon risers will be going on after that to bring it back up to roughly standard height.

[VladTepes]

7 November 2015

More progress.
 
The bike is apart (well, as far as it needs to be)...






I've found a novel way for people without off-street parking to store their bikes..



or that may just be a pic of all the parts I have to send off for powder-coating.
 
 
I have these at home...



which I now have to get off my arse and polish.....

[VladTepes]

8 November 2015

Well I've made a start on the pipe polishing...
 
but it takes bloody ages.
 
In the photo below is a before and 'during' ... the latter being so far just attacking it with the grey compound.
 

 
There are still some marks that won't come off no matter how much I attack it with polish.   

[VladTepes]

12 November 2015

Well I just got a call from the powdercoater.  Parts should be ready to pick up by Friday lunchtime

13 November 2015

The polishing is on the back burner briefly. The bloody 200mm wheels I got don't fit on my 250mm bench grinder - spindle is too large,  Hopefully be able to sort that out with tradetools tomorrow,
 
Shocks will be finished Friday next week, and the rest of the bike should be ready for those to pop on by then (I hope)
 
I've got the parts back from PC and dropped them off to the bike shop.  They look great. 
 
Wheels look awesome shod with a new set of PR4's.

Teaser:


The wheels appear to vary in colour in different light. Of late its been raining and cloudy and they do look darker. 
 
Everyone who has seen them reckons they look awesome 'in person' so to speak.

[VladTepes]

More progress:

Having done the initial polishing on a wheel attached to the drill, I changed to a series of wheels on the bench grinder.

One little hiccup was that the M16 thread tapered spindle I had, while the correct thread, wouldn't slide over the larger diameter spindle? on the grinder.

Out with the angle grinder... sorted! 

[VladTepes]

Having worked up to blue compound on the mop wheel, I reckon they've come up pretty good, even though this photo doesn't do it justice it gives some indication......



BEFORE:


AFTER:


A bit of autosol tomorrow and they'll be finished.

[VladTepes]

23 November 2015

Well I just heard from the bike shop - she's being put back together... Can't wait !
 
A couple of teaser pics:
 
Note that the springs have been powdercoated (still red but now they match the wheel colour)


 

[VladTepes]

24 November 2015

RESULT !!!