FAST FORWARD, FROM A SEVEN UP TO A TEN.
Yes, we’ve gone and done it; splashed out on a Kawasaki ZX10R. A damn fine machine.
Originally built – we were told – for Steve Brogan and then ridden for two years by Josh Day… this bike was too good a deal for Ritchie to say no too. He’s always had this ‘calling’ – you might say – to have a go in the modern 1000cc class and we’ll be spending some time over the next few months getting to know this new addition to the Team 71 family.
A Blue Ninja... well, for now anyway.
It’s got full Maxton front and rear suspension and we suspect there’s been some work done to it along with a shimmed racing gearbox. Well, Ritchie will soon find that out when he takes it to Brands Hatch for testing. The engine sounds really good through the full-titanium Arrow racing exhaust, with 60mm outlet and Pipe Werx end can – it has a real depth to it. It has a history too, setting the lap record at Castle Coombe with Josh behind the bars, so we know it’ll be a bit nippy! It feels so light compared to what Ritchie has been used to. Just sitting on it and flicking it from right to left – it feels so nimble – there doesn’t seem to be much weight to it at all.
Ready for inspection... time to find out more about the ZX10-R
As with any secondhand race bike though, we begin by stripping it down to take a look at what’s going on inside; checking the shims, cam chain and the tensioner. They’re always a thing to deal with on a Kawasaki – even on this modern rocket by the sounds of it. This is not new to us as the ZX7-R was always needing a bit of attention around those particular areas; some things never change. Our new bike was ‘ticking’ a bit when we fired it up at beginning – common noise apparently – so the first thing we explored, was the tensioner and the cam chain. The tensioner comes out a lot easier on this bike than it does on the ZX7-R and we discovered that at times they need a bit of manual help to move in a tooth – the spring is too soft by all accounts. Anyway, we adjusted it, popped it back in and when we started the engine it was noticeably quieter.
Well, that was the first job done and after a quick run up the road, to go through the gears, we started work on the top end to check all the shims and valve clearances.
Cams looked like new!!
We discovered that they weren’t that far out apart from a couple that had gone a bit tight.
Next, we carried out a leak test and were satisfied that the engine was between 5% and 7% loss across all 4-cylinders; that’ll do us for next year. No need to replace the rings or lap valves just yet!
Once we’ve gone over the rest of the bike; suspension, headraces, wheel bearing and brakes it’ll be down to our Ritchie to jump on it and give it a go. We’re not expecting anything at first, he’s got to get used to it, and get to know it. There’s a lot of things on this bike that he’s never had the chance to try out on a track before; traction control, three power modes and a shed load of other electronic add-ons.
Our last meeting for the year at Cadwell on the ZX7-R ...we had a good scrap with Craig Neve.
Anyhow, what about our Golden Era Championship bike? Recently dubbed the ‘Flying Banana’ by the amusing and entertaining Thundersport Commentators, it’s going to have a few more updates: A factory clutch with a direct gear-driven oil pump for one, and it will be attending a few meetings again next year alongside our new ZX10-R. We aim to have big fun on both of them at meetings with Bemsee and possibly the Classic Race weekend for the ZX7-R at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium; that’s if f we can get the time off work. This is an event we would really like to take part in and hopefully catch up with our old pals John Dieterman, Richard Blunt and their team, who may well be riding together in the Classic Endurance race on their specially built Ducati.
Anyhow, we’ll keep you all up to speed as we progress and improve both bikes’ performances over the closed season.
Exciting times ahead for all of us.
Bernie Thornton, Team 71
Thank you to all of our loyal sponsors.
https://www.kais-ohlins.co.uk
http://www.opieoils.co.uk
http://www.rg-racing.com
http://www.novaracing.co.uk/index.
http://www.wiseco.com
http://www.cp-carrillo.com
http://racerubber.co.uk
http://kawasaki.cradleykawasaki.co.uk
