With the start of the new racing season quickly approaching, progress took a distinct step forward this weekend.
The hard life of a race bike meant that some of the components were in need of a spruce up before they could be bolted back onto our Kawasaki Supertwin. First up was the cleaning of the Radicool radiator, followed by the Quill exhaust system which particularly benefitted from this activity (see photo right).
The hard life of a race bike meant that some of the components were in need of a spruce up before they could be bolted back onto our Kawasaki Supertwin. First up was the cleaning of the Radicool radiator, followed by the Quill exhaust system which particularly benefitted from this activity (see photo right).
Next up was the preparation of a 'new for 2014' chassis modification in the form of a Kawasaki Versys swingarm. The fitment of the Versys swingarm is a common upgrade which is a simple "bolt-in" upgrade.
Our particular swingarm had previously been stripped of paint and was bare aluminium, so with a little effort it was looking shiny & bright and ready to fit! I was particularly impressed with the quality of the welding on the swingarm, which almost looks handmade.
Our particular swingarm had previously been stripped of paint and was bare aluminium, so with a little effort it was looking shiny & bright and ready to fit! I was particularly impressed with the quality of the welding on the swingarm, which almost looks handmade.
With the swingarm fitted, the Poole Performance Centre did the legwork to get the 'spare' engine fitted into the bike and running. With the exception of a troublesome starter gear bearing (issue now resolved!), our Kawasaki Supertwin was running sweetly.
With the Versys swingarm installed, there is now plenty of clearance between the swingarm and exhaust where our bespoke Quill exhaust passes through the swingarm (this clearance was previously very tight on the standard ER6 swingarm).
Other than the quoted benefits of using the Versys swingarm (a 1.2kg reduction in unsprung weight along with an increase in torsional rigidity), it also has the benefit of looking quite cool! :-)
The next step from here is for our Kawasaki Supertwin to visit Dynopro Racing in Runcorn so that the 'spare' engine can be run-in and then have a new fuel map created, along with the quickshifter being correctly configured. Once these activities have been completed, we will be provided with a dyno sheet that will hopefully show an increase in the mid-range power output.
Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!
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