Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ 00 0") Revised mirror placement allows unobstructed view behind the Attack Ninja. Vltalone's Baby Turbo mirrors _re easily fitted to the Ninja's tum signal mountings; drill and tape the mirror stock, and bolt from inside the fairing. Attack Ninja (Continued from page 24) 28 The stock fork springs start orr with a spring rate of 20 pounds/inch, and at full compression wind up with a final spring rate of 50 poundsl inch. However, the rate isn't progressive; the stock fork springs have only 21 pounds/inch with the first inch of travel, 23 pounds on the second inch, and then jump to 36 pounds on the third inch of travel. Air pressure provides the necessary spring assist, giving the stock springs a progressive rate at the expense of compliance at the fork seals. Progressive Suspension offers fork springs for the 900 Ninja thatarecalibrated not to use air assist. These springs start orr at 35 pounds/inch, and have a linear spring-rate increase with each inch of travel, winding up with a tOlal 50 poundslinch rate. Though the spring rate is initially stiffer, without air pressure the Progressive Suspension fork springs are actually more compliam, resulling in both a smoother ride and betler control. The Progressive Suspension fork springs have a suggested retail price of $49.95, and are available at your dealer for a variety of mOLOrcycles. The new fork springs were designed to be installed with a one-inch spacer; varying the thickness of that spacer will adjust the spring preload and stirrness for the from suspension. To make that fine-tuning easier, Lockhart Consumer ProduclS manufactures Quick-Set fork caps which can be adjusted externally to alter the spring preload. The Quick-Set caps are air-tight, and employ an air valve similar to the stock caps; air-assist can still be added to the from suspension if desired. The Quick-Set fork caps orrer a 1.0inch range of preload adjustmem. I installed a 0.5-inch spacer with the fork springs, which, in turn, allowed me plus or minus 0.5-inch of spring JJrdoad for adjusunem. Lockhart recommends that the adjustment is set so the front forks sag 1'.0 inch (from full extension) when the rider sits on the bike. After a lillie experimentation, I found that (not surprisingly) this occurred with the preload that Progressive Suspension recommends: a LOtal of 1.0 inch of preload (0.5-inch at the spacer, another 0.5inch dialed at the adjuster). For racing, the Quick-Set adjusters would enable the bike's from suspension to be easily tuned for track conditions. After the initial experimemation, I just left it at the I.O-inch total adjustmem for the duration of the test. Lockhart's Quick-Sel fork caps are available from your dealer; retail price is $49.95. I thought it would be good LO use a slightly-thicker fork oil 10 go with Ihe stiffer initial spring rate of the Progressive Suspension fork springs, sol tried 15w fork oil. It was promplly removed. The heavier oil seemed to jam up the Ninja's anti-dive system, resulting in near hydraulic lock when Ihe from brakes were applied. When the oil was changed back to Kawasaki's recommended lOw, the from end worked fine. The brake lines Since Kawasaki's ami-dive syslem is actuated by hydraulic pressure in the from brakes, feel althe brake lever was always slighlly spongy. Of course stock rubber brake hoses can deteriorate with age; Iheone-year-old Attack Ninja wasn 't.q uite due for, new brake lines, but I was curious whether one of the aftermarket brake line kils would reduce Ihe sponginess al Ihe brake lever. Several manufaclurers offer kits thai use high-pressure leflon tubing covered with braided stainless steel; Ihese hoses are generally regarded as superior LO the stock rubber componems. Rubber hoses become weak as they age, which allows them to "balloon" under pressure. Heat is a facLOr: while leverfeel may be fine while the brakes are cold, heal from the brake caliper heats the brake fluid, which, in turn, can soften the stock rubber hydraulic hoses. In addition, the teflon/slainless lines don't deteriorate wilh age, and are a lifetime invesunent for the bike. Lockhart's Power Pulse Hydraulics kit replaces alllhree of the rubber brake hoses for the from discs; inslallation was straightforward, and all hoses fit exaclly as the stock componems. However, bleeding the air out of the new lines was an ordeal - even with the aid of a vacuum brakebleeder the process took over an hour. Once the air was bled out, brake feel was slightly - not dramatically beller than with the stock lines. According to Kawasaki's suggested retail prices, replacing all of the tock front rubber brake lines will cost 63.61; the Lockhart Power Pulse Hydraulics kit retails for 99.95, is an improvement over the stock lines, and forever solves the problem of periodic brake line replacement. The mirrors The "Life with Ninja" article printed last March described a way to make the mirrors useful by making their stalk longer. That technique works, but I found that with the mirrors set high and wide, they required n'aligll111l'nt for even slight changes in riding posilion. A lillie experi- mentation showed that if the mirrors were mounted below and in from of the handlebars, their view LO the rear would be unobstructed, and on-axis whether the rider were sitting up or in a full racer's crouch. The revamped mirrors for the Attack Ninja are based on the Italianmade Vitalone "Baby Turbo" automotive mirrors, which were modified and relocated to the Ninja's stock tum signal mounts. The mirrors are available in most well-stocked auto parls stores, and retail for less than $20 each, Installation involved an easy afternoon's work. Leave the fairing on the bike; removal of the two plastic trim pieces behind the instrumenlS allows enough room for the mirror swap. Since the fairing uses the stock mirrors as an uppe.r mounting point, unbolt the mirrors and fill Ihe holes with a suitable nut and bolt (I used a hex sockethead boll, washer, and rubber washer against the fairing - a coat of black epoxy paim gives them a stock appearance). Unplug the stock turn signals, and unbollthem from inside the fairing. . The Vitalone mirrors are designed as door-mount automotive mirrors; a crude sheet-metal screw secures the door-mount bracket to the mirror's adjusunent ball-and-socket. Remove the screw (philips head); we'll drill and tap this hole, and use it to mount the mirror omo the old turn-signal mounts, Carefully drill out the hole With a !4-inch drill. Using a bench grinder, grind the socket-end down smooth to make a flat surface to cinch tight against the turn signal mount. Tap the hole for a suitable bolt (any boll with a beefy thread pitch will do; I used a '/.6" UNCI8 course-thread bolt, 2.0-inches long). Insert the boll from the inside of the fairing, using a large fender washer under the head of the boll. Don't forget a dab of blue Loc-Tile on the threads. I nfortunately, the rubber accordi;)n covering thl' mirror's ball-andsocket isn't quite long enough to reach the Ninja's turn-signal mounts. An inelegant solution is to buy a third mitror, and carefully cut its accordian inLO two halves (one for each mirror): that provides enough extension for the accordians. Underneath the front of the fairing is a small plastic apron secured by two boilS; use these bolts to moum the turn signals. A piece of cad-plated strap iron was bent and drilled as a mouming bracket for the signals; a coat of gloss black paint made it blend in with the bike. The. stock turn signals originally £it through tbe fairing with a long, steel shaft; that shaft could be cut and threaded to mount on the str

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