Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

grind no rmally fit ted to the ZRX1140, tho ugh more-radical X-3 cams ha fts can be s peci fie d fo r even m ore to p -en d power. T h e X- I cams give m ore midrange, though whether that's really somethi ng this bike honestly needs is somethin g you ' re already askin g yo urself w hen you climb aboa rd and cra nk the starter bu tto n. Th e 4-2- 1 s ta inless-s tee l Mu zz y ' s megap hon e exhaust issues a sa tisfyi ng gru nt as the eng ine cat ches light, a signatu re tune th at changes to th e trademar k how l of a high-revvin g in-line four as the revs mount, via the ligh t-acti on throttle. This com es thanks to the crisp pickup from the 41mm Keihi n flatslid es (fitted with K&N filt ers for that retro look ), which is aggressive w itho u t being su dden, perhap s thanks to the wen-chosen igni tion curve from the aftermarket Dyna 2000 CD! Mu zzy fits to the b ike. Despite the serious engine tu ning that d elivers a claimed 182 hp at the crank, translating to 161 hp at the rear w heel at 11,000 rpm, on 92-octane p u m p gas (a stunnin g 70 p ercen t more th an s tock, peakin g at 2500 rp m high er) the Muzzy ZRX pulls ve ry hard from low d own, transl at in g to mind-b og gli n g muscl e fro m 8000 revs onward , jus t whe re the s t o ck Z RX's torqu e cu r v e fa lls off, ap proac hing the 12,200 rpm rev limit. Peak torque on the Muzzy's mon ster is 92 ft.-Ibs. at 8500 rpm, but it feels like it hold s it pretty flat tin about 10 grand. However, for some reaso n, Kawasaki took a page from the Triumph book and left out top gea r when ZRXing the ZX11 engine , presumably bec ause of the s toc k naked bike' s b roader sp rea d of power . [ don' t u sually com plain about five-sp eed transmission s on big-engin ed bike s, b ec aus e the y ou ght t o h a v e enough power and torque to d o wi thout a sixth rati o, u nless they're shoo ting for Superbike success . But on the ZRX1140, you do tend to keep hunting for ano ther Muzzy's Kawasaki ZRX1140 Specnicalions Water-cooled. DOHC. Engin. . 16 ~va lve transverse in-line four-cylinder four-stroke Bore & stroke 77 x 61mm Capacity ~ . .1136cc Output 161 hp @11.000rpm Torqu• . . . . . . . . .92 ft.-Ibs. @8500 rpm Compr.ssion ratio 12.9:1 Carburetion (4) 41mm Keihin FCR f1atslides Ignition Muzzy·s Dyna 2000 CDI Transmission 5-speed Clutch Multi-plate. ell-bath Chas s is Tubular steel duple~ cradle frame Suspension Front . , .43mm Kayaba telescopic fork R.ar (2) Kayaba shocks with braced-aluminum swingarm Rak. and trail 25°/ 103mm Wh llSas. . 1450mm W.ight .488 pounds (dry) S.at h.ight 31:6 inches Fu.1 capacity 5.2 gallons Brakes Front (2) 31Omm Tokico discs R.ar with six-piston Tokico calipers (1l 250mmTokico disc wit h two-piston caliper Wh....ls/Tires Front Dunlop D207 on 3.5·inch wheel R.ar 170/60-1 7 Dunlop D207 on 5-inch wheel Top speed Over 160 mph Retail pric• . . . . . . . .$ 12.700 as tested 120170-17 Manufacturer Muzzys Performance Products 62910 Peerless Court Bend. OR 97701 Phone: 541/ 385·0706: Fax: 541/382·9406 gear in n ormal ridin g , even halfwa y to red line . I can't ex p lai n wh y , bu t perha ps it' s a fun ction of the cho ice of rati o s . St ill, thi s impressi ve o u tp u t is quite eno ugh to get the rear Dunlop D207 going walkabo u t if yo u ' re no t carefu l to (a) get it w armed up firs t (oka y, o kay - ju st loo ki ng for a n ex cuse to do burnouts, I a d mit it) and (b) ge t the Kaw asaki mor e or less po inting in the right direction. T hi s is m a inl y thanks not only to the ' a w e so m e power on tap, fed through the smallse ction 170 /60-17 rear tire imposed s to ck by the ZR Xll 00' s ski n ny 5.0 0-in ch ri m , so mu ch as the so mew ha t- basic retro s ty le re ar-s usp ension pa ckage . Twin shocks are mostl y okay for straig ht-line drag racing with 160-rear w heel horsep ower - where the Mu zzy ZRX has clocked a 1O.28-second quarter-mile, with 138.2 mph terminal speed - but not for going arou nd comer s and unleashing the ponies mid tum. That' s th e case ev en if the pair of Kayaba s fitted to the stock ZRX a re im p re ss ively multi-adju stable, w it h a ste p ped ramp for preload adjus tment, and four-position dials for rebound and compression dampin g. There's obviously no linkage, allowing progressive suspension response when you dial up power to go, so, if you're going to rev it up high, be prepared to han g it all out. The main problem seems to be the rath er soft stock suspension setu p front a nd especially rear. It need s tautening up for this sort of poke, so that yo u feel the bike pogoing back and forth beneat h you as you roll d ow n Racer Road , until yo u ge t busy with the clicks. Even then, the relatively fli msy-fee ling fra me d oesn' t give too much confidence if you try too har d in fa st sweepers . This is, s o mew h a t inevitably, a point-and-squirt motorcycle. The p iggyback-reservoir shoc ks are okay, w ithin the limitations of the rearen d design, but their conside rable adjustment for sus pension of this kind seems to influe nce ride qu ality, rather than compliance or grip. Cust omers for this nowad ays versi on of The Wa y It Was (a nd then some) might want to invest in a set of more-cap able sho cks than come supplied wit h the stock pastiche-mod e ZRX. 0h1ins make nice ones for the twin-shock V-Max and its kin - and then, of course, some Swe dish upside-d owners wou ld improve the front end, too. And not just in appearance. The ZRX's 43mm cartridge forks are reaso nably okay, bu t th ey're d esign ed more for comfort than com pliance, and are definitely undersp rung for serious scra tch ing . Of course, one cheapskat e solu tion is to try to prevent the front 17inch wheel' s (the real Eddie bikes used 18-inche rs, of co u rse) tou ch d own too often, by inju dicious use of the th ro ttle ha n d to provoke th e kin d of wheeli es that are second nature for a bike like this. H ow ever, non e of thi s is th e single greatest omiss ion fr om th e Muz z y' s p arts book fo r tr ansformation of this retrobike with attitude, because it needs (Above) The cockpit is full retro and thus features the bare minimum - speed and revs. (Left) The Muzzy bike uses a Kawasaki rear disc, two Kayaba rear shocks and'(go figure) a Muzzy exha ust system. (Right) Muzzy adds 36cc to Kawasaki's powerplant, and he does the cylinder-head tuning work hims elf. The res ult is so me 161 hp at the rear wheel 70 percent more than the stock bike. a steering d amper abo u t as badly as a Daka r-direct ed dirt d evil needs w ater when los t in the Sahara. It's a matter of su rvival! Get hard on the gas exiting a turn aboard the Muzzy ZRX1140, and one of two equally deligh tful scenarios wi n inflict themselves on you. Either it p op s the fro nt wheel w hil e you' re still cra nked over, in which case yo u' re faced w it h the conflicting emo tions of being gla d that the rear Du nlop gri pped well enough to let that happen, coupled wi th serious concern at havi ng the high -rise handlebars flapping hard in your hands in t h e b irth throes o f t he so rt of tankslap per you' d hoped had go ne out with the demise of the Vince nt V-twin. Or you ' ve go t it up a nd runnin g in a straig ht line, and above 8000 rpm yo u' re rewarded wi th the front wheel lifting in a lmost any ge a r, u nd er th e hea p s o f p ok e d eli v ered by t he tu n ed eng ine . Ok ay, very nice - bu t the n hit a bum p, or eve n a freeway join t on a concrete two la ne hi ghwa y, a nd be prepared fo r a vivid rem inder of why suc h a d ev ice w a s in vent ed - even on such a ra n gy p ackag e as th e ZRX, w it h its 1450mm wheelbase, 25-degree head angle an d 103mm of tra il, non e of which exactly makes for a nervou s, tw itchy motorcycle. In fact, thou gh it feels tall and skinny thanks to the lack of a fairin g, the ZRX is pret ty slow-steering - but this is a bik e w hic h s houl d co me w ith a warn in g label : " Ridi ng w i th o u t a s teer i ng d a mper will se r io u s ly d a m a ge your health! " - as in mental, a nd prob ab ly physical, too! To be fair to Muzzy, I was the first per son outside the company to rid e the ZXR. He nce, they we re still figurin g ou t h ow to fi t o ne o n it. Now apparently the y have, and all custom er n a ked M u z zy rod s w ill co me s o equip ped. Believe me, it' s needed: Don 't try riding th is bike at any sort of pace wi thou t one! So th at wa s t h e bad news - n o w here's mo re good: Reflecting the sing le gr eatest area of imp rovement in mot orcycl e desig n since Fas t Eddie won his brace of Superbike titl es, the stock sixp ot Toki co ca li p e r s g ri p p i n g th e Kawasaki' s p air of 310mm fro nt discs d eli v er what in Cali forni a they term "mo ndo" sto ppi ng power - outstand ing bra ki n g th at a ny m od ern Su perbik e wo uld be ha ppy to own in street guise. There's lots of bite, as we n as reason able modulation, probabl y tha nks as mu ch as any thi ng to th e ad d ed precis ion of the Mu zzy-su pplied, br aided stainless-steel, Teflon -line d brake hoses. It' s th e way the Tokikos haul down a bike weighing 501 pounds with half a tan k (2.6 gallons ) of fuel that makes you thankful - especially on a bik e wi th such serious perfor mance, ev en w ith z ero a er od ynam ic aid s beyond th e little nose fairi ng tha t d eflects the minimum of air from you r helmet as you cro u ch over the distinctively striped fuel tank. In fact, the ZRX's riding stance is surprisingly ration al. The bike feels so lid a n d taut - m ore th an I e xp ect ed it woul d . Its ha nd lebars are flat and not too high, and the cut -down rid er' s section of the dual seat - a tradema rk of a naked one-liter Su p erb ike - helps p reve nt the bike seeming qu ite as tall as it is . Bu t it s sloping design p ushes you closer to the tank than you 'd prefer, an d after an hour or so of ridi ng, you notice how thin the padding is. Still, the design d oes h elp wed ge yo u in p lace a li ttl e when you crank the throttle - bu t only a little. The faster you go, the more you 're aware of yo ur u pper bod y acting as a wind break, to the ex tent that it upsets the steering and makes the bars start to flap a little w hen you start to go fas t. I rem ember the Real-Ed die Reps used to d o th e s a m e o n m e 10 yea rs a go, so no thing's changed. O ne thi n g th a t has cha n ged is ou r expec tation levels. Imagin e 20 years ago being able to bu y a stree t-legal motor cycle ready to roll, complete with lights and licensing, th at p roduced 160-plus hp at the rear wheel, yet scaled less than 495 p ounds d ry - a ll for the prin cely sum of $14,750 plus tax. That' s what it' ll cost for Muzzy's to build you a retrorod like th is, incl u di ng th e $7199 purchase pri ce of the don or bike - a pret ty competitive tag for so man y pokes. Wa n t to s ign u p fo r a trip d o wn memory la ne th e way th ose of u s, er , mature enough to have lived the bikin g life in the 1980s wi shed it could have bee n, ins tead of how it rea lly was? If so, contact Muzz y' s Perfo rma nce Pr oducts manager Dou g Meyer a n d tell hi m Ed die se nt you . Meyer ca n sell yo u eit her a works Superbike replica of 20 yea rs ago, brou ght right up to date and with eve n mor e per form ance - or else the aftermarket parts ou t of the Muzzy' s catalogue to allow yo u to do it at home with your own ZRXll00. Back to th e future, with the performa nce of tod ay , it's th e be st of b oth worltls! CI/I ~ ~ E CD u CD C 9

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