gettin' a good long ride in gives a guy a chance to check things out thoroughly... this thread is for items that have been tested on those good long road trips..
first off we have the "throttle Boss"
the throttle boss is a simple device that clips on to the throttle side hand grip. this allows the rider to control the throttle with the palm of your hand rather than with your fingers. I put at least 500 miles on this road test with the throttle boss and man was I glad I had one !! with the throttle boss mounted up I was able to extend my fingers while riding and this kept my hand nice and comfortable... just open your hand up and lay your fingers on the lever, push your palm down a bit and you got steady cruise.. very very nice to have on those long rides.
in town, where you have alot of throttle manipulation necessary not really a plus, not really a minus either but no real benifit from use. As I do not consider this to be a Bling Bling item I will pull it off in town and throw it in my fork bag. But for anyone considering the long haul I would give this item the two thumbs up and in fact I now consider this to be a "must have" for any serious rider who takes trips of 100 miles or more. simple, effective, and makes the ride just that much more enjoyable. I will be definately be looking to stock these in my store soon.
second we have the Veypor guage
this multifunctional device does alot of tricks but the two things that make this another "must have" item for the zl rider are the speedo and the gas guage. the speedo's on these ol' zl's have been known to blow out. this occured on my recent trip to New Mexico. the veypor guage is not only super accurate in determining speed, but it also is your back up if your speedo does the "zl speedo death dance" good to know your speed.
the second must have feature is probably the best ... the gas guage. once programmed the veypor gas guage is very very very accurate and you can absolutely count on it to tell you what the real quantity of fuel remaining in your ride. This feature is a peice of mind feature. the factory guage on your ZL1000 does not accurately reflect the amount of fuel on board. when that guage is reading empty ... you are definately not. in fact you prolly have 1.5+ gallons of fuel left. I run my zl1000 with the fuel valve set to the reserve position and treat it as one big 5 gal tank and the veypor lets me know what my range, average fuel milage, instant fuel milage, distance traveled and other usefull info... had I not had a veypor guage on my recent trip I woulda been worried as HLL that I was gona run outa gas... with the veypor .. piece of mind... "must have" item IMHO, and two definate thumbs up from Bacchus
third item recieving road test review --engine Ice
unfortunately due to the events of my recent new mexico trip I am down grading engine ice from "buy" to "dont buy". the stuff does its job of coolant just fine that is not the problem with the product. the problem is that it is not recomended to be mixed with regular anti-freeze. so say your on the road, ya got her loaded up with the ice... ya discover a coolant leak in po-dunk new mexico, ya putter into the next po-dunk town with a mini-mart ... you think they got engine ice on the shelf>>?? NOPE.
now your over heating in the middle of no where with only prestone to get you down the road... whatchagoanna do?...you know it .. in goes whatever you can get your hands on. so the product gets thumbs down not because it fails to perform but because it is just not compatable and SHT happens. Now I guess I'll be doing a coolant flush and dumping that expensive engine ice.. Dont buy unless you can somehow guarantee you will never leak.
fourth and finally..... radial tires
recently got a mean streak rim and loaded up the zl with a set of metzler radials. These tires feel great in the corners. definately give a more positive feel and generally make the bike corner better and just feel rock solid. At normal highway speeds of up to 80mph they perform great. at crusing speeds of 90 or better I was experincing a wobble. felt like the bike was swimming like a fish down the road. now my head bearing is in need of replace and adjust and this may be the cause of my problem or contributing to it so I am going to rate the radials as "undetermined" untill I get the bearing replaced and retest.
being as there is no 100 or110 mm front radial available to my knowledge I went with a 120 70 18 up front and I suspect this is where the problem is. 120 is too big for that front rim and mounting it up on the zl front I belive has altered the profile of the tire in an uncomplimentary maner by pulling the bead in too far and narowing the contact patch somewhat. the lighter weight of the tire may also play a roll. under hard acceleration the problem is not as pronounced, under rapid decell same...steady cruse at high speed... no freakin' way. At current the bike is definately having wobble issues and we've all seen enough youtube to know how that can turn out... so I had to get off the throttle and let the other riders pass me by..
the radial conversion is rated undetermined. if you dont go fast.. go for it... if you are a high speed rider.. better wait to see if I find a cure.
any members who have any knowledge of theories about this PLEASE POST UP!! but start a new thread ... lets keep this one for road test data..
this concludesBacchus' road test review.. other members are encouraged to post up their road test results.! please be sure to only post up on items that have been thoroughly tested get some miles on it and let us know how it worked !!
first off we have the "throttle Boss"
the throttle boss is a simple device that clips on to the throttle side hand grip. this allows the rider to control the throttle with the palm of your hand rather than with your fingers. I put at least 500 miles on this road test with the throttle boss and man was I glad I had one !! with the throttle boss mounted up I was able to extend my fingers while riding and this kept my hand nice and comfortable... just open your hand up and lay your fingers on the lever, push your palm down a bit and you got steady cruise.. very very nice to have on those long rides.
in town, where you have alot of throttle manipulation necessary not really a plus, not really a minus either but no real benifit from use. As I do not consider this to be a Bling Bling item I will pull it off in town and throw it in my fork bag. But for anyone considering the long haul I would give this item the two thumbs up and in fact I now consider this to be a "must have" for any serious rider who takes trips of 100 miles or more. simple, effective, and makes the ride just that much more enjoyable. I will be definately be looking to stock these in my store soon.
second we have the Veypor guage
this multifunctional device does alot of tricks but the two things that make this another "must have" item for the zl rider are the speedo and the gas guage. the speedo's on these ol' zl's have been known to blow out. this occured on my recent trip to New Mexico. the veypor guage is not only super accurate in determining speed, but it also is your back up if your speedo does the "zl speedo death dance" good to know your speed.
the second must have feature is probably the best ... the gas guage. once programmed the veypor gas guage is very very very accurate and you can absolutely count on it to tell you what the real quantity of fuel remaining in your ride. This feature is a peice of mind feature. the factory guage on your ZL1000 does not accurately reflect the amount of fuel on board. when that guage is reading empty ... you are definately not. in fact you prolly have 1.5+ gallons of fuel left. I run my zl1000 with the fuel valve set to the reserve position and treat it as one big 5 gal tank and the veypor lets me know what my range, average fuel milage, instant fuel milage, distance traveled and other usefull info... had I not had a veypor guage on my recent trip I woulda been worried as HLL that I was gona run outa gas... with the veypor .. piece of mind... "must have" item IMHO, and two definate thumbs up from Bacchus
third item recieving road test review --engine Ice
unfortunately due to the events of my recent new mexico trip I am down grading engine ice from "buy" to "dont buy". the stuff does its job of coolant just fine that is not the problem with the product. the problem is that it is not recomended to be mixed with regular anti-freeze. so say your on the road, ya got her loaded up with the ice... ya discover a coolant leak in po-dunk new mexico, ya putter into the next po-dunk town with a mini-mart ... you think they got engine ice on the shelf>>?? NOPE.
now your over heating in the middle of no where with only prestone to get you down the road... whatchagoanna do?...you know it .. in goes whatever you can get your hands on. so the product gets thumbs down not because it fails to perform but because it is just not compatable and SHT happens. Now I guess I'll be doing a coolant flush and dumping that expensive engine ice.. Dont buy unless you can somehow guarantee you will never leak.
fourth and finally..... radial tires
recently got a mean streak rim and loaded up the zl with a set of metzler radials. These tires feel great in the corners. definately give a more positive feel and generally make the bike corner better and just feel rock solid. At normal highway speeds of up to 80mph they perform great. at crusing speeds of 90 or better I was experincing a wobble. felt like the bike was swimming like a fish down the road. now my head bearing is in need of replace and adjust and this may be the cause of my problem or contributing to it so I am going to rate the radials as "undetermined" untill I get the bearing replaced and retest.
being as there is no 100 or110 mm front radial available to my knowledge I went with a 120 70 18 up front and I suspect this is where the problem is. 120 is too big for that front rim and mounting it up on the zl front I belive has altered the profile of the tire in an uncomplimentary maner by pulling the bead in too far and narowing the contact patch somewhat. the lighter weight of the tire may also play a roll. under hard acceleration the problem is not as pronounced, under rapid decell same...steady cruse at high speed... no freakin' way. At current the bike is definately having wobble issues and we've all seen enough youtube to know how that can turn out... so I had to get off the throttle and let the other riders pass me by..
the radial conversion is rated undetermined. if you dont go fast.. go for it... if you are a high speed rider.. better wait to see if I find a cure.
any members who have any knowledge of theories about this PLEASE POST UP!! but start a new thread ... lets keep this one for road test data..
this concludesBacchus' road test review.. other members are encouraged to post up their road test results.! please be sure to only post up on items that have been thoroughly tested get some miles on it and let us know how it worked !!
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