Bouncy tach needle on hiway - anyone else??

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ARCHIVE_Bullitt

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Yup, I've lost my mind, now what?

Greetings all...! :)

Just wanted to introduce myself as your newest member. Over the weekend, I put a downpayment on a beautiful 85 ZL900. I expect I'll be picking it up this week.

It's been a while since I've ridden, 15 years actually. To be honest, I'm a bit intimidated with this motorcycle. I haven't ridden it yet, as I still have to apply for a PA permit.

The sound of this bike at idle is awesome! There's no doubting it's potential, you can tell this is one serious motor! I had the previous owner take it for a spin around the block so I could hear it at speed. Sort of has a Turbo Like whistle to it, which I immediately fell in love with.

Anyway, I wanted to ask the group for any advice they could possibly give a newbie. Like I said, I'm a little scared of this thing, although I "had to have it". It's been some time since I've ridden, and I want to know what to expect when I saddle this beast.

I'm thinking I'll just coast down my hill a few times and ever so gently cruise back to the house just to get a feel for it. So, how touchy is the throttle? Do I really have to crank it to get it moving, or will a small twist of the wrist get me airborne? Will I be able to cruise in 6th gear at lower speeds, so as to minimize the blast off factor somewhat for ahwile?

Any feedback would be appreicated! Glad to be here!

Thanks,

Steve - Pittsburgh, PA
 
eliminator purchase

:twisted:
Hang on tight. They are really front heavy so the front wheel takes some work to get up, but with the right traction it will. Be careful and have fun. Dont be scared just take it slowly untill you are comfortable with the bike.
Miniking 8O
 
Welcome to the world of Eliminators Bullitt!

The Eli is a forginving steed, as it is not prone to wheelies like current gen sportbikes and the like. The long wheelbase will help out a lot!

When rolling around on your new Eli, just be careful of the throttle... Even though your new girl won't wheelie real easy, they do have a tendency to make the rear break traction and shimmy under a lot of throttle :wink:

As any inline 4 is, torque is not real heavy below 4-5000 rpm, but will pick up quick after that. With the gearing of an Eliminator (real low) you can shift at lower rpms to keep her attitude under control. Just take your time getting used to how she is, and then you'll be all set!

Again, welcome and if I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to give me a yell!

Ethan
 
Hey Steve,

Welcome to the club, I am sure that you are going to fall in love with your Eli just like the rest of us have.

As the other guys have said, you don't really have to worry about the Eli raring back on you, but it quite easy to break the back tire loose and smoke the back tire. But that's really only if you want to. You shouldn't have any problem as long as you take it easy on the throttle while taking off.

As far as the power goes, the Eli cruises very good in 6th gear. But "low speed" is a relative term. ~laugh~ My idea of low speed is probably a whole lot different than your's.

Since you have not rode in 15 years I would suggest that you just take it easy for your first few rides until you get the feel of the bike. As you ride her more and more you will find what your limits are on her. Just take it easy.

One thing I can tell you is to watch yourself when it comes to cornering. You will find that in a straight line you will be able to tear up any cruiser out there, and you will be able to stay on the back tire of alot of smaller crotch rockets, but once you hit a corner back off. Since the Eli is alot longer bike it does not corner like a sport bike and you can get yourself into trouble quick.
 
Hey Steve, Dont know what kind of Bike you were Used to Riding[ Crotch Rocket, Cruiser?] You have the Best of Both Worlds with the Eliminators. Like Jimmy said the Long wheelbase makes them a Handful in Corners[ Only the Very BRAVE will Drag a Knee] It likes to Push the Front Wheel off line, BUT once you get used to the Handling its a BLAST, Keep the Rubberside Down, Later Rocky.
 
Thanks Everyone!

Hey everybody! Thanks for all your replies. :)

Guess what? Last night, I took delivery of the bike. What a birthday present, eh? (I turned 34 yesterday).

Things to do yet include applying for a title, plates, getting it PA inspected, and purchasing insurance. (only about $100 bucks at progressive.com!)

Not sure I'll get any riding in this year. Sure hope to though. I may have an issue with the blacked out brake & turn lenses. The previous owner wanted a "carbon fiber" look, which I agree looks real nice, but it may pose a problem with the state. We'll see.

Overall consensus seems to be this bikes more for straight line and cruising. That's fine with me! I never liked the crotch rockets available, nor do I have any desire to blast the twisties. A straight line blast through the gears once in a while to get that "need" out of my system is all I'm into really. Feeling the wind and watching the scenery go by, being relaxed and forgetting the worries of the day, that's my kind of riding I think.

Hey,... what do y'all think of the Yamaha Vmax? I almost bought one of those, but decided the Kawasaki was more my style and looks better (and was less $$$) Anyone here ride Max who could compare/contrast that animal to Eli?

Anyone race one??? :wink: I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

Well, gotta go. I'll keep you all up to date on my first ride impressions. Hopefully soon!

Steve
 
Racing

:twisted:
Yes I raced mine a couple of times this year, A 1987 zl1000. And I went a best of 12.24 seconds at 109 MPH not too bad for a completely stock bike that could not get enough traction. Hopefully better times next year with some tuning and a few parts. I am sure that you will like the new bike I know I love mine and getting the holeshot on the new bullet bikes is such a rush. Good luck and enjoy it. Be careful and keep the stickey side down.
Miniking
 
Just replaced my '85 ZL900 a couple of weeks ago, I sold my last one when I went to college 14 years back. Love havin' another one! My question - when I'm on the hiway at around 4,000 RPM for a few miles the tach needle starts to bounce around. When I'm maintaining speed, it jumps around from like 3,500 RPM to 4,500 RPM. Blipping the throttle or shifting really causes it to jump. When I get back to town and lower rev's, the thing straightens out. Anyone else had this happen? Think I might have a bad tach?
 
My ZL1000 does the exact same thing, I think I kinda like it???
 
Hiya ... others have had this issue with their tachos too.

Rocket ... one of the guys over on KERA .. wrote up a bit about how he fixed his when it was doing this .. it's to do with a "hair-spring" in the tacho itself.

Read his posts, in particular the 2nd & 3rd posts by "Rocket" on this page .. http://www.eliminator-us.org/kforums/viewtopic.php?t=752

Bloody hard to find info over on KERA these days ... a) because the search function doesn't work anymore .. and b) because after the big site crash over there the site was moved to a different server which then meant any prior links in posts, referring to info in other posts didn't work anymore.

Dunno what's going on over there ... things have been getting worse over a period of time now .. which is why we're starting to migrate here. Seems there's no info about what's going on with the site from Ethan the guy who runs it either. Also it's now being bombarded with spam too ... sigh!!

Basically ... anything in the way of info/tech advice you DO find over there .. save a copy of it so we can begin to get some sort of info-base going here as the site builds.

Cheers,
Ross
 
Thanks for the help! I went to that page and copied the relevant text to this post.

_______________

For the benefit of all in case someone experiences similar problems, here’s what happened. Turns out the hair spring was broken however it was rubbing on itself just enough to provide some tension for reduced readings. The intermittency (sometimes sits on Zero but usually fluctuates between 4000-5000rpm while cruising at =/>100km) was caused by the current which normally runs through said spring only now an open circuit (hence the speedo man and I believed it was an electrical fault). I assumed a broken spring would be just that and I’d get nothing at all, I didn’t even consider checking it.
One to remember hey

_______________

It's great that this site is up and going - I'm heading to the local Kawasaki shop this morning to ask the same question, in hopes that maybe he'll have some more insight. If I learn anything else, I'll pass it along to help build our base here.
 
Rossco/Elimigto,
I resemble that post. That would be me and it was about 14 months ago when I got the tacho fixed. Well over the last few months it’s doin’ it again, at 4500-5500 revs only (perhaps higher but then I get a little busy so watching needles is not a priority) and with ~1000rpm oscillations. However this time I noticed my indicators weren’t flashing consistently so me thinks it may be ergotrons leaking from the copper plumbing (I’m a black hander, can you tell?).
 
Hi Rocket! My concern was that the ignition system might cut out, leaving me stranded. It seems that it's a pretty common thing, so I'm not so worried about it now. Still, I'd like to get it fixed. Next time I'm out I'll check flashers, indicators, etc. to make sure the copper plumbing (I'm an engineer) isn't leaking. I'm pretty sure my headlight's not flickering or anything, since it was at night when it happened.

No word from the local Kawasaki shop - he was closed on Saturday. I'll try again this weekend.

Thanks!
 
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