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Back With a New-to-Me Kawasaki ZX-11

J

JMHJ

Forum Mentor
Super Site Supporter
Howdy! Been a good while since I was on here, prob at least 4 1/2 years, since I sold my last bike - '91 GSX1100G. Just got me another one last week, and thought I'd come back for the "Other" bike section I seemed to remember (vs joining a Kawasaki forum right away).

A little background I'll try to condense - I first joined this site in 2005, around the time I upgraded to my 2nd bike - a 1983 GS750T, from the GS450L I started on in 1997. I didn't have the T long (it was great; too great and I didn't want to do anything but ride, lol), but picked up a low miles '83 GS850L that same year and kept it for about 8 1/2 years. Idk what got me looking, but I upgraded from the 850 to my previously last bike, the "G". Had that one for 4+ years and sold it in 2018 to get a boat...

So I'd had nothing but Suzukis, until last week. There was even a GS700 in the mix for a while, but it was supposed to be for someone else, so I don't really count that one. Well the boating thing was fun, but I wound up not getting to use it as much as I'd have liked to, either from the weather not lining up with my day off, or just not feeling up to all the getting ready and so forth. And it's 30+ years old, and has required a certain amount of repair and maintenance. Whereas when I was riding, I did that all the time (mostly commuting). I knew that would be the case, but I wanted to try boating (still like it; would be better able to do it if I was retired; don't think my boat will last that long though...).

So I was perfectly fine out of the riding game, never really missing it, and my son bought a GSX-R600 a couple months ago and I took a 5min ride on it. That was enough to remind me how much I used to love riding. I started looking (kinda wanted an '84 Honda Interceptor 1000, and looked at one, but passed; price was right, but needed more work that I wanted to do; ran and shifted good though), and ended up with a really nice '97 Kawasaki. I'll post more about it later.

Nice to be back in the saddle again, and on a bike that is a lot of fun, just riding around normally. : )
 
Wellll, it didn't take long for it to let me down, lol. I've had it a week and it was dumping gas today when I was about to leave from work to go home. Part of the game of owning old stuff. Glad it didn't catch fire... Probably an easy fix. I'm about to get to know it better than I wanted to just yet.

Runs great though. No other complaints other than the riding position is right on the edge of almost uncomfortable (but I'm getting used to it), and the rear Race Tech monoshock needs to be resealed/rebuilt.
 
ZX-11 was the record holder in it's day. But 10.2 seconds ET isn't very quick anymore. :rolleyes:

Show us some pics of that beast!
 
What is the quickest current production 1/4? 9.6 at 150? I think 10.2 at 130 should do just fine on the street, and the ZX is a great looking bike you can ride all day long.
 
Thanks. Yes I can tell it's fast, but I haven't really opened it up too much yet. Has a heavyish feel. Seems to breathe really well - re-jetted, with the 4-1 pipe, flow commander... I like it. Sounds good too : ). Maybe just a tad loud when I'm on it - not for my tastes, but for keeping everyone else happy.

1 - Copy, Resized.jpg​

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GS1150Pilot said:
What is the quickest current production 1/4? 9.6 at 150? I think 10.2 at 130 should do just fine on the street, and the ZX is a great looking bike you can ride all day long.
Click to expand...

2012 ZX-14R ...9.47 sec @ 153mph (corrected)...

cover of March 2012 Cycle World
 
And we thought the "80"Suzuki GS1100 16V was fast at 11.40 @ 118 mph. in the 1/4.... new Yama YZF 650 is about 10.3 and this Kawa at 9.4 @ 153mph... 153 mph = 225 ft. pr. sec. and 2 sec behind. Our old GS1100's would be roughly. 400 ft. behind in the 1/4. 400 ft. = 1 1/3 football fields... How embarrassing would that be???? Hard to imagine.
 
The '81 11E did 11.1 @123mph. The same engine, with a 'bikini fairing ('83 11ES) did 10.99 @ 120.8 mph (Cycle World).
 
I's looking at Cycle world April 1980...11.39 at the strip, 47.4 mpg,. 556lb. and ready to roll...GS1100 is the quickest and fastest 1980 motorcycle you can buy...It is the best all-around motorcycle in history... Ancient history compared to what is here today. Another thing I noticed, that 2012 Kawa is the quickest production bike I could find... That was 11 yrs. ago, hard to imagine it has held that title for 11 yrs, usually someone would have one faster within a yr. or so.
 
Aren't the '80 and '81 GS1100Es the ones with the square headlight? And the '80 1100L the only L with the 16V motor? Used to see things for sale that are fewer and farther between now. Funny how certain areas have/had a lot of a particular model or type.

This thing I have now is way more capable than how I'm going to ride it. I opened it up in 2 then 3 (I think...; still getting used to the 6-speed again) getting on the highway the other morning, and it's just, wow. I've not watched the tach yet when getting into it, but I've not been very near the redline I don't think - just trying to point it where I want it to go at this point.
 
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I have a ZZR1200. Fact is you're never going be able to ride these bikes at fast comfortable speeds without the police pulling you over, . It's going to be sneaking those Balls to the wall jaunts you can get away with, getting away from traffic most easily where these bikes reign, but with cameras all over the place, that may become harder..:)
 
Looking like it might be the fuel pump that was leaking. Pulled the tank tonight, and it's still wet underneath it. It's on the RH side. The fuel tap (Kawasaki terminology) was wet too, so I ordered one of those a day or two ago.

How common is that, for a fuel pump to leak? That's a DANGEROUS failure mode...
 
JMHJ said:
Aren't the '80 and '81 GS1100Es the ones with the square headlight? And the '80 1100L the only L with the 16V motor?
Click to expand...

Those square headlight models are affectionately known as the 'Lunchbox.' The gauges were also housed in a big rectangle. It's generally agreed that the return to round gauges (and headlight) in '82 and '83 was much more aesthetic.
 
Fuel petcock gasket could be dried out, but you need to find out where it's leaking from, could be from the fuel position knob. If you are going to replace it, make sure you get a new gasket, and really get the surface clean. It's really not that uncommon on an older bike. Bad as to it's implications if not fixed, but not out of the ordinary in reality. ;)
 
Merry (winding down) Christmas...

Just updating on the progress - finally was warm enough today to get out there this afternoon and do the fuel pump (and fuel tap). Ran the bike for a few minutes on an alternate gas supply, and changing the pump appears to have fixed the significant leak. I was able to force air through the old one while holding a finger over the outlet, so yeah something was wrong there.

The damper on getting the big leak fixed was that I confirmed a seep at the number 1 carb float bowl (appears from there; not sure). That one had stains and the others were pristine. So I've got more to do in my future. They look pretty easy to get to. Those were supposed to have been done fairly recently (within the last couple of years I believe), but obviously something didn't get quite squared away on number 1.

Easier to work on than 4-wheel vehicles, heh.
 
Yeah; I'm having just a little trouble controlling my throttle hand on this thing, heh. I had it out for a nice ride yesterday in 60F+ but WINDY, then today for a shorter one on an errand. Don't want to make an a$$ of myself or startle anyone rocketing around them any more than necessary. That's another part of this - self control.

Plan to pull the carbs before the cold weather's done, and hopefully get that all addressed. Then there'll be a rear shock rebuild or replacement at some point...
 
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