www.zxrworld.co.uk

even worse...i have BT010's on mine...slide in the wet...slide in the dry...ive put 2k on them, ill change them at some point.

just to add to whats been said, how about suspension settings for us guys on the heavier side of life...92kg and stable i am and 5' 10" tall.
ill watch the vid as well, i think i could do with some new rubber, but a decent suspension setup will have to suffice...plus i could probably do with getting the suspension looked at, 38,000 miles and i have no idea as to when the last service was...i imagine the fork oil is fairy washing-up liquid foamy by now...

At 38k it's quite likely that the rear suspension is in a complete state, which will be ruining the handling. The linkages and swingarm need removing every 6k for greasing and if they've never been done (orv at that mileage even if they have) the bearings are probably shot. The shock will be shot and any damping long gone. You need to be looking at a complete rear end strip down and refresh and a new shock.

Front end will be as bad. Oil needs replacing and the springs may be past their best. You are heavier than the average rider so a fork rebuild with new springs for your weight will work wonders.

Has the headset been serviced ever? Again, this is a regular strip and grease job and if not done the head bearings may be shot.

To be perfectly honest unless the bike gets some serious garage time, if the work above has never been done since it left Japan even Mick Grant probably couldn't get the thing to handle.

im definitely gonna get the suspension sorted professionally, probably over the summer depending on the cost might buy aftermarket.

ive tweaked the front a little, but i do have a question...how do i adjust the rear rebound? can you turn it by hand, or do you need to remove the shock from the linkages first? it looks like there is a screw in the middle of the knurled adjuster...but that might just be me imagining things. also its on 2 or 4 but it seems more sluggish than it should be

do you adjust it by hand or with some pliers, or do i need to remove the whole shock/linkages?
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as for maintenance, its history is anyones guess, its gone through 11 previous owners so its had a long and varied life. the front "seems" ok, maybe it could dive a bit more (im in no danger of bottoming the forks out), but the rear definitely seems a bit sluggish to both compress and return.

my combined knowledge of biking so far is the 4 months i had on my diversion 600 (back in 2001) before i was knocked off and the 3.5 months ive had on the zxr (oct '11 to now). im also hampered by not having a garage to do any work in (gotta work on it on the side of the road) and an obvious lack of tools/technical knowledge.

the headstock again, seems ok, it turns ok, no grating or sticking, there doesnt seem to be any wobble or play there, but again i dont have anything to compare it to...

also the tyres are complete crap never heard anyone say anything good about the bt010's...ill stick summat better on it when the missus will let me but for now the plan is to do most of the work myself, think i just need to get it into a covered garage and crack on getting my hands dirty, as long as there are no parts left over at the end it should be ok

The rear rebound damping is adjusted with the numbered dial on the underneath of the shock, 1-4. It just clicks from one number to another with finger pressure. If you need to get pliars on it, it's f*cked. There's no way there's any life left in that shock from the symptoms you describe so start looking for a replacement.

A Nitron is a good and economic option

yeah thats what i reckon i'll go with, i might look at fettling the front, but as the back is (i think) a sealed unit ill replace it.

so what to change first (will have to clear funds with the wife ) the rear shock (fecked), or the 9-year old tyres (also fecked)...price is gonna be roughly the same ~£250, maybe £350 for the shock...

TYRES !

yeah thats what i reckon, get some fresh Dunlop Sportmax Roadsmart's on it.