2016 Panolin Oil Support!

I'm happy to announce I recently got official #panolin support! 今日はうれしいお知らせを伝えることができます。 私たちはPanolinの公式サポートを受けることになりました！ I've been using panolin oil for the past 2 years thanks to the support of @afgmoto , and with their continued support I've been blessed with a connection to panolin. 2年間Panolinオイルを使っており、サポートしていただいている@aftmotoに感謝しています。 この度、@afgmotoから Panolinを紹介していただき直接的なサポートを受けることになりました。 I've used the motosynth and biorace on multiple bikes and have had great results with riding feeling and engine wear. MotosynthやBioraceといった製品を複数のバイクで使用して、 エンジンの摩耗の少なさやフィーリングの良さを実感しています。

A photo posted by Zech Dzegede (@zechdz) on Jun 13, 2016 at 8:34pm PDT

Optimised Nissan Caravan

I finally upgraded my Kei-van to a Nissan caravan and then while resting my collarbone decked it out with a wood floor and shelving.  I guess you could say I didn't rest as much as I should've been?  Anyway, it's space saving, optimised, and awesome!

2015 Race Bike

For a while I've been thinking about what bike design I should do, one that won't be too expensive but couldn't decide on anything.  So I decided to just paint the whole bike black, before it was black and white.

Once it was all black it somehow struck me, that putting the Ghana flag on the bike could be a cool idea.  The black star would serve as a good contrast connecting with the all black theme and the colors are vibrant and catch your eye.

I also figured that I can flaunt my heritage a little bit.  Being an American, child of a black African and white American, living in Tokyo Japan racing motorcycles is a pretty niche category so why not show it off a little :-D

I can't say it was good that I crashed an dislocated my collarbone, but it did free up a few weekends to finish this project.  I guess it wasn't as bad a recovery as I envisioned :).

Blowing up my NSR engine

Went to Tsukuba to the first time with my NSR and did two sessions.  It is one of the most interesting, technical, challenging, exciting circuits I've been to and I had a blast.

However, in my lapse of judgement I didn't fill the radiator properly with water.  I forgot to kick start the engine once to pump the remaining air out, to fill more water in, so I only had about half the amount of water necessary.

Oddly enough I didn't feel any reduction in power or feel any side effects so I just rode like normal, full throttle whenever I could.  But unluckily a clamp snapped and the little water that was in the engine all evaporated out. 

I'm super lucky that I pulled the clutch in when I did, because just then I heard the sound of metal exploding as my piston shattered to pieces.  If I had delayed by even a second I would've probably high-sided and damaged the rest of my bike.

I should've been more careful and checked my temperature more closely after the first session and before the second session, but whats done is done.

Took the bike apart to see how bad the damage was, hoping I might be able to fix it up.

And then this fell out of the exhaust.....

Took the left cylinder off and found this lonely connecting rode with no piston.... very different from all the images I've seen online.  If you look closely at the bottom of the rod you can see a chunk of my piston just chillin'.

Piston fused to the cylinder, and there is no way I'm getting that out easily.  Got a quote for an engine rebuild + the cost of replacing the cylinder and it came out to a little more than I was willing to dish out, so I decided to just call it quits and part the bike out.

I'm going to miss this bike, especially since I barely got to ride it.  I rode it about 4 times, and out of those 4 times crashed it once and blew the engine once.  So I probably only got 4 hours or so of track time on it.

Beautiful bike, and maybe one day I'll get another one, but not now.

NSR fixed!

So after the crash I went to my friend Keme's workshop and he helped me:

Change my tires to Dunlop Alpha 13's
Replaced the radiator with one from Yahoo Auction

Put on new clip-ons

Put on new rear-sets

I took the bike into a 2-rinkan Driver's Stand and got the clutch shifter linkage sawed off.  I attempted to remove it myself with a screw extractor but as you can see from the clean hole in the screw below, I failed miserably. It only cost about ¥4,000 and took about 20 minutes, not too bad.

Got my Magical Racing cowel fasteners in, and put aluminium insulation to protect the fairings from exhaust chamber heat.  I still need to put more insulation towards the back, but for now this is okay.

Finished off the work by:
Drilling holes in the fairings to affix to the bike
Setting the position of the clip-ons
Added non-slip seat pad
Attached clutch linkage
Built a stay to connect the exhaust pipes to the subframe (drilling involved)
Added tank pads for grip
Added a rear tail light for Tsukuba family license
Replace all the radiator hoses and flush the system with water (starting the engine to make sure no leakage)




I was actually planning on going to Tsukuba today but the snow storm caused me to cancel my reservation.  I guess I have to wait until next time.

Lack of tools: crash aftermath

So after the crash I fixed my bike up most of the way and probably still have 30% left to do.

Along the way I realised I was lacking tools, and luckily enough I got a friend to help me by lending me his knowledge, garage, and tools.  It was a smart move since every 10 minutes we realised either my toolbox was missing what we needed or using a different tool made things a little more convenient, in terms of shape.  Sometimes you just have those spots you can't access with a socket wrench.

Decided to go out and buy a lot of what I needed, but haven't gotten around to taking pictures of all of it, since it was a lot.  But here's a few of them.

Socket adapters, realised I needed them when I needed to set a large torque value, using 1/2" socket wrench, using a socket that was 3/8".

Most importantly the extractor to remove the stuck screw in the clutch lever!

And some brand spanking new radiator hoses.

New parts post crash

I hope this radiator works out.  I went through the listings on Yahoo Auction and tried my best to balance price with the apparent condition.  I got this for ¥5000 and I've got my fingers crossed hoping for the best.

¥5000

Bought brand new Hurricane adjustable clip ones 0-18 degrees, a new steering damper, and spare levers which I may or may not use just yet.

Hurricane clip ons: ¥11,512
Steering damper: ¥20,003
Alba levers: ¥1971

Probably the saddest part I need to replace is the rear-sets seeing that I bent up the Tyga ones.  Got these Battle Factory, Japan made, rear-sets that was recommended by a friend.  I hope the sizing for the shift lever matches that part I permanently attached to the clutch box by breaking a screw.

Battle Factory rear-sets: ¥32,025

And last but not least, Dunlop Alpha 13 tires.  I've already committed to some Pirelli Super Corsa V2's to by off a friend, but figured I should take advantage of the free shipping on Webike and get these Dunlops as well.

I used these tires on my VFR and liked them a lot, and a lot of Japanese guys say it's best to keep those old Japanese bikes on Japanese made tires.  They say the Pirellis are awesome for heavier, more powerful bikes like modern GSXRs and R6/1s but that an NSR goes well with Japanese tires.  Not sure how much I buy that, but I'd like to compare the tires myself anyway.

Front: ¥12,204
Rear: ¥18,207

Sorting through the Tyga Performance delivery

Tyga Performance does a pretty good job at packing things.  I forgot to take a picture of the excellent packaging and remembered just as I ripped open the last neatly packed item.

already ripped open but still looks protected

So I dropped about a grand on the whole setup, including shipping, and what I can see so far it was worth the money.

Solid set of rear sets complete with brake petal and clutch shifter. 

1 x Racing Step Kit, MC21/28 (STAA-0002) = $258.81USD 

I didn't really need these but decided to get them just because I was already ordering such a big order, and want to keep as much of the original OEM parts as fresh and clean as possible.

1 x Mini brake reservoir carbon (BPAC-0005) = $10.30USD

1 x Pro Arm chain adjusting tool (TYTO-0027) = $8.50USD

1 x Brake Lever CNC Black, NSR250/MC22/NC30/NC35 (LEVB-1011) = $26.40USD

1 x Clutch Lever CNC Black, NSR250, CBR250RR (LEVC-9011) = $19.93USD

I'm probably going to pain the bike so the fender's got to be part of that colour scheme :-D

1 x Front Fender (GRP), RSW style (BPFF-9001) = $45.45USD

The next 5 pictures are for the rear fairing set.  I was really tempted to get the one with carbon on it, but decided to save the extra $60 or whatever it cost and just get the straight fibreglass.

Rear sub-frame

Rear seat pad and ass-bumper (is what I like to call it as of 5 second ago)

I'm assuming this is for the battery to go into the new sub-frame.... ?_?

Pretty interesting that the seat is held in place by velcro.  The whole bottom portion is the soft velcro and the strips the hard part.

This rear fairing looks mad sexy.....

1 x Kit, Seat Set, budget (Race) MC28 GP Race (BPFS-0046) = $330.43USD

The next 6 pictures are for the front fairings (I think)...

Upper stay

This was the item neatly wrapped in the first picture

Various pieces for affixing things together.  I'll find out how this all works soon

More.... things...

Clean as a whistle, this windscreen.  Kind of wish it was smoke black though, but whatever

And the bulk of the cost!  Lower fairing designed for race machines, with a full bottom to catch oil (which I've heard is actually unnecessary for the NSR, but could depend on what track you go to)

And the sexiest piece of all the front fairing

1 x Kit, Fairing Set (Race), NSR250 RSW (BPFS-0002) = $337.90USD

Taking this all out of the box and taking the pictures was tedious, since there was styrofoam chunks sticking to everything through static electricity and fine dust from the white finish.  However, it was pretty damn exciting   (^_^)b


And to finish of the deal shipping was a whopping $150.97USD from Thailand to Japan via EMS Air Shipping.

NSR fairings arrived!

Last night my fairings came in!!!!

I've been waiting a couple weeks for these to come, and now I can finally get my bike in riding condition!

Ordered a full race fairing set, rear sets, front fender, new levers, brake fluid reservoir, and...I think that's about it.  I'm planning on making a video of putting the new fairings on and then I'll go over all the goodies I bought 

Tyga Performance fairings and other goodies!

First Vlog video

Back in October I went to pick up my NSR and was going to trade in the D-tracker to get a different street bike.  To get practice loading bikes into my small Kei-van I got a friend to come over, watched lots of YouTube videos, and then recorded myself loading my bike.

A while ago I decided to start a vlog but didn't yet have anything to put in it, so I figured I could just make this video with a voice over and make it my first attempt at making a vlog video.  Hopefully someone finds this useful, and soon they get more interesting.

Maintenance overalls

When my brother came to visit Japan he decided to get his buddy the Japanese baggy-worker-man-pants.  Basically pants that hug your calf and then fold over to form badass parachute pants.

While waiting for him to make his mind I browsed their assortment of maintenance-overalls as I like to call them, but called tsunagi つなぎ in Japanese.  I was really digging the pink one but decided to go with grey.

My friend and I doing the "standard" badass-Japanese-rebellious-youth-squatting-while-likely-smoking-a-cigarette pose.