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Well known and well respected on this side of the pond too (US). Sorry to see him go but he did live a full life and it seems he was active and well to the end- about all that any of us can hope for I think.

Brian

Now with your daughter and granddaughter R.I.P thanks for all you have done for us.

Yeah, it is one cause of 'C-14 terror' over here. The upper splines on the driveshaft often make a very slight clicking noise when the rear wheel is rotated manually while the bike is on the centerstand. Couple that with someone suffering a catastrophic drive shaft failure on the highway (it sheared off the peg casting on the left side- quite impressive really) and a lot of people got their knickers in a wad over it. But really it is quite normal for any 4- way trunion U- joint to do this. Greasing the upper driveshaft spline cures the noise. There is no cure for the terror though. :-)

Brian

We've heard about over in the US as well but it was on the classic C14s (08/09s) I think.  I check mine at every rear wheel tire change..and lube the splines with Honda moly grease.

The plugs in the C-14 (GTR) are iridium and typically go 100K + miles in auto use. I pulled the ones from my bike at 25K to change them and they looked new as well as gapped w/in 0.001" of spec. so I put them back in for another 25K. Ended up changing them at 50K more out of guilt than any real reason :-)

Just my opinion and experience but Kawasaki's recommendations for service intervals makes no sense to me at all. Too long on oil changes, far too short on spark plug changes, too short for valve lash checks, too long for air filter changes, etc., etc.

If the owner of the bike is willing to violate the intervals of the service manual and accept a small risk in possible warranty coverage, it makes a lot of sense to do all major maintenance in some reasonable intervals; I use 25K miles on my bike for the first two but skipped the 75K interval. This winter I will be in the 100K range and again ready for a major maintenance cycle. The advantage to this is that the great majority of labor on this bike is in getting to the part where the maintenance actually begins; change the spark plugs takes 10 minutes tops but it is hours getting to that point and then putting all the 'clothes' back on the bike. By combining the maintenance, we can at least use one cycle of labor (or money if having someone else do the work) for all the actual tasks being performed. It makes sense on this bike to combine the spark plug change, valve lash check, throttle body synchronization and air filter change into one service.

Just a thought....

Brian

Just a note to all those GTR owners who feel that they should follow Kawasakis service schedule regarding spark plugs. My Versys 1000 has just had it's first visit to the the dealers since it was new, it's now done 18,000 miles, and whilst I do most of the servicing myself, some stuff like plugs and valve clearances I leave to the dealer. I decided long ago that the valves would not be checked until the bike had done 50,000 miles, so a long way to go until then, but I thought I would have  the plugs changed at just over twice the suggested mileage. The lads saved the plugs for me to see their condition, and they were just like brand NEW. So my advice would be dont even think about changing them until at least 30,000 miles.

I am jealous of you folks- you are a car ride away from such an event. I would have liked to be there.

Back in '06 I did get a great treat for an American though as I got to walk around a bit in some of the area that operation Market Garden took place in The Netherlands. And they have a fantastic WWII museum there (Netherlands but I do not remember exactly where) that I very much enjoyed visiting. We here in the US simply do not have much of that stuff, and especially very little non- American hardware here from that era.

Good to hear that some of you folks in the UK were spectators for this lastest anniversary in Normandy.

Brian

That is exactly how I finagled the sensors out of my bike with wood clamps. http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=16850.msg207449#msg207449

And the Chinese made wood clamps I used look almost identical to the <probably> Chinese made wood clamps you used. :-)

And that looks like what we call a 2 X 4 under the wheel; a standard piece of construction lumber made of pine and measuring a nominal 2 inches by 4 inches, although they really measure 1 1/2" X 3 1/2".

Brian

just to show the Clamp method , I got my TPS out today in minutes with no tyre levers before my tyre guy fitted a PR4

The frequencies used in the UK and US for the entire KiPass system (both for the authentication fobs as  well as the TPS sensors) has always been what it is now but each country has always used different frequencies. We have always used 315 MHz, and that is a generic, short distance, 'open' frequency here in the US. I imagine your 434 MHz is similar in being a sort of open band in the UK, and possibly all around Europe. I believe Kawasaki only makes TPS sensors available in two frequencies but may well be wrong on that.

The bottom line is that we cannot use the other's radio frequency gear on our bikes (UK and US being 'us').

You folks (everywhere but the US and Canada as far as I know) also use O2 sensors in your exhaust systems and are set up to use that feedback in your ECUs- we do not have the sensors on our bikes and so obviously do not use that data in our ECUs. Not sure if they outright swap but even if they do, they would not work correctly on the other country's bikes.

Brian

There are some for sale in Miami Jim which are a decent price....but they are 315 MHz... Now ones that recently sold in the Uk were at 434MHz.

Are the ones in the States different, or did they change frequency when they were updated ? 

I could do with someone buying one over in the states and posting to me....

Thanks.

The C-14 is pretty complicated, as cars (autos) have been for quite some time. Remote authentication (KiPass in our case), disconnected speedometer and tachometer driven by stepper motors using digital information, CANbus and a host of other things make these bikes pretty involved. Yet few minutes most of us spend at the dealer getting 'taught' about the bike is just not enough for such a complicated vehicle anymore. In fact, motorcycles are getting complimented today that salespeople at dealers do not know how it works. And into the vacuum of knowledge we humans love to pour magic, folklore and all sorts of hocus pocus when we do not understand something, and that is even worse than simple ignorance, at least IMO.

Too bad all you folks are 'over there' because at the Concours Owners Group national rally, being held this year in Tennessee, there will actually be a seminar on this very thing- the new technology on the C-14 as it applies to owners and potential owners. I do not know about the guy actually putting on the seminar, seems like a dubious character to me (  ) but hopefully there will be some information there that is of some value to C-14 owners.

But as I said, the only folks attending from Europe that I know of are both Germans. Of course there is still time to register and catch a place I guess..... 

Brian

brian, informative as usual , thanks

For whatever it is worth folks:

1) The fob is not programmed and cannot be programmed. It is the bike that is programmed to recognize and respond to a specific fob.
2) If it is the emergency (also called the credit card fob) or thin fob, it can be made to work with any C-14 by any dealer (as long as that dealer has the KDS software / hardware to program the bike).
3) If it is the main fob, or the thick fob- the ones with the battery in them, there is a number needed to program the bike to recognize them and that number DOES NOT appear anywhere on the outside or inside of the fob itself. The number is on the package that the fob is shipped and again, that number is absolutely needed to code the bike to recognize that fob. So a used fob from any source is worthless as it cannot be used on another C-14 unless of course that person has the original package.

The main KiPass ECU has six slots that can hold a fob registration number and they are one- time writable. So once the bike is coded for a fob, if that fob is lost / stolen then that programming slot can not be used again. But realistically, I have never seen a KiPass ECU 'all used up' and without fobs; let's face it, six fobs is a lot of fobs to buy, use and lose. :-)

Brian

KiPass is working fine and you do not have any problem with the 'immobilizer'. If the LCD screen illuminates, and does not display any obvious error then the bike is working correctly  to that point.

It sounds like the interrupter circuit is causing your problem; I get that same red LED when pressing the starter button if the sidestand is down while the bike is in gear, for example. If everything is in correct starting mode on your bike (sidestand up, bike in neutral, kill switch on, 'bike down' sensor working correctly AND the bike is not lying on its side....) then there is something wrong in that circuit. There was a gentleman who did have a tip over sensor fail if I remember correctly. There have been a few sidestand switches fail, and this will cause the situation you describe.

A dealer should be able to trouble shoot it in short order with a meter and just a couple of test.

Best of luck getting is squared away.

Brian

<snip>

The bike goes throufg the start up routine, shows Kawasaki logo and looks normal, but on pressing the starter it flashes the red light top left hand side of instruments and it turns the starter motor but will not fire up...which I guess is it being immobilised.

What exactly happens when you push the ign. switch down- does the LCD display anything at all? Or does the bike do and show absolutely nothing?

Brian

Just back fro 3 weeks holiday and a beautiful day yesterday , so went to fire up the beast , which started but showed:
"Immobilser Error"
So turned it off and then was stuck with an immobilised bike. Frustrating. Any one have any ideas why? I got Fowlers to haul it in and they think it could possibly be that the battery had lost some power over the time it was unused and thus instigated the immobiliser message. I don't have power where it is parked or I would have it on trickle charge with the Oxford charger..it is moving to a new garage soon with power so hopefully that (trickle charge)will sort it out. In meantime waiting for diagnostics from the workshop.
Happy Trails.

So a stand- up comic gets a telephone solicitation.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OgWcwgB50

Brian

I am used to it- I had a very good friend who lived in Norwich (but he pronounced it incorrectly Norrich). We spent quite some time discussing (OK, beating each other mercilessly until our eyes watered) the differences in the language and cultures. Because of that, I am somewhat familiar with more of your expressions / alternate meanings than I had been before. But some of this bike speak is really throwing me, probably because it is not only the words but the social differences unique to your culture. The other post about the gentleman's son having to have restrictors put in a motorcycle really threw me- the words were fine but it was the regulation that I was unfamiliar with.

You guys go ahead without me though, I'll catch up. 

Brian

Brian, welcome to the world of TransAtlantic English :-)

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk

There are 8 pads up front and 2 in the rear. About $100 US on the front and $40 US on the rear- different manufacturers use different numbers of pads per container so the price is the easiest way to tell how many you will be getting.

If they are original equipment (OEM) they will have wear indicators in them in the form of grooves. If you can see the groove, they are not yet worn out. The pads for this bike (and most motorcycles) are quite thin when new and in my experience, most people change them out long before they are worn out. You can check the pads yourself with nothing but a strong light and maybe a mirror; you should check the pads top and bottom in the event they are not wearing evenly. But 1/16" (1.5 mm) is still a fair amount of pad material IMO. And given that they are quite expensive, I try to use all the pad material- although of course not until the steel backing plates touch the rotors.

Brian

Ladies and gents.
How many miles would you normally get from the pads .
I know it all depends on weight carried and every body rides differently regarding braking  .
Today I had her mot'd no problems or advisoys she has done 19000 and in all the history I have I cannot find anything stating pad changes so I presume they are original .
I . Asked the test centre to check but they just said there are four small pads it may pay to change them.
And I don't like messing with things this critical any help gratefully received.

Yes, complicated, convoluted and expensive, or at least the training at that site is expensive. Thanks for the link.

Clearly there is a pretty big difference in our two countries (or between the US and the EU?) in this regard. We in the US are noting the increasing and seemingly draconian changes in the driving rules and laws of Canada over recent years.

Sorry to hear of regulations turning your son away from motorcycling though.

Brian

Hi BDF
This is our European Union who have decided that new riders must have their bikes restricted.In my son's case he is 20 and has passed his test which allows him to ride certain bikes up to 47KW for 2 years then he can hace the restrictor taken off.
It is very complicated legislation, hence the posts.
if you are really curious just google which bikes can you ride on A2 driving licence restricted.
You will then see how debatable the legislation is on what you can and cannot do. I even have Honda dealerships saying you can, and one dealership (Not Honda) saying you cannot.
Today I looked at the Registration document and it clearly says the bike is 71KW so it appears we can.
Anyway it has really put my lad off and tonight he has put the bike on E bay and is really peed off.   

Don't know about being anyone's 'go too' guy but I have had a C-14 since the early days (25 July 2007- our anniversary :-)  ) and I like to tinker with it.... and everything else.

Just bear with me regarding stupid questions and the language. It is nothing short of amazing to me how differently we use the same language; I have to stop and mentally translate all the time. Your expression 'break it down to bits' is perfectly accurate and makes perfect sense but we would not use that expression and I have to stop and think about what it means- seriously (in the US it is "take it apart"). I am sure it works crossing the other way too so some of my terms / expressions and nomenclature is probably wrong or at least not understandable to you folks too.

Brian

well you learn everyday, as I said earlier brian is the go 2 guy over on the concours site

stick around brian , we may need you from time to time