[three3eye]

I've had my FZ6 since July of 2005 and I've put over 5k miles on it. And I have 2 questions:

1st, I've been doing a lot of twisties up in Harriman State Park NY the last few weekends, and each time I go on one road I take the turns pretty fast (all 33 of them, on about 5 miles of road). I've been leaning the bike over further and further, and I really wanted to scrape my knee. I borrowed my friends track pants with knee pucks, but I just couldnt seem to get low enough. I leaned the bike so far and leaned myself off so far that I thought I was on the verge of just falling over. I still have stock tires at the recomended PSI, and I don't put 100% confidence in them based on opinions in this forum. Does anyone else have trouble getting their knee down? Or am I just being a wuss?

2nd, I changed my oil last weekend and ever since there has been a slow dripping leak out of the engine oil screw. i used a torque wrench to put it back on, but I'm not sure I did it right. I had it set to the manuals recomendation but I never felt it 'pop'. I stopped turning it because it felt like I have been overtorquing it and I didnt want to strip the threads. Do you guys think its too lose or too tight? Any way to find out without taking off the bolt?

And extra, I drilled holes in my exhaust: one 1/2" and one 3/8" in each side. I also painted my windshield and I will post a pic soon.

Thanks

 

[MrVvrroomm]

Does anyone else have trouble getting their knee down? Or am I just being a wuss?

Do you guys think its too lose or too tight? Any way to find out without taking off the bolt?

Save yourself some heartache. Take your friend's "racing pants" and sign yourself up for a track day. That is the only place you should even be thinking about getting a knee down.

Did you replace the crush washer when you changed oil? Was there a crush washer to begin with?

 

[fraggle1]

+1

Take it to the track, man. If you feel like you're on the verge of falling over, then you don't have any reserve left over if you have to change your line for some reason. It's just asking for trouble on the streets.

On my drain plug, the crush washer was smashed so flat from the factory that I couldn't even see it at first. I had to use a knife to separate it from the underside of the bolt head so I could get it off. Use a new crush washer each time, and you'll probably be fine.

 

[three3eye]

1- I didn't put on a crush washer because 1 I didn't have one and 2 because I didnt have one since my last change , and didnt even notice one when i did the first oil change. Should I change the oil again just to put on that washer?

2- I am planning on going to a track day sometime soon, basically as soon as i buy my own track suit/boots/gloves. Was planning on using my tax refund but ended up needing $1700 of repairs on my damn gas guzzling cage. I come really close to touching my knee on my rides, but I always kept it tucked in a little cuz I only had jeans on. I tried stretching it out as far as i could and like i said bike leaned over about 45 degrees, hanging off to the side as much as i am comfortable with.

 

[fraggle1]

If it's leaking, I'd be inclined to do something about it. If the oil is new, just drain it into a clean container and put it right back in. No need to buy new oil.

As for the trackday, check to see if your local trackday organizations offer rental leathers. Or just borrow some from a friend if you can. But make it priority to get yourself to the track, because it sounds like you've got the itch to ride fast. Scratching that itch on the street will bite you someday.

You'll probably find out that touching a knee down is hard because you're not really leaned over as far as you think you are. I know I felt like I was leaned WAY over until I got the pics back from the track photographer. :lao

 

[segue00]

I've had my FZ6 since July of 2005 and I've put over 5k miles on it. And I have 2 questions:

1st, I've been doing a lot of twisties up in Harriman State Park NY the last few weekends, and each time I go on one road I take the turns pretty fast (all 33 of them, on about 5 miles of road). I've been leaning the bike over further and further, and I really wanted to scrape my knee. I borrowed my friends track pants with knee pucks, but I just couldnt seem to get low enough. I leaned the bike so far and leaned myself off so far that I thought I was on the verge of just falling over. I still have stock tires at the recomended PSI, and I don't put 100% confidence in them based on opinions in this forum. Does anyone else have trouble getting their knee down? Or am I just being a wuss?

2nd, I changed my oil last weekend and ever since there has been a slow dripping leak out of the engine oil screw. i used a torque wrench to put it back on, but I'm not sure I did it right. I had it set to the manuals recomendation but I never felt it 'pop'. I stopped turning it because it felt like I have been overtorquing it and I didnt want to strip the threads. Do you guys think its too lose or too tight? Any way to find out without taking off the bolt?

And extra, I drilled holes in my exhaust: one 1/2" and one 3/8" in each side. I also painted my windshield and I will post a pic soon.

Thanks

1) On the oil, did you replace the compression washer to the drain bolt? Or, did you lose it??
2) Go to the track to scrape a knee. Your peg feelers should scrape first, though.

 

[racefan]

Yeah, I did a novice track school with my old CBR, and never did get a knee down (though I did scrape the feelers a few times). There's more technique involved in the body position than I thought.

I never felt as much confidence going fast as when I was on the track. It's definitely a better place to discover your (and the bike's) limits than the street.

 

[TX-Aggie]

Dude, If you hate your knees so much, donate them to me when mine go out from cycling....I might need them in about 10 years.

 

[kevinmroczko]

Save yourself some heartache. Take your friend's "racing pants" and sign yourself up for a track day. That is the only place you should even be thinking about getting a knee down.

+1

 

[Dr Honda]

With the stock foot pegs, (feelers hanging down) stock tires (kind of hard) and soft stock suspension… you will have a hard time finding the street with your knee. I’m not saying it’s impossible… but not easy on the stock FZ6. I scraped my peg feelers well before I cleaned the chicken strips off of my rear tire. (read… knee was no where close to the pavement) so I removed them. Then, by the time I scraped the actual stock peg… I was finding the limits of the suspension. (it was getting mushy feeling) Now, I’m not a light guy… but I still wasn’t dragging a knee. This is one of the reasons I got rid of my FZ6 after only 4 months of ownership. (no flame intended here, just saying what I did) I didn’t want to drop a bunch of $$$ to bring the suspension up to my abilities. There are a bunch of guys on this BBS that have swapped the forks to R6 parts… and even changed the rear shock. (good, but expensive mods)

Don’t get me wrong… the bike handles very well for what it was built for. (a comfortable sport/commuter) But it could use a few mods if you are pushing it that hard.

Oh… and take it to a track if you are just getting to that stage. You don’t want to lowside on the street as you find a hard-part on the bike.

Just my two cents. Take it for what it’s worth.

 

[three3eye]

Karma is a bitch.

Thurs night I find out that I have to put $1700 of repairs in my cage before I can drive it again, so I'm like "whatever, i got my bike and its warm out". I take my bike on a date and meet up with this chick who i spend the night with and end up getting only 1 hour of sleep

I work for 8 hours then come home and I took off the oil drain bolt and found i had stripped the threads of the oil tank probably by torquing it too hard (I think Yamaha's 30ft lbs is a little much). But no worries, I can get a guy to fix it for $90, I just gotta tow it to the shop.

I get my mom's truck and go to my friend's who has a trailer. The hitch he has doesnt fit my truck. So I get my friend's parent's truck, with a hitch that fits the truck, but the ball doesnt fit the trailer. We go to Home Depot and buy a new ball that fits the trailer.... turns out the ball doesnt fit the truck's hitch!

At this point i say FUCK IT, I'll have this guy tow it tomorrow for an extra $40. I call him today and he is too sick to pick it up or repair it, and his shop is only staffed by 1 other guy who cant do it. And thy are closed tomorrow.

Now I gotta find a way to get to work on Monday.

 

[jrevans]

self-tapping oversized drain plugs available

Karma is a bitch.

Thurs night I find out that I have to put $1700 of repairs in my cage before I can drive it again, so I'm like "whatever, i got my bike and its warm out". I take my bike on a date and meet up with this chick who i spend the night with and end up getting only 1 hour of sleep

I work for 8 hours then come home and I took off the oil drain bolt and found i had stripped the threads of the oil tank probably by torquing it too hard (I think Yamaha's 30ft lbs is a little much). But no worries, I can get a guy to fix it for $90, I just gotta tow it to the shop.

I get my mom's truck and go to my friend's who has a trailer. The hitch he has doesnt fit my truck. So I get my friend's parent's truck, with a hitch that fits the truck, but the ball doesnt fit the trailer. We go to Home Depot and buy a new ball that fits the trailer.... turns out the ball doesnt fit the truck's hitch!

At this point i say FUCK IT, I'll have this guy tow it tomorrow for an extra $40. I call him today and he is too sick to pick it up or repair it, and his shop is only staffed by 1 other guy who cant do it. And thy are closed tomorrow.

Now I gotta find a way to get to work on Monday.

If you haven't done anything yet, search for a self-tapping oversized drain plug. It's a common thing to strip the thread in the drain hole and they sell special bolts which make new threads and seal up just fine.

Here is a thread which even tells you which part to buy:
http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/showthread.php?t=300784&highlight=stripped+oil+drain

 

[Binary Jay]

Yikes, I never use my torque wrench on oil pan bolts... if you use a new washer every time hand tight (with a wrench) has always worked fine for me. Be careful!