[Thunder]

Hello there fellow riders! I have purchased my 5th bike, a brand-new ZX6R 636! I love it!

I am used to the dinosaurs (Owned a GS450E, GR650E,GS1100E, and KZ1100E) because I didn't want to spend lots of money and also didn't want to wreck something nice while I was learning. I took 3 years off to have babies, now I'm back.

This is my first modern bike, and I have to say that I am the most impressed with the HANDLING of this thing! I can move around with ease, especially going from a 600lb bike to a 375lb. The power is still untapped, as I have not had the cojones to try it out, so all my riding has been under 7k RPM so far. But I realized I can still get up to 70MPH if I don't pay attention!

I have some newbie questions for those of you who have migrated from old school to new school. First is, I am used to the lower RPM range of my old dino KZ. I ride my 636 like my dino, shifting up at about 5-6k. Is this going to be hard on the engine to run in such low RPM? I have had experiences in the past where I muck up my spark plugs from running rich and not taching it up. Since this guy is fuel injected, do I run the same risk of carbon buildup from low RPM?

Secondly, WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT THIS CLUTCH FATIGUE? My God, either I have been away too long and my wrists are wimpy, or its the new riding position. I am used to riding with my elbows pointing out (old school standard posture) but I am thinking I need to point them more downward (60 degree angle?). Any advice on this? The guy at the dealership said that I could get clip-ons, but I don't want to mess with the superb handling this machine has.

Thats all for now! Thanks a ton in Advance!

-Thunder

 

[Nigel]

Firstly, welcome.

Most of the time, I shift at anywhere from 4,000-6,000 revs, and I've never had a problem with plugs fouling. I've done a bit over 20,000 miles on this bike, and 125,000 miles (using the same riding style) on my last ZX-6R.

I do rev the engine out occasionally, but by far, most of my riding is done at less than 7,000rpm.

As far as the clutch and wrists go, you've been out of it for too long. Your left hand will get used to the clutch reasonably quickly. I used to ride around with my elbows angled down about 60 degrees on my old ZX-6R, but have found that the most comfortable position on this bike (under about 100mph) is to have my elbows pointed out like you would on a dirtbike, almost like a bodybuilder in a pec' flexing pose . Over about 100mph, I drop my elbows down to about 60 degrees.

The 'bar angle on this bike is a bit funny for normal riding, but very good for very fast riding - a bit like the original Fireblades.

Edit: You could lower the clutch lever, to bring it more in line with the angle of your wrist. That often helps with clutch fatigue.

Ideally, you'd lower the brake lever a similar amount, but it's not so easy to lower the brake lever on this bike. If you do a search on lowering the brake lever, there is a post about how to get the lever lower than is normally possible. I think it may even be in the "How to" section of this forum.

 

[anarion55]

The cure for "clutch wrist" = more riding.

If you're trying to wring out the performance, you'll be shifting in the top 1/3 of the power band. For "regular", around-town, just use what you need.