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Well, today was another one of those wonderful days where I had time, inclination and suitable weather to work on the ZX-14, so I set out with a plan to wire up the battery for the charger (permanent connection), hook up some additional power supply wiring for accessories, and maybe, just maybe (if time permitted) to bolt on some of the aftermarket stuff I've been sitting on, like the replacement windshield & mirror extenders.
Naturally, nothing ever goes according to plan
Here's what I learned:
1. The battery is 6 bolts and 3 panels/brackets down into the bike, on a tray that slides out. That part was expected and fairly well documented in the Kawi factory service manual (and possibly even in the owner's manual).
What wasn't expected was the fact that I had to figure out how to get the tank lifted up to route any wires from the battery area to the underseat area via the short way without potentially exposing it to chain & shock -- AND then I still had to lengthen all the wires from their stock (good for most bikes) lengths to make that distance, such as for the battery charger plug -- AND there is no clear process anywhere in the Kawi factory service manual for how to remove the tank (fricken-fracken-g#$%!!).
2. The battery's tray that slides into the opening in the over-engine/mono-spar frame only consumes about 1/2 the same in that hole (there's a stop-bracket about half way across the opening to keep the battery from sliding around). Behind the battery is enough space to keep almost another whole battery -- or a fairly big toolkit or a 2 lb drug stash or just about anything else that you'd want to haul around in that size-range without it being visible (even an onboard battery charger, or a backup battery). If only the engineers at Kawasaki had placed a panel on the opposite side from where the battery access is, that would be good, viable long-term storage space. As it is, I can't help thinking that someone slipped some Kawi engineers money under the table to leave that area hard to access, but still viable for hiding stuff.
3. The plastic piece on the top (between the front of the tank and the steering head) is nothing but a plastic cover piece that covers the front tank mounting bolts -- and nothing else -- but is extremely convoluted in terms of how it's held in place (with no clarity in the manual on it). There's air space in there (not a lot of it, but some). Enough space, in fact, that you could theoretically use a spare one of those covers (modified) to hold an iPod, a slim USB charger and maybe some very thin speakers... Or with a minor change in shape, to hold a whole lot more (CB/intercom/integrated MP3/MP4 player as bolt-on accessory panel in lieu of the stock panel). Why they didn't make the tank a bit longer and use it for slightly more tank volume eludes me...
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet
Naturally, nothing ever goes according to plan
Here's what I learned:
1. The battery is 6 bolts and 3 panels/brackets down into the bike, on a tray that slides out. That part was expected and fairly well documented in the Kawi factory service manual (and possibly even in the owner's manual).
What wasn't expected was the fact that I had to figure out how to get the tank lifted up to route any wires from the battery area to the underseat area via the short way without potentially exposing it to chain & shock -- AND then I still had to lengthen all the wires from their stock (good for most bikes) lengths to make that distance, such as for the battery charger plug -- AND there is no clear process anywhere in the Kawi factory service manual for how to remove the tank (fricken-fracken-g#$%!!).
2. The battery's tray that slides into the opening in the over-engine/mono-spar frame only consumes about 1/2 the same in that hole (there's a stop-bracket about half way across the opening to keep the battery from sliding around). Behind the battery is enough space to keep almost another whole battery -- or a fairly big toolkit or a 2 lb drug stash or just about anything else that you'd want to haul around in that size-range without it being visible (even an onboard battery charger, or a backup battery). If only the engineers at Kawasaki had placed a panel on the opposite side from where the battery access is, that would be good, viable long-term storage space. As it is, I can't help thinking that someone slipped some Kawi engineers money under the table to leave that area hard to access, but still viable for hiding stuff.
3. The plastic piece on the top (between the front of the tank and the steering head) is nothing but a plastic cover piece that covers the front tank mounting bolts -- and nothing else -- but is extremely convoluted in terms of how it's held in place (with no clarity in the manual on it). There's air space in there (not a lot of it, but some). Enough space, in fact, that you could theoretically use a spare one of those covers (modified) to hold an iPod, a slim USB charger and maybe some very thin speakers... Or with a minor change in shape, to hold a whole lot more (CB/intercom/integrated MP3/MP4 player as bolt-on accessory panel in lieu of the stock panel). Why they didn't make the tank a bit longer and use it for slightly more tank volume eludes me...
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet
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