Lowered Tank & 905 Racing Race Armor

[jay21112]

So a little (long) while ago, I got into an accident on the bike. It’s actually an interesting story. Read on if you want to hear the details, skip to the pics if you just want to just see the shiny newness.

Accident:
It was the first time my girl got on the bike. I took her to a family cookout, and everybody was taking pictures of us when we left. I got back to my city, which houses the worst drivers I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been ALL around the country), and when I was a few blocks from my destination, it happened. I was going down the street, in traffic, and some absolutely idiotic girl was stopped in the oncoming lane waiting to turn left (in front of my lane).

For some reason, she never saw the bright red bike with HID hi and low beams on, bright red clothes on the rider and passenger, and nor did she hear the mid-pipe only exhaust that I have. She turned into me, excuse me, she turned into my girlfriend’s leg, as I passed her, hitting my girlfriend, and dragging her off the bike. The sudden dismount of my passenger sent an awesome rebound through the bike, and down I went as well.

We both had on helmets, jackets, gloves, and boots. I also had on Draggin jeans. I came out of it with some bruises on my knees (no knee armor on), and she had about a foot gash in her leg (from what, I don’t know, either my license plate, or the compression just caused her to literally burst at the “seamâ€â€¦yeah, pretty gross thought). Well, when I got back to her, I could see right into her leg…but it was just “skin deep.†I could see all the subcutaneous fat, but no muscle, tendon, ligament, or bone was involved. So, off to the hospital she went in the ambulance, and there I was talking to the cop.

Like many of you (I’m sure), I carry my registration in the tiger glove box in my hump. Well, I had taken off the hump to put the rear seat on, so my girlfriend could ride….so my registration was in the hump…at my house. The cop actually made me ride home, get my registration, and bring it back to the scene, or he was going to give me a ticket for not having it. Yeah, let’s have a guy who was just in a motorcycle accident, who’s passenger just got taken out of here in an ambulance…get back on his motorcycle and drive a million miles an hour home and back again, so that he doesn’t get a ticket, and so he can get to the hospital to make sure his girlfriend isn’t dying, because he really has no idea how bad she is (Did I tell you she was unconscious when I got to her and her helmet was rashed? It seems that when the car caught her leg and pulled her off the bike, her body acted like a whip, and her helmet came slamming into the concrete...) ….Yeah, great idea. But hey, I didn’t get a ticket, so I’m glad for it. Haha.

Anyway, after 14 or so days in the hospital where she had 4 surgeries to clean and sew up her leg, she came home, and with the help of her physical therapist / personal trainer / boyfriend…she’s made a full recovery and just has one *****in’ scar to show for it. Seriously, I started stretching her the very next day after the accident, and every day when I visited her, I’d stretch her, massage her and do some aided resistance exercises with her so she wouldn’t atrophy from being bed-ridden. And now she can run, jump, and come with me to the gym 7 days a week again.

Shiny newness:
Well, every time I get into an accident (remember what I said about the city with the worst drivers I’ve ever seen????) I use it as an opportunity to make some changes. I see it as a blessing instead of a curse. So, I decided to put on some Race Railz (which turned into 905 Racing armor), and replace the tank with a carbon fiber one (which turned into a fiberglass one). Don’t get me wrong, I still had to shell out some extra dough to get it done, but not as much if I didn’t get to use some insurance money (my tank got dented in the accident….no idea how, maybe from my knee???), so I got to use the money they gave me for a new tank and put it towards the fiberglass one. Anyway, here are the pics.

These pics are of the accident damage. The bike went down on the left side, and did some good scraping, hence why I wanted the race armor.

 

[jay21112]

905 Racing Race Armor

Here are some pics of the 905 Racing Race Armor. I originally wanted Race Railz because they don’t stick out as far, but my shop said they couldn’t get them anymore, and the 905 Racing Race Armor was the closest thing they could find. I’m not happy about how much it sticks out, but I do like the added “insurance†it gives me against a tip-over in the driveway. Ever driven…and parked on a gravel driveway before? I think I had nightmares for weeks after the first time I ever did that!

Anyway, these things are built solid and bolt to the frame in two places, so they add more protection, and they are less likely to warp the motor housing if the bike goes down. The only downside: you have to cut your fairings…..plus since the shop put them on, I’m not exactly sure what I have to do to get them off when it’s time to change the oil filter. Not looking forward to that!

Notice the red fairing bolts. They are painted. I’ve been to this shop before, and they know I want all my fairing bolts painted red and all my frame bolts painted black. Sure, it doesn’t last forever, but a little touch up paint here and there keeps everything looking clean.

 

[jay21112]

Side Tank Comparison

The next two pics is the first comparison where you can see the difference in the tank profile. First pic is an old one, and second pic is a new one. The tank is the lowered tank from Catalystracingcomposites. I wanted the carbon fiber one, but they don’t make it any more. The fiberglass one still saves a good amount of weight over the stock aluminum one. Plus, since it’s lowered, it only holds half the fuel; further saving weight. That’s weight off the top of the bike, which makes it a lot easier to move around in the corners. Yeah, because I’m carving the corners on a bike with an extended swingarm and this huge frickin' Race Armor. Ok, maybe not, but weight reduction is always welcome: accelerate better, stop faster, maneuver better, and sweat less pushing it around the garage…

Anyway, I think it holds like 2.5 gallons or something. The gas gauge works, and when full, it read half a tank. The tank is noticeably lower when you are on the bike too. I can actually get “under†the stock windscreen now. It’s actually a little too low for me. My windscreen is painted, so if I rest on the tank, I go too low, and can’t see the road. I need to gain some weight, to prop my stomach up to the right height.

 

[jay21112]

Rear View

Here is a pic of the back of the bike. You can see how much the Race Armor sticks out. Again, I’m not a fan of those little endcaps. I liked the idea of straight bars a lot better. I actually am not a fan of the look of the bars either. But for the same reason why I wear full gear when I ride, is the same reason I wanted these bars: I want protection for both me and my bike.

 

[jay21112]

Rear Comparison

Here is another comparison of old and new pics. You can see the limited edition “S†Suzuki symbols on the tank. I wanted to keep these somehow because only the limited editions have them. Well, we THOUGHT we ordered a carbon fiber tank from catalystracingcomposites, but it turns out that they no longer make those. All their tanks are fiberglass, and the item numbers are the same. So, we gave them the item numbers for a carbon fiber tank, and received a fiberglass tank…because they were the same item numbers. We didn’t know this until the tank had made it to the shop. So instead of returning it, and finding a carbon fiber tank somewhere else, I used the difference in price to paint the tank red to match the bike. The shop then just took some carbon fiber print and made the “S†symbols out of it, and a Hayabusa symbol out of it as well. They stuck them to the tank, and cleared on top of it, so it looks like its part of the “carbon fiber†tank. I know the difference, you know the difference, but in the end….does it matter? I don’t really care. I got what I wanted…weight savings.

 

[jay21112]

Tank Close-ups

Here is another good shot of the tank on the bike followed by close-ups of the Hayabusa symbol and the gas cap. Flame away on the gas cap if you want, but I really don’t care. I was so pissed that the tank came with a silver gas cap (I paint my fairing bolts red remember…I’m frieken’ nuts!). The shop said that paint really wouldn’t stay on it, and they could try powedercoating it, but they weren’t sure about that either. So I just took the bike home, and painted it with automotive touch-up paint, and then put a few layers of leftover color matched paint on top. It looks a little rough, and doesn’t match 100%, but at 100mph you can’t tell the difference.

In the third pic, take note of the little “knee pads†on the side of the tank. These actually bolt to the stock tank, and the new tank didn’t have any bolt holes. The shop didn’t want to drill into the new tank, and they weren’t really sure what to do with these. I wanted to keep them because there is actually a pretty big space between the tank and the frame (remember the tank is shorter AND thinner), so I told them to find a way. Their solution was double-sided tape. Haha. It hasn’t fallen off yet…

 

[jay21112]

Tank Gaps

Here are pics of a few more gaps. The inner fairings no longer line up perfectly and a gap is created between them and the tank.

The seat also has a gap. The gap isn’t over the seat pan, so it doesn’t really affect the ride, but I definitely want to fix this gap. I don’t like how visible it is. This was a Tobin cut seat. I wonder if he can work out a solution for me, or if I can find another seat upholsterer to somehow reupholster the seat to fill the gap.

 

[jay21112]

Bike Art

Next pic is a fun artsy pic my girlfriend took of the bike before my last ride. I think it’s cool.

 

[jay21112]

Front Comparison

Here is another comparison pic to show how the tank height is different. I really like the second picture. It’s my new “Wanna see my bike?â€￾ pic…

 

[jay21112]

Rider / Tank Comparison

And the last two pics are a comparison of how the rider fits around the tank. No, I haven’t gotten skinnier, the tank just doesn’t reach that high anymore. It’s kind of too bad, actually. On long rides, I could lay on the tank to support my back. Now, I can get a little lower on the bike to be a little more aerodynamic, but I actually have to support my back by myself. Oh well, I didn’t buy this thing for comfort….

Also notice the upgrade my pants got. I went from Draggin jeans to Icon leather overpants. Leather pants don’t really work if you are going to ride the bike anywhere and hang out, but overpants work, because you just take them off. Just make sure you remembered to wear pants underneath….

 

[nursebusa]

wow a sweet bike and a real nice mod to.

 

[sportcustoms71]

if that bike had a "who haw" i would screw it, looks sweet man. definatly liking the chain, where'd you get it from and do they have it in blue??

 

[ogre]

that's a sweet chain. where'd you find a color matched chain, bro?

 

[jay21112]

EK 530 ZVX2 150 Link Red chain

Not really sure where I got the chain from. Whomever had it cheapest at the time. Shnitz, Ride gear, Motorcycle superstore, kneedraggers, hardracing.com,....they are my usual "haunts."

This was the thread where I put it on the bike.
https://www.hayabusa.org/forum/busa-mods/89772-new-swingarm-rear-suspension-brakes.html

Truthfully, I wanted a black chain. But All I could find in that type chain was gold or colored....so I went with red.

Oh yeah, they definitely offer it in blue.
Link to EK site:
http://www.ekchain.com/color.htm