Some of you are running Z6's, as I do. What are your impressions running them on wet roads? During the last few days I've had a rear slide and several occasions of spinning tyres on straights during normal accelerating on 3'rd and 4th gear. It can very well be that I'm not so used to run in wet conditions and it is also quite cold here now, around or even less than 10 Deg C. On dry roads I thrust them so much that the front many times lifts slightly in 3rd gear when accelerating and shifting out of corners. With the Suzuki and its Michelin Powers I can do wheelies even when the road is real wet, so it was a surprise to me to lose traction so easy with the Z6's. Perhaps is just normal during these conditions and the Bbird is far heavier than the Suzuki. The Bbird is a little weak at low rpm's due to its large (42 or 43 mm) carbs and high gearing. That may contribute to spinning since the power comes on quite hard when it comes at around 7 krpm. If it is just a power delivery issue it could be handled just buy being very smooth on the throttle in wet, but if it is the tyres it could be dangerous even rolling true a curve having some speed and lean angle.

BTW, the Bbird is the worthy replacement to the CBR that I believed, it hasn’t consumed any oil as far as I can see during about 4500 km's. I become quite annoyed having to check and top the oil on the CBR 1000 F sevral times a week. I still think that the Hurricane in good condition is one of the best all-round bikes ever made, sporty and comfy.

 

I used the Sportec's for several years. They were teriffic in the dry and terrible in the wet. I really like the Avon AV45/46 sport touring tires. They work in the dry and wet. Glad to hear you like the Blackbird.

 

Several people have now confirmed me that the Z6 is slippery on cold and wet conditions. I can spin the rear tyre on any gear in wet and have also had several rear slides even with modest leaning and throttle opening. The temperature here is between +8 to +12 deg C and I'm using the bike every day to work and don't bother much if it is dry or rains.

I've put replacement slip-ons on the Bird, the Devil SB2 type. I can definitely recommend them; noticeable improved throttle response on low and mid range, and they remove a lot of weight compared to stock mufflers. I got the same nice midrange boost on the Hurricane when I installed the Laser system on that. The Bird's are known to be somewhat lame on low midrange, now it feels OK. Next thing on the wish list is to put on a Penske adjustable rear shock.

 

They must have improved the low-midrange torque on the fuel injected models, as my '99 Blackbird had way more power down low than my 1000F does. One thing that must be universal between the carbed & fuel-injected Birds is that the power really starts to come on strong @ 7K RPM. I used to love rolling away from a stop in 1st gear, rolling into the throttle - the bike would accelerate hard, but once it hit 7K, it was like an afterburner kicking in and the front end would stand up if you didn't have your weight over the handle bars...

Damn I miss my Blackbird.[sm=smiley6.gif]

 

Yes I've read that the midrange torque was improved on FI models, i.e. the -99's an on. I was surprised that it didn't got worse with a better flowing exhaust and now believe the nature of vacuum carbs adjust to the better exhaust flow and deliver the extra fuel needed. The carb version, which I have, also kick butts from 7 k and up. Not much use for that these cold and wet days though. Haven’t had the chance to make a full blast with the new exhaust yet due to the slippery conditions []. Sun promised for this weekend, then it will get the chance to prove itself

 

The Z6 is a sport/touring tyre, but I think it's more on the touring side. I got 15600km out of mine, mostly straight down the highway to and from work. The back was just past the wear limit and the front was quite cupped, but financial constraints mean that you have to wring them out.
Last storm season here I rode home in two of the most wicked storms I can remember with torrential rain putting a 20mm layer of water on the road. My car driving co-workers were complaining the next day about aqua-planing all over the road, but I had no dramas.
The back tyre has a solid band around the middle so if you open it up too fast of course it will spin. Metzeler make much more grippy tyres, but for all of us it's a balance between grip and wear.
This time I have gone for Michelin Pilot Roads. They are dual compound so should have wear and grip on the sides. So far (2000km) I'm very happy with them.
In the wet forget the wheelies and just get home!!

Dave.

 

Thanks. I haven't seen any service limits marks in my rear Z6, just thought they have to be replaced when the cord begins to show up. How did you see that the rear was on wear limit, are there any marks there which I'm not aware about ,or did you look for when the side groves towards the middle of the tyre went out?

 

Next check for tread wear. Most wear on a motorcycle tire will occur in the middle of the tread, so that's where you want to check the amount of tread remaining. There are a couple of easy ways you can do this. [b]The first is to look for the "wear bars" in the groove of the tire. These are small bars of rubber in the groove of the tire. If they are getting close to showing wear you are due for a tire change.[/b] Another way is to use the penny method*. Just put your thumb on Abe's face and stick the coin head down into the tire's tread. If you can see all of his head above the tread; you got it - you're overdue for a new tire.

Text taken from http://www.virginiawind.com/tips/tires.asp

 

Around the edge of your tyres on the sidewalls you will see very small arrows. From one of these go straight around the tyre across the tread and you will see the small flat raised areas in the bottom of the grooves. These are your wear limit indicators. They mean it!!
Different arrows point to wear indicators at various points on the radius of the tyre.
When you change your tyres feel how thin the old ones are and you will see how serious the manufacturers are.
Dave.

 

Yes I know, but the Z6 rear tyre has no grooves at all on the mid sections to which wear can be referred, thats why I cant see how to get a pre-warning before the cord shows up. Maybe I'm just a dumb-head []

Edit: found the explanation on http://rhhall.smugmug.com/gallery/795947