2005 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R Brake Upgrade

Recently I warped a brake disc. Turns out that even a VERY minor warping of one of those front discs causes significant wobble and shake while braking - I knew this in principle, but not having ever actually experienced it, I didn't have a full understanding. Within about 50 miles, I went from everything being perfectly fine and normal to being afraid to use my front brakes - and nothing odd happened to cause this as far as I know...it just happened.

My garage buddy for the day :)

So, I looked around at the options for buying new and used rotors and wasn't at all happy with what it was going to cost. I was going to be spending hundreds on new rotors and at least a hundred on used ones as well. So I went to my usual online stomping grounds, zx6r.com, to see if anyone had any other ideas for me. And sure enough, someone did :)

So, thanks to PowerGroove from zx6r.com for selling me a full brake system off a 2012, I decided to resell the master cylinder I had previously purchased and planned on swapping to (from a 2007 ZX6R) and just put on the the whole 2012 setup since I had to pull the discs off anyway.

This is not really a how-to since the whole process is INCREDIBLY easy. I'm more writing this to let people know that this is a really quite easy project to improve an 05/06 ZX6R and that it is a direct swap of ALL parts! I literally just unbolted the old stuff and bolted on the new stuff. The only old parts I kept were the bracket for the reservoir and the stainless steel brake lines that I already had on my 2005. So, all told, I swapped over the master cylinder, the reservoir and rubber hose to the MC, the calipers, and the rotors.

It took me about a week and a half to actually get it done, but that was due to some extra steps I put in and because I only have a bit of time here and there while the baby is napping (actually, work was more of the problem than the kid...). I also had new tires put on after I took the wheels off and swapped the rotors, so that took a couple days as well. Seriously though, I'd bet that even with the extra time I put in that most people wouldn't, I probably only spent about 3-4 hours on this.

Since I was pulling the front wheel anyway, I also decided to get new tires put on...a rear was BADLY needed ----->





So, for new rubber, I went with Bridgestone Battlax S21s based on some recommendations and hoping I like them...I guess we'll see:

I know some will disagree with this, but the other steps I mentioned above were related to the color of the brakes. I know many other owners don't, but I really love the gold accents that came stock on my bike and didn't want to lose that on the front brakes, so I decided to make it happen with the replacements as well. I used a high temp chemical resistant engine enamel on them so I hope it holds up long term...if not, I guess I'll have to figure something else out:

I forgot to take a picture completely before I started painting...

I did a silver base coat before putting on the gold

Caliper (and color) comparison:

Having just gone out for about an hour ride and I'm super happy with how everything feels. The tires are absolutely spectacular - felt like the bike was glued to the road!

As for the brakes, well, I'm glad I wasn't expecting to be shocked by the difference. They are certainly better than they were, but they aren't THAT much better. I don't feel like there is any noticeable difference in stopping power while max braking, but that's a little hard to compare 2 weeks apart, so maybe there is and I'm just not noticing it. Honestly, I don't really care about that, though, because my previous brakes had enough overall braking power to lock up the front if I used them wrong...I don't really need more than that, do I?

Anyway, the lever feel, on the other hand, is a huge improvement. It is so much more linear and predictable than it was previously. I don't know how to expand on it more than that, but the brakes feel great!

Overall, if you've got an 05/06, I'd say it's worth the relatively modest price to upgrade the brakes

Easy Ford Focus Sunroof Reprogram

I drove to work today in my 2002 Ford Focus SVT with my sunroof open and windows down and everything worked fine. When I got to work, I closed the sunroof and still everything worked fine. When I went back out after work, I tried to open my sunroof and it wouldn't open. While jamming the button trying to get it to work, I hit the forward side of the button and it started venting, but then, of course, when I tried to close it with the backward side of the button, it still didn't work.

I got home and was all set to tear the button out and diagnose a wiring problem or something, but decided to call a Ford dealer first and surprisingly they were actually very helpful. They told me that this is a relatively common problem and that what's happening is the logic controller for the sunroof got confused somehow, but that it is easily reprogramed. In fact, the steps for the reprogram are right in the owners manual for the car.






Here's what you have to do:

1. Fully vent the sunroof with the forward side of the button (tilt the back of the sunroof up all the way)
2. Press the same button (the forward part that closes/vents the sunroof) again and hold it for about 30 seconds - the owners manual says to hold it until you see the sunroof move, but mine never did so maybe don't worry so much about that
3. Then release and immediately re-push the same button holding it again - this time it should start moving. It should close, then slide backwards all the way, then slide forward all the way and end up closed again. Don't release the button until it is fully closed (if you accidentally do, then just start this process over again at step 1)

Your sunroof should now be fully functioning again. If you press the backward button now, it should open exactly like it is supposed to. If there is some sort of larger malfunction in the unit, it will enter safety mode on step 3 and will move in about 2 second intervals - if this happens you just need to keep pushing the button over and over until it closes and then you need to probably bring it in to have it diagnosed.

Good luck and happy driving!