Our Project 954 may have grunt...
Our Project 954 may have grunt but it’s got nothing on the almighty 14.
It’s no secret that Team Green rewrote the Hyperbike book when it released the 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R. The monster easily murdered the longstanding champ, the Hayabusa, on every front. Stock, the ZX-14R is significantly faster, makes more power, has stronger brakes and comes wrapped in a capable chassis that easily hides its heft. So it should come as no surprise that when SSB jumped in line for a long-term mount for 2012 the Kawi topped our list.
Ask and ye shall receive and receive we did: a shiny, green ZX-14R that’s ours for the year.
Back in March we broke astonishing numbers on our stock but strapped ZX-14R at Auto Club Fontana–a corrected 9.05 @ 159 MPH and an uncorrected 9.59 @ 150 MPH. The track’s altitude is roughly 1,500 feet and the Density Altitude (DA) that day was roughly 4,000 feet. To say that’s flying would be an understatement.
Rather than bore everyone with more stock facts we decided it time to lay down a serious challenge to any drag strip pro to regular Joe that thinks their stock-motored bike can beat our final product and enlisted rider at a sanctioned drag event (stay tuned for details). We intend on making the world’s fastest stock-motored motorcycle and dare anyone with the skills and HP to come out and go head-to-head against our green machine.
Let’s be clear about what “stock motor” means. This is not a loose intrepration where racers find a loop hole to come out with an advantage. The motor cannot be cracked open or manipulated past ECU adjustments and bolt-ons in any way. So leave the Sneeky Pete nitrous setups, turbos, degreed cams, big-bore kits and any other motor tricks at home and come correct on the challenge date. We dare you. Don’t forget though that it’s not just about the bike but the rider and we have an ace up our sleeve. Challenge drawn up, we mapped out a budget build with the help of Herrera Racing that prioritizes what’s most important. In this case, it’s putting all that stock power to better use. Instead of riding a wheelie through half-track like the stock height bike does, priority number one was keeping the front wheel down and the bike driving forward.
The task of slamming the stance not only needed to be effective on the track and easy on the wallet but it needed to be easily reversed since riding to and from the track was all part of the game.
Our Project 954 may have grunt...
Our Project 954 may have grunt but it’s got nothing on the almighty 14.
Up front a Brock’s Performance lowering strap dropped the front end to the ground. These straps are an economical way of lowering a bike and the slammed stance is easily reversed with a push of the release button. To make sure our ZX-14R was as low as possible, the fork tubes were also raised in the triples to bring the belly pan down on the deck.
Out back, Roaring Toyz adjustable lowering links were the rear end’s solution to getting low and these affordable billet bits offer three positions from stock to stance. In our case the middle mount proved effective.
The final piece to the puzzle was an oil and filter change since fresh fluids and filters are always added insurance. Amsoil 10W-40 synthetic oil was the old gold of choice and this slick stuff tops the charts with an additive package and base stock seldom seen in streetbike oil. Since high-grade oil does little with a cheap filter, we also added a K&N oil filter to catch all the harmful particles.
On test day, Mother Nature was nice enough to bless the surrounding area with 80-degree weather. The temps were so high that the DA hovered over 5,000 feet with a peak of nearly 6,000.
However, the AutoClub dragway at Fontana was biting harder than ever. With the father and son duo from Herrera Racing, Auggie and Gaige, we hit the strip with solid results.