O U R
of top end speed and that mod also screwed up
the speedo reading as it’s driven off the output
shaft. To deal with that, I had to install a HealTech
SpeedoHealer, which is pretty much plug and play
with a little bit of calibration required, the end
result being a few extra wires and a discrete box
of electrics under the rear seat and a speedo that
actually reflects road speed.
The lower gearing means I do sometimes go
looking for the elusive 7th gear, and I did fit an
LED gear position indicator to try and rid me
of that habit but as of the time of writing, it’s
a bit slow to respond and not terribly accurate
so it’s blanked over with a bit of tape until I
can have another go at calibrating it. Oh and
the luggage space under the rear seat is huge
by today’s sportsbike standards. It’s perfectly
feasible to fit the tools, a tyre repair kit, a first
aid kit and even one of those little jump starter
power packs in there with a little room to spare.
38 KIWI RIDER
B I K E S
BRAKES
The next upgrade was some time coming. The
97 ‘Blade pre-dates radially-mounted brake
calipers. The original setup was fairly wooden and
lacked initial bite compared to radials. A common
upgrade is to replace the calipers and master
cylinder with the setup from the later 954 Blade,
these being the same Nissin units that were fitted
to the RC51 SP2. These are still non-radial but the
performance is significantly better than the stock
units on the 919cc bike. This is another drop in
replacement, although a little fiddling is required
to make sure the brake fluid reservoir doesn’t foul
the fairing at full steering lock. I was lucky enough
to score a full system from a 954 via eBay from
a lad who had them for a custom build that he’d
planned, but never got around to. A steal at $250
if I remember right. And whilst I upgraded the
hoses with Wezmoto braided steel lines before
having the system fitted, I didn’t even need to
replace the seals in the donor parts as they’d been
well looked after.