Kawasaki Ninja Owners Manual: Shifting Gears

Kawasaki Ninja Owners Manual / How to ride the motorcycle / Shifting Gears

WARNING

Downshifting to a lower gear at high speed causes engine rpm to increase excessively, potentially damaging the engine and it may also cause the rear wheel to skid and cause an accident.

Vehicle speed when shifting


NOTE

The transmission is equipped with a positive neutral finder. When the motorcycle is standing still, the transmission cannot be shifted past neutral from 1st gear. To use the positive neutral finder, shift down to 1st gear, then lift up on the shift pedal while standing still. The transmission will shift only into neutral.

Moving Off
Check that the side stand is up. Pull in the clutch lever. Shift into 1st gear. Open the throttle a little, and start to let out the clutch lever very slowly. As the clutch starts to enga ...

Braking
Close the throttle completely, leaving the clutch engaged (except when shifting gears) so that the engine will help slow down the motorcycle. Shift down one gear at a time so that you are ...

Other materials:

Spring Preload Adjustment
Remove the rear shock absorber from the frame (see Rear Shock Absorber Removal). Loosen the locknut and turn out the adjusting nut to free the spring. Special Tools - Hook Wrench T=3.2 R37: 57001-1539 Hook Wrench R=35: 57001-1580 To adjust the spring preload, turn in the adjusting n ...

Spring Preload Adjustment
The spring preload adjuster is located at the lower end of each front fork leg and can be adjusted. To increase spring preload and stiffen the suspension, turn the preload adjuster clockwise with a hexagon wrench. To decrease preload and soften the suspension, turn the preload adjust ...

Damping Force Adjustment ( ZX1000JC/KC)
To adjust the damping force, turn the damping adjuster [A] until you feel a click. The standard adjuster setting is the 18th click from the 1st of the fully clockwise position. If the damping feels too soft or too stiff, adjust it in accordance with the following table. Damping Force Adj ...