Quite Ferocious? Actually Docile? ZX12R Head Cover Gasket Replacement, Shorai Battery, Highsider Turn Signals and More

Today’s weather is unfortunate as well. It’s raining on and off, and it feels quite depressing.
And even though it’s October, the outside temperature is still quite high and very uncomfortable.

This time we have a rather rare ZX 12 R head cover oil leak situation.
Since this bike has quite unique maintenance characteristics, I’ll proceed carefully.

Full-fairing water-cooled bikes have a lot of parts to remove.

You have to move quite a bit of stuff to get to the head cover.
Once you do it once, you kind of get the hang of it, but at first glance it’s pretty shocking.

I’ll remove everything one by one carefully.

I’ll leave the dirty parts untouched and keep them shiny.
Unfortunately the throttle cable is discontinued, but a 50mm long version is available.
It’s tough when small parts like this become discontinued.

I also polished the main switch connector.
It seems like it got quite a bit of water washing.
Full-fairing bikes tend to collect water, so it’s definitely better not to spray water more than necessary.

Time passes and I’ve mostly removed everything.

Since the frame doesn’t have an under-tube, once the radiator is removed it becomes surprisingly spacious.
Once it’s like this, the 12R doesn’t seem so intimidating anymore…

I wet-blasted the secondary air cover.
Just a small thing like that really makes the appearance look sharp.
I’ve also replaced the mounting bolts with genuine Honda parts.

Without the head cover and radiator, the maintenance is incredibly good.

The plugs had iridium installed, but this time I’m replacing them with the factory specification.
This is one of those rare, quirky plug part numbers. CR9EKPA

The plug hole gasket has a rather unique shape, and it would be troublesome if it became discontinued.
It has a metal protrusion so there’s no way to assemble it incorrectly—it’s a nice design.

Wow, the head cover is magnesium and recyclable?
I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it’s nice that it uses magnesium.

The head cover bolts are quite special, so I went ahead and replaced them with new ones.

Even dusty parts get polished to a shine when I disassemble them like this.
It feels good for the person working on it too, and I think it definitely reduces mistakes.
Even if it seems tedious, just polishing a bit lifts your spirits.

Something feels off? It doesn’t click right, strange feeling.

The number 3 direct ignition coil connector won’t click in properly.
The feeling is mushy and uncomfortable, though it doesn’t come out…

When I pull the wiring out and try disconnecting it separately, the tab movement doesn’t seem right.
Since it’s not a place we touch frequently, I’ll replace it to fix the issue.

I successfully excavated a good connector of the same shape from the junk connector farm.
Even if this one fails, I have a 10R main harness in stock, so I’m confident about this type of connector.
We don’t stock connectors for things we don’t know when we’ll use anyway.

Now it clicks in nicely and feels good, so we’re all set.

It’s better not to see it, but once you know about it, it bothers you.

I replaced the exhaust pipe flange nuts with new ones.
I figured it’s something you can only do when the radiator is off, so I went ahead and replaced them.

Also, just because something is stainless doesn’t mean you should use it.
From my experience, using the same material seems easier to remove even if it corrodes.

I’ve finished installing everything and now I’ll fill it with coolant.

The radiator cap is pretty worn out, so I’ll replace it. *I ordered it today.

I thoughtfully ordered an air filter.
As expected, it was in rough condition, so I’m relieved. (*´ω｀*)

Upgraded to a Shorai battery with increased capacity! It cranks with power.

Always do an initial charge on a new battery.
It’s surprisingly hungry.
Also, for the charger, it’s perfect to label it with P-touch so errors are easy to spot.
*I started doing this after the previous one had frequent errors.
Surprisingly, the charging cable often goes bad, so if something seems off, just buying a new cable can bring it back to life.

The back of the battery case has the starter relay and such sealed inside,
and there was no real need to look at it, but when I opened it, things were pretty messy.
I went ahead and cleaned it up properly, so we’re good.

The idea of putting the battery inside the frame is innovative.
I wonder if anyone has moved to a lithium battery and relocated it to the rear to use this space as storage…

I made it so you can check the battery part number by removing the battery cover.
Really, P-touch is something I use almost every day.

It’s not Tepra! It’s P-touch! P-touch is made by Brother! (*´ω｀*)
To be continued.