This has been hands down one of the best all-rounder motorcycle I have owned and had the joy of riding - and I am sorry I pushed him so far.
Lessons learnt - you cannot make an sx se into a H2, there are limits and precautions you should take.
At 22,000 kilometres number three piston cracked a land between compression rings, combustion pressure then pressurised the crank forcing just about all the oil from the crank up into the airbox via the crank vent tube. The oil then pushed into the supercharger and plenum etc. The bore was fine (stopped quickly) but obviously a major failure.
To their absolute credit my dealer stood by me, without fuss and underwent the large job of repair, but I couldn't imagine having the bike back in a lesser state of tune "to be safe" and would always be worrying if it will go again...... solved the dilemma by buying a H2 for absolute balls to the wall riding - and envisage picking up another stock sx se for daily stuff, and leaving it exactly as Mr Kawasaki built it.
This is the third tuned sx se I know that has gone the exact same way. Sx Se runs higher compression than H2 ( gives that low-end torque) and guys I really think the pistons in the sx se are not built to take continual impassioned riding with tunes pulling 230+ HP out of them. This had nothing to do with leaning out or bad AFR - the metal in the piston (in my opinion) is just not up to the task - and I reckon Kawasaki Corporate know it. Kawasaki corporate has directed all dealers to stop offering flash tunes and mods for sx, but more interesting had ample piston sets in stock, while more numerous models like a Z10RR you would have to wait 2 weeks for, very suss as I think at last count there are no more than 40 sx in my country and hundreds of z10RR's. I do not think they thought so many of us would chase the performance envelope and would be happy with a super comfy sports tourer with 180 HP and the H2 badge on it.
If you are tuned please be super careful of your oil levels, do not overfill. If you overfill the crank will slap your oil into a cappuccino froth that will go up the crank vent and settle back into a fluid in your airbox - with highly likely ingress into the combustion cycle. Decrease your oil change intervals and do the filter every change - staying with factory service intervals is not good enough once you tune-up.
Again I reiterate this is not me bagging this bike - I did 22,000 kays in 8 months and loved every one of them, the dealer was rock solid in looking after me which in of itself is awesome, but please know in my opinion there are limits that some components in the bike will ultimately just not handle.
So 2HYPR is now a H2, on an upside, all the carbon (including the rims) transferred across no fuss, and we are off for first track day tomorrow.
Last bit of cautionary advice - the Sx Se is a gateway drug - the H2 is a natural progression and just as addictive, the power and performance of both these bikes set them apart and ownership of either makes us unique in a crowd and giggling in our helmets on every ride!
Be safe - have fun - see you on the other forum when you progress to the next level.
