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The Z500 Mods Continue
Blog Date June 2025
So the buzzing I reported in my last blog had to be sorted, I couldn't live with it. I was convinced it was the engine bars, Ren didn't want to believe it was the engine bars because they were a pain to fit. However after enough nagging we removed one of the engine bars starting with the left easier side. Revved up the bike... no buzz. Hoorah.
Now how to fit the bar back on minus the buzz? I had read some folks had had success with filling the bars with sand. I had sand so that was my first choice for an easy try to fix. Trouble was that my sand was wet. A determined half hour blast with the hair dryer sorted that and dry sand was funnelled into the bar.
Result: a tiny little blip of a buzz at the magic resonance but a vast improvement. A trip out on the bike proved to be a much less, almost completely buzz free experience. The tiny buzz that is left is fleeting so it is not enough to annoy. So I'm happy to report all good on the buzz front for now.
Time to now move on to more additions.
I added a quad lock phone mount to the bike with vibration dampener at £58. Simple to fit and works a treat, I use my old phone as my satnav device. Ren fitted an Optimate "12v Auxillary Socket" (ie cigarette lighter socket) so I can charge up my battery packs and phone whilst on our camping trips. This was around £30.
I also ordered the same BarkBusters backbones for lever protection I had on the Z400. Unfortunately they didn't fit the Z500 - pffffffft! There simply was not enough room on the bars to attach the two point mounts. The Z400 had aftermarket Renthal bars fitted, so I'm not sure if they were slightly longer but whatever the reason these were a no go.
So I had to reorder just the single point bar end mount version. These fit fine. Although the one point obviously won't be as strong as the two mounts, they seem very sturdy. They are black coated metal so I do actually prefer them to the silver two point.
I fitted the backbones with the same VPS wind deflectors I had on the Z400. This was a shame in that they covered my lovely green levers from the front view. However, I still got to see the levers when I was changing gears or braking so I was a happy rider. The BarkBusters kit altogether come to around £115
Hand guards (and phone mount and tank bag...)
Smart guards hide the snazzy levers but I'm happy.
As for the Shad top box/luggage rack, this was still not for sale in the UK. The European price was going up seemingly on a weekly basis. I decided to buy it direct from Europe before the prices got even higher. The top box frame cost £160 and was fitted by Ren. Ren was a little unnerved disassembling the rear number plate bracket and wiring... luckily for him it all seemed to go fairly smoothly.
I ordered the same top box I had on the Z400, the Shad SH39, together with the pannier adapter kit all from the UK. The topbox cost £99 and the pannier adaptor kit was £70. I still have the Shad E48 expandable semi-rigid saddlebags, which I had originally bought for the Z400, which will complete the luggage set.
For those that have read my blog about the Z400 then you will know I had an issue fitting the pannier adaptor kit. Well I had even more of an issue with fitting the pannier adaptors onto the Z500. I cannot believe for one minute that Shad has ever seen a Z500 in the metal and tried to fit a saddlebag on its own adapter kit.
Even trying to use the same trick as we used on the Z400, (swapping sides and putting them on backwards) did not work as the top box frame on this bike has a steeper angle to the frame. We were convinced that we were going to have to return everything because the saddlebags simply could not fit. However, there was nothing else luggage wise available for the Z500. This was very upsetting to me because making the bike into an accessible and easy to use tourer for camping was very important to me.
The mounting frame TOUCHES the exhaust and hard too. Not a chance.
So with my usual determination I carried on playing around with the pannier adaptors until I found a solution of sorts. This solution was far from ideal but it was the best I could do. The solution was to turn the adaptors upside down. So the adaptors were pointing upwards rather than down. If the adapter was pointing down there was no way the saddlebags could have fitted onto the adapter.
This wasn't a case of the saddlebags fitting too close on top of the exhaust, they simply could not fit on to the adaptors due to the exhaust being in the way. By putting the adaptors upwards the saddlebags could easily slide onto the adapters and also had good clearance from the exhaust. So initially you would think this was a really good solution if you could accept the look of the adaptors being up rather than down.
The upside down mounted frames LOOK odd...
However, the real issue was that by the adaptors being up rather than down this meant the saddlebags were now upside down. This is far from ideal because the zips for the saddlebags were now at the bottom rather than the top. And of course this meant when trying to open the bags your contents would fall out. Alas sometimes you just have to accept what is rather than what you would like something to be. We sometimes have no choice but to adapt and overcome.
...but the bags seem perfectly located even if they are upside down.
The issue of the contents falling out of the saddlebags could be overcome by putting the contents into dry bags, which I usually do anyway to keep the contents dry. The saddlebags themselves were now very easy to slip on and off the adaptors so any contents within the saddlebags could be removed once the bags themselves were removed from the bike.
It is not ideal. I know. The fact Shad advertised these adaptors for use on my model of bike is quite frankly a joke. As I had so much else going on in my life I asked Ren if he could write to Shad about the issue, but we received no response. I did consider chasing this up but in all honesty I can't be bothered.
"Liko" my Z500 is now a touring bike. It is not a perfect tourer but it is a usable tourer with an imperfect setup which I can, if a little begrudgingly, live with. Life, as I know too well, is not always perfect and neither are luggage solutions. It is what it is and sometimes when life gives you lemons you have to make lemonade. Or in other words, when Shad give you s*** you have to turn the world upside down.
In total the accessories added onto the bike have cost me £1260. Add in the cost of purchase of the Z500, the delivery, the tax, and insurance and I have parted with around £6500. Making this my most expensive vehicle I have ever owned.
Lets hope it proves worth it.
Advertise here - contact ren@bikesandtravels.com
Reader's Comments
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Shazza me duck. She looks a treat and to my eyes the brackets and bags look as god intended and won't now mark the silencer. Well done you pair of rascals.
It's obvious who was the brains of the operation and who was the grease monkey. Sorry "Chimp Ed".
Upt.
01/07/2025 11:40:37 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
.... but according to the date (June 2026) thi hsn't happened yet. Is one of the mods a flux capacitor by any chance?
Re the pannier mountings - it looks as though that bottom loop is just to stop the pannier moving inwards. Could it not be reshaped (bent to Ren) to keep it clear? Or even cut on the nearly vertical rear portion, a bit removed then joined with a bit of tube?
Good move to cover the green levers!
01/07/2025 12:29:01 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Sorry Ian! I have fixed the date - DOH!!
Re the bags and cutting the loops. NO, definitely not. I think this is one of those moments where a video would make things a lot clearer than even a thousand words. I shall see if I can create one. Basically the bags have a "slot" on the back that slides over the whole rhomboid shaped mount.
Aha - hopefully this video explains at least how the bags are mounted and a fellow of you intelligence will immediately suss the problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBucA_NIx78&t=150s...
01/07/2025 15:10:34 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Where's the main picture Ed.
Looks like the Lakes, I'll guess Wast Water but I already know I'm wrong.
02/07/2025 10:00:13 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Aha! Glad you spotted that Upt'
I ain't gonna tell you JUST yet but... according to Google maps a route from Wooler to this place is 64.5 miles and almost due east from Wooler... I'd be surprised if you've not been there.
02/07/2025 12:30:24 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
First the date and now the direction? Av a word Ian.
Presuming it's not halfway to Denmark.....why do we put up with him....gotta be in D and G. Innit?
.......
Or Ayrshire.
02/07/2025 13:04:17 UTC
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