I originally bought my ’03 XB9S in May of 2006. It was completely stock from the showroom floor, and I enjoyed it for a while. Once I felt confident enough, I started to make it my own! I contacted Bill Hemphill in Boise, ID to modify my exhaust. After making the $200 investment, the bike sounded amazing!! I recently had an issue where a friend of mine dropped my bike going 3 MPH in 30 degree weather and split, leaving me with a busted bike and no hopes of getting it back on the road. I saved up the money to get it fixed with factory parts, since the primary cover was trashed, along with some other little pieces.
A friend of mine and I went to JC Powersports in Nampa, ID to have the parts replaced and decided to get some mods done while it was apart. We sent the wheels to be powdercoated in 90% Gloss Black, and took the tail section off for the chop. I also ordered some CRG Shorty Levers in Black, and took the belt guard and rear hugger, as well as the exhaust cover. We painted the grey and dull pieces in flat black, and I left the belt guard off.
The rear tail piece was the most stressful to cut, since I didn’t want to end up with a screwed up fender. After the first slice with the hacksaw, there was no turning back! It took about 3 hours total, once we picked up a die grinder and some sand paper. I used my father in law’s grinding wheel to make it as smooth as possible, and evened out the edges. It took a total of $15.00 to get it done, and saved me almost $200, since I wanted to get the Rizoma tail piece instead. Im happy with the result, and think its sets the bike off completely! With the black wheels mounted to some Michelin Pilot Power tires, the bike was ready to roll after a week and a half. I snapped some shots today, and am glad to be back on the road!
A friend of mine and I went to JC Powersports in Nampa, ID to have the parts replaced and decided to get some mods done while it was apart. We sent the wheels to be powdercoated in 90% Gloss Black, and took the tail section off for the chop. I also ordered some CRG Shorty Levers in Black, and took the belt guard and rear hugger, as well as the exhaust cover. We painted the grey and dull pieces in flat black, and I left the belt guard off.
The rear tail piece was the most stressful to cut, since I didn’t want to end up with a screwed up fender. After the first slice with the hacksaw, there was no turning back! It took about 3 hours total, once we picked up a die grinder and some sand paper. I used my father in law’s grinding wheel to make it as smooth as possible, and evened out the edges. It took a total of $15.00 to get it done, and saved me almost $200, since I wanted to get the Rizoma tail piece instead. Im happy with the result, and think its sets the bike off completely! With the black wheels mounted to some Michelin Pilot Power tires, the bike was ready to roll after a week and a half. I snapped some shots today, and am glad to be back on the road!
