MustangGuy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2012
- Messages
- 423
Well, actually it was the weekend and a couple of days. I managed to get some things done on my bolt that I've been stewing over for a while. First, it's perfectly normal to work on your bike in the kitchen, right?
I started out by fabricating a replacement window for the Rizoma pully cover. The original was pretty shot and my attempt to polish is with plastic scratch remover made it worse.
Before:
I used 0.030" thick lexan I bought from a hobby shop (Ebay), made a template from the original window and cut it with lexan scissors left over from my RC days:
Getting the holes drilled in the right places was the hard part, but it came out great:
Then, I went to work on the grips. I bought the bike with Rizoma grips already on it. I liked the look, but they are actually kind of hard and even a bit slick compared to traditional rubber grips. They also had the tendency to get a bit hot in the 100+ degree weather we have here. I don't have a close up but you can see them in this pic:
I intended to replace them with gel grips I bought from ASB, but for the life of me I couldn't get the right one all the way onto the throttle tube even after wrestling with it for almost an hour. Then I couldn't get it to come off and I'd really had enough so I sliced them both off. Before I started I checked the sizes and they were both identical. Being soft and squishy I thought I could get the right one on anyway. I was wrong. I just realized I don't have a pic of what they looked like but they were the thickest gel grips offered by ASB. They really weren't much thicker anyway. Then I did a blasphemous thing... don't judge me. Right after I got my Ninja (which predated the Buell) I put heated grips on it. The stock grips were only on it for about two weeks, so they are still new. I cut the ends off of them to make them open and I put them on and finished by reinstalling the Rizoma ends. The look and the feel are exactly what I wanted:
Then I added a license plate frame with an integrated running/brake light. I also installed additional LED turn signals that match the front. A previous owner had installed an aftermarket under tail with double running/brake lights and flush turn signals (all LED) but none of the lighting was really bright or visible enough. Now it is and I like the look:
Lastly I installed low beam HID lighting, but that's another thread!
I started out by fabricating a replacement window for the Rizoma pully cover. The original was pretty shot and my attempt to polish is with plastic scratch remover made it worse.
Before:
I used 0.030" thick lexan I bought from a hobby shop (Ebay), made a template from the original window and cut it with lexan scissors left over from my RC days:
Getting the holes drilled in the right places was the hard part, but it came out great:
Then, I went to work on the grips. I bought the bike with Rizoma grips already on it. I liked the look, but they are actually kind of hard and even a bit slick compared to traditional rubber grips. They also had the tendency to get a bit hot in the 100+ degree weather we have here. I don't have a close up but you can see them in this pic:
I intended to replace them with gel grips I bought from ASB, but for the life of me I couldn't get the right one all the way onto the throttle tube even after wrestling with it for almost an hour. Then I couldn't get it to come off and I'd really had enough so I sliced them both off. Before I started I checked the sizes and they were both identical. Being soft and squishy I thought I could get the right one on anyway. I was wrong. I just realized I don't have a pic of what they looked like but they were the thickest gel grips offered by ASB. They really weren't much thicker anyway. Then I did a blasphemous thing... don't judge me. Right after I got my Ninja (which predated the Buell) I put heated grips on it. The stock grips were only on it for about two weeks, so they are still new. I cut the ends off of them to make them open and I put them on and finished by reinstalling the Rizoma ends. The look and the feel are exactly what I wanted:
Then I added a license plate frame with an integrated running/brake light. I also installed additional LED turn signals that match the front. A previous owner had installed an aftermarket under tail with double running/brake lights and flush turn signals (all LED) but none of the lighting was really bright or visible enough. Now it is and I like the look:
Lastly I installed low beam HID lighting, but that's another thread!
