Modifying bikes - do you do it?

[Road kill]

I like bikes I can work on,and I like bikes that lend themselves to change easily.
I've owned a couple of bikes that were ultra reliable,had all the fruit like electronic ignition,fuel injection,tubeless tyres,alloy wheels,,or a combination of most of that utterly boring crap.
Now I know why so many young guys can't gap a spark plug or change a tyre.
These same bikes had dirty little things to stop the owner working on them or changing anything,,,even just changing the handle bars,,they had little indenting type knobs that only matched the standard bars,,,angle grinder made short work of that rubbish.
But then they never missed a beat,never did anything much other than run an stop an just about put you to sleep thinking about them,,,,,,,sold both inside 6 months an went back to me old, slow, ok handling, not to bad breaking, normaly reliable,mostly oil tight,always vibrating twins,,that I can tune myself,rebuild myself,change any bloody thing I want myself.
Think I'll run get fucked bars next week

[Stirts]

So i'm curious as to who else is into modding their bikes, or not as the case may be.

All bikes that I have owned (3) have been modified ....................
to "Short-arse" mode

[short-circuit]

My problem is that I have now ridden and owned bikes with decent suspension. It all started with a fucked rear shock in my NC30 trackbike, and progressed from there to respring/emulators etc etc. Now its Ohlins for life!

And now I have to budget that not insignificant cost into any purchase.

that of course comes under the heading of "credit card ninja" farkling. But thats how I roll.

I did really enjoy doing up that CB400F a few years back, though I should never have sold it. stupid.

The only way to roll with a Striple - they fucken rock

[Zedder]

I used to - came from roughly the same period as you - I could never really afford to build what I wanted so I spend my time keeping Triumphs and BSAs on the road ... but had raised bars, different shocks ... repaints .. I was building a BSA A7 as a bit of a chopper - till I decided I wanted to be a rider not a mechanic and sold all the Brits ..

Now, I think bikes are pretty damm good the way the come out ('cept Harleys) so I've done little to mine ...

The BMW was a bog standard 1990s Paris Dakar so I left it alone ... My Honda FT400 was my commuter scooter so I left it alone ...

The two Bandits are wonderful - I put a fly screen on the 650 (looks cool but all it seems to do is catch bugs) and an aftermarket muffler on the 1250 to replace the bloody heavy standard one ... I'm eyeing up a tail tidy and hugger for the 1250 .. but I need a bit of spare cash first .. so all cosmetic and not much handling or power mods ... (maybe some braided lines for the 1250 ...)

Before I went overseas quite a while back I got tired of all the two stroke machines around and got into tidying up a couple of old Beezers. The first one was a 1954 C11g then I got a 1960 B33. After a lot of energy, time and money both ended up mint.

Now I've lept ahead to a 1991 Kawi ZZR400 do up just because I like the era and I had one when I was in Aussie.

[F5 Dave]

Why ever not? My 250 is on the verge of becoming my most modified bike!

So is mine, although more of a 500 now. LVV Cert'd, so be it.

[ducatilover]

Now I've lept ahead to a 1991 Kawi ZZR400 do up just because I like the era and I had one when I was in Aussie.

Throw a ZZR600 motor in it, I did it to mine. Easy 40hp upgrade

[Blinkwing]

You can add a digital watch attached by Velcro lol

Or I could just lay 'er down and put a fancy dent in!

Why not? I had one of my 250's for 3 and a half years, poured countless hours into it making it what I wanted from a 250. Achieved that and sold it. I still want it back.

Why ever not? My 250 is on the verge of becoming my most modified bike!

Aftermarket exhausts/performance modifications are worthless as they only add a few horsepower for mega $.

I could add new mirrors, bars, chop the bike up and turn it into a bobber but that's just money I don't have.

[ducatilover]

Or I could just lay 'er down and put a fancy dent in!





Aftermarket exhausts/performance modifications are worthless as they only add a few horsepower for mega $.

I could add new mirrors, bars, chop the bike up and turn it into a bobber but that's just money I don't have.

It makes it cooler though My exhaust mods on my 250 cost me a bottle of bourbon (which included a free motor too)

[gatch]

I modify/repair everything under the sun at work. So when I get home and see the lack of a well equipped machine shop I get annoyed, go inside and open a beer.

When I have the cash to buy some proper toys, I'll start doing some REAL bike mods.

[Zedder]

Throw a ZZR600 motor in it, I did it to mine. Easy 40hp upgrade

Apparently the 400 is just a sleeved down 600. It has certainly crossed my mind and is an option for later on.

[rastuscat]

If your budget runs to it, get Ohlins. Both my recent bikes (BMW R1150GS and F800ST) have been okay, until I Ohlined them, after which they were F****ING amazing.

Best bang for your buck. Lots of bucks actually, but you'll never go back to OEM.

[ducatilover]

Apparently the 400 is just a sleeved down 600. It has certainly crossed my mind and is an option for later on.

Different head (600 has bigger valves), 600 has bigger port sizes on the head, oil cooler on the 600, different shift forks, bigger carbs for 600.
The 400 also has a 180km/h limiter, I can send you details of how to remove it correctly.
The 600 conversion is easy, just get motor, carbs, headers and oil cooler. Swaps straight in, same airbox too

[neels]

Only mod to my bike was debaffling the mufflers before I got it, otherwise standard. I'm far too clueless to start modifying anything.

[Old Steve]

First thing I did was take a drill to the mufflers on Gloria, after a car pulled out into my space on my third day on two wheels. Each baffle was held in by just three pop rivets, and once they were drilled out the baffles came out and she sounded great. She chortles and burbles away beneath me something lovely.

I've also added heated handgrips, and that's the best money I've spent on her.

[AllanB]

I consider a stock bike as a blank canvas.

Physical changes to accommodate ones body - ie bars.

Bling (practical - CRG levers, nice!).

Exhausts (nice sound, but you can justify it as weight saving!).

Handling

Appearance (just made myself a tail tidy)

etc etc

lets see, in no particular order: I'm on my 3rd set of bars, grips (I can't stand the stock, skinny, hard ones on Jap bikes), CRG levers, 3'rd set of mirrors, Yoshi slip-ons, Stebel horn, tail tidy, assorted pretty bits of alloy, frame sliders, turn-signals, Ohlins fork springs and rear shock, plus assorted shit I can't think of right now!

Wish list...modified seat cover, rearsets etc etc .... oh I've located a supplier of carbon fibre goodies too ........

Always lots on the wish list!

Oh almost forgot - I've a second set of sidecovers coming from the States for a 'idea' I have .......