Modifying bikes - do you do it?

[shrub]

I grew up when bikes were generally pretty crappy out of the crate and if you didn't fuck with them they were often unreliable, handled and braked badly and lacked power, so a lot of bikes got decent shocks and rubber, a second disc up front was popular, an exhaust system that didn't weigh 200 kgs and rust away in a week (or expansion chambers), lights that worked etc.

Then on the other side, some of us were into old Brit bikes, and fancied ourselves as Kiwi versions Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda riding across NZ in search of drugs or something, so extended forks, hardtail frames, 6 bend bars and custom paint were common.

I've never been able to leave a bike alone, and everything I have ever owned has been fucked with - sometimes they've even been improved! So i'm curious as to who else is into modding their bikes, or not as the case may be.

[Banditbandit]

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 ...)

[shrub]

I decided I wanted to be a rider not a mechanic and sold all the Brits ..

I remember that experience well. I sold a 72 Bonnie and bought a 750 Four, and while my mates all thought I was a dog fucker, suddenly I had more power, reliability I couldn't get my head around and i could park it outside the pub and it would be there when I left. But the brakes were crap even compared to my twin leading shoe drums and it handled like a walrus on skates, so I fitted a 4 into 1, a second disc, fork brace, Koni shocks and gave it a custom paint job. Then I got my hands on a big bore kit and a set of smoothbore carbs, big valves, hot cam etc, and it was going really well until I rode it into an outside toilet after drinking most of a bottle of tequila and completely buggered the frame and front end. After that it ended up with a custom frame, extended forks, 21 inch wheel etc, so it went like the clappers but handled like crap. I swapped it for an old 61 Chev Impala which actually went round corners better.

[slofox]

Mostly minor things...

1) Horn that is actually audible
2) Heated grips - helps with the Dupeytrens scarring in the right hand
3) GPS, mount and power source
4) Radar Detector, mount and power source
5) Ciggie socket to power mini compressor in case of puncture.
6) Distribution box to run all those accessories
7) Speedo-healer if the OEM is too inaccurate
and maybe
8) After market zorst

[Blinkwing]

Have a 250cc bike, so absolutely no point in customising it.

[bogan]

Yes. There is always going to be something worth changing, be it better running, handling, looking, or sound. Or all of the above!
However modern bikes are more complete packages than the older ones, so perhaps it is harder to make that first step into modifying them?

[NOID]

DONT ! ! ! ! my motard just been in for a wof, non oem brakes (aftermarket disk, calipers, caliper relocator/adaptor for larger disk, 17inch motard rims ) now i need a low volume cert due to not being factory

[Motu]

I wanted to be a rider not a mechanic ..

I wanted to be both - and still am. I'm not interested in bikes I can't work on. I always considered unreliability to be an advantage because it gave me more opportunity to work on my bike....otherwise I'd just pull it apart anyway like I do now.

[onearmedbandit]

DONT ! ! ! ! my motard just been in for a wof, non oem brakes (aftermarket disk, calipers, caliper relocator/adaptor for larger disk, 17inch motard rims ) now i need a low volume cert due to not being factory

Really? The inspector noticed that? Or did you tell them?

[milez1987]

Have a 250cc bike, so absolutely no point in customising it.

You can add a digital watch attached by Velcro lol

[ducatilover]

I crash 'em and build 'em better, shinier, lighter, stupider. I'll modify anything I can get my hands on I'm just lacking in decent tools these days (yet I have an obsession for original classic cars.... )

[ducatilover]

Have a 250cc bike, so absolutely no point in customising it.

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.

[imdying]

Have a 250cc bike, so absolutely no point in customising it.

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

[Gremlin]

It sounds like you consider modifying bikes as more the performance/handling/braking. I said change a little, but I consider modifying as anything over stock.

Previous bikes, performance mods was a standard thing, exhausts, air filters, tuning, and depending on the bike, other things.

I think I'm getting old though (and I'm only in my twenties). The BMW has no performance changes, but thousands has been spent on guards and protectors (that have, ahem, been rather well tested) and electronic accessories.

As with others, I simply don't have stock bikes, even the GSA, one of the most heavily equipped bikes from the factory, has had a bunch of things added.

[HenryDorsetCase]

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.