Easy mods?

[Kempz44]

basically, i need your guys help with modifying my bike! Im an 18 year old boy with a 2000 Honda CB400 SF (hyper vtec one) - terrible combination of age and bike haha.

I was just wondering what easy, simple and cheap mods there are that i can do to make by bike look better? Just small things like changing the colour of certain bolts and the like?


Cheers.

[Moooools]

Cutting spokes out of the wheel is a really easy thing to do and makes the bike look great. Gives it that really modern look. Just use a hacksaw to remove the ones you aren't using.

You can mask up the whole bike apart from the bolt heads and then spray them all purple or something. Gives it that retro look.

Monter Energy stickers can be gotten for really cheap and are quite a nice modern addition that is popular nowadays.

Change all of your speedo numbers to MPH rather than KM/H. Gives the bike a real classic British look.

Paint the inside of your fuel tank chrome. It brings that little bit of happiness every time you open the gas cap. Don't worry about removing the gas first as it actually helps the paint set.

Performance wise if you put thicker fuel lines on you can usually squeeze out another 5hp or so.

Cross drilling the exhaust is something that seems to have been forgotten these days but can have huge gains (up to 50%) over stock. Really cool old school trick that gives the bike a nice Moto GP note.

If you can be bothered taking the head of then you can get a hole saw and stick it down the bore. This will give you some extra capacity without having to buy a new piston as the rings will just expand into the gaps.

Putting fatter tyres on gives way more grip. That is an easy one to do when your tyres wear out. It essentially doesn't cost you anything as you need to replace them anyway.

A front end off a Harley should bold straight in. These have much more travel and so are much nicer on our NZ roads. The americans have been building bikes forever and know how to make suspension just right.

That just about covers everything I know works. I have a few more things that I want to try out myself before I go telling other people that it will work.

[DrunkenMistake]

Cutting spokes out of the wheel is a really easy thing to do and makes the bike look great. Gives it that really modern look. Just use a hacksaw to remove the ones you aren't using.

You can mask up the whole bike apart from the bolt heads and then spray them all purple or something. Gives it that retro look.

Monter Energy stickers can be gotten for really cheap and are quite a nice modern addition that is popular nowadays.

Change all of your speedo numbers to MPH rather than KM/H. Gives the bike a real classic British look.

Paint the inside of your fuel tank chrome. It brings that little bit of happiness every time you open the gas cap. Don't worry about removing the gas first as it actually helps the paint set.

Performance wise if you put thicker fuel lines on you can usually squeeze out another 5hp or so.

Cross drilling the exhaust is something that seems to have been forgotten these days but can have huge gains (up to 50%) over stock. Really cool old school trick that gives the bike a nice Moto GP note.

If you can be bothered taking the head of then you can get a hole saw and stick it down the bore. This will give you some extra capacity without having to buy a new piston as the rings will just expand into the gaps.

Putting fatter tyres on gives way more grip. That is an easy one to do when your tyres wear out. It essentially doesn't cost you anything as you need to replace them anyway.

A front end off a Harley should bold straight in. These have much more travel and so are much nicer on our NZ roads. The americans have been building bikes forever and know how to make suspension just right.

That just about covers everything I know works. I have a few more things that I want to try out myself before I go telling other people that it will work.

[AllanB]

The post above forgot to mention changing the turn signal oil ........

Best mods for a bike are often not cosmetic - have you changed the brake fluid? If not it may be years old - a change can make a big difference.
likelise front fork oil and suspension set up.

Tyres - how old, what condition etc if old throw them away and replace with something decent that will stick in all conditions.

Coloured bolts and the like can be purchased off the net as can a pile of cosmetic bling.

What do YOU want to do to it is the real question.

[EJK]

Here are some pro tips:

Cut holes on your bike frame to save weight. Heres how Shervin RRR did.

http://www.zx-10r.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89168


Here is another dude whos done some significant amount of work to his 250 exhaust.
http://www.ninja250forum.com/index.p...6&topic=3395.0

[ducatilover]

First thing to do to one of those is throw the pogo stick rear shocks out and get something aftermarket, you can buy all sorts of sexy bits for them overseas, they're popular in the UK and in lots of Asian countries

[AllanB]

Awwww guys, leave him alone. Next you'll be telling him rim stripes at horsepower (actually I have some spare ones for sale!!!!!).

A big, erect penis painted on the top of the tank can also help attract women folk...........

[The Reibz]

http://www.ninja250forum.com/index.p...6&topic=3395.0

That is honestly the coolest shit I have ever seen. What a glorious shitstorm...

New tires, brake pads, fluids and plugs. Best mods you will ever do.
Take your air filter out too, will fuck the bike but sounds mean and you will go fucken hard!

[nzspokes]

Fit a gold powerband.

[Coyote]

Serious answer:

ducatilover is right about the shocks. Simple enough job but not cheap (at least good shocks won't be cheap).

A thorough groom will help. A bucket of non-corrosive degreaser and various size paint brushes to get in around the engine and where chain grime flings too. Have a good go at the brake dust, but that may need stronger cleaners to shift. Take covers off for better access. The great thing about Hondas is generally the paint stays on them, on a Suzuki you'll discolour paint or strip it with many good cleaners.

Stronger brake dust cleaners require care/patience/experience. They can harm/discolour paint and alloys hate the stuff (they go cloudy, a bitch to polish back). Test an inconspicuous spot of what you want to clean before doing the lot. Stay away from alloy wheels or swingarms. Use with caution.

Autosol will be your best friend if you like keeping metals clean. Depends on how much chrome and exposed alloy you have. A proper Chrome cleaner will help remove smudges left behind by Autosol to make chrome absolutely spotless.

Coloured bolts aren't great. The anodised finish fades quickly. The red gas cap bolts on my Aprilia are a dull pinkish-silver. Stainless bolts are much nicer. Just don't use them on load bearing components (brake caliper bolts) and use a anti-crossive thread sealant so they don't crust up inside their threads (though I'm pretty bad at not doing this). My $400 scooter has $100 spent on it just in stainless nuts and bolts.

Use mild-medium cutting compounds for paintwork to get the majority of scratches out. Only use polishes that are safe for clear coat paint (anything harsher is designed for older paint than what your bike will have, they'll cause more damage than they'll fix).

Sandblasting and Powercoating is pretty cheap. If your painted wheels are very stone chipped or abused by clumsy mechanics switching tyres over, getting someone else to sort them out for you is not much more expensive than spending hours sanding and using spray cans at home. Still looking at a couple hundred bucks, but it'll be worth it.

Alloy fork legs can be sanded down to remove stone chips.

Switching the handlebars over can be cheap, depending on the bars you buy. Various colours and bends available. A very satisfying mod I reckon.

There's heaps more I can say. Post some photos of the bike and we can point out things that can be done.

[Coyote]

New tires, brake pads, fluids and plugs. Best mods you will ever do.
Take your air filter out too, will fuck the bike but sounds mean and you will go fucken hard!

New tyres and brake pads are cheaper than new bars, mufflers, footpegs, levers, pants, boots, helmet, etc.

New fluids are cheaper than new piston rings too.

[Kempz44]

Attachment 284258

Thats my bike, i was thinking of changing the wheels over to a gold wheel which looks really good, but it would be costly
Also, i have already changed both sets of indicators and cut off the bottom of the plastic number plate holder thing

[DrunkenMistake]

Thats my bike, i was thinking of changing the wheels over to a gold wheel which looks really good, but it would be costly
Also, i have already changed both sets of indicators and cut off the bottom of the plastic number plate holder thing

You are probably looking at around $100 to sand blast and powder coat your rims,
Its alot cheaper than buying new rims

[Akzle]

Here are some pro tips:

Cut holes on your bike frame to save weight. Heres how Shervin RRR did.

http://www.zx-10r.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89168


Here is another dude whos done some significant amount of work to his 250 exhaust.
http://www.ninja250forum.com/index.p...6&topic=3395.0

fucking hilarious. But should probably be in the sickest jokes thread!

[Coyote]

Attachment 284258

Thats my bike, i was thinking of changing the wheels over to a gold wheel which looks really good, but it would be costly
Also, i have already changed both sets of indicators and cut off the bottom of the plastic number plate holder thing

It would be very difficult to get a gold set of wheels. It'd be cheaper/quicker/easier to have them blasted and powdercoated.

Tidying up the tail sounds like a good idea. Just make sure you've got another red reflector or you could fail it's next warrant.

Already looks like a pretty tidy bike. I'm thinking some bar end mirrors would look cool on it. You might be able to find a little headlight cowl (or something a bit bigger) to customise the front. A bellypan would be cool too. But that's starting to get expensive.

Getting the pipes HPC coated would be cool. Not sure on price, their site appears to be down. Colour is up to you. Black to blend in (match frame and motor), chrome or silver to stand out (match front end and swingarm).

That's most of the easy stuff I can think of. Everything from there starts getting pricier or more difficult. They're a cool bike regardless of what you do to it. First things first, service and groom it if you haven't done so already. Get the basics sorted first.