My 919 Hornet Mods

[skelstar]

A couple of people have asked for photos of the headlight mods that I have made to my bike.

XB12S Headies
A while ago I saw a video of a guy on a Hornet that sported Buell XB12S headlights. It looked the shizz and found that the headlights and bracket would only cost about $200. Sweet. Had a look on eBay and found a guy that was making and selling XB12S Lightning screens in carbon fibre for about US$65.

So once I got all the parts I whipped the original headie off and made up the simple bracket that was going to hold the Buell bracket that holds the screen abd headlight. I had also paid a man some money (in US) for some instructions on wiring/bracket mods, and for a bit of piece of mind.

First bracket (stainless) was a bit short and the headies pointed the lights a bit too high. Second (Al) attempt was better. Have yet to paint the bracket so its a bit ugo.

Wasnt completely sold on the look, but feel more pleased with it now. Havent seen anyone ride it yet so not sure what it looks like.

Exhaust
I removed the baffles from my cans. 45mins worth of work and I think the bike sounds fantastic. The tone would be better with a proper expensive pair of cans. Im just poor.

Tell you what, the 'Net is a pretty quite bike and I struggled to rev it much before (250 v-twin syndrome), but a ride in the Taka's with my newly aquired loud cans and my riding was tons quicker. Cars know you are there too when youre lane-splitting/filtering too.

Photos: apologies for the poor lighting. Another tropical day in Welly with a Sony camera.

[skelstar]

Man those photos are crap. Flash must have come on. Theres no discolouration in the CF screen BTW.

[WickedOne]

Light look good mate, well done. What bars did you put on your Hornet, are those the Renthal ones?

[WickedOne]

Cleaned up the pics for you a bit mate...

[skelstar]

Nah, they are 'Pizzaz' or something. About $80 and NOT recommended. I cant find bar-ends for them and cant afford to remove the crossbar thingy. Will forkout for some pro-tapers soon though.

You done your bar thing yet? Want someone to knock the plastic knob-bits off the controls and see how successful they were.

[WickedOne]

Haven't done anything to the bars yet. I am going go order some bar end weights from http://www.motovationusa.com/mvstore...p?idproduct=43
on thurday and see if that helps. If not I will look at some aluminium bars. Getting used to the vibration though, changed my riding position a bit (dropped my elbows down) and relaxed my grip heaps which makes a big difference.

Plastic knob bits?

[skelstar]

The ones that locate the grips and controls on the stock bar. If you get a renthal etc you would have to drill holes into the bar, unless you wack the knobie bits off and use inner-tube rubber to stop the controls from slipping.

[WickedOne]

Damn, I wouldn't be too keen on drilling into the bars. I'll let you know which way I go and how it turns out (if I do end up going for new bars). Good work on the lights though, looks good.

[madboy]

Please tell me your next project will be changing the mirrors, and at least getting black insulation tape to hold the rego label on?

Other than that it looks good. Reminds me of this ghostrider DVD I might have once seen...

[skelstar]

Well the mirrors are actually off my 250, and look ten times better than the Honda stock shiny-chrome mickey-mouse-ears mirrors. Whats the alternative?

[Kendog]

Looks good. See you decided to invest in a screen too. We're awaiting some pretty nifty looking mirrors from a place in Italy, not cheap, about $300 for a pair, but they looked cool in the pic. Will be interested in hearing what it sounds like now too. The other half has ordered some new bars for his bike and waiting for those to arrive, best ask him about those though, but I am interested in seeing how good the bar end weights are for taking out vibration, so if you do try a set Wickedone, let us know what they are like and if they are worth the $$. Cheers.
Mrs KD

[skelstar]

The screen is largely cosmetic. I thought it might make a difference but deflects wind onto my helmet more than anything else. Havent tested at great speed yet, but TD3 at Taupo may remedy that shortcoming.

[WickedOne]

Looks good. See you decided to invest in a screen too. We're awaiting some pretty nifty looking mirrors from a place in Italy, not cheap, about $300 for a pair, but they looked cool in the pic. Will be interested in hearing what it sounds like now too. The other half has ordered some new bars for his bike and waiting for those to arrive, best ask him about those though, but I am interested in seeing how good the bar end weights are for taking out vibration, so if you do try a set Wickedone, let us know what they are like and if they are worth the $$. Cheers.
Mrs KD

No worries, I'll be in touch once I get them.

[Jonty]

Looks good mate

Although I agree on the mirror comment, I think they sit a little high. Maybe look at getting some buell ones?

[skelstar]

Yeah, they look really bad in that photo. A lot to do with them being mounted on the 'bend' of the bars. Problem will be rectified when I sort the bar-issue out. The Buell ones are round and 'mickey-mouse-ear' like also. Just like the Honda stockers.