Intro and saga of mods

[hk_fz6_05]

Well I already shot you guys an intro in the new members thread. But hi again - I'm the hugely oversized doc who bought an fz6 for his first bike :cheer::cheer:

my baby is an 05 FZ6 garage bike in stock condition.....well not entirely stock - the indicators got swapped for clear indicators by previous owner, but that is it. So I've got a lot of options for having fun, getting to know my bike and making her pretty.

btw the bike's named "Jordy" after a friend of mine who was killed a couple of years back (no not riding ). She's a lot like he was - pretty wild, but dependable, great fun and allround pretty awesome.

I'll be using this thread to chronicle my plans and experiences modding my bike, for my own benefit as much as anything, but I hope some of you (newbies like me?) will find help/ideas in here. A lot of what I've got planned already has been gleaned from this and other forums along with boneman's website.

So I'm going to start out with a couple of shots of Jordy and move on to a brief sum up of what my plans are. (unfortunately weather hasn't been with me photo wise)

 

[cap'n]

You thinking of going more tour-ish or race-ish?

 

[hk_fz6_05]

unfortunately I live apart from my bike at the moment, so I won't be getting into working on it for a little while yet. But planning can be done from afar!! So, my initial plans are as follows:

• 
  BD43 dual headlight mod as described in extreme depth elsewhere on this forum.

• 
  Lowering the rider foot pegs using GSG Mototechnik 50mm drop kit. I'm planning on using those 50mm to both drop the pegs and move them back somewhat - review and report to follow.

• 
  Replacing brake and clutch levers with Pazzo levers (all black)

• 
  Replacing grips with Rizoma Sport Line grips (all black)

• 
  And replacing bar ends with Rizoma bar ends.

My thinking currently goes: I need to lower those pegs. That is going to mean me mucking with the clutch anyway, hence I might as well replace the lever anyway. Hence I should replace the brake lever as well due to aesthetics. And since I need to replace the levers I'll be taking off the grips and bar ends anyway. SO I might as well replace those bits as well, seeing as those are a big part of my day to day experience of the bike.....

oh yeah...and it would be fun! :BLAA:

actually the mod I'm most looking fwd to is the dual headlight because it will get me rooting around in the inner bits of my bike (aspiring surgeon that I am ).....and safety wise it will be amazing too. No more cagers mistaking you for a moped or bicycle!!

So anyway those are my plans. More have been drafted but are not going to be initiated before batch one is complete.

oh yeah PS: Since I will be riding the bike to visit (semi)distant friends soon I've ordered a BagsConnection tailbag and tank bag - review to follow.

ideas, comments, tips, hints and anything else for any and all of this is obviously most welcome!

:rockon:

 

[hk_fz6_05]

one of the reasons I fell for this bike was it's versatility, so I'm definitely not going naked or completely racing.

I think you guys will have to be the judges of what direction I end up taking things in.....

[edit] the post of my plans is currently awaiting moderation, why I'm not entirely certain, but it should be up soonish with loads more nfo [/edit]

 

[hk_fz6_05]

Being stuck at work for another....oh....12 ½ hours I thought I'd dedicate some quality time to thinking about what comes after my immediate modding plans (all of which I have now ordered the parts for - see previous posts)...

well I've spent a good hour and a half or more trying to wrap my brain around the whole bi-xenon + angel eyes HID thing....aside from my brain noodles now being severely cooked, I think I more or less got it. And at the very least I'm sorely tempted by the challenge of the wiring harness mayhem that seems to ensue....add to that the very cool looks that blacking out the reflectors produces (thanks for the pic Boneman) and the added visibility and safety....Well, add that to the list. When exactly? Depends on how daunting I find the wiring of the dual headlights to begin with.

uhm what else? Well a lot of you guys have been talking about the FE kits available and the visual difference is pretty big, I agree, so pending research into the sizes of local number plates, I think that one is going on the to do list.

also a pretty neat little mod: watsen or similar flush LED turn signals. Don't like the weird growths currently sticking out of the sides of my fizzr.

sorry about the complete lack of linkage...can't really work up the energy to link everything up right now, but will in a little while. this is also just a rough sketch of things to come.
[edit]fixed[/edit]

hmmm right now I can't think of more things, though I know that they're out there. Well, frame sliders. [edit] and puig DB screen[/edit]

 

[hk_fz6_05]

So I finally got the chance to get started doing my mods. Spent most of a full day mucking about with the bike, beginning with the BD43 headlight mod and moving on to new foot pegs, handle bar grips, ends and levers and ending with adjusting the brake and shifter pedals.
All in all very enjoyable, though there were some minor difficulties - for one thing I had to scrounge some bolts for the new pegs and for another Rizoma's instructions were really bad engrish, but aside from that very nice.

I'm going to write up a proper review of the new GSG foot pegs after I do a longish ride with them next week. Initially I can say I like them, they added some comfort in letting my ffeet sit lower but I have noticed some vibration around 6k rpm that wasn't there before....

As for the rest - loving it! Especially the new rizoma grips and bar ends. I guess most ppl consider these purely style items but to me it was a BIG improvement in comfort. Thing is I have pretty huge hands that cover most of the grip including the bar ends in my current riding position. So with the old grips the little rubber lip at the end would dig into my palm and get really uncomfortable.
My new grips are completely smooth - no lip = no pain!
Also there's less give in the throttle control now, which is also very nice. As for vibration in the bars? Well I've noticed a slight increase, but nothing I would have been aware of if not for all the posts on the subject on this forum.

So, all in all: Very pleased. Nothing I did was at all very complicated and are recommended for new modders to get a good start.

Again I will include pics when it starts letting me upload (probably a bandwidth issue)

 

[Cloggy]

So I finally got the chance to get started doing my mods. Spent most of a full day mucking about with the bike, beginning with the BD43 headlight mod and moving on to new foot pegs, handle bar grips, ends and levers and ending with adjusting the brake and shifter pedals.
All in all very enjoyable, though there were some minor difficulties - for one thing I had to scrounge some bolts for the new pegs and for another Rizoma's instructions were really bad engrish, but aside from that very nice.

I'm going to write up a proper review of the new GSG foot pegs after I do a longish ride with them next week. Initially I can say I like them, they added some comfort in letting my ffeet sit lower but I have noticed some vibration around 6k rpm that wasn't there before....

As for the rest - loving it! Especially the new rizoma grips and bar ends. I guess most ppl consider these purely style items but to me it was a BIG improvement in comfort. Thing is I have pretty huge hands that cover most of the grip including the bar ends in my current riding position. So with the old grips the little rubber lip at the end would dig into my palm and get really uncomfortable.
My new grips are completely smooth - no lip = no pain!
Also there's less give in the throttle control now, which is also very nice. As for vibration in the bars? Well I've noticed a slight increase, but nothing I would have been aware of if not for all the posts on the subject on this forum.

So, all in all: Very pleased. Nothing I did was at all very complicated and are recommended for new modders to get a good start.

Again I will include pics when it starts letting me upload (probably a bandwidth issue)

looking forward to the review and the pics :thumbup:

 

[hk_fz6_05]

finally finally able to upload....so here are the pics of all the little bits and bops added and the pieces left over

oh yeah and my friend going "hmmmmmm?" over the Rizoma bar ends that came with 1000 little bits and pieces only three of which we needed

 

[rino60]

Keep it up. Quite a deadly looking lowering kit - what'd it cost you?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-19.276872,146.804609

 

[motojoe122]

Great looking bike and the mods are a plus!

While Im thinking about it, jblk9695 makes a set of mirror extenders. It gets them up and out about an inch...huge difference! Ive been preaching about these ever since I got mine. No more having to swerve or tuck your elbows to see behind you.

EDIT: How do you tighten your handle bar clamps? Looks like flush bolt heads.

Keep the mods and update coming!:thumbup:
Joe

 

[Motogiro]

Bike looks great! Very clean 05. I don't see any frame sliders (crash bobbins). They will help protect in a tip over. very nice mods!

 

[hk_fz6_05]

@rino: they were pretty expensive. 128 Euros. there's a full review here

@motojoe: those are simply covers that pop right off. the bolt heads are underneath.

@motogiro: tell me about it. just dropped it on it's side though I got off extremely cheap. Cussing myself for not getting frame sliders on there yet. :spank:

 

[DownrangeFuture]

I vote for the HID install. I did the kit from here and it worked out great. Very high quality setup. Search for my thread on installing them if you decide that way. Lots of details in there.

 

[hk_fz6_05]

yeah that's definitely something I'm wanting to do although my riding buddy recently said that there might be some legal issues in this country. have to look into that.

 

[DownrangeFuture]

I imagine as long as you got projectors, and a yellowish colored bulb, no-one could tell it wasn't supposed to be like that.

Just slapping in HID lights into a standard reflector housing, is illegal just about anywhere, and really just makes a bright puddle right in front of the bike that actually makes it harder to see.

 

[hk_fz6_05]

well, finally got my hands back on my bike and the time to start the mods again.
After spending almost a year away from it on the Faroe Islands I had done plenty of research and shopping online and had a lot of new parts waiting for me....
First step was tackling the install of my new bixenon projectors and angel eyes (helped greatly by this forum and this thread in particular)
As I had my fairing off anyway it seemed ideal to throw on the watsen LEDs while I was at it. That was fairly plug and play, the only hurdle being figuring out how to detach the OEM signals. So that was five minutes well spent.

The result is amazing - lots and lots of light and a sleek, slightly menacing look with the blacked out reflectors and new signals. LOVE IT even though it was quite a mission.

Still have quite a few parts lying round for part two coming up in a week's time or so....the next few things will be the FZ1 handlebars, a smoke motovation LED integrated tail light and front, rear and fairing sliders.

Also considering replacing the clutch cable (will be time soon anyway) and maybe going for some HEL brakelines. But that will have to wait til the next bits are done. Safe to say that modding is addictive