[Entropy]

Installed K-Tech Razor R shock. Hopefully to stop the bounce and improve the ride quality.

I use an Abbastand, this drops the rear suspension to its lowest point so I use some wood to take the weight off the shock securing bolts so they slide in/out easily.

All done, with Powerbronze rear hugger refitted.

Is it better? I have only done one short ride and haven't checked sag or even if the settings are where K-Tech recommend. This will be the third rear shock I have installed over the years and past experience has told me it will be better but not: "wow, that's incredible". I also told myself that next time I will do the forks first in the hope of finding that "wow", but here we are! I will probably go ahead and do the forks later.

The shock is length adjustable and I can shorten it by about 4mm which, if I understand it would drop the seat height by about 25mm (can't remember where I read that though, so take it with a pinch of salt). I'm vertically challenged (as in: short) so I may experiment later.

 

[nickmac73]

you will notice the difference, maybe not a wow but definitely a mmmm..

 

[gsh]

Gilles speedo relocation.
A bit more of a ballache than I was expecting, what with my sausage fingers and all. Will take it for a spin later once most of the heat has burned off the day.

Failed fitting an Xitomer rad guard. Just would not fit - one of the tabs was fouling the side cover mount hole so none of the Xitomer mount holes could line up. Will have to bite the bullet and buy an Evotech
Also worked out why the solo seat is less comfortable for me.

The actual sitting area is a different shape to the stock seat, which is wider. As a gentleman with a fuller figure, I need the extra width. I bought the solo seat new in anticipation before I even took delivery of the bike and as I rode it for 30 miles I couldn't in good consciense return it as "new". I guess I'll be sending it out for complete makeover and trying to ignore the expense!

 

[gsh]

Radiator guard and Denali Soundbomb Mini fitted.
Not satisfied with the Soundbomb location - I wanted it facing right but it fouled the rad side cover. This is a compromise until I get a patch lead and relocate it. The sound is something else!
Rad guard is great - UK made and half the price of the big boys. Fit perfectly.

 

[Entropy]

Still polishing...

The headers turn a golden colour after a ride and require a quick polish to bring them back to the chrome look. Everything after the cat doesn't change. On the top of the cat heat shield I experimented using wet and dry paper (600 grade, no power tools) to see if the brushed alumininium marks could be removed. They can but it takes a lot of work, maybe if I started with a coarser grade of wet/dry it might have helped, or used power tools.

I also fitted an ASV front brake lever but didn't bother with the clutch lever on this bike, it was a waste/unnecessary on the last bike.

I'm waiting for the K-Tech fork inserts to be back in stock which will, hopefully, make the forks more compliant.

 

[DGR]

Awesome job on the polished exhaust @Entropy !
I like how quiet the stock exhaust is so I have no plans to change it but the "unfinished" look with the brownish welds always bothered me.
I think I'm gonna try polishing it during the winter

 

[Entropy]

I like how quiet the stock exhaust is

Me too.
My friend has an early MT-07 and he bought a used Akrapovic system, it was loud and it made a harsh "blaat" sound when opening up the throttle but he thought the bike seemed quicker. He took the system off. He then refitted it (!) with a dB killer which made it as quiet as stock but lost the performance gains he thought it had produced earlier. He started drilling holes in the dB killer and, truthfully, it does now sound good, a mellow rumble, louder than stock but without any harshness and still seems quicker (in his "seat of the pants" estimation).

 

[nickmac73]

The headers turn a golden colour after a ride and require a quick polish to bring them back to the chrome look.

I have a polished stainless exhaust on mine, I like the chrome exhausts from back in the day. Only trouble is you will have to love polishing because they turn blue green and yellow very easily..

Not sure if Brooks Suspension have the K Tech springs but maybe not in your weight. I keep looking at those I have it mind for a winter upgrade.

 

[DGR]

It's been raining here all week, so I figured I'd start adding some crap to my new bike 😄

• Mounted the Xtribute seat,
• Mounted a complete Givi rack with the pannier racks on the side.
• Test fitted all the luggage that I already had in use on my other bike. (Wolfman expedition 2*20L and a Touratech 10-15L bag on top that expands with a zipper)

It all seems to fit like a glove and the fit and finish of the Givi rack is excellent
I like how the low exhaust makes it possible to keep the luggage really close to the bike. It's hardly (if any) wider than the bars.

Same setup in use on my other bike, ready for a weekend of motocamping:

 

[Entropy]

For Forks Sake!

Stanchions removed ready for K-Tech cartridge inserts. No major problems so far although I suspect refitting left caliper may be fiddly, it seemed to need angling more than the right one in order to remove it. I thought I could release the mudguard bracket and mudguard in one go - I couldn't. The mudguard bracket is what I would call an interference fit on the fork legs because you need to apply pressure and bend it to remove it.

Bonus: how to tell if you're overly cautious:

This is the Abbastand with front lift kit, for those not familiar, the lift kit consists of the two brackets running along the bike's centre line, The vertical bracket is the usual Abbastand which attaches to the bike's swing arm pivots.. To raise the front wheel you are supposed to use the black nylon strap by pulling down on it, you can see it on the right. I have never been happy with that so I use it as backup #2. Instead I use a chain and turnbuckle from the Abba bracket to a screwdriver in the axle although it's hidden in the picture. As backup #1 I use another chain from the bike chain adjuster to the Abba bracket, as backup #3 I use a block of wood under the engine. I also have a couple of bits of wood, tapered so that they will slide between the disc pads - not sure why because I live alone and the garage is locked so who would squeeze the brake lever?
Makes me wonder how I have the nerve to actually ride (and I've been riding for 51 years).

I drop the stanchions off on Wednesday, I'll let you know about how it works out later.

 

[Entropy]

For Forks Sake!

View attachment 27740

Stanchions removed ready for K-Tech cartridge inserts. No major problems so far although I suspect refitting left caliper may be fiddly, it seemed to need angling more than the right one in order to remove it. I thought I could release the mudguard bracket and mudguard in one go - I couldn't. The mudguard bracket is what I would call an interference fit on the fork legs because you need to apply pressure and bend it to remove it.

Bonus: how to tell if you're overly cautious:

View attachment 27741

This is the Abbastand with front lift kit, for those not familiar, the lift kit consists of the two brackets running along the bike's centre line, The vertical bracket is the usual Abbastand which attaches to the bike's swing arm pivots.. To raise the front wheel you are supposed to use the black nylon strap by pulling down on it, you can see it on the right. I have never been happy with that so I use it as backup #2. Instead I use a chain and turnbuckle from the Abba bracket to a screwdriver in the axle although it's hidden in the picture. As backup #1 I use another chain from the bike chain adjuster to the Abba bracket, as backup #3 I use a block of wood under the engine. I also have a couple of bits of wood, tapered so that they will slide between the disc pads - not sure why because I live alone and the garage is locked so who would squeeze the brake lever?
Makes me wonder how I have the nerve to actually ride (and I've been riding for 51 years).

I drop the stanchions off on Wednesday, I'll let you know about how it works out later.

OK, I have uncovered where the difficulty will be on reassembly. The headlamp is held by two "ears" which slide over the stanchions. To stop it rattling (presumably) there are O rings top and bottom (item #6)

The O rings are free to move and are held in place by being squeezed between the stanchion and the "ear" but once you slide the stanchion up into the lower triple tree, the O ring is pushed upwards and out of position. You would need something thin enough to be able to slide between the ear and the stanchion but rigid enough to push the O ring into position. Should be fun.

 

[geoffb]

I gave this one some TLC today. Full wash, polish, lube and adjustments.

 

[Entropy]

Since the temperature has finally risen above 0°C, I fitted my Dart windscreen to my 2022 XSR and learned something along the way. Main/high beam doesn't work unless the engine is running - I never use high beam so had never noticed it before.
Naturally, I thought I'd broken something since the Dart screen requires the gauge to be relocated (on >2021 models) and that meant you had to disconnect the gauge so I initially assumed that was the cause.

 

[DGR]

That's good to know @Entropy ! Thanks for sharing.
No pics of your bike with the new screen?

 

[DeepBarney]

Cross posting from my newcomers thread as I'm guessing this is the place for this type of post. Anyways, after getting it registered and a temporary plate put on it, I spent some time with it in the garage today to go over it with a bit finer tooth comb. Air pressure was low at around 25 psi in each tire. Sorted that. Chain had a bit too much slack. Adjusted that then cleaned and lubed it. While I knew the bike had been dropped on the left side (as evidenced by the broken off/sawed short clutch lever and light scratching of the bar end and end of the shift lever) but going over it today I noticed evidence it'd been laid over on the right as well. Light scrapes on the bar end and the end of it the swing arm is a bit buggered to. Also the the left side of the headlight bracket is bent.

Replaced the tail tidy kit with the factory fender and lights. And cursed the previous owner for not keeping the factory hardware to reinstall it with. Thankfully there's an Ace hardware just up the road from me that had everything I needed to mount it back up.

This piece/spacer fell out when I dropped the New Rage Cycle tail tidy. Wasn't part of that kit from what I could tell, but I couldn't see where it was supposed to go with the factory fender or under seat bits either. Anyone got any ideas for where it belongs?

Anyways I got it all buttoned up and everything seems solid and works the way it should.

Found another missing fastener though. Smh...

I got a generic m6 pan head bolt in there for now until I can source the appropriate replacement that'll match the others. Also the fork mounted reflector on the left side was on backwards so I corrected that too.

 

[DGR]

Still polishing...
View attachment 27725

Could you share what tools/process you used to polish the exhaust? Are there any secret tricks or shortcuts?

I'm working on the exhaust right now. To be honest it is a lot more work than I expected 😅
I've done a few headers in the past, they were a lot easier. The finish on this exhaust is pretty rough to begin with and it has more nooks and crannies than just a bent piece of pipe.

Before:

It's current state is pictured below. I had to remove a lot of weld spatter with the Dremel before I could even start wetsanding. This pic is after using red scotchbrite and 600grit. Still have 800-1000-1500-2000 grit and liquid polish to go. Will post the results when it's ready 💪

 

[DGR]

Would I do it again? Probably not. 😅
Am I happy with the result? Absolutely!

 

[Entropy]

Great job. The welds are pretty rough on the exhaust but I left them alone, yours looks much better. You still need to polish the shroud though...

 

[DGR]

Thanks!
I actually like the contrast with the shiny exhaust and the matte/brushed finish on the shrouds

 

[DeepBarney]

She got an oil change and I replaced the clutch lever the (PO cut it down to about 2-fingers wide after bending/breaking it).