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Based on a Street Triple. I ordered this in August of 2009, after falling in love with them following a painful getoff chasing my dad on the shop demo. I knew it had to be one colour, roulette green, after seeing the concept art for them. Originally the idea was to get the Arrow 3-1 titanium exhaust, the seat cowl, flyscreen, bellypan and bar end mirrors and call it a day. Ha! Ha! For laughing.
Next thing I know I'm riding away on it, nervous as a choirboy in a brothel. My first ever mod was a bicycle bell (that now doubles as my hotgrip controller mount). Then at a track day I put tape over both headlights, and they cracked when they cooled down. Bugger! sez I, and I promptly whacked them off and fit some projector spots originally intended for a car. They were fine for a fortnight, then they cracked. I liked wheelies, they didn't, something had to go. And so I slapped on a wave headlight, which looked great from the cockpit (I love looking down and only seeing gauges) but didn't get too many favourable impressions from the plebs.
Then the opportunity came to gut a pair of American headlights, swap the glass over and go back to using the stock headlights. Desperately wanting a decent light output I went for it, and after a marathon weekend of cutting, filing and heating up/prying, I managed the swap. Hurrah!
But the arse end wasn't left alone, oh no. I had gotten to know a custom exhaust manufacturer quite well, and put it to him to do me a Daytona 675 replica subframe with a custom 1-3 endcan. After being promised two weeks, I waited a week, had the bike picked up, and one month to the day after waving goodbye I got her back, just needing a battery box and a coolant reservoir to get 'er rideable. One week before a big bike show.
Being the fool I am, I tackled the problem head-on. A fibreglass panel was made up, then cut into the correct shape and fibreglassed together. That took four days of hacking, and then Thursday night was the big one. I had to find a way of making the coolant reservoir fit, not look like arse, and work. I retired at 1:30am, told someone on the pleb chat that I loved modifying motorcycles, and hit the hay.
Waking at 6am for some final tweaks, I rode to work on Friday morning, brimming with joy and trepidation at my ziptied battery box. Things were looking swell, so I went to the hardware store and bought some satin black paint for the subframe and the boy racer shop for some heatproofing materiel. So excited was I that I took a small detour around my neighbourhood, at least until a stray wire from the alarm plug got caught on the new exhaust header and melted, blowing my ignition fuse.
So there I am, 6:30 with light fading, on the wrong side of a river and about half an hour's walk from home. Using the trusty 5mm allen key ("the only tool you'll ever need for your Triumph!" according to my boss) I tried to take off the tank to get to the fuses. Except that the exhaust guys had taken off my tank for some reason, and the bolts that hold it on at the front were replaced with 10mm hex heads. Okay, time to go home. Half an hour later, I pick up an extension, a ratchet and a 10mm socket and wander back.
By this time it's dark, about 8:30pm, and I realise my mistake. In order to get the fuses out of your Street Triple, you require either pliers, inhumanly thin and inhumanly strong fingers, or dark magic. Or half an hour of swearing and trying to use your keys to lever the offending fuse out, then another twenty minutes getting the spare out. Bike fires up, I'm happy, home I go. 9:45 I'm fed and with a beer by my side, and I'm taking my bike to pieces. The deadline for getting my bike in the show has been and gone but damnit, I'll squeeze in!
By 11:30pm the subby has been taken to pieces and sandpapered, degreased and primered. For the next two hours I'll dash out to the garage and lay down three coats of satin paint, leaving the subby hanging from the roof, enclosed in a large cardboard box, with my sister's oil heater turning it into a truly ghetto fabulous painting booth. At 1:30 I drop dead, truly shagged by two stupidly long days.
And again up at 6am! Clean the bike, refit the subframe, refit the exhaust, reziptie the batterybox, polish the bike, light up the rear wheel as I'm leaving the driveway and make my way to the show. At 12:30pm I'm convincing the organiser to let me slide my bike onto the shop's stand. Home by 3pm, and fall asleep because tomorrow I'm working the stand.
Since then bugger all has happened to the bike. New tyres, front pads and fluid and that's about it. Now some vids/pics to keep you all happy.
All taken today.
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With the projectors on it.
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With the wave lamp and custom pipes.
Progress will be slow, I'm saving up for a trip away on the bike this summer. If and when stuff happens I'll post it up.
Next thing I know I'm riding away on it, nervous as a choirboy in a brothel. My first ever mod was a bicycle bell (that now doubles as my hotgrip controller mount). Then at a track day I put tape over both headlights, and they cracked when they cooled down. Bugger! sez I, and I promptly whacked them off and fit some projector spots originally intended for a car. They were fine for a fortnight, then they cracked. I liked wheelies, they didn't, something had to go. And so I slapped on a wave headlight, which looked great from the cockpit (I love looking down and only seeing gauges) but didn't get too many favourable impressions from the plebs.
Then the opportunity came to gut a pair of American headlights, swap the glass over and go back to using the stock headlights. Desperately wanting a decent light output I went for it, and after a marathon weekend of cutting, filing and heating up/prying, I managed the swap. Hurrah!
But the arse end wasn't left alone, oh no. I had gotten to know a custom exhaust manufacturer quite well, and put it to him to do me a Daytona 675 replica subframe with a custom 1-3 endcan. After being promised two weeks, I waited a week, had the bike picked up, and one month to the day after waving goodbye I got her back, just needing a battery box and a coolant reservoir to get 'er rideable. One week before a big bike show.
Being the fool I am, I tackled the problem head-on. A fibreglass panel was made up, then cut into the correct shape and fibreglassed together. That took four days of hacking, and then Thursday night was the big one. I had to find a way of making the coolant reservoir fit, not look like arse, and work. I retired at 1:30am, told someone on the pleb chat that I loved modifying motorcycles, and hit the hay.
Waking at 6am for some final tweaks, I rode to work on Friday morning, brimming with joy and trepidation at my ziptied battery box. Things were looking swell, so I went to the hardware store and bought some satin black paint for the subframe and the boy racer shop for some heatproofing materiel. So excited was I that I took a small detour around my neighbourhood, at least until a stray wire from the alarm plug got caught on the new exhaust header and melted, blowing my ignition fuse.
So there I am, 6:30 with light fading, on the wrong side of a river and about half an hour's walk from home. Using the trusty 5mm allen key ("the only tool you'll ever need for your Triumph!" according to my boss) I tried to take off the tank to get to the fuses. Except that the exhaust guys had taken off my tank for some reason, and the bolts that hold it on at the front were replaced with 10mm hex heads. Okay, time to go home. Half an hour later, I pick up an extension, a ratchet and a 10mm socket and wander back.
By this time it's dark, about 8:30pm, and I realise my mistake. In order to get the fuses out of your Street Triple, you require either pliers, inhumanly thin and inhumanly strong fingers, or dark magic. Or half an hour of swearing and trying to use your keys to lever the offending fuse out, then another twenty minutes getting the spare out. Bike fires up, I'm happy, home I go. 9:45 I'm fed and with a beer by my side, and I'm taking my bike to pieces. The deadline for getting my bike in the show has been and gone but damnit, I'll squeeze in!
By 11:30pm the subby has been taken to pieces and sandpapered, degreased and primered. For the next two hours I'll dash out to the garage and lay down three coats of satin paint, leaving the subby hanging from the roof, enclosed in a large cardboard box, with my sister's oil heater turning it into a truly ghetto fabulous painting booth. At 1:30 I drop dead, truly shagged by two stupidly long days.
And again up at 6am! Clean the bike, refit the subframe, refit the exhaust, reziptie the batterybox, polish the bike, light up the rear wheel as I'm leaving the driveway and make my way to the show. At 12:30pm I'm convincing the organiser to let me slide my bike onto the shop's stand. Home by 3pm, and fall asleep because tomorrow I'm working the stand.
Since then bugger all has happened to the bike. New tyres, front pads and fluid and that's about it. Now some vids/pics to keep you all happy.
All taken today.
With the projectors on it.
With the wave lamp and custom pipes.
Progress will be slow, I'm saving up for a trip away on the bike this summer. If and when stuff happens I'll post it up.
