BSA in the wild

I’ve seen so many cool motorcycles this week.  Snapped this one over at Jorge’s Mexican restaurant off of Burnet here in Austin.

Triumph Cafe Racer

Triumph Cafe Racer

Seen at Ramsey Park in Central Austin.

Seen around town

Stretched out Ruckus

No Side Panels No Fender

The last of the superfluous plastic is gone from the bike. I removed the front fender with the intentions of bobbing it but after spending a few days with the front end naked I like the look. I’ll only have problems if I ride in a downpour and that front wheel kicks up water, but that’s not likely to happen as I don’t ride in the rain.

Removing the side plastic side panels also brings out more of the nakedness of the bike. The right hand side reveals the mono-shock which looks amazing. However, there are some wires that the side panel covered that have to be rerouted.

With the right hand side panel gone the tail section begins to look more lean and sleek. The yellow mono-shock pops out and the Monster truly begins to look like a naked machine.

The only unforgiving parts are the leftover tabs on the frame. Some owners have time to disassemble the bike grind the tabs off and repaint their frame. I, unfortunately, do not have that type of time on my hands. Luckily I was able to hide one of the wiring connections behind the tab using a black zip tie. The other smaller wiring connection I rerouted behind and above the rear brake reservoir next to the oil vent tube.

The left hand side panel was hiding much more content and more important devices.

Behind the left-hand side rear set tab is the coil to one of the cylinders. It is mounted right behind the tab. Most people relocate that under the seat but that procedure requires removing the plastic oil breather tank that connects to the air filter. Thought the oil breather tank is certainly an eye sore, removing it is a procedure I will not do. Most owners throw on a slick looking K&N filter on the oil vent, plug the air filter and call it a day. Those same owners claim that no harm is done to the engine or bike. I’ll wait on that mod until I learn more, but I recall on my last bike when I vented any blow back gasses into the atmosphere instead of having the air filter reclaim them it was a smelly mess. I prefer to smell nice when I get to work.

So the only thing I rerouted where the wiring connections that led to the rectifier. The thick insulated cabling actually runs through a deep groove in the plastic oil breather tank. I just pulled the cable up out of view and bent it until it was sitting comfortable under the seat. It no longer runs through the groove in the oil breather tank and the seat doesn’t pinch it in any way. The left-hand side isn’t looking as best as it could. You can still see a little of the colored wires, the thick tube that leads connects to the oil breather tank and the bottom of the oil breather tank. Nevertheless, I am happy with removing the plastic parts. The only two I have on the bike are the seat cowl and front chain guard.

SpeedyMoto Goodies on their way

SpeedyMoto has some pretty sweet parts for Ducatis and these aluminum belt covers are pretty much the first customization that most Ducatisti do. I’m not very fond of the plastic parts on the engine and these anodized billeted aluminum covers are a direct replacement for the OEM belt covers. I also ordered a sprocket cover for the chain in the same anodized black and red color scheme. They should arrive by the end of the week and installed in less then half an hour shortly after. Pics up soon.

New Grips New Bar Ends

These are the original grips the monster came with which makes them 5 years old. Weathered and faded, they must go.

Nice texture on the Magura bars.

Rizoma billeted aluminum bar ends and OEM Ducati grips and throttle tube. Everyone and their momma upgrades to Rizoma grips and I even considered it myself, in fact, I still may one day, but I have always been fond of black rubber grips.

Removing original throttle tube.

Now that is black.

I was surprised by how light the Rizoma bar ends were, too light in fact. The whole point of bar ends,, besides the cosmetic advantages, are to decrease bar vibration. I think these may not be heavy enough. I’ll now after tomorrow morning after I take the monster to work. If there is any noticeable increase in vibration I’ll return them and get OEM Ducati bar ends.

New Reservoir Covers

One of the things that has been bothering me about the Monster is that the black parts just aren’t black enough. The master cylinder for both the front brake and clutch are faded from the sun and etched from the corrosive fluid. Luckily, I found some anodized billeted aluminum coffin covers from http://carbon-trader.com/

Blacking out the Timing Belt Covers

This post, chronologically, should have come before the last. Blacking out the timing belt covers. Once again, Ducati should had made these black right out of the factory. The zombie grey doesn’t belong on a Ducati.

I toyed with the idea of running with open belts and I still may one day, but not until I can find a cheap alternative to the SpeedyMoto sprocket covers.

I does look tough.

Blacked out.

T-Rex Single Sided Swingarm Stand

My T-Rex single-sided-swingarm stand came in yesterday.

Tail Chop

The offending article… beer tray as it’s known on the monster forums.

Remove Seat

Unbolt fender.

Remove tail light.

Flip over beer tray.

Remove turn signals.

Remove license plate light.

Remove beer tray.

Clean dirt and dust off of sub-frame.

Prep sub-frame for cutting. Tape areas of frame with packaging tape to prevent paint chipping from accidental blade skips.

Clean cut with a hacksaw.

Paint exposed metal with rust preventing primer.

Anodized billeted aluminum frame plugs.

Competition werkes fender eliminator kit.

Sticker for my toolbox.

Black it out.

Signal brackets.

Goodbye.