Ya-Mod-Ha!
Ok, so the title of this blog is a bad pun...just like the very worst pun I've ever seen used for a hair or nail shop. Are you ready?
Mi-NAIL-i-um. Single worst punned business name in the history of time, and it's right near my place. Yes, I thought you'd be horried...now see, my title isn't so bad now, eh? Or not. :D But I digress (and you love it).
Really, I want to write a bit aboot mods. It's not aboot stock or aboot new bikes...just mods.
Well you see, when I had my last bike, an SV650S, it was the lure of modding which got me to upgrade in the first place. As I've written about already in my last blog, I was torn betwixt upgrading a budget sportbike with top shelf parts, or starting with a 'fancier' platform with some top shelf parts already on it. I elected for the latter....but I'm still modding.
It all started innocently enough, of course. Hey, I have an R1, what more could I need? But you see, the factory can make a killer bike, but they can't go giving away amazing parts for the asking price, even if Yamaha does own Ohlins. ;)
When I started riding my Yam, I noticed how fast it was....the acceleration, the surge of adrenaline...the WIND. Yes, this thing needed a new windscreen if I was to have any hope of keeping my head on my shoulders...at least, without looking like I'm in full tuck trying to draft past Duhamel at the Daytona 200 finish. So, I bought a slick Puig Race screen which has this double bubble design to deflect more wind off my head. The red color I picked was bold, daring, cool....putting it on the bike was easy! I thought the red would set off the red accents of the R1 nicely (pictured above). Unfortunately, once I had the Red Puig on the bike, I hated it. It did the job but was too bling for my tastes. So, with the magic of EBAY I offloaded the offending color and went a bit more stealth, more subdued.
Now that's better.
I tell you what...if windblast is a problem for you, the double bubble windscreens out there are a must. Now I have a nice calm pocket of air even at sub-sonic speeds, and the black isn't too shabby either for those who like the stealth look. Plus, the Puig screens in particular are strong and sturdy...they're not gonna break on you so easily like some *other* screens....and another benefit of the tint (I got dark smoke) is that you won't fry your gauges as light gets focused through a clear screen...not that this is a huge epidemic, but I've heard stories on the Internet(s).
Another mod most people do about a UPS delivery too late is the frame-slider/saver mod. You know, those plastic doohickeys that stick out to save your frame/clutch/bodywork in the event of a drop? Most of you kooky people wait till *after* you drop your bike to order some frame sliders. The real morons wait till they drop their bike twice! Sadly, I get an M for Moron.
Yes, I dropped my bike the first time (nothing like the sound of 12K on pavement) because I was trying to put a short leg down in tall airspace. Bad idea, hmmkay. Kerplunk...soft drop, not a big deal, but any drop is a freefall from a cliff when it's your baby. Second drop wasn't really my fault...it was a known TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) issue which caused stalling at low speed....well stalling in very tight turn means the engine shuts off mid turn and the bike goes down....very embarrassing drop too coz I had just given the drive through clerk an earful of goodness about my bike, and evangelized the sport right before I unceremoniously dropped my bike after a clicking, too-cool-for-school Fonzie wave and exit...DUH.
But anyhoo...yes, so now I have Frame Savers and a Clutch Saver from Graves. Incidentally, is it just me or is 'Graves' a scary name for a motorcycle parts shop? Sure, Chuck didn't choose his name but I wince every time I think about it, for some crazy reason...but I'm not the superstitious sort so I don't lose too much sleep over it.
At least his last name isn't DIEBIKERSCUM, or some such.
Another mod I made to my hawtness of R1 is to throw some reflective stickers on there in place of the non-reflective stockers. You know, I am all about the reflectives. People have a hard enough time looking, I mean, SEEING riders in the daytime...so nighttime will only be worse. That is, unless you're decked out like a Christmas Tree, Jacky. Check it:
Don't mind my left leg in that pic, it's not really 2 feet long like it looks there with foreshortening. But check out those 'flectives. The helmet has reflective tape-graphics from
http://www.streetglo.net/. I love these guys...they have everything reflective. Of course, I thought of this before I knew people were making money off my idea..LOL, I mean, this idea. With my first Arai, I ordered some SOLAS
(Safety of Life at Sea) 3M reflective tape, cut it into 1" squares and taped them all around in a checkerboard pattern, a la the Read Rep helmet, only reflective. Then, I discovered that not only are people selling checkers but all kinds of other cool designs for helmets and bikes. Making
yourself visible is key...and these reflectives work in the daytime too. Note that my Z-Custom leathers are full of reflectives which I designed in, including the Z logo itself (black reflective material). I just hope someone doesn't think my speedway stripes are an empty, newly paved road heh.
Next, I put some Pazzo levers on my bike.
These are called 'shorty' levers, and the brake and clutch both have these adjusters. That alone is worth the price of admission, but I love the look of the black anodized aluminum too...they're lightweight and the shorty levers means no broken levers should you have an incident. The bar extends past these things, and there's no loss of control or feel. In fact, I like them better than the longer stock levers, and they're quite easy to install...took about 10 minutes, and I'm no mechanic. One thing about the R1 is that these levers are available...they don't make these for other bikes, much to the chagrin of people who want these cool bits.
One of the most important mods you can make (besides software upgrades to your riding ability) is tires.....good quality, sticky tires which inspire confidence and provide plenty of wet/dry grip. Why have a great bike and crap tires? The only thing you're riding on is tires, so they may as well be top shelf. For my purpose, I use the Michelin Pilot Power, only I went from the stock 190 rear to a 180/55.
Why did I go to a 180? Well, Andy from Cycle Products West recommended them, and he mentioned that the 180 would have better turn-in, quicker steering. I was wondering if there was a downside because after all, Yamaha put a 190 on my bike. So, I did a little research and found that not only does the 180 offer better turning, it's perfectly ok for a 6" wide rim (like the R1 has) and offers more contact patch due to the taller side profile (the 55 in 180/55). Not only that, it's lighter (less unsprung weight) and cheaper!
Well that's all fine and good..but how did it ride? Fantastically. Of course, this could be the contrast we all feel from being SpongeRubber SquareTire (who commutes through car seas) to having new rubber...but I do think this 180 feels way better than even the 190...it feels planted, turns amazingly well. I notice only a little less stability in a straight line, and by that I mean, the bike is more willing to turn sooner, so you need more inputs to stay straight (or fewer turn inputs). Tires are one of the best mods you can make....I wouldn't bother trying to extract tons of mileage out of a stock tire just so it doesn't 'go to waste' coz you can always sell them...and if not having good tires means a lowside, is it worth it? I'd rather remove all doubt about my tires and know that if I went down, it was all me (course you could make that argument anyway, but you know what I am saying). ;)
Lastly, the mod I am always working on is software..my skillset. I do this with trackdays, canyon riding, group riding, solo riding, commuting every day to work...heck, I was even a messenger for a month or so...on an R1! It was both exhausting and fun....especially the longer runs.
Perhaps, the software mod is the best mod of all. Too bad I can't plug a Skill Commander into my head and download the Rossi map....but I can always improve the Dan map....and doing so is a blast.
