Enginerd's Stuff

I have had a magnetic tank bag sitting on a shelf for the last year since the bike I moved up to has a plastic tank cover which doesn’t play well (at all really) with the magnets used to secure it. I had hoped to come up with a reasonable solution that neither involved replacing the tank bag or strapping it to the bike. Last night while chatting at bike night a light bulb went off and I knew I had an idea that would work. It just happened to be in time for a 300 mile weekend trip I’ll be leaving for tomorrow.
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As I had mentioned in previous posts I have been planning for a while now to install HID headlights in my 1000RR. I just had a few snags along the way. Originally my fiancée bought me a set for Christmas this past year, as it turned out months later when I went to install them (waited for better weather) they were the wrong bulb type. Of course having waited months to install them I couldn’t just return them, so they will be on ebay soon. I finally got around to ordering them and realized that while I was at it I would get a set for my truck too. I was super excited the day they came and went out to put the set in my truck first. I figured that I would have more room to work which would make the truck a better candidate for my first install then the bike would be second as it would likely be trickier…I was clearly wrong with this logic. After many hours of messing with them (4 or 5 to be entirely honest) and a few people looking with me I accepted defeat for the night and decided I would call the manufacturer the following day. Long story short there was one connector on each side that needed to be flipped on a select few vehicles, mine just happened to be one of them.

Install and pics after the break.
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As with most projects attention to detail can make or break the outcome. A vehicle is no different. When I decided to change the fairings on the my 1000RR I knew there were a few other things that went with it. Luckily for me the previous owner had intended to do the same thing and already took care of the hardest details for me.

The bike originally had a silver swing arm and silver rider and passenger pegs. These had already been powder coated before I got it. The exhaust was also switched out for a carbon fiber can instead of the stainless it once had. The easy details I was left with were the rim tape which I just installed today and HID’s that are in the mail as I’m posting this.

Since the weather cooperated and I just got my front stand back from a friend that was borrowing I decided now was as good a time as any to clean it real well and put the rim tape on. With a little patience the tape went no relatively easy and I will leave it up to you to decide if you like the outcome or not…I love it!

More pictures after the break!
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I posted up last fall some time about a set of HANNspree fairings I ordered for my 1000RR. Well now that the weather was finally starting to act like spring I planned a trip home to pick the bike up and while I was there swap the old fairings for the new. We had beautiful weather all last week and I was really itching to get the bike together and ride. The weekend finally came and the night before I left they got 2 inches of snow where I was planning on working on the bike. I suggested bringing the bike in the house to work on it (thinking that would not go over well with mom). Turns out inside and close to the fire place was the preferred place to work.

I did a lot of reading before starting this project to find out what I was in for and while I had a good idea I still wasn’t expecting quite what we experienced. I was thinking it would be a 4-5 hour job…in reality it was more like a 8-9 hour job with 3 helpers…

I don’t have before pics right now since dad took those on his camera, but it was an all black bike with a good bit of road rash on the left side. I’ll just start right in with the pictures:

Here is the disassembled bike in the dinning room.

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It would be terribly understated to say that I was like a kid on Christmas morning today. I purchased an IPod on eBay maybe a week ago that I was expecting to arrive today so I was ecstatic when my girlfriend sent me a text to let me know it would be on my desk when I got home.

I had also ordered a set of fairings (I have mentioned these a few times before on here) that I was unsure of when they might arrive. The second text from my girlfriend letting me know that there was a giant box with Chinese writing on it was what made the rest of my day seem unbearably long.

As soon as I got out of teaching today I came home to play with all my new toys. I checked out the IPod and set it up to sync while I tore through packing in the other room. (continue reading…)

Well I got the first piece of my new fairing set this morning. Since the Hannspree set didn’t come with a solo cowl and that was part of the look I am aiming for I purchased one on ebay to match. Both this and the fairings are coming from China so I wasn’t really sure when they might show up and to be honest with the riding season pretty much over I wasn’t too concerned either.

When I got home Friday there was a USPS slip waiting for me so I stopped by on my way to school this morning to get it.
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Well just last week I finally made the jump from a “little” sport bike to the top dog. I had the opportunity to sell my GSX-R 600 and pick up a CBR 1000RR. While it is only a few years newer as a 2004 it was the technology and size that were the big step. My initial thoughts were to finish school then buy a new bike, but there are some deals you just can’t pass up and as you can tell from the pictures I didn’t let this one go by.

It is a 2004 CBR 1000RR “Fireblade” and let me tell you this, I had no problem stepping off my Suzuki and onto this Honda. I have never let who made a vehicle decide whether I would own it or not and for that I am glad. I have ridden friends liter bikes before and as cool as that is there is a feeling that comes with owning one that is even better. It lies it the fact that you know every time you go out to ride you get to ride a liter, not just if someone lets you take theirs for a spin.

It feels good to be on something different and the power is definitely a nice upgrade. One of my engineering friends put it best when i told him “Welcome to the big leagues.” I found that rather fitting. I have always thought that a 1000 was something you worked towards and that it was almost an elitist group that rode them.

I do have some plans for it in the way of mods but those will come with time, and of course I will post them up here as the happen. For now it has a Carbon Fiber Yosh exhaust, the “Nicky Mod”, the “Flapper Mod”, a -1 front and +1 rear sprocket with a 520 chain, and a whole bunch of black powder coated bits.