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Stepping Out of the Motorcycle Game
During this past Winter, I’ve had plenty of time to contemplate whether or not to keep up my riding or let it go. I tried my hardest to keep going, but in the end, my better judgement won and I decided to close this chapter of my life. This decision could readily be derived from […]
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Quickshifter Test Run
Made this video when I installed the quickshifter to give an idea how quick the bike shifts. I love not having to think about working the clutch for upshifts, just press down on the shifter and bang away. The location in the video wasn’t the best since it was right outside my neighborhood and there […]
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Ohlins TTX36 Shock
Cold weather is upon us (Since this is California, anything under 70 I’m going to call cold) and the track season is winding down, which means the bike will have to go into hibernation until next year. Even if I’m not riding, I can still build. Today’s agenda was to install a beautiful Ohlins TTX36 […]
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Annitori RL Quickshifter
The “Annitori RL” quickshifter kits are a new product from HM Racing, makers of arguably the best quickshifter in the world (the HM Plus). The Annitori RL lacks the advanced “race” features of its bigger brother, such as full adjustability and an LCD screen. Otherwise, the actual technology in the shifting is shared, utilizing a […]
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TechSpec C3 Traction Pads
Threw on these tank grips to see if they’ll help improve control of body motion. It’s good to grip the tank with your legs under braking in order to anchor your body weight away from your arms. Gripping a smoothly painted tank can be tricky. I decided to try out TechSpec’s newer “C3” pads, which […]
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Case Cover Gasket
The clutch-side case cover had a small leak from what appeared to be a gasket failure. I yanked the cover off today and cleaned up the old RTV silicone. I threw on a new gasket and snugged down all the bolts. Bonus picture: the headers are turning a nice, RICH blue… the level of quality […]
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Dyno Tune
First, I’ll have to start this by admitting a sad story, (I should probably have my ability to turn a wrench revoked) I failed at installing the Akrapovic exhaust. I had the headers fitted, but getting the link pipe to connect with the collectors proved to be an impossible feat. I literally spent hours wrestling […]
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Akrapovic Evolution
Since the beginning, I held great interest in this particular exhaust. I thought I was lucky and found a great deal on one used, but after weeks of waiting for something to happen, I figured the seller wasn’t going to come through. Which is what lead me to the next alternative, the TiForce system. A […]
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Gilles VCR38GT Rearsets
So why did I swap out my perfectly functional Woodcraft rearsets? Long story short, I caved in and was won over by the exquisitely machined, German-made, and highly detailed Gilles VCR38GT’s. Since I’ve always fancied having gold rearsets, I took extended measures to obtain these Gilles in all-gold. This meant waiting over a month to […]
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Tire Prep
After a quick Palomares road ride today, I pulled off the bike’s wheels. It was recommended to me that the outer edges of the rear tire were nearing their expiration, so I took the opportunity to get the bike ready for a pair of fresh rubber. This is in preparation for hopefully one more trackday […]
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LighTech Frame Sliders
Ideally, I would have kept using the Woodcraft Frame Sliders, but making the necessary cuts is too difficult to get right. Since I already messed up a set of OEM lowers because of this, I decided to revert back to the inferior no-cut style sliders. I debated not omitting the use of frame sliders entirely, […]
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The Darkside is Better
Hammered out the remaining tasks today and finally got the bike rolling. After piecing together all the fairings and bodywork, I can really appreciate the amount of detail Honda put into these things. There are so many intricate pieces and snap-on points. I undertook cutting new holes for the Woodcraft frame sliders in the morning. […]