My First Few Mods

[SANGER_A2]

I've been lurking for a while and thought it was about time I gave something back. I've had my new FZ6 for a few months now and have done a few mods already that I thought I'd share with y'all.

I'm listing all my mods/upgrades on my website here sangera2.com along with details on my bike and other bits and pieces.

The first is the fender eliminator. I got it fitted new with the bike because then the price was added to the 0% finance deal I got. I ordered the Yamaha one but it was actually made by R&G (don't know if anyone else has noticed this).

At first I wasn't sure if it was worth the £50, but it looks great and if you compare it to the original one, it totally changes the look of the rear of the bike. The number plate is moved up and forwards a great deal from the original position. Also, it uses LEDs for the light and will save me a few watts.

Anyway, on with the pic-whoring. Just click on the thumbnail images to see larger views.

From the rear (the manky white reflecter they stuck on, I've since replaced it with two smaller ones on the number plate itself):-


A nice side view:-


A bit of a closeup:-


Here you can see the original fender (I made sure they gave it to me with the bike):-


A very poor picture in the garage comparing them:-


Another comparison from the side:-

[SANGER_A2]

I knew that I HAD to have the lower fairing when looking at the FZ6 as I love the look of fully faired bikes and I also wanted the added wind protection (I ride all year round and do a bit of touring too). I ordered it direct from the dealership with the bike so again it's added on to the 0% finance. It was about £360 with a 10% discount I managed to wangle out of them. It's Yamaha built and is very similar to the FZ1 fairing. I've downloaded the UK and Spain Yamaha Street motorcycle accessories catalogues from the Internet and they both have the same part numbers and details on the fairing. I've clipped the page out and uploaded it here:-


It's really high quality and totally fits with the look of the bike. I can't compare it to how the bike would be without it as I haven't ridden that way yet but I get very little windblast on my legs with it on.

The guy at the dealership said I might want to put some stickers on it or something but I kinda when the other way and took off every sticker I could (including the Yamaha stickers on the tank). I like it when people come up to me and say "what the hell is it?" and I wanted a stealth look bike. The plan is to make all the shiny silver bits black.

Here is a view from the front showing how it sticks out:-


And a really nice view from the front-right:-


And the side:-


And from the rear:-


And a closeup:-

[SANGER_A2]

I ride all year round and so need to keep my hands warm in the freezing British winter! I had Oxford heated grips on my last bike and they were great! I ordered Roxter ones as they're basically the same as the Oxford ones but cheaper. These are the new style which use funky LED indicators to show the power level and are harder to turn on automatically.

They state they they will turn off automatically when the battery is below a certain voltage and will not turn on unless the engine is running. The latter is true, they only go on after the bike has been running a few seconds. However, from what I've see, the automatic turn-off thing doesn't work as they stay on when the bike is turned off. They may go off after 10 mins or so but I haven't tried it.

Initially I mounted the control box on the left fairing so it was hidden from my sight by the handlebars but I then used the mounting system to mount them next to my clutch cable to easy access.


The first job is to get the bar ends off. This isn't too bad. They were torqued down pretty strongly but Yamaha didn't use threadlock like Kawaski seem to. You just need a decent socket wrench to get them off.

Then, you need to get rid of the original Yamaha grips. There are two ways to do this - use a screwdriver and WD40 and lots of elbow grease - or a Stanley knife. It's pretty obvious which is easier. I used the first method on the left grip and it wasn't too bad - but I scratched the bar a bit. For the right-hand grip I just cut it straight off and it took a few seconds. You can see the left-side all naked below:-


When fitting grips, it's very important to get everything lined up and tested before you glue them on - especially with the throttle (you don't want that bad-boy sticking). I put them on and off a few times after cleaning off the old glue from the bar and throttle assembly. I also tested them with the bar ends fitted and found that I needed to cut and file away the inside of the grips on both sides or they were squashed in by the bar ends (VERY dangerous on the throttle side):-


I routed the wires for the grips underneath so they would be hidden as you can see below:-


For the throttle cable I checked the best position for the cable with the throttle fully open and fully closed to make sure it didn't snag on the brake lever or anything:-


That's the complicated bit done. Then the scary bit starts. You need to glue the grips in place! Be very careful with the glue. It is also probably worth speaking to your local bike garage as to what is the best glue to use. The stuff that was supplied with my grips was the really cheap super-glue you get from the poundshop in packs of 10. It took ages to dry and I managed to get some on my tank after waiting a couple of minutes and assuming it had hardened. Put some plastic underneath the grips to protect the bodywork. Towels/rags are not good enough as the glue will soak through them!

I've discovered that these grips are actually not as good as my older ones. The Control box on my original heated grips used the dial (which was great) and although it was easy to turn on accidentally you got a good amount of control with it. They got very hot very quickly because the current was constantly flowing. With these grips, the current pulses so it does not use as much power but they don't get hot enough.

When I have some free time, I'm going to remove the control box from my original bike and swap it onto the FZ6. I'll also wire it into the system using a relay switched by the BD43 headlight cable I made up so that they will only work when the bike is on.

[SANGER_A2]

These don't really count as mods, but they're things that are definitely worth doing by everyone. Please don't flame me for writing about them though!


With 5 minutes of getting the bike, I stuck on a plain black Motrax tank protector as low down towards the seat as I could get it to stop the tank from being scratch from my riding trousers. If you need to sit down now to marvel at how hardcore I am, please feel free. Anyway, for those of you who live in the stone age they look like this:-



Another little add-on I put on (which is also cheap and worth doing) was reflective rim tape. This is just a little something extra to try and make me a bit more visible to the cagers out there. Because I wanted a stealth bike I ordered them in black. It's pretty cool actually. They're invisible normally but when a light shines on them they glow. The black ones don't glow as much as the white ones I had on my GPZ500S, but they're still pretty cool.

Normally:-


With the camera flash ON:-



And the last silly little add-on is yet another incredibly hardcore mod: a tax disc holder. Yeah baby, you're in the danger zone now! Wen you get a bike, the tax disc is normally in plain sight attached the front wheel with a cheap holder. I ordered a plain black one with an O-ring inside that will stop the tax disc getting wet and mouldy and I mounted it underneath my exhaust facing up so that from the side it's not really visible. This protects the disc, hides it from thieves, makes it harder to steal as you need to undo like 8 allen bolts and cleans up the look of the bike a bit more. It also stops a bit of the road muck going onto the exhausts. I know that Mr Plod probably won't like it, but it's on display if they take a few minutes to look. I didn't bother taking a pic of this in situe but the tax disc holder looks like:-

[BMX9000]

Very nice bike

[SANGER_A2]

Originally Posted by BMX9000

Very nice bike

Thanks. She's beautiful! Everytime I look at here I say "ahhhh". There are so many high quality touches that Yamaha have made. There isn't anything that seems cheap or rushed about it (except some of the screws).

[Gilo-FZ6]

bike looks teriffic..can you tell me where you got the black rim tape from please..and how hard it was fit..ive seen some absolutly terrible installations in my time,id be afraid of doing the same

[SANGER_A2]

Originally Posted by Gilo-FZ6

bike looks teriffic..can you tell me where you got the black rim tape from please..and how hard it was fit..ive seen some absolutly terrible installations in my time,id be afraid of doing the same

I got it on ebay here REFLECTIVE WHEEL RIM TAPE ANY SCOOTER WHEEL 10" TO 26" on eBay, also Other Scooter Parts, Scooter Parts, Motorcycle Parts Accessories, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 27-Jan-09 20:36:43 GMT) for just over £11.

It was very easy to put on. The most important thing is to make sure that the wheel rims are REALLY clean and oil free first. I used Paraffin to clean the grease off, then used car shampoo to clean it, then rinsed it loads and let it dry for half-hour or so. Then I wiped it with a cloth just before putting the tape on. I ordered 11mm but I wish I'd got 8mm as it was a little bit too thick - stands out more though. You just put it on a little at a time. I found that it was best to cut the backing strip so that each piece of tape is separate and only pulled it off the backing tape a bit at a time to stick it to the bike. Then a quick rub over with a cloth to make sure it was stuck down all over and to get rid of any bubbles.

[simonwb]

Hi Sanger thanks for your posts, very interesting.

Looks like you and I are going roughly in the same direction with our bikes ie back to black. Here's mine, below, plus I've got a pair of Acerbis handguards to fit that Gilo in Cardiff recommended, but like him have a bit of manflu' laying me low at the moment.

Next up for me are some shorty levers in black but the main thing that sticks out in my eye are the footpegs. Rearsets in black would look cool but a bit expensive for just a cosmetic job and I don't know if I'd find the lack of vibration damping ie rubber intrusive on longer trips. The alternative is just to powdercoat the OE pegs, but I can't do that myself and, because I ride most days, probably couldn't have the bike off the road for the 1 or 2 weeks necessary to get a local shop to do it.

[SANGER_A2]

Originally Posted by simonwb

Hi Sanger thanks for your posts, very interesting.

Looks like you and I are going roughly in the same direction with our bikes ie back to black. Here's mine, below, plus I've got a pair of Acerbis handguards to fit that Gilo in Cardiff recommended, but like him have a bit of manflu' laying me low at the moment.

Next up for me are some shorty levers in black but the main thing that sticks out in my eye are the footpegs. Rearsets in black would look cool but a bit expensive for just a cosmetic job and I don't know if I'd find the lack of vibration damping ie rubber intrusive on longer trips. The alternative is just to powdercoat the OE pegs, but I can't do that myself and, because I ride most days, probably couldn't have the bike off the road for the 1 or 2 weeks necessary to get a local shop to do it.

Lol. They are looking very similar. In fact, I took off my rear passenger pegs a couple of days ago so we match even more!

Have you got the full wrap-around Acerbis guards? I'd be interested to know if they fit or not. They look nicer than the UFO ones but I was unsure about if it would be possible to get them to fit.

I'm planning on getting my rearsets power coated at a later date during the holidays when I won't need the bike. I was thinking about getting the levers powercoated along with it and any bits of the handlebars that would come off easily. I need to research it properly though as I don't know how long it should take and how much it should cost!