Friday, September 4, 2015

Bada bing, Bada Bling

Today I got a little package in the mail. I was so excited as I knew what it was. The last piece of bling for my new R1 had arrived.


I ordered a set of Pazzo folding levers to replace the bog stock ugly ones that the bike comes with. I'll let you be the judge in quality between the originals and the new Pazzos. So it went from this......


Original fitment levers

To this


Pazzo shorty brake






Pazzo shorty clutch
I adjusted the levers to fit my hands so that I didn't have to reach up and over to pull the lever in. It amazes me how many people ride their bikes around without adjusting their levers. When you ride their bikes it feels horribly unnatural with that up and over reach to the brake lever. Uh so bad. I like to just reach my fingers out and down and squeeze the lever so much easier.



I thought I'd buy the Oggy knob kit when the bike was new, not like my old R1 when I bought them 4 months before retiring it, d'oh. It didn't take long to fit them only a matter of minutes, hopefully I'll never have to use them. I got the frame sliders and front and rear axle sliders so I have everything covered.




















The radiator guards arrived not long after I got the bike so they were the next thing to go on. They are R&G brand guards. They took a hell of a lot long to fit than I thought they would but they look good and should stop the crap from flying into my radiator and destroying it. My old R1 radiator is just about stuffed due to stone chips in the core.Thats why I decided to get one straight away from day 1 really. Better to protect the radiator than have all the fins smashed in and have the bike run hot.
















I junked the tail guard assembly even before I rode the bike out of the dealership. It was so hideously ugly it had to go so when I bought the bike I got a R&G tail tidy to clean up the rear end. It looks so much better now. Compare the original to the tail tidy and its much cleaner.

Original Tail piece


Tail tidy fitted

The next bit of bling was a solo seat for the tail of the bike. This is what Yamaha should have put on to start with rather than a pillion seat. Seriously who would sit up there on the back of that little R1 seat. Looks the goods now.





Now what else should I have on my shopping list for farkling this thing up. I've just about run out of funds for now, just need a tyre fund as these bridgestone melt just when you look in there general direction.

Whats left for this thing......an nice sounding exhaust is about the only thing left on the list at the moment.

12 comments:

  1. Looking good. Nice changes you made. Makes me realize how ugly the clutch and brake lever are on the Gladius.

    Tail tidy makes quite a difference too. Good choice.

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    1. Thanks Brandy, I'd never paid much attention to the levers until recently. The tail tidy was an obvious one as the orginal is hideous.

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  2. Replies
    1. I can't fit an air compressor under the seat either unless its the size of a credit card.....

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  3. Looking good. Aftermarket can must be on your radar, speaking of which are radar detectors legal over there?

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    1. Thanks Neil. If I can find a can thats not obscenely loud and looks good i'll be right on it, but so far most of the aftermarket pipes i've seen for the new R1 look hideous and the original is better. I'll have to wait and see.

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  4. I like the look and adjustability of those levers. I've modded my stock clutch lever so it isn't such a long reach. Your mods look good. Please excuse my ignorance but what are frame sliders? Something to keep the plastic from touching the ground?

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    1. Hi Richard
      The frame sliders are just hardened plastic knobs that stick out from the axles and from 1 point on the frame, the basic principle is that in a low speed spill hopefully the sliders will take most of the damage saving expensive fairing and engine covers from taking all of the abuse from the road. The kit cost $349, which is probably half the price of a fairing panel and god only knows how much the engine casings cost.

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  5. making it your own with a few mods is not a bad thing
    some original parts on bikes are not real good sometimes
    looking good

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    Replies
    1. Moding it up is part of everyones bike ownership, just to make it mine and like no one elses bike. It's how I want it.

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  6. Nice choice of mods Steve. Boy, it's easy to spend a fortune on aftermarket bits and pieces though! Like you, I put a radiator guard on first thing as the ZX14R radiator is very vulnerable.

    Do you mind me asking where you purchased the various things from?

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    1. It sure is easy to spend up big Jules, I’ve spent heaps already and still haven’t put a pipe on yet. If its going to attract Police attention and fines I don’t think I’ll bother but it would sound nice.

      The Radiator Guards, Tail tidy and Solo tail piece all came from Team Moto Blacktown
      Team Moto

      The Oggy knobs I got from Motorcycle Accessories Supermarket at Auburn
      MCAS

      The Pazzo levers I ordered from Australian Motorcycle Components
      AMC

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