Quote:
Originally Posted by Flogger520
Hey guys,
I have a 2006 Scrambler (in red/white) and am looking to slowly turn it into a café bike. It's my only mode of transportation at the moment so until I move into the city (Philadelphia, in a few months) I can't have it locked up in a garage.
So far I've thrown a pair of Norman Hyde M-Bars and Napoleon Bar-End Mirrors on. I'll look into some clip-ons (maybe these) once I'm in the city and don't have a 54 mile highway commute. Will I need anything else to install them?
I'd like to get a seat cowl and front fairing, essentially identical to the Thruxton. What'd be the easiest/cheapest way to do this? I can pick up a Thruxton Gel Seat (from what I understand it'd fit my Scrambler no problem). Would I be better off trying to find a fiberglass cowl and fairing and get them painted? Or should I pick up some Thruxton ones and get them repainted? I need the ability to remove the cowl and use the 2 up seat for storage/lady friends. I'm also thinking about a chin spoiler (I think they look badass).
Next I was looking at a pair of rear sets here. Decent choice?
I know café bikes don't typically have the upswept exhaust, but I feel like I'd be ripping the soul out of the Scrambler by changing that. I'm already removing everything else that makes it a Scrambler, so I'd like give her a chance to hold onto her dignity. Plus I think they look great. I really love the exhaust Arrow puts out. Is there anything else I should be looking into?
And finally, and this is the part where I have the least knowledge: I'd like to get it lowered. The Scrambler sits pretty high, which I have no problem with at 5'10", but I definitely want that sleek racer look eventually. Do I just get some aftermarkets shocks? Is it more complicated than that? Treat me as a squid when answering this question.
For now I'm not really interested in upgrading the engine and performance, so no worries on that. But, if you have any more thoughts or suggestions please speak your mind!
I recently started working at RevZilla in the CS department, so my expertise is in moto gear, not hardware. At least not for café bikes ---> most of the guys/girls there are track and adventure riders. I also have little to no mechanical aptitude myself, so keep that in mind.
Thanks to anyone who reads this, and anyone who replies would be helping me out tremendously! For your time I've included a few pictures in which all but one (me taking the turn) show my old bar setup:
-John |
A few thoughts:
- First off, Philly is awesome - the best city for beer in the country.
- Clip-ons are fun at speed but can be tiresome. Try the M-bars flipped up and down and see what you like/can tolerate.
- NH rear-sets are nice and get decent reviews, but are pricey. unfortunately they are sort of "required" for the full cafe experience.
- All the Triumph Classic Series seats are interchangeable so if you can find a used Thruxton seat and cowl you might do OK price-wise and it will allow the option of taking it off (for two-up riding) but...you'll need to paint the cowl and that can get expensive. Maybe find a local shop/airbrush artist?
- I personally love a high exhaust, so you get my full support for keeping it! And if you decide you want to make a change at some point for performance or sound there are great high pipe options too: Norman Hyde sells Toga slip-ons, British Customs sells reverse cones, MassMoto sells a very cool Mojave twin-pipe.
- Shocks are a weak link on the classic models. From less expensive to more: Icon/Hagon, Bitubo/Ricor/Works Performance, Ohlins. Each of these manufacturers has different lengths available. So if you want to drop the back you can, just slide the fork tubes up into the triple clamps a corresponding amount.
Further thoughts? Well, as mentioned above the Scrambler is a pretty cool bike in it's own right, and in truth, the set up makes a lot more sense for a city bike than a full cafe racer. But it's your call so have fun. Oh, and RevZilla - pretty nice folks there, can't recommend them enough for gear. Good luck.
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