Triumphrat

blight · 05-03-2008

Hi folks...I keep looking at my Thruxton...looking for minor things I think need improving. The bike is so good to start with, these little things are just down to personal taste and nit-picking, but I think these little changes can make a small (or larger) difference at the end of the day.

I decided it was time to clean up the front end of the bike...especially with my wanting to "raise the bar" in terms of the clip-ons. I know...I'm a wimp, but I'm old and I reserve the right to make changes for comfort's sake! I decided to place the stock clip-on's above the upper triple clamp, while at the same time eliminating the original headlight ears and mounting tubes.

I bought some after-market 'universal' headlight ears that are brushed aluminum with a clear coat (like most of the Thruxton cases and fittings) and Ice-cube after-market turn signals with the same finish.

I removed the front wheel and both fork legs (after suspending the bike from a beam above) and removed sll of the old headlight ear tubes and brackets. I then reinstalled the fork legs, and tightened the clip-ons in place. I had to flip the throttle unit 180 deg to go under the adjacent hardware, but that was pretty simple.

All told, it was a 2 hour job for me, and it cost only my labor, which is pretty cheap! I took the bike out for a spirited ride after reassembly and it felt 100% better to me. I kept the same angle of bars to forks, so it wasn't an odd feel to me at all. I even used the chrome "beauty plugs" to fill in the small holes as shown.

So...anybody thinking the stock bars are too low should do the 'clip-on rise'...not the 'flip and swap'!

By the way, I raised the fork tubes in the triple-clamps lke the second day I had the bike...I think it makes the bike steer better. Less counter-steering input from the bars to make it fall better into a corner. That's my opinion anyway.

Check out the pictures!
Cheers,
B. Light

blight · 05-03-2008

Forgot to mention...I removed the bulky original front turn-signal bracket and moved the FUGLY reg-rectifier up behind the headlight (with a couple of small brackets) for a little cleaner look.

It's a small thing, but does anybody agree it looks a little better?

Cheers,
BKL

blight · 05-03-2008

One more picture...front end straight on.

capoanj · 05-03-2008

Nice work, and a cleaner front end indeed. And more comfortable to boot...good job! What bracket did you use for the headlight? Looking to do similar.

KingOfFleece · 05-03-2008

That looks very nice!

Baltobonneville · 05-03-2008

Beautiful! Good work!

blight · 05-03-2008

Thanks for the kudos, chaps! I tried to post another pic but I was denied. I think they have a 5 picture limit now on each thread.

Can't blame the hosts...they need a policy like that, otherwise they'd need a much bigger server capacity to store all of our thousands of pics!

I can't remember where I got the headlight ears, but I think is was on ebay. The ears are universal, and came with nylon sleeves for use with smaller fork legs.

I searched ebay just now, and here's a set:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cerai...spagenameZWDVW

The turn signals were an ebay item as well, and come in clear, amber, and smoked amber. I ordered the smoked, and they are quite bright, and have the same wattage as the oem, so the blink rate is normal. The brushed alloy matches the Thruxton engine cases exactly.

Have fun, and post yer pics!
Cheers,
BKL

BLKTHRUX · 05-05-2008

I was thinking of that same bar mod the other day. Now that I know it doesn't effect your steering, I'm all over it.

imafunkyman · 05-05-2008

Beautiful Thrux Blight! I'm jealous. That was my favorite color on the Thruxtons.

blight · 05-05-2008

Hi guys...I've been riding the bike a few days now, and all I can say is..."WOW" what a relief. The bar & riding position is just right now for me. It's similar to my 1975 CB400F, which has the original tubular "euro" flat bar and rear-set pegs. Pretty radical in it's day, but pretty tame today.

I'm glad some of you will be trying it...just take your time and don't force anything. I had to loosen and re-tighten the banjo fitting on the master cylinder to rotate it slightly for clearance. Little things like that. Most important...please make sure everything is well tightened back up...particularly the clip-ons and triple clamps. You don't want them to rotate or move while riding! I'm going to try one more pic again...the front end from straight on showing the reg-rec relocation behind the headlight.

Cheers,
BKL