Read, read, and read some more.... BEFORE you do anything.
Some of us fools have been pouring money into a box stock Bonnie and making of it a $20,000.00 trial & error project. If you're gonna pour money into it, lemme tell ya where to put it:
1) Either replace the wheels with some Excel alloys and Buchanan stainless steel spokes
- or -
chamfer each of the holes on the factory wheels and replace the Triumph spokes with some Buchanan spokes.
2) Go with the exhaust from New Zealand that sounds sexy, increases felt power, and claims not to need any rejetting.
- or -
determine which exhausts require NO rePACKING down the road, and choose THAT one.
3) Choose the Uni air filter over a K&N so you won't have to second guess getting a filter that passes "TOO MUCH" particulate. Don't bother removing the divider/restricter plate from your air box, it's for squids who like to tinker with their bikes but too cheap/lazy to eliminate the air box altogether. (I've been running K&N's for years, and have had a Bonnie with the plate removed, and currently run a Bonnie with the plate in place.)
4) Don't subscribe to "easy" increased power via after-market ignition modules, coils, plugs, or snake oil.
5) Your factory suspension is best left in it's softest setting for the first 6,000 miles..... then get the hell rid of it and replace BOTH front & rear components with RECOGNIZED brand names. And if you're over 120, 135, 150 pounds..... "off the shelf" springs will be undersprung for your weight.
6) You either like your factory seat.... or not. It's almost like a Corbin, it takes thousands of miles to form to your butt and become do'able.
7) Accept that handlebars are $50.00 trial & error experiments..... they can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD when you find the right one. Just turn somebody else onto your 'experiment' for half price when you go to the next experimental bar.
8) Stuff all over your bike..... even brand new..... is loose. Buy a torque wrench, get all the torque values, and set to tightening things down with little dabs of Loctite.
9) Don't replace your headlamp with a sealed beam meant for a car (yes, it'll fit). The light pattern is left for lacking. Don't waste yer money on after-market bulbs for the headlamp UNLESS it's an expensive PIAA! PIAA's run MUCH cooler, put out more light, and last longer.
10) Come to your own conclusions, not wannabe know-it-all conclusions like those contained in this post.
Linear Mode
