[JG]

My 2005 Thruxton has been slowly changing to a more modern style of cafe racer over the past three years. It’s just a style that I like, also being a fan of sport bikes. I like to make things out of metal as a hobby, and the bike was a good excuse to spend some time making parts over the last few years. Right now there are over 70 individual hand-machined pieces on the bike, as well as many stock and purchased parts that I modified. Almost all of my modifications are chassis modifications. The engine is stock, for now. So far, the bike is over 62 pounds lighter than its original weight.

I don’t have much more planned for it, other than a small 4-inch aluminum headlight and some new front turn signals, which I hope to have mounted within a month or so. That will clean up the front end a bit and maybe save another pound or two. Without any traditional gauges above it, the stock headlight looks a little funny hanging way out there all by itself. The new light will be tucked in close to the steering tube. At some point I may decide to add another rotor and caliper to the front end, but for now, I am happy enough with the front brake’s performance.

Here is a list of some of the changes:

Ohlins fork

Lower fork tube guards

Custom triple clamps

Dual Motogadget Motoscope Mini digital readouts set into upper triple clamp, each one with its own speedometer, tachometer, odometer, and trip meter

Lemo miniature circular connectors for instrument sensors/controls

ABS plastic instrument wiring compartment mounted to underside of upper triple clamp

Dual pushbutton switch housing to control the Motogadget displays (also serves as clutch perch clamp)

Kellermann turn signals

Horn relocation bracket (under tank)

Regulator relocation bracket

British Customs key switch relocation bracket

Kyle USA clip-on bars

Rizoma front brake reservoir

Pazzo Racing levers

CRG Hindsight LS mirrors

LSL headlight brackets modified to incorporate headlight spacers and front turn signal mounts

Wilbers 632 TS shocks with Ohlins 15-24 N/mm springs

FCR 39 carburetors with TPUSA billet intake manifolds and Uni filters

Aluminum gas cap

Aluminum sprocket cover

Aluminum front cradle support plate

Aluminum upper engine mounts

Axljak swingarm supports

OSF Suzuki rearsets (positioned roughly 1/2 inch up and 1/2 inch back vs. stock)

Aluminum adapters for mounting rearsets

Rizoma rear brake reservoir

Bracket for clamping rear reservoir to frame tube

Aluminum LED tail light / license plate mount with internal wire routing

Rear turn signal mounts

Aluminum rear fender plate with attached battery box

Aluminum wiring tray and misc. brackets for relays, fuse box, and resistors

Stainless steel seat cowl screws

Supertrapp aluminum mufflers with XRs Only billet end caps

Jet Hot coated headers

Carrozzeria forged wheels: 5.50 x 17 Thruxton rear, 3.50 x 17 RC51 front

Dunlop Qualifier tires: 170 mm rear, 120 mm front

Carrozzeria floating rear brake rotor

Beringer billet rear caliper

Custom rear caliper bracket for Beringer caliper / Carrozzeria rotor combo

Renthal rear sprocket

Custom offset front sprocket

CBR1000RR 25 mm front axle

Braking wave front brake rotor

RC51 four piston front caliper (Nissin)



Moderator note: please click on this link to see the other April entries:

http://www.triumphrat.net/triumphrat-net-bike-of-the-month/104542-bike-of-the-month-april-2009-a.html
.
.
.

 

[Catenaccio]

JG,

Want an outstanding bike! You've created a work-of-art! Kudos!

 

[jkieler]

Now how much money do you have into it???? lol
And where is the battery?

 

[crazy_crash]

she is BEAUTIFUL!!! i love the old cafe style bikes and at one point i did consider a thrux. the aspect that steered me away was the weight of the thing. but you have solved that problem nicely. quality componentry as well. well done. well done.

 

[jkieler]

It sure is a beauty... Wow I seen the rest of your pics. How much time do you have into this beast??

 

[BenRoe]

Holy crap, now I want to throw rocks at my daytona!!!

 

[The Bullitt]

Beautiful! I'm still drooling....

 

[Flaco]

Congratulations!
You deserve it and have earned it!
Plus it gives me countless more mod's to add to my list...

 

[JG]

Thanks everyone. I know the style doesn't suit everyone's taste, but that's what makes seeing changes to different peoples' bikes interesting. I also love justbrian's Scrambler.

The lighter weight, suspension, and wheels make the handling feel more like a modern sport bike than it used to, but any sport bike having a rear monoshock with 5+ inches of travel still rides like a Cadillac compared to this bike.

jkieler- the battery is under the seat cowl. All the wiring is under the seat. There is still a little storage space behind the battery under the cowl. Sorry I neglected to mention that in the description.

I have no idea how much time I have spent on it, but I started working on the changes three years ago. I would guess many hundreds of hours over three years. The work on the front end was done fall '06 through summer '07. The wheels/frame/wiring changes were done fall '07 through summer '08. Installing the parts wasn't too long of a job, but altering some of the purchased parts (like the rear wheel) and designing and making my own parts took a lot of time. Manual machining is very slow going.

 

[bradlyallen1]

Wow thats nice. Is the battery on it's side under the cowl?

 

[HiDesert]

It was a tough call for me, between this and the Scrambler. And I really like Scramblers. But this thing is gorgous. Post a sound clip!!!

 

[Tbirdnz]

Your bike certainly ran away with the polling JG so there are many riders out there that would love to own it and as you say Justbrian's Scrambler is also a nice bike. As you are aware we featured his bike too for a few days, as the Home Page items are always presented by the latest post dates was the reason it featured just above yours, unfortunately we couldn't alter that.

Another very nice bike was ThruxtonJim's Thruxton and I'd like to say that the standard of bikes competing were all very good, even for those bikes that didn't poll well doesn't reflect on the quality of these excellent machines. We're trying our best to publicise the polling to enable more members being aware and being able to participate.

Catenaccio has just opened the May Bike of the Month competition for the first 10 entries. Join in and let's see your bike !

-------------
Ride on !

 

[sweatmachine]

JG's Thrux is in a class all its own, equalled by none!

I would buy a poster sized print of this bike, seriously.

 

[FrankW]

Sorry JG they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Not my eye though.

 

[JG]

Thanks Sweat - I really love the looks of your bike. Your small headlight is one of the things that inspired me to put a smaller one on my bike. Plus, you could easily beat me in a race!

Bradlyallen- The battery is right side up under the seat cowl. It's a smaller Yuasa YTX-9, but I am pretty sure an original YTX-12 would also have fit under the cowl:

 

[blueworks]

JG- your bike is so wonderful, thanks for sharing

 

[sweatmachine]

Sorry JG they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Not my eye though.

good of you to pop in and rain on the parade. Every party needs a party pooper as the song says...

 

[TRIUMPH3FANMAN]

SWEEEEEET!!!!! Love the cafe bars and the big headlight.

 

[PhilipV88]

JG - how much work was involved in moving all the electrics under the seat? Is there anything else under the side covers of major concern that needed to be rerouted? I really like the look of your bike. Being able to see through it....damn, that looks awesome.
good work. I'm a bit of a machinist myself too, so fabricating some parts wouldn't be an issue. I see your fabbed battery box, looks good.

 

[JG]

HiDesert- Thanks! At this time, I guess there is no way for me to post a sound clip. I looked for around things that might do it. Maybe I will be able to later on if I get a video camera.

PhillipV88- Thanks! It felt like a huge amount of work moving the wiring. That could be because I did not enjoy it very much. When I started on that part of it, I was working in a 10°F garage with a space heater blowing right at me from two feet away to stay warm. Grinding the frame to smooth out everything I cut off of it was not fun. I just don't enjoy grinding. It gets grinding disc dust and steel dust all over everything. I covered my whole bike to keep everything except the part I was working on free of dust. Every single wire had to be cut for me to move the things around. Most were shortened, a few were lengthened, and some were removed. The wiring was not enjoyable until about half way through, when I had a good system going and the end was in sight. I got rid of the alarm connector, carb heater thermostat & heaters, kickstand switch, and rear brake switch. I left connectors to add the kickstand switch and a rear brake switch back to the bike in case I ever want to. I also left the TPS connector in the wiring.