Featured Project Payday: Customizing My Street Twin

Time to make a thread to document my Street Twin customizations. I called it project Payday as I am trying to keep it budget friendly and do the customizations over a longer period of time. This to keep my spark going and get as much fun out of it as I could possibly can.

I work in IT, so I'm not skilled in welding and what not. As a result my customizations will most likely stick to bolt on parts and I'm fine with that .

To get things started I'm posting some pictures of what I like to call "factory customs". These are the customizations I had factory fitted on the bike. Some of the pictures where taken after coming home from a ride out, so apologies for the dust on the bike.

So to the point, the part I had factory fitted: a tank pad, engine pads left and right, heated grips, drop bars.
Although, the drop bars aren't present in some pictures, they didn't arrive with the bike due to production issues and where fitted by my dealer when I went to get my first 1000Km warranty service.

 

Any motorcycle project requires some tools. I didn’t have some of the tools, so part one of this project was to acquire some of them.

I had a paddockstand for my old bike that came with both the l-shape supports and the V-hooks (or whatever they are called). As I couldn’t use the l-shapes for the street twin, because the brake line runs on the bottom of the swing arm, I had some bobbins fitted. When trying to lift the wheel, I noticed that I had to put the brackets to far inward for my comfort. They need to support the bike, so I need to feel confident they actually can. So first purchase, a new paddockstand.

Secondly, I figured, I’m going to have to bolt on quite some pieces and I don’t have a torque wrench, so I bought one.

Lastly, any motorcycle job requires a Haynes manual. There isn’t one for the 2021 street twin yet, but I figured That the 2019 manual was still quite up to par

 

The tyres were a little worry of mine when I just got the bike, having always actually loved the Michelin Pilot Roads. Changing the stock Pirelli’s for Michelin Pilot classics was something I was considering.

But, there’s a but , on the third day that I had the bike I went out for a long ride with some friends. It was 300km ride and we got caught in a huge downpour for about 220km of that ride. The Pirelli’s didn’t botch even a tiny bit, so at the moment I’m more doubting to actually keep the tires, then too actually swap them. But, that being said, I still have a long ride ahead until these tires go bust, so plenty of time to go back and forth.

Thanks for the link by the way, will be an interesting read.

 

The first custom part I fitted was this panier rail from Sw-Motech. Actually I fitted this part on day one of owning the bike, one of the first things I did when I got home after picking it up at the dealership. But for the sake of this thread I switched posting order.

I went with the Sw-Motech legend gear range. I like the way it looks, I find it very fitting for a modern classic bike. What appealed to me was the fact that it gives the security of hard luggage panes, but with an appropriate visual style. They make the rail bike specific, so you can be sure it works.

I know it is less flexible than universal luggage solutions, but I just prefer the way the bag is fixed to the railing! I do love the looks of for example trip machine gear, but I just know it is only a matter of time before I scratch my paintwork with one of their brass buckles should I use their gear.

 

The reflectors are a legal thing, can’t ride around legally without them. Am on the lookout for alternatives though.

 

Am not that worried about the Belgian cops, but I do enjoy crossing the border into The Netherlands, Luxembourg & Germany. Especially Luxembourg & Germany can be a pain, so better safe than sorry.

 

Box with the next part arrived today! Don't be fooled by the size of the box, I ordered some other stuff as well. Hopefully I will have some time to mount the piece on the bike somewhere next week. I have a ride out planned this weekend (watch my other thread for that) and I plan on giving the bike a good wash before fitting the part, so hopefully the weather will cooperate with me.

 

While waiting for the part in the box to be fitted I ordered the next part today. It should take a week or three for it to arrive, so perfectly on time for my November update!

I wasn’t planning on ordering already, but they tricked me with a 10% discount. Just don’t tell the misses .

 

I had some time this evening and the weather was favorable, so I gave the bike a good clean after yesterdays ride. Wasn’t a big job thanks to the right treatment after the last cleaning . (If you would have told me last year that I would enjoy cleaning the bike, I would have had a good laugh.)
Tomorrow there is a birthday in the family, so I’m planning on finally fitting my second small customization on Wednesday. Looking forward to it!

 

Allright, as planned today was part fitting day! For my second customization, the first none functional one, I ordered a pretty clutch badge from Motone Customs.

So this evening I went into the garage, got out my tools. Only need to undo two allan bolts, so this should only take a few minutes. I took of the stock badge and immediately noticed some sort of metallic dust, I brushed it off and didn’t payed it much heat.
When I wanted to bolt on the new badge I noticed the bolts don’t sink as deep into the sockets as with the stock one. The bottom one started screwing on easily, but the top one just couldn’t get it to ‘take’. So when I inspected the thread that should take the bolt, I noticed that it was a little damaged and due to having less thread to work with the bolt didn’t take.

So I reverted back to stock for now and ordered a “re-threader” or whatever it is called. I didn’t have one yet, so with a little bit of luck I will get it by Saturday and I can continue the small job.
I might, just to be on the save side, also check if I can get just a slightly longer bolt.

I ordered the part from a Motone stockist, I’m not entirely sure if Motone usually provides bolts with the clutch badges? Anyone can tell? If they do, I will have to contact the stockist. Maybe there is a difference in bolt length between the 2109 & 2021 model.

 

Alright, after I had a good nights sleep and got over being bumped out that I couldn't fit the clutch badge on Wednesday and I could think clearly again, I came with a simple solution to the problem without having to rethread the whole shebang.

Today I had some time and went out to buy my easy fix! *Drumroll* two slightly longer allan bolts! The result can be seen in the pictures below, I suppose the kit that I ordered right away on Wednesday will have some use later.

Gonna take the bike out for a spin tomorrow and show off my customizing skills .

 

No, I got another plan for the right side