Featured Project Payday: Customizing My Street Twin

I am guessing that eventually a decat is coming, in which case I would suggest the Meerkat because it has the cleanest most minimal design as they have somehow done away with all the supporting structure and it's no less solid.

 

Interested in your bobbin solution - replaced the whole axle?

 

I also find the stock mirrors pretty hopeless (I don't want to see my elbows!), thoughts on replacements, bar ends?

 

The Street Twin rear axle is hollow, which means you can fit a rod through it and attach paddock stand bobbins to either side. I've got the TEC Parts one, which works fine, and I've had the bike on a stand many times with no issues. I think Motone have recently brought out something similar. If you have the choice I would always recommend Motone over TEC. Usually a bit more expensive but better quality, but as I said, the TEC one is perfectly ok.

 

I agree with you about the stock mirrors. Aesthetically they look awful. Mickey mouse ears! A good enough reason alone to bin them but they're also functionally pretty useless. I went for the Triumph bar end mirrors because they're good quality but there are of course lots of options. Once again TEC Parts make them. Not sure about Motone.
Isn't it amazing how many stock parts on these bikes are pretty poor? It's almost as if Triumph expect you to swop them for better quality parts..which coincidently Triumph just happen to make.
Btw, Triumph also list a rear axle bobbin rod for the ST.

 

Going back to the bar end mirrors, be careful about which ones you buy. Another reason I chose Triumph was because I knew they'd fit without any problems. Make sure the ones you go for are actually designed to fit these Triumph bars, some are not straightforward. My brother bought some cheapies for his T120 and they were a pain to fit properly and still aren't quite right, especially the throttle side.

 

Here's a pic of the Triumph mirrors on my ST, they are sooooo much nicer than the stockers and actually work properly

 

That pic also shows the Motone tail tidy, rear light and indicators. You can also see the axle bobbin thing. This pic was taken before I dumped the original shit tyres. I've also switched to Triumph barrel grips and an LSL brake fluid reservoir to replace the crappy original, plus I took a used ST seat to a seat-maker who made me a custom seat to my design.

 

Excellent, thank you!

 

Regarding mirrors, you either have to go up or down (or out I guess) and I am pretty tall, and don't want the bike to look like an insect! I have been looking at the Triumph bar ends, thanks! Great advice from you guys!

 

I kept the standard Triumph bar end mirrors when converting my Street Cup in to a Street Twin riding position. I am 6ft and still have a good rear view.

 

Thanks. I like the headlight grill as well. Thinking of getting one.

 

At least you can buy stuff within the EU and not have to pay import duty. Brexit scuppered that little bonus for us and now we pay extortionate duty on just about everything. As well as that, the extra paperwork and admin created means we often have to pay increased postage&packing fees. I know this to my cost when I tried to order a few small parts for my Hondas from CMSNL, a parts company based in the Netherlands. The duty and P&P that I would have paid was almost the same as the cost of the parts! £45 worth of parts + £40 duty/P&P!! And you could have got the parts into a large envelope. Ridiculous . Needless to say I cancelled the order.

 

Well I just hope this is worth the wait . I'm sure it will be.

 

Any tips on fitting the headlight grille?

 

It was quite easy as I recall, just remove the headlight unit (2 screws and 2 wiring connectors). The new grille should come with a replacement bezel that replaces the standard one, which comes off when you carefully remove the 3 spring clips.

I did this change about 2 years ago and I am sure there will be a YouTube video out there if what I’ve said above is complete bollox.