Moving this post from the bike show. Makes more sense here. Updating that with just a bike shot.
New to the forum. Here's a little background. Didn't start riding until my 40's when my wife wanted to get a motorcycle. We signed the whole family up for the motorcycle safety course and took it together (wife, son, and I). She bought a bike almost immediately afterwards but I waited several months because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to get.
I've got a 2005 VT1100 that I bought used for a great deal with the intent to learn how to work on carbureted engines. Never was into automotive stuff until we got into bikes and now it's all I want to do.
- Came with ape hangars that were crazy wobbly on the ride home. Replaced those with regular bars and swapped to Avon Metric Cruiser grips which I really like because they fit my big hands well.
- Took about 7 different sets of mirrors to find some that work. I can never see anything but shoulders on most bikes. Finally found one that works but I had to drill out the endcap on the grip to make it fit.
- The throttle did not snap back when I got it. Caught my attention real quick on the ride home when I pulled in the clutch and it revved up... So I lubed the cables, everything was nice a slick, but still no snap back, so I figured the spring was broken. Looked at that, and it wasn't under tension. I'm assuming the previous owner swapped out the cables when they did the handlebars and didn't know how to put the spring back on correctly and was just dealing with it. It works great now that it's engaged on the pins. Easy fix and I learned how that works in the process.
- Tires were 7 and 10 years old, so I replaced both with new Shinko 777's. First time taking off wheels on a motorcycle. Easy in hindsight but I was terrified the whole time doing it.
- Stock seat was really comfortable. Like riding a couch down the highway. But not my style at all. Replaced with a temporary one that I made out of a shovel, some packing foam, and some rebar for supports.
- Replaced the rear fender with something more slick. A little tricky because I didn't want to hard tail it so I had to figure out a way to mount it to the swingarm and be stable. I'm rather a fan of the two nice Showa adjustable shocks and wanted to keep them in use.
- Swapped all the turn signals to LED's, and found this forum trying to solve the lights always on issue. Makes sense now that I know the old lamps used the other lamp as the ground loop. Diode and flasher relay solved that.
- Already had an LED headlight so no work required there, but I did add a little fly screen to help cover all the long wires still left from the apes. I'll eventually shorten them.
- Brakes bled and hose replaced with a braided cable, old one was showing its age. First time bleeding brakes. Easy now that I know how that works.
- Took off the exhaust and wrapped most of it for cosmetic reasons. I realize it's not the best idea for them, but it looks good imo, and I have plans to make my own at some point.
- Changed the spark plugs, first time ever doing that. Didn't even know you're supposed to do that on cars. Have now done it on all family vehicles. Woops.
- Adjusted the tune, it was idling too low and the fuel mixture wasn't quite right. Sounds great now. Motorcycle MD on YouTube taught me that little nugget of wisdom.
- Oil change, driveshaft oil change, haven't done coolant yet. Not sure why. Just occurred to me that I haven't done that. On the list now.
- Drum brake serviced when I had the rear wheel off. Works great for what it is.
- Came with forward controls, which I still have on there. I think I'd prefer stock mid controls, but it is pretty comfortable since I'm over 6'. Plus I don't have to worry about anyone short stealing my bike lol.
- Covered most everything in chrome that I could with some black vinyl wrap. I know its a sin to cover up chrome, but it's not really my thing on this particular bike.
- That's about it, as if this post wasn't long enough already. She runs and rides really nicely. Plus I think its just a really good looking bike.
When I got it home:
As she rides now:
A few other angles. TJ's fender... but in Oregon I think I'm going to go for the long version. I wish I had a video of the rooster tail from the rain but from the way the back of my helmet looks it must be epic.
Next on the list is the VT1100 kit with the dump out (but I haven't dragged the pipes yet so I'm stalling), maybe a real seat (Harbor Freight makes a really comfortable shovel), and a I think I'm going to paint the wheels which I should have done when I had the wheels off to replace the old rubber.
