Mods for a life of commuting

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andybaggies
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Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

Here’s a list of the mods I’ve made to the old V Raptor for its daily 50 mile commute. Most of the work was done for practical considerations so bear in mind they may not be the ultimate in aesthetics:

Front Forks – changed to 5w oil with 150 mm air gap. Whilst they were out I noticed the preload adjusters had been turned upside down & the damper rods screwed way up into the fork caps and I’ve no doubt this greatly contributed to the tank slapper & off I previously suffered. Much nicer feel to it now with no bouncing although pitching in isn't as sharp and for some reason it doesn't feel as solid once there.

Front mudguard – extending this is pretty much a must for all year round riding so fitted a Red Fox fender flick. Did a punt on an >07 Ducati monster version, as this used the same forks & tyre size, and although it didn’t fit the exact end shape of the Raptors guard it matched the radii perfectly. Nice to see it attached with plastic rivets rather than screws.

Handlebars – the old rusty chrome one was chucked & replaced with a Renthal Superbike Ultra Low in grey. A no hassle fit.

Hand Guards – again a must for all weather riding to help keep me little donnies nice & toasty so fitted a pair of Bark Busters. Beautifully built and quite literally a 10 minute fitting job. No trouble with them hitting the existing fairing and no weird turbulence or odd shakes/weaves at speed.

Screen- fitted a Skidmarx tall (55 cm) dark tinted screen which required drilling the horns and fairing. Pretty much a straight a fit but for my own peace of mind added a washer to each rubber ‘bolt’ to prevent them being drawn through the holes. Impressed with the quality but still not quite sure about the look. It certainly does the job with sustained, ahem, high motorway speeds easily maintained with no buffeting or requiring Mike Tyson’s neck muscles.

Rear Hugger – another Skidmark product and went for the basic fibreglass but in red. Again really good quality that gives a nice all round even wheel clearance. The only hassle was trying to undo two of the foot rest hanger bolts which I ultimately gave up on and, much to my shame, ending up drilling through the plate to get to the hidden chain guard bolt.

Stuff still left to do includes:

adjustable levers – any recommendations?,
heated grips or gloves perhaps combined with covers for the hand guards,
a more compliant & subtle rear shock – Hagon or Nitron?,
more front fork air gap & preload tuning,
clutch push rod oil seal replacement
and coming soon a fancy top sellerie seat

Andy B
andybaggies
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

And a few pics:

Not sure of the look...
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Still not sure of the look....
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Hugger don't look bad mind..
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andybaggies
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

Fender
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Tikka
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by Tikka »

V-trec levers are a good choice
pod
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by pod »

Liking the mods, it look a bit like a weird black flower from the front.
Interested in the Bark busters, checked their site, no cagiva listed, are these the same as fits a Suzi from the same era?, it looks like you have the "storm " set.
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andybaggies
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

Pod,

The Barkbusters are their universal fit S5 (Storm) model which have a single point hollow bar end mounting. I got them through ebay & Chainspeed - a 2 day turn around and delivered to your local Argos. Not the cheapest but deffo good quality.

Just google 'Barkbusters S5 Storm'

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pod
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by pod »

Cheers Andy willdo
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Spyke
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by Spyke »

Looks like you have the early front mudguard whose struts are a bit too weak & spindly for warp speed, extending it isn't likely to lessen its load so keep an eye on them if you do the occasional fast blast too. I'm quite biased so I really think you should ditch the orange indicator lenses for the much more modern white ones I make, I think that's the one mod that really brings her styling up to date, and I was kinda hoping that worldwide sales would be more than 3 pairs!
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

Looks like you have the early front mudguard whose struts are a bit too weak
Thanks for confirming - I'd read about this on the site & I do check it now and again but wasn't entirely sure. It's shown no signs of weakness even though I do ahem, 'press on' a little on the 10 mile motor way section. A little inventive strengthening job is certainly going to go on the things to do list - who said bodge :oops:
so I really think you should ditch the orange indicator lenses
Well the RHS pod was damaged in the previous off & I've filled it, quite nicely if I say so myself, and one of my many other tasks will be to spray it along with the new rear seat panels some brash sparkly silver. So I'm not sure the white lens whould be a good fit.

Cheers,

Andy B
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

Looks like you have the early front mudguard whose struts are a bit too weak ...... A little inventive strengthening job is certainly going to go on the things to do list - who said bodge
Well I completed the said stengthening bodge today and although it feels pretty strong to me time will tell. Pictures paint a thousand words.
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Spyke
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by Spyke »

Love your work! That does look like it should do the job. I'm still adding extra Rapid Fix every time mine goes with the long-term plan of getting a carbon fibre MV Agusta one when pennies permit. It hasn't gotten to the top of the to-do list yet as it really does seem to be a problem that only happens at 200+(that's about 125 in old money), and it's not often that I get the opportunity to get to warp-speed on my local track. :wink:
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andybaggies
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

Next up, and now the dark days are here, I've fitted some BikeVis bullet LEDs with a modulator that makes them continuously twinkle. A couple of times tonight you could see people have second thoughts and not immediately pull out at junctions so I reckon they do catch their eye.
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snapdragon
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by snapdragon »

I like that idea, I own bullet lamps but haven't fitted them - adding them to the handguards sounds like a good plan, only thing that I could envisage was to drill in to the mirrors
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by Giocast »

the bike is already so quirky that I think the screen blends in well - no more painful neck when flat in top but I wonder how much it distorts at this point :blink: .
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Re: Mods for a life of commuting

Post by andybaggies »

adding them to the handguards sounds like a good plan, only thing that I could envisage was to drill in to the mirrors
One thing I wanted to do was keep a 'triangle of lights' that supposedly helps catch the eye rather than have them all on one plane. Even on the V there aren't many places to mount them and on the Raptor it may be best knocking up a couple of brackets that are held on by either the mirror stems or bar end caps.
the bike is already so quirky that I think the screen blends in well - no more painful neck when flat in top but I wonder how much it distorts at this point
I've got used to to it's looks now and, although not exactly pretty, I'm beginning to like it. It's certainly distinctive. And the screen is just great for sustained outside lane high speed motorway blats - 20 miles a day for me. The screen is surprisingly thick and athough I haven't maxed him out yet it remains solid at these speeds.
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