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I picked up this 2013 Triumph Bonneville a couple of weeks ago after selling off my last Sportster project. The guy I got it from had a pretty good start on it with the Macco seat kit and some nice British Customs and Biltwell parts. But I’m gonna take this thing to the next level with some new fabrication, paint and performance upgrades. Stay tuned.
This was a salvage bike and the last owner fixed the damage by modding how he did it and was able to get a rebuilt title (This is a monstrous pain in the ass in Illinois) But by the time he got the title straightened out he pretty much lost interest. It's really not as clean as it looks in the pictures. The paint is just ok... it's a bit more orange peel-y than I can tolerate and I don't know how much clear coat is there for me to level sand and buff. So it's getting a new paint job... (I've got something pretty trick in mind.) BUT! it did only have 2065 miles on it when I grabbed it. It runs like a new bike.
The engine covers are a good bit scarred up and just shot with some flat paint. Those will need to be cleaned up and re-powder coated. The wiring on the front end is a little butchered. I'll have to clean that up and I'm switching to an LED headlight with built in turns to clean up the front end. I'll add a Tachometer, Re-do the tail light/turns. I haven't determined if the wheels have been powdered or painted, That'll effect what I do there. (might swap the dual sport tires for street tires but that's a minor thing. My buddy drives a Triumph Scrambler that can use these.)
I'd really like to swap the whole front end out for an inverted assembly from a Daytona or Speed Triple, or even a GSXR or R6. So I'll keep an eye out for a good front end to re-purpose without spending a fortune. I'll definitely do a rear shock upgrade those stockers suck. I'll do at least a YSS set but may do a Hagon set. Ohlins are outta the budget...
The exhaust manufacturer makes a longer silencer that I might switch to. The little one is pretty dang loud when winding it up in the 5-6k range. I can tune the baffle in the long one a bit. The short one has a non-removable baffle. I'll pull the air box and re-flash
I got a few things done already... I was able to powder coat the throttle body tops, headlight ring and brake pedal and shift levers. Then was able to install a new LED headlight with LED turns built in to make up for the PO’s removal. I cleaned up some of the wiring he’d done also.
I managed to also fabricate a bracket and mount and wire in an electronic tach. I’m going to try to switch the stock speedo to use blue LEDs to match the tach too.
I also made a new vinyl tank decal to hold me over until I get to the paint work.
With the seat mods to the frame and the exposed frame gussets at the shock mounts I am toying with fabbing up a set of little body panels to add to dress up that part and paint it to match the rest of the bike. Thoughts?
I wrapped up the tach install and I opened up the Speedometer and replaced the main SMD LEDs with blue ones to match the tach’s light. I also got an order in for a pair of 360mm YSS shocks from across the pond. Can't wait for those, that'll dress up the butt-end and tighten up the ride a little. Will probably need to swap the kick-stand out as they are 40mm taller than stock but are the same length that comes on the Thruxton. luckily my buddy has a Thruxton kick-stand I'll give a whirl!
So I’ve been trying to come up with a paint scheme and am having a little trouble with commitment. So I took a little while yesterday and cut and buffed out the orange peel that was bugging me with the met green paint I have. I’m gonna swing by my paint jobber at lunch today and see if they can make me a match. I might end up sticking with this green and working with it as the buff out turned out great.
In anticipation for the longer YSS shocks and progressive fork springs I have on the way I switched out the stock side stand for a side stand off a Thruxton to keep the bike from leaning over too far. I’ll have to relocate the toe peg on the stand a bit later as it was located for rear sets.
I like that shade of green. And the Finesse-it works great. I was turned onto it by a West Marine salesman for restoring the gloss on a boat we had. 1000, 2000 grit, 3M buffing and Finesse-it folliwed by their polymer wax had me not wanting to sell the boat. But, it hadn't been in the water for three years so it sold. I still use the Finesse-it.
I like that shade of green. And the Finesse-it works great. I was turned onto it by a West Marine salesman for restoring the gloss on a boat we had. 1000, 2000 grit, 3M buffing and Finesse-it folliwed by their polymer wax had me not wanting to sell the boat. But, it hadn't been in the water for three years so it sold. I still use the Finesse-it.
Finesse-It is the shit when it comes to polishes... I've tried about everything it's been in my rotation for more than 20 years now.
I usually start polishing on a 14" buffing wheel and Menzerna Dry compounds with the parts off the bike and then move to Meguire's 205 > 3M Finesse-It > Meguire's No. 7 > Wax of the month (Currently Mother's Synthetic mostly cause I like the smell.) But here I just stuck with the Meguire's 205 to do the bulk of the work and left the tank on. I might move to a slightly heavier cut for the first pass than the 205 but it cuts a little harder than the 3M and it's cheap comparatively so I usually just do the bulk of the polish with it.
I did get out to the jobber and we were able to get a good match with the spectrometer-thingy and was able to get a good match so I'm going to stick with the green. I like the gold logo I'll get the other parts painted to match and then I'll get the tank prepped for the logo to be re-done in gold paint and clear it over again (and redo the base coat potentially if the green isn't a perfect match.)
The new YSS Shocks arrived today and I slapped them on. I have a set of progressive springs for the front. But those will have to wait until Sunday for installation. Tonight is date night, I have an all day long ride planned for tomorrow and will be beat afterwards. Now to drop this back on its own weight to see what I gotta do to the chain tension.
(Update) New shocks are a winner on first impression. At least they pass the Illinois pot hole test.
I plan on removing my air box and doing large K&N filters for the throttle bodies. These bikes do very well like this. So I wanted to add some vent screens to the side covers. First i went ahead and wet sanded and deglossed the covers. Then, I drew my slots up in the computer and made some vinyl decal templates to guide my cuts. I made some drill guides holes to make sure I got my 1/2” bit in the right spot. Then drilled away and used a hacksaw blade and a file to finish the slots. Then a little sand paper to smooth everything out.
Now I’m prepping everything (except for the tank at this minute) for paint. I think I’ve decided to go with a simple gold racing stripe and logo on here and keep it clean and simple.
So I’ll sand back the primer and shoot gold on the fenders and fly screen and then a little mid-coat clear. Then mask things off and shoot the Green on and give it some clear. The side covers I think are gonna just stay green only unless I can think of something clever. ( but I don’t wanna do anything silly or crass so that I can move it it easy down the road. I try to show off the custom aspect without getting too personalized... )
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