I am continuing the process of modifying my Transalp to suit my needs. Not happy with the appearance of the Honda handlebars (which were shedding their paint in some areas) I decided to replace them with Renthal alloy bars. As everything was being stripped off anyway I replaced the heated grips (which were too thin for my liking) with some Roxter heated grips bought off eBay from a trader in Birmingham. While at it I removed the hideous and rather monstrous handguards and replaced those with universal protectors (again from eBay) that mean clipping a branch or wing mirror will no longer result in the brake or clutch levers being interfered with.
So new bars, grips and handguards - simple enough to fit, surely? Well not quite. The throttle tube had been messed about with by a previous owner so out came the Dremel and that was tidied up. Then I found that Honda mould pins that locate into holes on the bars so that the switchgear doesn't move. Again the Dremel sorted that out - removal maintained the integrity of the new bars in a way that drilling holes would not have done. Bar weights were removed from the old bars but would not go into the new ones, but to some extent their necessity were negated by the fitting of the handguards - so for now I'm running without them and it seems OK. Final addition to the bars was a protective case for my mobile phone. It should allow me to use the mobile when I'm riding but as I don't want distracting while riding I just use it as a safe way of recharging. It would be nice to be able to use the mobile's photo/video recording capabilities but I have run out of room on the bars and have no way of mounting it in a suitable position, but I'm not bothered.
Next up was the MRA Vario screen fitted earlier. Still not quite as happy with it as I was with the one on the Deauville, but getting there. It has spacers between the bodywork and the screen held in place by the mounting bolts - 5mm spacers at bottom, 10mm at the top. I've now got both on the top mounting bolts and just a thin plastic washer on the bottom ones. This makes the screen stand up just that little bit more and allows the spoiler to work just that bit better. I'll leave it like that for now but further modification is not out of the question.
The Tutoro (which apparently stands for Top up, Turn on, Ride off) automatic oiler is working well although the supplied oil line clips are having to be supplemented by good old insulation tape to keep the oil line where it needs to be. The little top-up bottle supplied looked really nice but bouncing around in the topbox soon resulted in it leaking as much oil as the system was delivering to the chain, so that went in the bin.
Next up, in no particular order...
* A change of tyres - still useable but the rear is squaring off
* An MoT which is due shortly
* Riding lamps
* A nice loud horn
* Handguards with build/designed in weather protection
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