Friday my stay arrived in time as the last piece of the puzzle. Still maybe 10% disappointed I didn’t go for the carbon fibre one but I prefer the durability of the magnesium slightly more, plus I quite like the colour too.
I spent Friday afternoon fitting and drilling the new handlebars, some trial and error (but only one misplaced hole) and all the components fit on snugly. I’m glad I did this first as I would have run out of time if I did it all together in one day with the yoke swap.
Took most of the day, maybe 6 or 7 hours fiddling around to tear it all down and refit the new parts. The only struggle was removing the lower steering head bearing off the stock bottom yoke but with some delicate & patient chisel work I guided it off, good as new.
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Had a chance to reach in with the vacuum cleaner and suck the bugs out of the air filter while the end was off.
New clamps installed with the horn fitted. There is a plastic cover which is unable to be reused as the aftermarket yoke does not have pre drilled holes to screw it back on. Some more unintentional weight savings I guess.
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It’s always a relief when you get to the end and there’s no mystery nuts/bots/washers lying around
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It was getting dark as I finished up yesterday so wasn’t able to finish dressing her again.
I did go for a little circle around the compound here to test that the ergonomics of the new bars were okay and everything else was working well. Can already tell it’s gonna be much better driving around town with the new +2 rear sprocket.
Measuring the alignment was easy with some string and I’m gonna leave the bars in the neutral 0° position in the meantime. Maybe for track I can drop them down a couple of degrees to get a little more weight forward but for road comfort this is great.
There is some fiddling to do with the brake reservoir today to ensure its clearance from the fairing is satisfactory. Then install the rest of the fairings and go for a ride this afternoon