Post by crazycunuc on Apr 24, 2018 14:32:52 GMT -5
A problem that we were facing with the clubman bars was that the master cylinder was now interfering with the gauge pod and the original throttle tube would have stuck off the end of the bars about 1/2". This wasn't a big deal since it would have come down to a series of small adjustments or swap out out the bars.....
Lo And Behold...the "Ebay Special" grips arrived and they just so happen to be a we bit shorter than than stock which would buy us most of the space that we needed.
The throttle tube that came with the new grips didn't quite fit properly with the KH controls so we had to swap back to the original tube. Since the "new" tube was now basically garbage I removed it by wrapping the grip in a rag and crushing it in the vice to allow all the pieces to simply fall out...easy peasy.
2 modifications were made to fit the new grip onto the original throttle tube.
FIRST: The inner portion of the grip that fits over the flare of the throttle tube had to be carved out a wee bit with a razor to help it wrap over.
SECOND: ...and this part kills me. I had to chop the excess length of OEM throttle tube off to match the grip's length. This also opens up the end of the bars and allows for bar ends / bar end mirrors depending which way we go.
The petcock also got a freshening up / rebuild.
Same with the front caliper. Stripped it right down to the bare aluminum and am rebuilding it with fresh paint / seal kit.
This next part; I promised myself I wasn't going to do till next winter... but it just didn't seem right to wait since everything else was getting a new spit shine.
Unlike the H2 I went out and bought an aluminum polish kit from Princess Auto plus a couple extra 6" wheels that I used on the courser grit. I also decided not to waste nearly a month making the covers perfect. I wanted to maintain some of the rough surfaces and keep it at a light polish so it would appear more rugged / original.
A couple finishing touches:
1st... Repainted the black inlay surrounding "KAWASAKI"
2nd...We added black Allan bolts with the gold washers to make it look more "mechanical".
Lo And Behold...the "Ebay Special" grips arrived and they just so happen to be a we bit shorter than than stock which would buy us most of the space that we needed.
The throttle tube that came with the new grips didn't quite fit properly with the KH controls so we had to swap back to the original tube. Since the "new" tube was now basically garbage I removed it by wrapping the grip in a rag and crushing it in the vice to allow all the pieces to simply fall out...easy peasy.
2 modifications were made to fit the new grip onto the original throttle tube.
FIRST: The inner portion of the grip that fits over the flare of the throttle tube had to be carved out a wee bit with a razor to help it wrap over.
SECOND: ...and this part kills me. I had to chop the excess length of OEM throttle tube off to match the grip's length. This also opens up the end of the bars and allows for bar ends / bar end mirrors depending which way we go.
The petcock also got a freshening up / rebuild.
Same with the front caliper. Stripped it right down to the bare aluminum and am rebuilding it with fresh paint / seal kit.
This next part; I promised myself I wasn't going to do till next winter... but it just didn't seem right to wait since everything else was getting a new spit shine.
Unlike the H2 I went out and bought an aluminum polish kit from Princess Auto plus a couple extra 6" wheels that I used on the courser grit. I also decided not to waste nearly a month making the covers perfect. I wanted to maintain some of the rough surfaces and keep it at a light polish so it would appear more rugged / original.
A couple finishing touches:
1st... Repainted the black inlay surrounding "KAWASAKI"
2nd...We added black Allan bolts with the gold washers to make it look more "mechanical".
