What have you done for your bike today????

[Kookas]

Kookas, if you're worried about over-taxing the charging system, you could swap (if you haven't already) as many stock bulbs over to LED bulbs as possible.

When I had the OEM headlight on my GS, I swapped the bulb to LED... and I also did the gauges, dash indicators (except the one for the signals) and the tail light bulbs. Didn't wanna get into all that fuss with the turn signals but all the other bulbs I swapped and I'm happy I did.

I have a whole bunch of notes and numbers and math regarding this kind of thing (from when I was figuring out if I could successfully swap to the gsxr headlight with two different bulbs)... I should type it out and save it... maybe the info could help when a topic like this comes up.

It wasn't so much a worry about overtaxing the charging system. I wondered more if maybe the resistance of each lug meant that there might be a recommended maximum number of lugs to put on one terminal or something like that. That said, I would quite like to install some LEDs on it - it's an F so all the dash stuff is already LED (already swapped out the speedo and tacho lights).

The only thing I wasn't sure about was the beam pattern, I kept looking around and could only find people saying an LED in a housing designed for a non-LED wouldn't work or it wouldn't be any brighter than the non-LED, but I know you can get bulbs that imitate filaments pretty well now so don't know how outdated that info is.

[mr72]

Well today I brought home a friend for my GS.

The seller's picture, 2012 Triumph Bonneville SE.

[TundraOG]

Totally jelly of that Bonnie, looks AMAZING! It's my dream bike and they don't import it here  ...one day when I'll move away...

My baby got a full touring rig going on - a small blue windscreen to match the paintjob, a renthal tall bar, two saddlebags and a top case, a phone mount and a Katana rear shock

[mr72]

Totally jelly of that Bonnie, looks AMAZING! It's my dream bike and they don't import it here  ...one day when I'll move away...

Yeah, I really, really like this bike. I wish it would stop raining long enough for me to go ride. I've only run a couple of short errand type trips on it. I literally get on and within 5 minutes it's like OH YEAH this is exactly what I always needed.

On THAT bike, today, I JB-welded a couple of T-nuts into the ends of my Superbike bars (which I put on the Bonnie, and they are perfect) so I can get the Napoleon bar end mirrors attached. And I put the battery tender on it, afraid it may need a battery soonish. I rode it in the very non-TX British weather (48F and drizzly) to get it inspected, which is step two in the registration process so I can be fully legal.

When I bought it, the turn signals didn't work. Long ago I replaced the old-style turn signal relay on my GS with a solid-state one to work with the LED lights, and it turns out the old relay from my parts bin fixed up the Bonnie.

Lots of other little work on the Bonnie. I ordered a new exhaust system, 2-1 style, plus the necessary bits to get rid of the O2 sensors and SAI system. Last week I ordered the cable to plug my phone into the OBD2 port so I can re-flash the ECU to work with the new exhaust and other mods. And I bought a new (well, used, but different) set of rear shocks for it, and I ordered new bushings for those shocks. I figure the exhaust, shock bushings, etc. will all come in around the first week of November and I will be wrenching a bit that weekend. I have a tiny bit of paint to touch up on the bike too, but it's too cold and wet to paint now, will wait for warmer weather. Fall is prime riding weather around here so I am extremely hopeful to get the Bonnie fully sorted in the next two weeks or so.

The thing is, getting the Triumph in 100% perfect mint condition is easily achievable, so I'm doing it, first. I'm not in the mood for this to be a project bike. I want to get it right and then keep it that way. The GS was forever a work in progress and I'm just tired of that.

[herennow]

Nice Bonnie,

I've got a red one also. Buts mines a 1969 model. It takes about as much TLC as the GS!

[mr72]

Paid my taxes, titled and registered the Bonnie. Then I took the long way home from the tax office. Rain comes later today, will keep raining for a few days, and my exhaust system is on the truck so planned mods coming this week include SAI delete, O2 sensor delete, exhaust swap, airbox cleanout, swap on an airbox inlet horn that my friend 3D printed for me, and remap the ECU. With any luck this all gets done while it's raining and I finish up in time for a week of gorgeous CenTX fall forecast starting in three days so I can ride it in.

[mr72]

Today, I did air/intake mods on the Bonneville. Interesting that one of the mods basically made the airbox more similar to a GS airbox.

- removed the SAI (air injection) system, at least functionally, plugging the holes in the head
- removed the snorkel from the airbox, and removed this weird restrictor-plate/baffle that apparently is in there to reduce noise. Funny thing about the snorkel, it had a 5" or so long tube that went down into the middle of the air filter, which certainly restricts air flow quite a bit. Anyway, I replaced the snorkel with a 3D printed sort of air-horn, but essentially now it's quite like a GS intake:



Dyno tests done by others suggest that up until nearly the redline this flow-enhanced air inlet on the opening of the air filter makes just as much power as twin pod filters. This made me think maybe a flared air horn of sorts on the air filter inlet of the GS might improve airflow in the stock airbox.

Anyway, tomorrow will be the day to swap the exhaust and do the ECU remapping.

[qcbaker]

Checked my tire pressures, front was a little low, rear was a lot low. Set pressures to 33f/36r and all is well now.

Its starting to get colder (at least here in PA), so your pressures are gonna naturally be a bit lower than normal. Remember to check your pressures, friendos.

[mr72]

Today, I removed the old exhaust system from my Bonneville, the new exhaust is on the UPS truck. Assuming it gets here, I'll install it this evening.

I also discovered that the USB-OBD2 cable I have is not compatible with the TuneECU program I am using to reflash my ECU, so I ordered another one, which also is likely not compatible. But that was Amazon Prime Now so it should arrive today too so I can verify it doesn't work and then be forced to order one from England.

What this means for the GS is that I might actually ride it if I don't get the exhaust sorted on the Bonnie today; tomorrow's going to be a primo riding day. And if I can't get the ECU to flash properly then I might be riding the GS a lot.

Good point qc about the tire pressure. FWIW my new rear tire on the GS holds air a lot better than the old one did.

[qcbaker]

Today, I removed the old exhaust system from my Bonneville, the new exhaust is on the UPS truck. Assuming it gets here, I'll install it this evening.

I also discovered that the USB-OBD2 cable I have is not compatible with the TuneECU program I am using to reflash my ECU, so I ordered another one, which also is likely not compatible. But that was Amazon Prime Now so it should arrive today too so I can verify it doesn't work and then be forced to order one from England.

Make sure you order enough lifestyle apparel to get that free shipping lol.

What this means for the GS is that I might actually ride it if I don't get the exhaust sorted on the Bonnie today; tomorrow's going to be a primo riding day. And if I can't get the ECU to flash properly then I might be riding the GS a lot.

So, in addition to actual things you've done for your Bonnie today, what you've done for your GS today is *consider* actually riding it. Lol.

Good point qc about the tire pressure. FWIW my new rear tire on the GS holds air a lot better than the old one did.

How old was the old one? Maybe the bead on the new one being fresh means it creates a better seal.

[mr72]

Make sure you order enough lifestyle apparel to get that free shipping lol.

HAHAHAHAHA! I do have an English pub in my house, so maybe I should grab a set of those Steve McQueen special edition coasters.

So, in addition to actual things you've done for your Bonnie today, what you've done for your GS today is *consider* actually riding it. Lol.

Well, to be fair, I also considered selling it.

Which is both better for the GS than what I did for it yesterday, which was to remove the cell phone mount and put it on the Bonnie, or the day before, which is to move it deeper into the garage so it's harder to get out.

How old was the old one? Maybe the bead on the new one being fresh means it creates a better seal.

Yeah, IDK how old the old one was since it was on the bike when I got it, PO said it was "relatively new" but he said a lot of things that turned out to be patently false so it's anybody's guess.

But I bet you are right about the fresh rubber sealing better.

[mr72]

Well due to a long list of errors and SNAFUs yesterday, today I moved my GS off of the backup roster and I'll ride it to work. Woo Hoo!

[qcbaker]

Forgot to mention, after I got home on Wednesday I did a couple more things with my bike. First, I titled my hand controls more forward than they were. My wrists feel more neutral and it felt better on the short ride around my block. Hopefully it helps with wrist fatigue on longer rides, which is the entire reason I did it lol. I also removed my mirrors at the swivel, put blue locktite on the bolt, and put them back on as tight as I could. They would slowly fall towards me whenever I accelerated hard on the highway, so hopefully the locktite and the general tightening helps with that.

[mr72]

Yesterday I finished installing the exhaust on the Bonneville and rode it on a 2.5 hour ride.

I rode my GS to the post office yesterday. Whole different experience. There's nothing to do to that bike, only thing it needs is a wash.

Rock on GSTwinners!

[Kito]

After trying a cheap air filter... which restricted the air flow.. making my bike fail when full throttling ... i  am trying to decide between other options.. please help me .. here : http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=72726.0

[qcbaker]

Forgot to mention, after I got home on Wednesday I did a couple more things with my bike. First, I titled my hand controls more forward than they were. My wrists feel more neutral and it felt better on the short ride around my block. Hopefully it helps with wrist fatigue on longer rides, which is the entire reason I did it lol. I also removed my mirrors at the swivel, put blue locktite on the bolt, and put them back on as tight as I could. They would slowly fall towards me whenever I accelerated hard on the highway, so hopefully the locktite and the general tightening helps with that.

The levers are indeed more comfortable this way, and the locktite seems to have prevented the mirror creep I was having. Success!

[herennow]

Nice One, I must deal with the mirror creep problem one of these days...

[mr72]

I guess I don't go fast enough to have mirror creep. I would think blue loctite would get the job done.

[qcbaker]

My mirrors are also cheap aftermarket mirrors, not OEM. So that probably has a lot to do with it lol.

[mr72]

My mirrors are also cheap aftermarket mirrors, not OEM.

Mine too.

I'm guessing the rust on the threads prevents mine from moving too much