Best Sport Bike Mods at RevZilla.com
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00:00Howdy, this is Lemmy with RevZilla, here to talk to you today about the best modifications
00:04you can make to your sport bike.
00:10So if you're watching this video, my guess is that you probably are fairly new to sport
00:14bikes, and you might be new to bike modification as well.
00:17You know you want to change a few things up on your motorcycle, but you're not entirely
00:20certain where your money might be best spent.
00:23We're here to help.
00:24Now in order to tell you what's going to be best for your motorcycle, we really need to
00:27consider intended usage.
00:29Some of you are going to be riding on the street primarily.
00:32I imagine that's going to involve most of the people watching this video, but a smaller
00:35subset of you are probably going to be interested in taking your bike to the track and exploring
00:39the outer limits of what you and your motorcycle can do.
00:43So we've actually set this video up with two different sections.
00:45We've got a street section up front, and you can see we've got our R6 kitted out with some
00:48nifty bits here.
00:49We're going to blow this thing apart in the other section too, and put some track-friendly
00:53items on there.
00:54Now as I mentioned, this is an R6.
00:56You may have a different motorcycle.
00:58Unfortunately though, sport bikes are reasonably homogenous.
01:00They're very similar motorcycles.
01:02So if you see something cool on our R6, odds are good, somebody's making a similar product
01:06for your motorcycle.
01:07Use our bike finder at RevZilla.com, and we'll show you the pieces that fit your motorcycle
01:11exactly.
01:12I also want to chat for just a moment too about the installation.
01:15Some of you guys are probably worried about that.
01:17Now given the wide range of products we have on the bike, our installation is going to
01:20vary here, anywhere from one to three beards on our beard scale of difficulty.
01:24But I'm going to try and touch a little bit on installation of each piece to give you
01:27a little bit of additional texture to help you figure out whether you're capable of doing
01:31this stuff on your own, or if you want to enlist the help of a friend or perhaps the
01:34local motorcycle shop in the installation.
01:37Now we're going to get started on this thing.
01:38I'm going to start at the back of the bike.
01:39Be sure you subscribe to us so you can check out all of the content we're rolling out here
01:43at RevZilla.com, including gear reviews, bike reviews, and parts pieces just like this one.
01:48So we kick things off at the rear of the bike with a Yoshimura Fender Eliminator Kit.
01:53Now a Fender Eliminator Kit is almost de rigueur in the sport bike world these days.
01:57Everybody seems to use them, and that's because it really does tighten up the rear end of
02:01the motorcycle.
02:02If you look at a stock sport bike, there's usually this big huge thing hanging off the
02:05back.
02:06It's got a license plate and turn signals spaced way far apart from each other.
02:09It winds up looking like a dirt bike on the back of the bike.
02:12A Fender Eliminator Kit, as I said, helps tighten things up back here.
02:16There's lots of different brands out there.
02:17We chose Yoshimura on this bike for a couple different reasons.
02:20As I mentioned, this is the street section.
02:22We know that we're going to be riding.
02:23We need to keep the bike legal.
02:25Not every single Fender Eliminator Kit has a provision for a license plate light.
02:29Yoshimura includes an LED license plate light.
02:32Huge selling point for us.
02:33Keeps the bike legal.
02:34One of the other things we really liked about this too is it allows us to retain use of
02:38the factory turn signals.
02:40There are some Fender Eliminator Kits out there that don't make it entirely clear that
02:43you need to swap out your turn signals as well.
02:45It can really add expense and time onto the job.
02:48Now one thing I do want to mention, we had talked about installation.
02:51This was a little bit of a bear on the R6.
02:53It took a couple hours to install this thing correctly.
02:56If you're thinking about putting a Fender Eliminator Kit on your bike, remember some
02:59bikes really do require a few hours in order to do things correctly.
03:03Let's move on to the next modification I made here.
03:05You actually can't see it right now.
03:07It's under the seat.
03:08We're going to pop this pillion seat off here.
03:10I'll show you exactly what it is that I'm talking about.
03:13That's this puppy.
03:14This is USB power.
03:15I added USB power to our bike.
03:17Let's pull this off of here.
03:18I'll talk to you a little bit about what it is.
03:20We have a battery under the seat here, standard setup for many sport bikes.
03:24We also have an SAE lead coming off there, which we run back here so we can hook up a
03:28battery tender or a float charger to the bike and not have to worry about using tools.
03:34Most bikes are going to come with an SAE tender lead from your dealer.
03:37Just about everything I see coming out of dealers these days has one installed.
03:40That's where you can capitalize and use this battery tender adapter.
03:43This will plug directly into the end of your tender lead.
03:46What this does, too, is adapts your power down to a USB port there.
03:51It takes your 12-volt power, drops it down to the 5.5 required for most USB connections.
03:56This can be really useful for street scenarios.
03:59Say you're riding around, stop off for lunch.
04:01You can now charge your cell phone very quickly and without grabbing any tools.
04:04It makes the bike really friendly to use, again, in those street-type scenarios.
04:09Some of you may be saying, I don't have an SAE tender lead on my bike.
04:13In that case, you may want to consider a similar item by trackside.
04:17First, obviously, there's an SAE tender lead included, which is why I'm recommending this.
04:21There's another group of folks who might want to consider that.
04:23That's people who actually want to use a USB item while they're riding around on the motorcycle.
04:27Notice here these mounting wings on here.
04:29These are designed to give a little bit more permanent installation.
04:33Instead of running something to the back of the bike where it's convenient to get to but
04:35it's out of the way, you may actually want to run power up north, up near your clip-on
04:39somewhere, so you can use something USB powered while you're riding.
04:43For instance, your GPS, perhaps, or maybe your cell phone for GPS.
04:48You can use that stuff while you're on the motorcycle.
04:51Next modification to get to here, you can see we have a set of Litex spools on this bike.
04:55Now, if you don't know what a spool is, let me give you a crash course really quickly.
04:59The old days, you would just jack a bike up from the frame underneath the bike.
05:02If you take a look under here, though, we have all this delicate plastic and exhaust.
05:05None of these are good load-bearing points.
05:07If you slide a regular motorcycle jack under here, you're very likely to break some things.
05:12Enter the spool.
05:13The spool is how we get the back end of the bike up in the air.
05:17Most of the manufacturers of sport bikes will include a threaded ball somewhere on the swing
05:20arm.
05:21What we can do then is thread in this little guy, the spool.
05:24What the spool does is actually accept the paddock stand.
05:26You'll notice we actually have this bike off of the lift by just a little bit.
05:29You can see this rear wheel is spinning free here.
05:32Now, spools are awesome because they are low cost.
05:34They're also a really easy installation.
05:36You're looking at probably five minutes on here, and they're a huge labor saver.
05:40As I mentioned, it's really easy to lubricate your chain or perhaps pop your tires off.
05:44You can either do tire work or bring them down to your motorcycle shop and have tires
05:47mounted up and balanced.
05:49Regardless of whether it's you working on your bike or the shop, these are going to
05:52save somebody an awful lot of labor.
05:55Quick pro tip here.
05:56The reason I like the Lightech is these come in a natural finish, you can see here.
06:00Some of the anodized aluminum ones look really cool, but as you use these, the lips of the
06:04paddock stand actually tend to pull the anodizing off there.
06:07They can look scarred up and look a little ugly.
06:10If you have a natural finish, it really minimizes and hides that damage.
06:12It just occurs from the spools actually being used.
06:16While we're down here, let's go to our next modification.
06:19This is our big splurge item here, a Yoshimura TRC exhaust.
06:23I say this is a splurge item.
06:25It's the most expensive item we put on here, and it's probably the least functional.
06:28Man, these things sound awesome, and they look great.
06:31That's the reason they're so popular with sport bike riders.
06:35For those of you who are looking for some justification, know that you will drop a little
06:38bit of weight, in most cases, with a slip-on exhaust.
06:40Moving on to our next modification, slide up here to the tank.
06:44You're probably going to have some trouble seeing this.
06:45We have a Techspec Snakeskin tank pad on there.
06:48I have one here that actually has not been installed, so you can see exactly what it
06:52is we're working with.
06:53Again, this is the street section.
06:55We know that everybody's going to be riding their bike, and not everybody's going to be
06:57in full leathers all the time.
06:59You may jump on your bike wearing different clothes.
07:01You may have zippers, buttons, your belt buckle perhaps.
07:04You can really tear up the paint on this very vulnerable area of the tank.
07:08Enter the tank pad.
07:09Now, there's lots and lots of tank pads out there and available.
07:12All of them work pretty well.
07:14The reason we actually chose the Techspec was because this material is fairly heavy.
07:18It's very rubbery.
07:19Not only does it shield against abrasion in that delicate paint area, but this is also
07:23a very thick, rubbery material.
07:25It also has some limited impact protection as well.
07:29Think about all those times you've grabbed a big handful of front brake and slid forward
07:32onto the bike.
07:33Well, the tank winds up absorbing that impact.
07:36Something like this tank pad helps spread out the impact load a little bit.
07:39I've actually seen people impact the tank hard enough to dent it.
07:43This may actually end up saving you some body work.
07:45Really easy installation, super inexpensive item.
07:48I see these on a lot of motorcycles, and it makes sense.
07:50They just work.
07:51Now, sticking with that bike protection theme, you can see up here I've got a set of Shogun
07:55frame sliders on here as well.
07:58Frame sliders can protect against a number of different things.
08:00They might save your bike crashing down the track at 100 miles an hour sliding along,
08:04or more realistically for us, it may save your plastics or perhaps some other things
08:08from getting dinged up in just like a parking lot tip over, or maybe just dumping the bike
08:12in your driveway at low speeds.
08:14Shoguns are perfect for that.
08:15Let me show you why.
08:16Okay.
08:17These are cylindrical.
08:18They're black.
08:19They're unobtrusive.
08:20That much is great.
08:21These are also designed well for somebody who is going to use their bike primarily on
08:24the street.
08:25Notice the length of these sliders.
08:27While this might not make them the optimal choice for track use, what this does do is
08:31provide the best chance at protecting expensive pieces if you do suffer, again, one of those
08:36parking lot tip overs.
08:38Because they stick out from the bike fairly far, there's a good chance these will save
08:42some more expensive pieces.
08:44The other thing I really dig about these too is the ease of installation.
08:47Note this bracket on here.
08:49This bracket is because these are no-cut sliders.
08:51That means you don't have to hack up your factory fairings in order to install them.
08:55On some racier items, what you'll discover is these things have to be mounted after a
08:59hole is put into your fairings.
09:01There's only two problems with that.
09:03First, the installation is kind of a pain, and secondly, you just had to cut a big fat
09:06hole in your factory fairings.
09:08Not everybody wants to do that.
09:09Instead, with a set of Shogun no-cuts, what you can do is pop them onto your bike, usually
09:13very quickly, and not have to worry about marring up your pretty factory paint.
09:18Let's talk about our final modification too, and that's going to be up front here.
09:21We've got a Peugeot windscreen mounted.
09:23This thing looks a little different than our factory screen, fairly obviously.
09:27There is a tint to this, so yes, it does look cool, but one of the other things you may
09:31notice visually that's a bit different are these hips you can see located in the windscreen.
09:36These are really helpful for wind management.
09:38Now remember, this is a race replica bike.
09:40These things are designed to manage wind at super high speeds, but again, being that we're
09:44zipping around the street, we might not be hitting those speeds.
09:47I know several of you have probably been on your bike on the highway, droning along, and
09:51you're feeling the wind buffeting your head.
09:53You're just getting kicked around there.
09:54These hips that Peugeot integrates into their screen helps kind of move the air just a little
09:59bit differently.
10:00It's going to move some of the air onto your chest and your shoulders, spreading it across
10:03you, but then it's going to give you a nice pocket of clean air around your helmet so
10:06you don't suffer that buffeting, that bobbling, that can just be so hard on your neck muscles
10:10and really tire you out.
10:12If you want to spend a little bit longer on your motorcycle and still be comfortable,
10:16something like a Peugeot windscreen is an easy installation, but it also just yields
10:20great, great benefits.
10:22All told, the parts we put on here are under 800 bucks, which I think is very reasonable
10:26for a fairly late model sport bike like this one.
10:29However, I recognize some of you guys are probably going to be willing to throw a little
10:32bit more into your bike, so we're going to blow some of this stuff apart, and I'm going
10:35to set this thing up with some more track-friendly items.
10:38Let's get the wrenches out.
10:39Now, I've got our bike geared up for track work.
10:57Before some of you dedicated track rats jump in here and say, that bike's not prepped for
11:01the track, let me just come right out and say that we're not talking about how to get
11:04to the track right now.
11:05We're talking about some products that might be a good bang for the buck, so we're not
11:09going to discuss taping up your headlights, removing your mirror, safety wiring things.
11:12Instead, we're trying to highlight things that'll make your track experience a lot better
11:15without dropping a ton of coin all at one shot.
11:18In the old days, it was all about making your bike faster, faster, faster, faster.
11:22With the current state of race reps, these bikes are already pretty fast.
11:25You're probably better off trying to get that power to the ground.
11:28That's why we installed our first item you can see here.
11:30We have a set of Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3 tires on this bike.
11:34These aren't an inexpensive tire, but I still think of these as the working man's tire.
11:38The reason I say that is that these tires are equally at home on the street as they
11:41are on the track.
11:43A tire that's geared a little bit more for track work has some very distinct advantages.
11:47First, they have a little different profile.
11:49It's a little bit more aggressive, so throwing the bike into a turn is significantly easier
11:53than it is with a tire that's more focused on the street.
11:57The other thing that's cool about a track day tire, this one in particular, is that
12:00this is a dual compound tire.
12:02What that means is the shoulders have strips of different compound rubber.
12:05It's a little bit softer, so you're going to get maximum grip when you're at your greatest
12:09lean angle.
12:10That's the sort of thing you need to build confidence and ability and really improve
12:14your riding at the track.
12:16The next modification we made, you actually can't see.
12:18It's under the seat here.
12:19We installed an anti-gravity lithium battery.
12:22The reason we did that was to help shed some weight.
12:25As I mentioned earlier, you're not really trying to make your bike go faster.
12:29That's not the goal, but beating weight off the bike can lead to a little bit faster motorcycle.
12:33The other reason we love weight loss here at RevZilla is because it also improves your
12:37braking and your handling.
12:38You're improving all three things at once with a minimum of cost.
12:42Now, it can be really difficult to beat weight off a bike, especially with a modern-day race
12:46replica, but the battery on most bikes is still a good place to save a little bit of
12:50weight.
12:51I've actually got a pair of these batteries here.
12:52You might be able to see as I'm using these things the difference just in handling because
12:55of the large weight difference between them.
12:58Here's the factory unit, ringing in at 7.5 pounds.
13:01It's a pretty significant item.
13:02This anti-gravity though, two and a half.
13:05It's a pretty significant weight reduction for not too much money.
13:09Let's move on to the next modification we made.
13:11This one actually replaces one of the street items we had used.
13:15You may remember from the street section, we installed a Techspec snakeskin tank pad
13:20up top to protect the paint.
13:22We've switched this out for Techspec's C3 tank package.
13:26This is obviously more tank pads.
13:27There's five on here.
13:28There's one up top still.
13:29We also have these ones on the side.
13:31These are made of a little different material.
13:33Rather than being that heavy, thick rubber designed to cushion and absorb impact, these
13:37are different because they're kind of foamier and they're much, much tackier.
13:40The idea here is to grab your leather so you can control the bike easily.
13:44If you've never ridden a sport bike that has something like this installed on it, it makes
13:48it really easy to grab the tank with your knees.
13:50You really need to control the bike with your lower body in order to keep your upper body
13:54free to give steering and throttle and braking inputs.
13:57Something like this is a really easy installation and they're also inexpensive.
14:01The amount of confidence you'll gain by controlling the bike with your lower body really is kind
14:07of incredible, especially considering the small time and price investment you have on
14:11them.
14:12Rounding things out, we installed a set of GB Racing engine covers.
14:14This is a full set.
14:15Now, you can buy these a la carte or you can also buy them as a set.
14:18We elected to throw this set on our bike.
14:20Now, GB Racing covers are going to serve as an ancillary piece of protection for the sliders
14:25we threw on in our street section.
14:27What these are going to do is actually help other riders as well as helping you.
14:31It's going to keep the fluids in your bike from hitting the track should you go down,
14:34keeping other riders riding around the track.
14:36One of the other things it's going to do too is keep any of the track pieces from winding
14:40up inside your motor.
14:41Having something like a GB Racing cover might be the difference between you going down,
14:45scraping up your covers, maybe bashing up your plastics, you have to throw a lever and
14:48a pedal on there, and you're back out on the track for the next session, or taking your
14:53blown roached motor and wheeling this thing up on the trailer, heading home wondering
14:57exactly what it is that you have to fix to get your bike back on the road.
15:01It's cheap insurance, and as I had mentioned, with a set of frame sliders, it really is
15:04a great foundation for good protection of your motorcycle.
15:08You should also be aware too, you're going to be spending a fair amount of money on protection
15:11for yourself.
15:12You need to work gear into your equation as well.
15:15Between leathers and a good helmet and some boots, you're going to be spending a couple
15:18bucks to get out there, so we didn't want to make the bike preparation too crazy.
15:21Now, if you want any information on any of these products you saw, click that info button
15:25on your desktop or your mobile device, and get familiar with these products a little
15:29bit more in depth.
15:30If you want some personalized attention too, we've got plenty of people here at RevZilla
15:34who ride both street and track, and are more than willing to help you out.
15:38You can get a hold of us, csatrevzilla.com if you want to send us an email, or give us
15:41a ring on the telling bone, 877-792-9455.
15:46I'm Lemmy, and I'm out of here.