Hi guys,
I have been slowly updating my personal bike as I gain more experience with it. Some mods have been cosmetic and others for performance. I have been having a hard time finding proper sized rear sprockets for my drum hub. I had been running a 45t as it was the biggest I could find. It was alright for higher speed cruising, but made the centrifugal clutch work pretty hard in the Morini engine. I had a custom 48t cut and then a 52t. I find the 52t to be a good choice around town and run the 48t on the open roads. By using a split sprocket system and two master links I can quickly change sprocket size without tearing the rear wheel off the bike. That is the performance stuff. Next, I took my seat pan to a local upholstry shop with a bunch of photos of original BTR seats and asked the guy there if he could make a decent copy of the seats in the pictures. I thought he did a pretty good job and even covered the bottom of the seat as well. The added flaps to the seat really changed the personality of the bike. Kind of makes it look like a bigger, heavier machine. I also added better grips to the bars. They are called Donkey grips, have a nice vintage look to them, and are just a very comfortable and good looking upgrade.
Racer #5 by Sportsman Flyer, on Flickr
Racer #5 by Sportsman Flyer, on Flickr
I have been slowly updating my personal bike as I gain more experience with it. Some mods have been cosmetic and others for performance. I have been having a hard time finding proper sized rear sprockets for my drum hub. I had been running a 45t as it was the biggest I could find. It was alright for higher speed cruising, but made the centrifugal clutch work pretty hard in the Morini engine. I had a custom 48t cut and then a 52t. I find the 52t to be a good choice around town and run the 48t on the open roads. By using a split sprocket system and two master links I can quickly change sprocket size without tearing the rear wheel off the bike. That is the performance stuff. Next, I took my seat pan to a local upholstry shop with a bunch of photos of original BTR seats and asked the guy there if he could make a decent copy of the seats in the pictures. I thought he did a pretty good job and even covered the bottom of the seat as well. The added flaps to the seat really changed the personality of the bike. Kind of makes it look like a bigger, heavier machine. I also added better grips to the bars. They are called Donkey grips, have a nice vintage look to them, and are just a very comfortable and good looking upgrade.
Racer #5 by Sportsman Flyer, on Flickr
Racer #5 by Sportsman Flyer, on Flickr
