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This is how it should have been made

24414 Views 39 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  rcannon409, 
sdkoskey
7
I think I'm done (for now) with mods on my 2015 N1K. To date, I've spent a lot more than I originally wanted to but I am really loving this bike the more I ride it. I didn't think I'd ever find a bike that fit me as well as my previous 2006 Sprint ST but this bike is really working out well so I thought I'd share some of the work I put into it.

First, since I bought the bike in the dead of winter here in Omaha and couldn't ride the bike very much for the first 2 months, I focused on the lights, dash and exhaust.

I took the slip-ons off and had them powder-coated gloss black. So far, after almost 900 miles, the paint is holding up perfectly. I know a lot of people don't like the stock exhaust but I'm one of those that really think they look and sound great.


Next, since the stock headlight really sucks, I went to BKMoto.com and bought their dual HID setup with green angel eyes. I mounted a switch on the dash to turn the actual headlights off and on manually and then added drive lights on the forks from MondoMotos.com. I usually run with the driving lights and angel eyes during the day and switch the headlights on at night.


Then I wanted to be able to use my garage door opener from the bike so I bought and mounted a push button switch on the dash. I ran wires to an extra garage door opener which I wrapped in plastic and velcroed underneath the left side fairing. If the battery ever dies, it's easy to get to for replacement. The push button on the left is for the garage door opener, the switch beneath it is for the headlights and the one on the right is for the driving lights.


The tank needed protecting and my usual go-to for a tank protector is pretty expensive but, to me, well worth it so I bought a carbon fiber tank bra from Geelong Carboncraft in Australia. Top notch, lasts forever and fits perfectly (I had one on my 2006 Sprint ST for 7 1/2 years and it looked as good as new until the end).


The stock windscreen had to go so I bought a VStream dark tinted replacement. Looks and works great.


I really wanted to remove the stock front blinkers and replace the front mirrors with mirrors that have built-in turn signals but I haven't figured out which mirrors I want to use so I just bought some tinted front signal covers and replaced them when I had the fairings off to install the headlights.

When I finally got to put some miles on the bike, I quickly realized that the stock seat really sucks. I called upon Seth Laam in California to modify the seats. This was probably the second best thing I've had done to the bike behind changing out the headlights. The seat is very comfortable now and I only sit about 1/2 inch higher than I did with the stock seat. I can still almost put both feel flat on the ground and I have a 31" inseam.


I really didn't like the ugly stock racks that came with the bike for the side bags so I replaced them with the quick release racks from Twisted Throttle. Along with that came the tail rack which did not bolt right up. I had to modify the bracket for the side racks to get them both to work together. It took some grinding but, in the end, I have a full set of hard luggage. The rear case is a Givi B37NT. It looks fantastic and I think it's the perfect size for this bike. The only down side is that I have to carry 3 keys now. One for ignition, one for side cases and one for the top case. Oh well....


I still have ASV levers on the way to replace the stock levers. The adjustment knob on the stock levers won't allow me to rotate the levers down to the point where they're comfortable. I had the ASVs on my Sprint and really like them so I'm getting them for the Ninja as well.

For the RAM mount, I got the RAM-B-342 kit from Amazon. I bolted it in rather than using the stock, expanding rubber mount so this thing doesn't move at all and won't come off.

I bought a set of green winscreen bolts and got enough to replace the bolts on the dash panel as well.

I think that's about it for now. It's frightening how much money you can spend on a motorcycle but it's also a lot of fun getting it setup just how you like it too.

I'm heading out of town for a week on vacation so if anyone has any questions about the changes I made, I'm not ignoring you. I'll get back in town Friday night. You can view all of the pictures I took here.
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Buelligan
You've done some nice mods, I've done some of the same.
The garage door opener was a no brainer for me, ive done the same for all my bikes.
the opener in the zip lock has worked well for years now, like you say, easy to change the battery.
I want to send my seat out to Seth also, how are you liking his seat?
Give us a break down after your trip as to how everything worked, and what you may change.
Nice looking bike!
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M
Excellent work on the mods!!!
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ZEUS
Looking Awesome !!!!!!
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C
LOVE my Seth Laam seat!!
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ToNY97
The gloss black on the exhaust fits well with the fairing color.
Nice attention to detail with the windscreen bolts.
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O
I have a 2015 N1K like yours. Checking the BKMoto.com web site, there is no listing for lighting to fit a 2014-2015 N1K -- that I saw, anyway. Obviously, you found one. Can you elaborate on that part of your work on the bike ...and what it took to replace the stock headlights?

Really great upgrades to your bike. Lots of ideas for the rest of us. I am also one that likes the stock exhausts. Never thought to powder coat them black, though.
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sdkoskey
omniron said:
I have a 2015 N1K like yours. Checking the BKMoto.com web site, there is no listing for lighting to fit a 2014-2015 N1K -- that I saw, anyway. Obviously, you found one. Can you elaborate on that part of your work on the bike ...and what it took to replace the stock headlights?

Really great upgrades to your bike. Lots of ideas for the rest of us. I am also one that likes the stock exhausts. Never thought to powder coat them black, though.
Click to expand...
Here's a link to the BKMoto kit I got. If you get this, make sure you tell them to send you the shorter projectors. The original kit I got had projectors that were too long so they hit the bottom of the headlight housing. It caused me to strip out the adjuster for the up/down setting on one side. I managed to fix it with some creative engineering though. :p With the original projectors adjusted as low as I could get them, the cutoff on the lights was hitting the middle of the second story on a house at the back of our cul-de-sac. :eek:

It's a good amount of work to install this kit though. High level steps:

  1. Remove both side fairings
  2. Remove the front fairing with the headlights.
  3. Remove the headlights from the front fairing
  4. Disassemble the headlights by either:
    • Putting them in the oven
    • Using a heat gun
  5. Install the new projectors and bulbs
  6. Reinstall the headlights into the front fairing
  7. Reinstall the front fairing
  8. Wire up the new lights
  9. Adjust the aim of the headlights
  10. Reassemble the rest of the bike

This is not a project for someone who's not handy with tools and electrical work. I ended up going through this whole process 3 times! Original install, trying to fix the original install and installing the new projectors. The first time I did this, I started at 1pm on Saturday, took my time and finished Sunday at around 2pm. The 3rd time I did this, I started Sunday morning at 7am and was done at 1:30pm. And that's with taking breaks. I'm getting good at taking the front half of this bike apart and reassembling it.

Here's their link to the instructions for installing this kit. Keep in mind that the new wiring assembly they're sending out is SIMPLER than the instructions on page 1 of the thread. The thread is on a Ninja 650 forum but the steps are identical.
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trublupsu94
Did you black out the reflectors?
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sdkoskey
trublupsu94 said:
Did you black out the reflectors?
Click to expand...
Yep. I'm not the best painter but it came out ok. I just used some flat black plastic paint.
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O
sdkoskey said:
This is not a project for someone who's not handy with tools and electrical work. I ended up going through this whole process 3 times!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I kind of thought this wasn't for the faint of heart. I have most of the skills and I'm a quick learner, but the part about taking the reflector assemblies apart intimidates me.

Maybe buying a new set and doing the conversion on them before disassembling my bike would be a prudent approach. It's too bad someone doesn't sell the headlights already converted. Then the wiring and reassembly would be fairly straightforward.

Thank you for the information and advice on how to avoid having to do this conversion THREE times.
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trublupsu94
sdkoskey said:
Yep. I'm not the best painter but it came out ok. I just used some flat black plastic paint.
Click to expand...
I love this mod. Probably my favorite I have seen. It is a huge improvement over stock lights. But I just don't know if I want to tackle this one myself. I am OK at doing mods, but this one looks pretty tough. I also think it would cost a fortune to pay someone because of the time. What was the toughest part in your opinion? Seems like getting the seal to break with the heat gun and getting a good reseal would be tough. Wiring looks complex too.
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sdkoskey
trublupsu94 said:
I love this mod. Probably my favorite I have seen. It is a huge improvement over stock lights. But I just don't know if I want to tackle this one myself. I am OK at doing mods, but this one looks pretty tough. I also think it would cost a fortune to pay someone because of the time. What was the toughest part in your opinion? Seems like getting the seal to break with the heat gun and getting a good reseal would be tough. Wiring looks complex too.
Click to expand...
The toughest part was the wiring, especially getting everything tucked away and finding mounting locations for the ballasts.

If you're going to do this, get a heat gun. They're only about 20-25 bucks and they're also great for removing any extra stickers on the bike you don't want.

When using a heat gun, I set the heat to high and, with the gun about 2 inches from the headlight, slowly moved it around the edge of the headlight where it's glued together. Each rotation around the light took about 15 seconds. I ran it around 4-5 times. After that, the glue gets really soft so you can pull the pieces apart surprisingly easily. You may need to use a screwdriver to pry GENTLY while you release the tabs that lock the pieces in place. The plastic itself will get soft so take your time. If it's not coming apart easily, run the heat gun around 2 more times and try again. The glue will stretch like taffy and eventually let go.

When I reassembled the lights, I ran the heat gun around the housing 4 times, 3 times around the front cover and then once again around the housing. The 2 pieces slid together with almost no effort.
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sdkoskey said:
When I reassembled the lights, I ran the heat gun around the housing 4 times, 3 times around the front cover and then once again around the housing. The 2 pieces slid together with almost no effort.
Click to expand...
Did you add any more glue or just melt the "taffy-like glue" so it would bond together again?

I would think this would be the hardest part, but I can see how getting the new wiring to fit into the fairing, including the ballasts, would be a challenge.

Thank you for showing the way on this mod. It's a worthy effort. Kawasaki, are you paying attention?
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sdkoskey
omniron said:
Did you add any more glue or just melt the "taffy-like glue" so it would bond together again?

I would think this would be the hardest part, but I can see how getting the new wiring to fit into the fairing, including the ballasts, would be a challenge.

Thank you for showing the way on this mod. It's a worthy effort. Kawasaki, are you paying attention?
Click to expand...
I actually thought about getting more glue but you don't lose any when it's disassembled so what was there worked just fine - all 3 times.

Actually, when I did this the first time, taking the headlight assembly apart really was the thing that worried me the most but when it was actually done, it really wasn't as bad as I feared. After the lights were reassembled, my next biggest worry was that I'd forget where all the screws and bolts went when I had to put the rest of the bike back together. :D
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C
SD,
Great write up on the install, like you the flimsy screen had to go, bought a NC shield, I have a Seth Laam seat on my CB1100, will have to put a couple 200mi runs on the stock seat and make a decision.
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trublupsu94
Where did you hide the ballasts?
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trublupsu94
Also, how long did it take BK to ship? I'm going to do this. At least try. :)

If I want to switch the projectors from high to low beams, I can use the switch on the handlebars, correct? And both lights will be on correct? If I want to just run halos during the day and projectors and halos at night, I need to buy a single switch with the kit?

Sorry for all the questions. This mods intimidates me but I'm going for it. Too good not to.
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sdkoskey
trublupsu94 said:
Also, how long did it take BK to ship? I'm going to do this. At least try. :)

If I want to switch the projectors from high to low beams, I can use the switch on the handlebars, correct? And both lights will be on correct? If I want to just run halos during the day and projectors and halos at night, I need to buy a single switch with the kit?

Sorry for all the questions. This mods intimidates me but I'm going for it. Too good not to.
Click to expand...
It took a week and a half for BKMoto to ship my kit out to me. They did contact me right away to let me know that the projectors with the green angel eyes were on backorder. They told me it would be 2 weeks but they actually shipped my kit quicker than that. They must have gotten them in sooner than expected.

The wiring harness is designed so that the high beam is plugged into the left socket and the low beam is plugged into the right socket. Those plugs are the triggers for the relay to send power to both projectors. So, the operation of the low and high beams will work just like the stock config except that both lights will be on for both low and high beam.

You're going to do exactly what I did. Buy a switch with the kit and that switch will be wired in between the low beam power and the relay so it'll control when power is sent to the low beam. I actually wish I didn't buy their switch because I bought this one instead later because it fit better in the dash panel, it's more waterproof and it's cheaper. I normally run with the low beams off so all you see is the green angel eyes and then I turn on the driving lights. At night, flip the switch and I have low beams and driving lights. LOTS of light. :)

One other nice feature is that the flash to pass switch works on the high beam. So if you have the low beams off, pressing that switch will turn on the high beams.

I mounted the left side ballast directly behind the instrument cluster beneath the windscreen. The right side is mounted inside the right fairing. It's stuck to the side of the black canister (don't know what that thing is) just inside the top of the right side fairing. The relay wiring is also zip tied to that canister.

Hope all this helps.
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trublupsu94
Since you are now the expert, can I buy you a plane ticket to come do mine for me? :) Again, this is an awesome mod. But I am pretty uncertain if I want to tackle it. Looks pretty complicated and expensive if I screw it up.
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