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What are ya plannin' on doing to your 900 this winter?

23K views 148 replies 75 participants last post by  MidIAVoyager 
#1 · (Edited)
Thought I'd start a little thread here.

Like the title says, got any winter project plans for the 9'er?
 
#2 ·
I'll start;

I've got some hard bags on the way, that'll be first. While it probably won't happen this winter, I'd also like to add a fairing with 6x9 speakers in it, and get the trailer hitch on the bike. Wife and I are planning on taking our vacation next fall camping off of the motorcycle. Like to get a trailer to haul our gear in for that.

Then NEXT winter, I should be 'finished' with my bike (yeah right, I'll think of something), and I'll paint the whole thing! I've been looking at what it would cost to paint the bags/trunk/fairing in the Kawa two tone and, because Colorrite is the only company I have found that has the paint and it's ultra expensive, it'll actually be just as cheap if not cheaper just to paint the entire bike a custom color. Planning on doing this:



With pearl white accents/trim.

How about you? What plans do you have for your bike?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Jeff have you not been paying attention?..... NEXXA autocolor paints and most likely RM (basf) paints have all the kawi colors.....

btw just razzin ya i know ya dont read every post on here....
 
#6 · (Edited)
I'm John, not Jeff! :p

Huh, I'll look into that. But my mind is pretty set on the Dupli-Color Paint Shop setup there. Silver base with a translucent orange on top. I like the look and, at any rate, when you're doing a fairing, bags, and trunk, a tank and a couple of fenders doesn't add much. Then I get a cool custom setup rather than just matching the stock paint.

Personally I intend to ride the wheels off the thing. If I wanted to work on one I'd buy a second one to work on and keep one to ride. :rolleyes: Which is something I'm thinking hard about. Discovered a 2K engine complete with wiring and all electronics and fuel controls for cheap. Who knows? But I'll be riding the 9 all winter long.:)
Yeah I'll ride too but the winter is still a good time to get things done. If for no other reason than I just don't have much going on in the winter. I stopped commuting with the bike this season. Just don't like dealing with all of that warm gear when I get there. So I mostly just ride on the weekends or a warm afternoon. Dunno where you're at but our highs are barely breaking 50 degrees right now, just not ideal riding conditions for riding every day like I do in the summer!

As for my winter plans... a crash bar and a set of harley type lower fairings with speaker pods ... just wish the 9 had a bit better charging system so i could put a set of subs in the pods and an amp to power them!!
Dunno if that would work with your lower fairing plans but I've got the Kawasaki Fire and Steel highway bars and they look really good on the bike. Nice and solid too. Mine are actually for the custom, but I shimmed up the floorboards with some flat washers so they would work with the mount (which is intended to bolt up to the Customs forward controls)

Like to see how that turns out! Wouldn't mind a similar setup in the winter. Mutazu has a set of H-D lowers.

I think in the end you and I are gonna have just about the same bike, except for yours having the bicycle tire up front in stead of a real motorcycle wheel :p (just kiddin') Now you just gotta get a tour pak and I've gotta get a fairing and we'll match! LOL
 
#4 ·
As for my winter plans... a crash bar and a set of harley type lower fairings with speaker pods ... just wish the 9 had a bit better charging system so i could put a set of subs in the pods and an amp to power them!!
 
#5 ·
Personally I intend to ride the wheels off the thing. If I wanted to work on one I'd buy a second one to work on and keep one to ride. :rolleyes: Which is something I'm thinking hard about. Discovered a 2K engine complete with wiring and all electronics and fuel controls for cheap. Who knows? But I'll be riding the 9 all winter long.:)
 
#47 ·
Same with me...I can ride here in Colorado every month, and winter is no exception. As long as the road is not icy, I'll ride! Bundled up and heated grips and I am good to go. I commute to work on the bike, so it will not be parked. I do want to upgrade the exhaust, probably Vance & Hines Slash Cut Staggered, Cobra Fi2000R, and Cobra Powerflo intake for the 900. Probably this spring, or early summer when it's a bit warmer in the garage!

Good job on finding the 2K engine. Sounds like a good project!

Anyone out there that has done this upgrade combo?
 
#7 ·
lol ya i did mean John.... but someohow Jeff is what came out ... lol and hey i dont blame ya for wanting that orange, its a nice color!!!!
 
#9 ·
Bags on the way - Viking.

New Pipes arrive today - Road Burner Large Radius curved in matte black.

New gas gauge connector - the one it has now is a bit mangled - with the 270 ohm resistor soldered on.

then ride the heck out of it! Does't snow much down here in GA, so as long as it's over 40 F, I'm on it!

Doc
 
#10 ·
Well, before it goes into storage, I am going to change the plugs (first time taking the tank off) and do the oil. I also plan to get accent lights (LED) at the Bike Show in January, so will install them and that is about all. Really love the bike just as it is.
 
#12 ·
I'm tired of hearing about if you should only run two thousand miles, or three thousand miles on diesel oil, instead of just running motorcycle oil and not having to worry about it.
I'm going to try running on turkey drippings collected from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. A local Boston Market said I can have their chicken drippings, but I'm thinking that chickens don't have the same viscosity as turkeys. The chicken stuff would be more plentiful though, so maybe if I change it every 500 miles, it won't shear too much from operating inside the transmission. I don't know if I'll be able to report on the long-term effects since I don't ride much during the winter.
 
#13 ·
Almost 4000 miles past the recommended valve clearance check. When the snow comes I'm gonna dive into that project.
 
#14 ·
I need to do that too! Got the shims... just gotta find where I put the time!
 
#16 · (Edited)
I'm gonna have to put a disclaimer. Everyone thinks they are soooooooo clever posting 'I'm gerrnna ride it!' because apparently they ride 24/7/365 and don't even shut the motor off, so there's no way they could add any accessories over the winter!

LOL, just kiddin' ya man. Can ya tell I'm very jealous? Come summer time when it's 80 degrees and I'm cruisin' and it's 110 down there it'll be different. But, yeah, the HIGH... the HIGH today is 42. I'm not happy. LOL. I rode all last winter, it never really got cold. I'll ride down into the 40's, but when the HIGH for the day is the lowest I'll ride in, that means I have like a 30 minute window to ride! Sheesh. Stupid weather! LOL

Supposed to be upper 60's this weekend. You know where I'll be!

Give me a couple weeks though and I'll be so sick of not riding I'll suit up and ride down into the 30's!

The biggest problem I have is all the clothes and gear associated with riding in the cold, and how dark it gets as soon as it does. It's miserable when it's dark and cold! I don't mind wearing all the gear, but it's a pain to deal with whenever you get where you're going.
 
#20 ·
Oh yes there are plans nothing to serious. I decided I am going to paint my spokes to match the tins. I will pull my front fender and put some orange on it to match the rest of the bike. Hopefully get a none bent headlight ring and get it replaced. Wet sand and buff the entire bike( I never did when I painted it this summer I figured it was a winter project. Make some custom risers for my 1 1/4" bars. I have a friend that is trying to talk me into painting the frame. So maybe that will happen. Then I only need to find a primary cover and replace the front signals with LED like the rear. Thats my short list for this winter.
 
#22 ·
Just to be different, the good news is, I'm planning on just keeping it. Actually it's my wife's LT and she had decided to give up riding due to her rheumatoid arthritis. It's in her hands, knees and feet and she hasn't been feeling fully safe to ride, and felt unsure about holding the bike up at a stop. While she still absolutely loves riding, she just doesn't feel fully competent and comfortable anymore. BUT!! She recently got some good meds for the arthritis that has reduced the inflammation and made her feel better, so she said not to sell the bike so fast. She'll see how things are come springtime and the riding season. This made me very happy as she is my best riding partner. I'm happy to say that she is, without a doubt, as good a rider as anyone I know. Soooo--the gas tank is full, I added fuel stabilizer to it and plugged in the smart charger. No mods, just TLC over the winter, and an occasional dusting and coat of polish just to keep it looking good. If she decides she will actually quit riding, I am considering keeping it for myself. I really like that bike despite the fact that I favor bigger bikes.
 
#24 ·
I think some of you guys just have weak manginas. :D:D:D Buy some new clothes and lets ride. Was in the 30s when I left this morning and I was just ridin for fun. Now I've just gotten back into riding after a 25 or so year absence but nothing has changed other than I'm not going to work :cool: and I'm a lot older. :mad: If it ain't rainin or snowin I intend to ride. Guess what? I still ain't no biker. I'm just a guy that likes to ride and I have a lot of miles to make up.

I did order some really ugly hand guards I'll have to put on when they come. Does that count? :rolleyes:
 
#25 ·
And ya can't mod your bike the same day you ride it? I'm gonna be installing some hard bags here in a little bit, one of the things I said I was gonna do. That'll take an hour. I'll be able to ride before and after.

And the bigger projects I want to do, like painting or otherwise, will take a few days. I'd rather do that when it's cold and dreary out, then on a warm spring day!
 
#26 ·
well for the die hard you gotta ride every day types...... there are areas in north america that require the use of a m+s (mud+snow) tire during certain months of the year on ANY street vehicle .....and i am 99.9% sure that there is no snow tire available for the vn900......but i do usualy break the law and get out a cpl times during the winter months.... most years the only month i dont get out is febuary......just dont feel like shoveling a 50ft pathway through 3 feet of snow to get my bike out of the shed, only to be followed by chipping away 3 inches of ice off my 200 ft driveway to get to the road... i guess that makes less of a man, but i can live with that !!!
 
#27 ·
btw thats why i am planning to add a can-am spyder to my stable sometime soon.... so i can put a set of studded winter tires on it and ride it year round !!!!
 
#28 ·
I wanna see that! Don't wanna ride it but I'd sure get a kick outta watchin. :D

When the snow flies I run the 4 wheelers. Kind of the same thing ain't it?:rolleyes: Well at least the same concept. Around here it's legal to ride them on the roads also, just not on the state highways.
 
#32 ·
Im on the fence about chromed stock rims for my custom, othere than that, there both done .... for the time being.
 
#34 ·
oh and btw i will share the blame form the sidetracking!!!!!
 
#35 ·
um... I will soon install my Mutazu batwing..just got the chrome tachometer clamps i will use for the top 2 attachment points at the handle bars,the bottom 2 points will be attached to the forks i will make some cheap brackets withrubber mounts.Once I have the batwing on I will measure for home made fork lowers I found a sheet of hard to find dark tinted plexi which should look awesome!I the spring i will be looking for a solo seat.
 
#39 ·
There's a company that makes a quadricycle kit for the GL1800 Goldwing! Puts 4 wheels on it!

'course you could probably buy a Porsche for the amount you'll spend on it...

I would LOVE to have a Ural or another dual sport sidecar getup for the winter!

 
#44 ·
I believe that's Hannigan's conversion, and for a cool $45K you can have one, too. That includes the bike. Don't know what it would cost to have a currently owned Wing done. Not for me, though. If it came to that point, something like a Miata or a new Mustang would be in order, and a lot cheaper.
 
#40 ·
nice but the ones i am talking about are essntialy a street legal atv...
 
#41 ·
That would be cool!

I'm not as turned off by the temps as I am the salt, snow, gravel, etc. that plagues the roads once the first (threat of) snow happens. Right now it's fine, but there will be a time soon when my riding is cut short! Even if I DO ride it won't be far, I really don't want to find myself out on some deserted little road that is still covered in gravel, cinders, salt, etc. Not only is it really, really bad for the bike, (can you say RUST?) but I've always thought that hitting the ground when it's really cold out must hurt worse than hitting the ground when it's warm :p A street legal ATV though? Much more possible! Although, in the end, I think a Ural would be just as cool, and feel a bit more like a motorcycle.

So anyway. My Mutazu bags came in today. Well almost. Walked out to take the garbage out and the mail lady greeted me and handed me a stack of mail. I went inside, went through it, found a little slip. "Ah" I though, "There wasn't room on the truck for the bags!". So I went to the post office, they said "Oh, no, this says you were unreachable and they were not able to make the delivery. Come back tomorrow and we'll have it after she gets back". That sneak! She HANDED the slip to me no less!

ALTHOUGH, I have a sneaking suspicion that box was hiding somewhere in the post office. She's delivered plenty a box to me, and I've known her for a while, she's done this route a long time, if it was too big for her she'd just have me get it out of the van! I bet it wouldn't fit in her van (rural area, they don't use mail trucks, and they have a HUGE route to cover), so she filled out a slip and left the box there, and the dummy at the counter couldn't find it!

So, long story short, I'll put the hard bags on tomorrow. That'll check one thing off the list. Problem is I keep checking stuff off, only to find more stuff I want! Ah, but that's the joy of owning the motorcycle isn't it? The expense isn't the bike, the tires, the oil, or even the fuel! It's the CHROME!
 
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