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Stumbling in like a drunk doctor

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Hey all!
Obviously new, glad to find this forum. Been lurking awhile but I feel like it’s time to make it official

I’ve been riding and wrenching for 20 years, but got a 2013 NC700X With about 5k miles on it in March and have been setting it up and modding ever since.

My thing is going road trips so I’m almost done with all the touring necessities, if all goes well the first trip will be July

Glad to meet y’all! I’ll share some progress threads as I think of it
 

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My thing is going road trips so I’m almost done with all the touring necessities . . .


WELCOME!

So what mods did you make for your touring needs?

You'll find it is a nice light touring bike. My wife (2016 - NC700x) and I ('18 - NC750x) rode ours around all 5 Great Lakes and part of the St Lawrence Seaway last summer. Several other members also tour with theirs.
 
WELCOME!

So what mods did you make for your touring needs?

You'll find it is a nice light touring bike. My wife (2016 - NC700x) and I ('18 - NC750x) rode ours around all 5 Great Lakes and part of the St Lawrence Seaway last summer. Several other members also tour with theirs.

Thank you! I’m in MN so the 5 lakes is on my list also! I was thinking East in US and return route via Canada. We’ll see. I was going to go Colorado/Yellowstone/Devils Tower/Black Hills/Badlands this year but the gathering I was going to attend in CO got bumped to 2021, so Great Lakes will have to save for 2022 at least. This year I think I’ll just stick with short term trips just because of uncertainty...

So for mods...
So far:
-Wired and installed GPS charging mount
-Wired and installed Voltmeter
-Wired and installed USB charging port
-Wired and installed Heated grips
-Wired and installed Fog lamps
-Installed switches to control lights/grips
-Install, wire, and custom fit Fuse bank
-Hand fabricated bracket for fog lamps
-Custom modified bodywork to fit bracket
-Installed luggage rack frames
-Installed new grips and throttle assist
-Mounted a thermometer (Removed thermometer housing and repainted)
-Built tool canisters
-Built custom organizer for frunk
-Fabricated brackets for frunk organizer
-Wove custom bungee net for frunk lid
-Built improvised brackets for frunk net
-Custom shaved and rebuilt shorter seat
-Reupholstered seat

Today I’m determining the tool kit I want to carry and remaking tool canisters because the afore mentioned ones are too big (measure twice...)

Tomorrow I’ll fabricate some kind of top rack that’ll also serve as mounting brackets for the tool tubes, and if I have time also mount a couple MSR fuel cans, we’ll see.

Other current projects are... mounting a louder horn, a pudgy pie iron (priorities), then I want to revisit my wiring and just clean it up a little more, and then I have a feeling the tool tubes will need some kind of waterproofing so I’ll have to figure out some kind of gasket

You know, all fun stuff
 
As for the Great Lakes, we started on the south end of Lake Michigan, up and around Superior, continued East along Huron, Erie and Ontario to the St Lawrence, then back along the south sides of the lakes. We stuck to rural roads, stayed off the interstates and hugged the coastline as much as possible. I think we were on interstates for a total of 7 miles?

And for whatever it is worth, the most traumatizing part of the ride was through the traffic in Duluth over the bridge while a driver in a white van decided he wanted our lane.

FWIW, we had no problem finding fuel. I carried Desert Fox fuel bladders, never even filled them. I was worried about the range between fuel stops along the TransCanadian Hwy, but it was not an issue. The nice thing about a fuel bladder, instead of the traditional MSR bottle, is they store flat when not in use.

fullsizeoutput-7098.jpg


Probably the most used (by me) modification was the addition of an Atlas Throttle Lock, my wife rarely used it. Both bikes had Nemo2 chain oilers, Madstad windshields, Denali DRL LED auxiliary lights so we would be seen; both also have SAE ports for recharging the battery, powering a USB port, etc. Both bikes had inexpensive Grip Puppies and they really added to the comfort.

Her bike has Givi V35 panniers and AdMore LED lights inserted in place of the reflectors in the Givi boxes; no top box on her bike. Her bike also has a SOUPY'S lowering kit and adjustable kickstand.

Mine has Hepco & Becker panniers and top box, I also have a Dale's HondaBikePro rear seat rack and a Corbin seat. Ram mount + QuadLock for the iPhone several inches above the dash, iPhone used for navigation. I also installed surface mount LED Tail/Turn lights on my side cases for added visibility.
 
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Looking forward to seeing your modification.

Here are some photos of what I did to our bikes. But remember to ride your ride, you need to modify your bike to suit your riding. Whatever works for you is the best mod.

I don't have photos of the NEMO2 chain oiler. It is dead simple to use, doesn't need to be tied into the electrical system, simple idiot-proof mechanical system.

Also I don't have photos of the Roc Straps. They are fancy bungie cords but better. Much better.

FWIW, I painted my boxes to match the bike. Simple spray cans of paint. Just because I thought it looked better.


Rear view showing the added lights. I am more concerned about being seen so even our front lights were added to help us be more visible. FWIW my front AUX lights are wired right into the light switch, the rear Aux lights were wired right into the existing turn, stop and running light wires.

fullsizeoutput_72ac.jpg




Ram mount with a QuadLock for my iPhone. Picture shows a Beeline, but that proved to be a total waste of money. The Beeline twists off and the iPhone twists on. QuadLock makes a really secure lock, quarter turn and it snaps into lock. Easy off too.

fullsizeoutput_7140.jpg




Corbin seat & HondaBikePro rear seat rack.

fullsizeoutput_6f3c.jpg




Atlas Throttle Lock (fake cruise control) was a great addition for me due to tennis elbow and arthritis. I used this on almost ever stretch of highway. You can see the slip on padded Grip Puppies in these photos too.

A64820-DD-A605-4-A74-B438-7-E77-BE5120-F6.jpg
 
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Looking forward to seeing your modification.

Here are some photos of what I did to our bikes. But remember to ride your ride, you need to modify your bike to suit your riding. Whatever works for you is the best mod.

I don't have photos of the NEMO2 chain oiler. It is dead simple to use, doesn't need to be tied into the electrical system, simple idiot-proof mechanical system.

Also I don't have photos of the Roc Straps. They are fancy bungie cords but better. Much better.

FWIW, I painted my boxes to match the bike. Simple spray cans of paint. Just because I thought it looked better.


Rear view showing the added lights. I am more concerned about being seen so even our front lights were added to help us be more visible. FWIW my front AUX lights are wired right into the light switch, the rear Aux lights were wired right into the existing turn, stop and running light wires.

fullsizeoutput_72ac.jpg




Ram mount with a QuadLock for my iPhone. Picture shows a Beeline, but that proved to be a total waste of money. The Beeline twists off and the iPhone twists on. QuadLock makes a really secure lock, quarter turn and it snaps into lock. Easy off too.

fullsizeoutput_7140.jpg




Corbin seat & HondaBikePro rear seat rack.

fullsizeoutput_6f3c.jpg




Atlas Throttle Lock (fake cruise control) was a great addition for me due to tennis elbow and arthritis. I used this on almost ever stretch of highway. You can see the slip on padded Grip Puppies in these photos too.

A64820-DD-A605-4-A74-B438-7-E77-BE5120-F6.jpg


I really like those rear lights! That’s very cool. And throttle lock though... I’ve debated about getting one for years, I just use the assist for now but damn...

I also forgot to mention the bike came with a Cee Bailey windscreen and I swapped the battery for a lithium ion and added an H4 LED headlight conversion. (Was hard to get in but once I got it the light was so much brighter). I’ve got Grip Puppies over the stock grips as a temporary solution. I’ve had a bunch of messed up hand injuries so I need to really quell any vibration and make grips as comfortable as possible so I’m working with a Colorado company about a better bar/grip/guard solution, so for now it’s just the foam and the heaters

I wired the accessories direct off the battery. It’s risky, I know but that’s always how I’ve done it so it’s habit. The reasoning is if I see an accessory is draining the battery too much I can turn off everything non essential (non stock) and keep riding a little longer to charge it back up. That way if there’s a short in something I’m not without a safety net. That and it’s come in handy to have access to the GPS or USB with no key before...

The switches are the main power, AUX lights (I went with PIAAs), and heated grips, and switch also powers the charger, voltmeter, & GPS

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The bracket for the PIAAs was much like the Denali AUX lights... I stole the design of that and just DIY one myself. The bracket pic is before painting and coating with truck bed liner, it looks less rustable now

9D663692-D41B-47B2-BEE3-39EF0E781D51.jpeg
D1AF4B2D-AB30-499D-A062-B361E47B0D12.jpeg
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The luggage I’m running are Givi Dolomitis for the side panniers, and no top box, just a rack which I’m making and an unreasonably large camp chair will be the only thing utilizing it as the panniers are more than enough space for me. Seriously it’s the most comfortable camp chair ever. I own small camp chairs the fit in the panniers - but I’m taking the big one. It reclines.

84657551-87C5-4ED4-B813-7B309561D748.jpeg

As for the frunk organizer, seat, and bungee net, those are super cool non standard projects so I’ll make posts about those individually, I think more people would enjoy the those outside of a welcome thread :)
 
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