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What maintenance/mods/farkles did you do to your Strom today?

682K views 6K replies 1K participants last post by  Oliver1979 
#1 ·
- I cleaned and lubed the chain.

- Installed my new mirror extenders.
 
#5,646 ·
Installed "Akozon" offset bar risers (from Amazon), Barkbuster Storm hand guards, and after trimming 2.5" from the top of this touring windscreen (eBay), I trimmed the cutoff piece and attached it as a lip screen at the top using M6 bolts, 3/4" couplers as spacers, and nylon lock nuts. That small strip made a bigger improvement than I was expecting.


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#5,655 ·
I just received and installed my Bark Buster Blizzard hand guards. They are a universal fit, install on hollow and bar end weighted bars. Very well made, typical BB quality fabric and hardware. They have their own reinforcing, but I installed mine right over my Bark Buster VPS setup. There is enough hardware included to install on any setup, or open a parts store.
As I already have BB's, I didn't need any of it. I have a 70 mile round trip engagement tonite, we'll see how they work in the hypothermia-inducing 60 degree temps; supposed to be in the upper 60s, maybe even 70'sF/20sC thru midweek.
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#5,658 ·
Removed the 4 rectangular rubber bumpers from the bottom of the stock seat. It netted me around 3/8" of lowering. The seat now squeaks badly from any movement and flops up and down at the tank about that 3/8" I mentioned. So I put 8 shorter rubber corks in the holes where the stock bumpers were. No help, the stock setup is well-fitted and tweaking it right requires a bit more.
 
#5,660 ·
Installed a bar riser from the Mart...Oxmart that is. If fit well and I measured it. 1" up and 1" back. Moved all the cabling and hoses to the sides. Made holding brackets out of an old shower caddy lol. Didn't have to mess with anything in earnest. I can see the brake line would be the first thing to require serious attention. Then problably the clutch line. I doubt you can go any more and still trust the brake line, at least on my 2013. The riser was black anodized and looked pretty bad, so I gave everything a coat of black satin enamel. Took a ride, everything works. And my neck didn't ache this time.


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#5,662 ·
Bit of overkill at this point, but installed a fuse box and relay.

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I tapped into the white/green for triggering the relay and used an inline fuse off an old battery tender. Just the GPS hooked into it for now and will be adding heated grips this winter. There will also be some auxiliary lights at some point in the future, but those are pretty low priority.
 
#5,672 ·
... There will also be some auxiliary lights at some point in the future, but those are pretty low priority.
I would recommend bumping up the priority of the auxiliary lights... They are a very valuable safety feature to increase your visibility to others. I try to mount them as far removed from the turn signals and headlight as is practical to create two additional points of light that won't wash out the signals.

For example, I recently picked up a new DR650. When riding in a group with my brother on the lead bike and my son on the DR650 he told me that in his rear view my Vee2 was prominently visible, but that the DR650 was virtually invisible. I had ordered some aux lights for it but hadn't installed them yet.

Keep in mind that most aux lights that are cheaper than the official type accessories are not DOT approved because they bleed way too much light into the eyes of oncoming traffic, blinding them. I adjust mine against the garage door to ensure that they don't cast very much light above the headlight cutoff-line. This generally points them toward the ground a lot closer. I'm more interested in them functioning as DRLs, so I'm not bothered about it, although they do light up the closer-in trail quite well. If you need better lighting to supplement your headlight then probably best to stick with something DOT approved.
 
#5,663 ·
I'm willing to admit that I can be a bit tone deaf when it comes to automotive DC electrics. Yet, I have been wiring accessories into my motorcycles for decades. Last season I bought a ST1300 retired cop bike. Great bike but the "tupperware" is exhausting to penetrate. So for the first time I purchased a "store bought" distribution block to go under the seat. About $100. (that was the hard part;))
The driving considerations were the small size, a 4 layer circuit board of decent thickness and no crimping of wires.
FAQ
 
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#5,664 ·
I'm willing to admit that I can be a bit tone deaf when it comes to automotive DC electrics. Yet, I have been wiring accessories into my motorcycles for decades. Last season I bought a ST1300 retired cop bike. Great bike but the "tupperware" is exhausting to penetrate. So for the first time I purchased a "store bought" distribution block to go under the seat. About $100. (that was the hard part;))
The driving considerations were the small size, a 4 layer circuit board of decent thickness and no crimping of wires.
FAQ
Enjoy the ST. Loved mine but eventually bought a Wing 1800 for passenger comfort. Planned to keep both the ST and the Wing but wasn't riding it much after the Wing purchase so when someone asked if they could buy it, I let it go.
The tupperware is extensive. A "simple" full brake fluid change/bleed gets a lot of it off to access the many bleeder valves on the double linked braking system. But, at least the air filter service is easy-compared the the Wing.
If/when the passenger riding is over and I'm still able I would probably have another ST1300.
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#5,666 ·
I installed Heed crashbars 15 days ago.

And today I tried something.

By dint of looking at the Trail Decouverte Concept preparations based on VStrom 650 and 1050, I said to myself that the windshiel change was nice. And since I've always been a fan of the DR800, I thought it might be possible to install a DR800 windshield instead of the original windshield (even if mine is an MRA from Hessler), as does Trail Découverte Concept.

So I started looking for a DR800 bubble in used paerts stores. I found.
And indeed it looks a lot like what Trail Découverte Concept offers.

The modified windshield of Trail Découverte Concept:



Mine with original windshield (MRA) :

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Mine with DR800 windshield :

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You may like it or not. I do like it.

Trail Decouverte Concept price : 195€
My DR800 used windshield : 10€ ! Worth it !
 
#5,667 ·
The previous owner of my bike installed pretty bright LED driving lights up front, and a second pair in back with clear red h/d tape to make them bright taillights. The tape was peeling, and I was worried about blinding folks behind.

I bought a 'Farmhouse Red' Rustoleum Chalked spray paint and painted the inside of the gasketed glass pane. Looks super cool when unlit, and even better when braking. Nice and bright, and the 4- LED pattern shows nicely. Finished the mini-project today.

I also relocated them down a bit and inside the pannier racks.
I'll try to get some pics up.

I don't know how much these lights cost originally, but this setup gives me great visibility to front (unpainted are very bright), and to rear when braking.
I recommend it :^)
 
#5,669 ·
This morning I decided to change out the 1156 turn signal bulbs and OEM signal flasher with these LED Bulbs and this electronic signal flasher on my 2022 Wee, at a total cost of $8.72CDN
Be careful with cheap signal flashers. My 07 Wee had LED signals on the front and a cheap flasher unit (though not that cheap), and it eventually developed intermittent trouble starting and occasionally shut down mid ride. Lots of electrical diagnostics were done, thought it was fixed several times, but it wasn't until the next owner had the bike for almost a year that he discovered the real problem was that flasher, it also acts as the relay for the kickstand switch on that bike. Don't know if your bike is wired the same way, maybe your flasher only handles the signal lights, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Look for posts from pvwheeler to see the bike and issue I'm talking about, he updated my thread about the problem when he finally figured it out.
 
#5,670 ·
As an aside, some folks add "mirror" flexible film or foil to cover the rear inside of the unit to serve as a reflector. It matters only because as our headlights get brighter, they tend to bleach out the indicator lights.
Once upon a time motorcycle signals all came that way. ... sigh
 
#5,673 ·
I retired the bike for the winter. Changed the oil, treated the gas, pulled the battery and brought it inside to keep charged. I also like to bring the seat inside as the cold dries and cracks the cover, plus it discourages mice from nesting under the seat.

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#5,674 ·
Black Friday shopping spree parts have started rolling in. Today I installed the Oxford EVO grips (still need to figure out mounting the controller) and SW-Motech handguards. I was really hoping some of this stuff would take longer and help kill more time before riding season.

I still have the auxiliary lights coming this week and waiting until I have all that wired in before I put the tank and plastics back on. New top box and rad guard to do as well and throwing on a set of TKC 70s.
 
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