My Mods Thread - 2021 Royal Enfield Continental GT 650

[wachuko]

Well... now installed. I also moved the license plate back to the stock location... did not like it mounted on the side like I thought I would...

Had to add a hole to the bracket for correct fitment... thought about cutting it... I will do that later...

Each muffler comes with three metal spacers/gaskets to fit different diameter pipes...

I had to use two for my bike...

Both now installed and at the same height from the floor...

All done for now. Waiting for the black rear fender to arrive in a few days. Chrome front fender is a month or so out ...

 

[wachuko]

A couple of updates...

Replaced stock valve stem caps, as suggested, with these:

Tool roll arrived:

And started to place all the tools that I have so far, in it...

I don't like moving tools from the garage into the bike when planning a trip... I prefer to have the tools on the bike all the time. Each bike with its own set of tools. And even though the bike has it own toolkit with hex key wrenches, and whatnot... I wanted to have this one fitted with everything as well. So missing from the photo is a set of ball end hex key wrenches and some reversible ratcheting combination wrench set. These arrive on Friday and that will be it for tools...

I need to find a place for the air compressor and first aid kit... somewhere that they can stay in place even if the saddlebags are off the bike...

Now to figure out where to secure this on the bike...

On the pipes, and I know it will not last long... but, I painted the inside with high-temp manifold paint... I just do not like seeing rust in there... And since these are new and the internals were pristine, figured it was the perfect time to coat them in paint before beating the crap out of them on the road...

 

[wachuko]

Toolkit is now complete:

Added some valve core replacements to the patch kit...

And also got the digital multimeter today as well...

 

[wachuko]

Accessories (panniers brackets and rear rack) and spare parts (clutch & throttle cable, black rear mudguard/fender, starter solenoid harness) arrived:

A couple of photos of the rear rack installed... just to see what it looks like in there. Will remove and put away for now. Only got it in case I ever decide to take a long trip with this bike.

Now... let's go ahead and swap the silver rear mudguard for the black one

Now let me go back and remove that rack and put it away...

 

[wachuko]

Latest order arrived... Those are the most expensive washers I have purchased... purely decorative, I know, I tried to resist the temptation to buy them... I tried...

I was not going to gate the fork protectors, but could not find anything better and did not wanted to put a lot more miles before having some level of protection on those. So went with the factory units. I will be using the recommended process of removing the wheel rather than undoing the forks.

The oil cooler guard is not powder coated... already can see paint chipping. I am going to remove all the paint and powder coat it.

So now I am only missing the front chromed fender. Once that arrives the bike will be done...

 

[wachuko]

Fork gaiter kit installed.

Tested using the tool kit from the bike to validate if I was missing anything... I was. I had not added the 16mm wrench from the set thinking it was not needed... well, in the tool kit now. The 24mm wrench you see in the photo is the only tool that was not from the bike. I did not feel like taking the wrench from under the seat... but I have a 24mm in there.

Installed!

Let me install the sump guard back... had to remove it to use the jack stand.

 

[wachuko]

I am soooo stupid... I ordered the oil cooler cover not realizing there was one already in there!!! #$%$#%!$ I do not mind spending a few bucks on accessories for the bike... even if it is to test this or that and never end up using them.... But I do hate wasting money on something like this. I was doing it for protection thinking the bike did not have one. SOB... Oh well... I like the one on the bike more than this one.... I hate it when this happens... Talk about scotomas... did not saw it until I was getting ready to test the one I purchased...

Figured it would cheer you guys up... so had to share. Laugh away!

 

[wachuko]

I do not like the GT emblem on the side covers. Reason I put in place some TAG stickers... but I do want to remove them (the TAG stickers) and go with something else... I just ordered these from Motone:

Motone Cafe Racer - Petrol Tank / Side Panel Emblem - Billet - Motone from Motone Customs UK

Motone Cafe Racer - Petrol Tank / Side Panel Emblem - Billet Motorcycle Parts | Motone Customs

www.motone.co.uk

TAG stickers will be replaced for those... I like the fact that those Motones emblems are billet aluminum... I do hope they work and look good once installed on this bike...

 

[wachuko]

Forgot to share the photos of the rear shock washer/trim (RSU Finisher) pieces....

And one with all done. I did take the time last night to paint a few bits gloss black...

 

[wachuko]

Well... I was going to do the rear tail end change. My plan was to make it so that I could swap from stock setup (to be able to use the rear rack on longer trips) and the shorty tail...

Started to mark where the cuts had to be made

But then decided to leave it alone for now. Bike is back to how it was before I took off the stuff to start cutting. I will continue to enjoy it as is.

Side aluminum emblems are on their way.

I also ordered some reflective rim tape in black. I have had these in other bikes and helps to be seen by other vehicles at night... during the day they just look like the solid color they are... Was not sure if to go with silver or black so ordered the black first to see if the contrast with silver rim looks good or not... I can always change it and go with silver...

After all that... still felt like I had wasted the time not accomplishing anything... so had to do something! When I was thinking about the swappable bike's rear-end... I thought about going back to installing the axel mounted license plate frame. To avoid having to move the license plate every time I swapped setups.

I went ahead and made the bracket for the license plate light. Went with this one since it is easier to get to the plate if I ever need to take it out...

The other lights I got are the ones that replaces the bolts, and you have to cut those if you ever need to replace the license plate. Once the connectors are installed, those will not go through the bolt hole. Not practical for me since I am always changing something...

That is all for now... Fuel tank is almost empty, I will take the time this weekend to check valve clearance...

 

[wachuko]

Shift and brake levers modified... Drilled some holes, painted them black...

Shifter:

Brake:

 

[wachuko]

The Motone aluminum billet emblem arrived. Ohhh yeahhh!! This I really like!

They have to be positioned correctly to cover the stock sticker. Meaning the color parts of the stock sticker. If you look closely, you can see some of the black border at the top from the stock sticker... But since it is only the black rim that sticks out, it does not stand out at all...

I need to see if there are better emblems for the tank. I like the Royal Enfield letters in the tank, just not too keen that they are just stickers. I get link stuck to them every time I clean the tank... there has to be something better.

I also plan to paint, with black enamel, the letters in the engine case... I have seen a few folks do that and it comes out looking nicer... But this is low in priority...

 

[wachuko]

Machined brace arrived!! Thank you Peter!

Oh this looks nice... I think I will leave it as is and not polish it... I like the machined looks...

I only need the polished fender/mudguard to arrive so that I can be done with the front...

 

[wachuko]

Time to do the first valve check/adjustment.

Looking at this video:

Followed recommendation and unbolted the ABS package and lift it up and out of the way, and remove the air injection tube.

Valve cover came off rather easy...

First step - remove the tank

Photo of what is under the tank

Disconnect these:

Moving that air injection tube out of the way? Excellent suggestion

And raising the ABS assembly:

I do not like those green stickers...

Stickers be gone!

 

[wachuko]

Left side looks okay...

Right side, in the exhaust side, a tad too tight...

Let me turn this a couple of times and check again before I start adjusting anything... Already caught myself almost making a mistake by confusing the numbers on the blades (inch vs mm)

 

[wachuko]

I do not like the looks and condition of the fork caps... from when I got the bike these looked like they were installed with no care at all... But I did not wanted to go through the expense of changing the forks since, so far, I have been pleased with the stock suspension setup.

I decided to order the Hitchcocks Fork Spring Pre-Load Adjusters

Doing this only for looks. I will check to see how I can leave it so it stays at the current setting, if possible... I just want to get rid of that ugly stock cap.

 

[wachuko]

Well.... got tired of the green numbers... Ordered another one with white numbers and will swap this one out...

Since I do not foresee using the old one, decided to have some fun with it... Printed a new face with the RE logo. Painted the second hand red and the hour hands black... Printed on photography paper... will not fair well in the sun long term.

Would had been better to make it with the black dial and white numbers like I wanted... I was just doing something quick to see how it turned out.

 

[wachuko]

Went with a different face... wanted black dial with white numbers... Had to paint the hour hands back to white. Done now.

 

[wachuko]

These arrived today...

 

[wachuko]

Install was easy....

Raised the front to avoid any load on the shocks.

I removed the stock units with a 22mm wrench.

Screwed in the new ones by hand. They went in all the way without the need of a wrench.

Placed tape on them to do the final torque with a 27mm wrench

No adjustment looks to be 2mm of preload from stock. Just for kicks, adjusted to the 6mm mentioned by others... using a 12mm wrench.

The suggestion of using tape was great. No marks on them after the install and adjustment.