My little project (not another Street Triple wannabe?!)

[teriyakimonkey]

With several other member's transformations in mind especially Street Tango and Ruby Racing ([ame="http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37686"]ongoing[/ame] project), I'm doing my own.

I'm making it so I can easily switch between having a Daytona and a slightly quicker Street Triple R with Daytona geometry (the rear is staying as is).
Why am I doing this?

Because during the 500 mile service of the Daytona I used a Street Triple to get home and collect the Service Stamp book. I loved it and I felt so confident. When I got back on the Daytona I wasn't disappointed but could completely understand what the point of the two bikes are.

Why not do a part ex or similar?

The reason I won't chop in the Daytona for a Street or Street R are that my bike had done 309 miles when I bought it so I know where it's been, what has happened with it etc. pretty much. I may have lost money chopping it in and may have got a lemon back. I like to do trackdays and with my conversion I can do them as I see fit; with a full on sportsbike, a sportsbike with more comfy bars (already got helibars fitted but have handlebars to put on) and rearsets or a full on naked street bike as I'm making the extra effort so that I can switch back and forth if I want to although I have a strong suspicion I won't want to.

Now for the techy stuff (Cazza and Devil Biccy look away now).

Parts I have already bought, some of which I will sell on if I don't use them:

New:
Genuine Speed Triple fatbars with risers
A couple of Genuine Triumph brackets
Oberon oblong bar end mirrors (not entirely sure about these yet)
Daytona loom
Everything below has been used:
Street Triple loom (shouldn't need to chop into either)
Street Triple frame infills
Speed Triple headlamp and clocks bracket (slight mod required but clocks fit as per street/Daytona)
Speed Triple headlamp fairing (fortunately same colour as my bike but slight paint damage)
Speed Triple headlamps (part of the deal with above two- like hens teeth to get the lot together)
Street Triple footpeg hangers with potential to lower
Street Triple radiator cowls

I should add that my second, or at the moment first bike, is a '98 ZX6R which I took to France for an excellent Alps trip of around 2300 miles. I wished on quite a few days that I'd been able to take the Daytona but due to the extreme riding position there's now way my knees would have coped (am getting them looked at). Now I'm home I feel so much more in touch with the bike that I find myself riding like I shouldn't but I can. I want this from my number one bike. I understand that one bike can't do everything but there's always a compromise which I am trying to get around.

Progress:

Apart from reading up on lots involving compatibility of parts, other conversions and watching ebay/buying parts I've spent varied amounts of time doing the wiring. This is the major part with all the rest being nuts and bolts. I have to re-wire about half of the loom but with all the different connectors I am chopping and re-making most of the connections. To quote a song "the first cut is the deepest" isn't wrong. To take my pride and joy and cut it's arteries was scary to say the least. I've spent a couple of evenings and half a day cutting and recently connecting but most of that has been pondering/planning/ball scratching. I was going to solder all connections for cleanliness and the best joint until my motorcycle guru (you know who you are ) suggested the faults with soldering cables on bikes, so I'm using heat shrinkable splice crimps with the proper ratchet tool. They are using much needed space but with a little extra care can be spaced out nicely and strengthen the cable routing.

Now some pictures.

I needed to lose about 2/3 of a foot of this cloth covered loom and relocate the fuse box and relays




This is where the relays, fusebox, flasher unit and flip switch will reside. Fortunately for me Triumph had used the airbox common with the Street Triple so I could buy the Street bracket to house all of these and even gave me captive nuts to secure it.




For an unknown reason Triumph routed the exhaust oxy sensor, right hand indicator, right hand switchgear and horn in front of the forks when they could have wired it exactly the same as the Street. This also had to go.




"'Scuse me Mister but you're Daytona's been sick" I nearly was too.








Two single cable ties to hold on the headlight/instrument bracket give hope. I'm not one for fancy coloured metal bits but imagine these lovely forks were hidden by the fairing?!




So here I am. After several months of pondering, ifs and buts, I'm on the road.

Expected completion date: Phase one (without proper handlebars) within a month.

If anyone has any suggestions, experience or potential problems then I'd be glad to hear from you.


__________________

[ducnut]

You go, brother. Looking forward to seeing what you end up with.

[DecepticonDon]

HAHAHAHA.......I'm doing the same, just chopped the wiring harness today. your pics look exactly like my bike right now. Got the relays moved, just need to rewrap the harness and attach the relays to the airbox and that'll be done. Might better start a thread......

Excellent job and good luck.

[Ruby Racing]

Yeah, that first cut is certainly the hardest. But once you do it there is no turning back. It's worth it teriyakimonkey. I'm nearly finished mine. Bodywork to be painted in two weeks time, wrap up the loom this week, change a few parts and tidy up some bits and bobs and I'm done.

Glad you have started and I looked forward to the updates.

Stay positive!

[hdoskocil]

I can't understand why you would do this, the daytona is perfect as it is.
Its like giving the mona lisa a haircut, it would look stupid. Some things just cannot be improved on and the daytona is one of those.

also, why didn't you guys just buy street triples?

[DecepticonDon]

Street triples were not yet available when I bought my Daytona. wouldn't have bought one anyway.

Lots of stock Daytonas around. I left mine stock for 2 years, almost knowing that The fairings would be stripped one day.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by hdoskocil

I can't understand why you would do this, the daytona is perfect as it is.
Its like giving the mona lisa a haircut, it would look stupid. Some things just cannot be improved on and the daytona is one of those.

also, why didn't you guys just buy street triples?

Like Don posted, STriples weren't around, when we bought ours. The Daytona has an underseat exhaust, quicker geometry, more power, and the guy already has the bike.

Ride a STriple(R), then you'll understand wanting one. Riding a Tiger for the first time, suddenly made riding a Daytona not so fun anymore. There's no enjoyment of being hunched over and cramped up, riding around on the street.

[Ruby Racing]

Originally Posted by hdoskocil

I can't understand why you would do this, the daytona is perfect as it is.
Its like giving the mona lisa a haircut, it would look stupid. Some things just cannot be improved on and the daytona is one of those.

also, why didn't you guys just buy street triples?

This is why I did this to mine:

So first off, why am I doing this? Why am I going to rip apart a beautiful looking bike? Why don’t I just buy a Street Triple? Well, I love the Daytona, the engine the handling, etc. I just can’t get on with a sports bike on the road. I find them too uncomfortable. I have a GSX-R1000 that I race anyway, so I don’t need another sports bike.

Why not buy a Street Triple I hear you cry? Well, no offence to those who own one, but I don’t like the looks. The twin cans and twin headlights don’t do it for me. I love the Daytona’s rear end though.

As we often read in the bike mags, when a manufacturer turns a sports bike into a road bike (like R1 to Fazer), they detune the engines, fit cheaper suspension, brakes, etc and basically take away all the good bits.

So that is pretty much it. Plus I wanted a project bike. So that’s what I have, a 2006 Daytona. Not even a crashed one. I did consider that, but where I live it’s hard to get hold of crash damaged bikes as they are all shipped off to the UK.

If you want to read about my conversion, here's the link: [ame="http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37686"]http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37686[/ame]

Hope you don't mind that teriyakimonkey?

[teriyakimonkey]

Not at all Ruby.

Hdoskocil it's all written up why I'm doing this in the first post. I should add that I live 15 miles from the centre of London so quite a chunk of my riding is urban. Streets were being released just as I bought my '07 Daytona, second hand might I add, with a saving of £2000 and only 309 miles on the clock.

Oh yeah, and I like tinkering!

I've got a lot more done although it's still in the wiring stage. I ordered more than £50 worth of cable, tape, sleeving, plugs etc which all turned up today so I'm actually making connections now rather than breaking them. I've got an A3 colour wiring diagram to help me if I do get stuck.

Today I found a future problem waiting to happen. The cable to the starter solenoid and which supplies the lighting was corroded inside the insulation. It had gone black and crispy. Luckily I'd ordered some uninsulated terminal and have the knowhow to wire it directly into the ignition plug. I wished I'd known I could do this earlier as I may have got away with a lot fewer wire to wire connections.

I've got the brackets for the rad cowls and need to fab some sort of lower bracket. I've got a tail tidy design in mind whcih I hope to get cut soon too.

Ruby I saw a lovely unique Street on a website which I hope yours will look like. I understand the looks of the Street headlamp divide opinion and I too am divided although it does give me something to polish!

Onwards and upwards.

[hdoskocil]

To each his own i guess.
Sounds like a fun project, hope it turns out like you want.