-
Mod Monster
Phil's Mods
Last edited by Phil; 04-28-2012 at 03:22 PM.
Reason: Mode list of all mods here - Updated
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Registered Users
Sounds like a great winter project list. I wish you the best in getting it all done, and being able to show it off.
-
Mod Monster
Upper Wind Deflector LEDs
I'm almost finished with all of the mods. The list grew a bit. Again, I'm not a paint or mechanical guy and I do work for a living, so... the mods are mainly electrical and done on weekends. I'm proud to say that in 5 weeks of work, I only blew 2 fuses!! Yea me!! And when I blew them, I knew exactly what I did and knew exactly which fuse to replace.
Descriptions below pics....
This is garage bay #3 where the fun takes place. I've set up the workbench (all from Sam's Club) so I have plenty of outlets and power supply for my netbook. You'll see my Brother label printer. I find putting tags on the wiring helps me remember what I did after the fact. One of the early things I did was to get a battery tender and so I don't kill the bike battery while I'm working on it, I keep the tender plugged into the 12v accessory outlet in the trunk. Works VERY well.
After I get things cleaned up, I'll be adding slat board plastic hanging system. I have it in the rest of the garage for our gardening tools and its great stuff.
Part of the LED mods I did included adding Purple LEDS behind the upper wind deflectors. An accent I've done over the years is to light glass or plastic from an edge. Depending on the material, it then looks like it is glowing on its edges. I've used purple 95% of the places. All of the accent lights are tied into a Street Magic remote (love it)
After I get it out on the street, I may add a purple lighting gel in front of the LEDs to mute them a bit. I need to see them in comparison to all the other lights. I'll have to go back a figure out where I found these particular thin LEDs.
More to come......
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Certainly looks beautiful. I've often wondered how one could improve on the looks of a Timeless Black RT-S....but you sure hit the nail on the head, my friend. I'm jealous!!
-
RT Looking good. Love the garage too!
Happy Owner * 2013 RT Limited, 2009 RS SE-5
-
Mods
Nice looking mods, and great looking garage.
Pete
-
Registered Users
-
Registered Users
Nice man nice! Good to see a tricked out RT.
-
Mod Monster
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
RT-S PE#0412
-
Mod Monster
Bluetooth for the masses (ok... just my Spyder)
I spent HOURS researching this. I now know more about Bluetooth than I ever wanted to know. And I realize that I now know less than I thought I knew. This solution is about the only way I could figure out how to make this work. I AM interested in any other ways to make this happen!! I want to also give a HUGE thanks and deep appreciation here to all of those that have gone before. The pioneers like Lamonster, Scotty, Mark, others. You guys figured out lots on the RT and gave me the confidence that me, a software geek, might be able to do the mod thing. THANKS!!
My requirements were to be able to SIMULTANEOUSLY listen to the bike audio (I'll call it the FM), audio from my TomTom, listen for iPhone things like incoming TXTs and email, AND have intercom to my wife's helmet. I know... I'm in a 12 step program for being picky. I first tried to use the Bluetooth in each helmet as the connection point. Nope. It has to do with there being a Bluetooth priority order that is fixed and cannot be adjusted. My iPhone would always link to the helmets first when I really wanted the bike FM first. That meant seeking a different solution.
The helmet system I purchased several months ago was the SENA SMH10-
Some don't like it due to the size. I LIKE is because of its size. REALLY intuitive and easy to use 'jog wheel'. Anyway... back to the story.
I laid out this solution-
So I ordered all of the pieces, hoping it would work. I finally got the courage one day to open all the boxes and dig in. After several hours, I had this:
Big mess, but it was the experiment that worked. To make this work, I needed Bluetooth units that could be powered from the bike's 12v so I wouldn't have to keep charging, replacing batteries, etc. I also needed a mixer that would power the same way. The ONE item that I could not find (believe me I tried) was a Bluetooth TRANSMITTER working from 12v to take the mixer output and send it to the helmets. PLENTY of receivers, but only 2 transmitters. I already had the Sony guy, so Sony it is... for now. Here's the Transmitter:
I decided to mount the Bluetooth receivers under the seat:
I really thought a lot about this location for the receivers. The units are pretty well sealed so there's no issue being close to the tank. I wanted them somewhat accessible in case of needing to re-pair with another GPS, etc. They are held in place by Velcro, AND... my best friend- black Gaffer tape! Kinda like duct tape, but MUCH prettier and nicer to handle. REALLY strong stuff. It's used by audio guys to keep mic wires in place on floors, etc. I used it a lot for quick, easy ways to tack wires in place on the bike.
After lots of trial, here's the mounting I selected for the audio mixer:
The inputs are on the left, the volume controls (faders) in the middle, output on the top right and power mid-right. I drilled a 3/4" hole in the top of the side trunk to get all of the cables to and from the mixer. The hole leads to the relatively empty space near the battery. THAT's where the real cable mess is. I really tried to make it neat, but....
Costs-
Mixer- about $79
Bluetooth receivers- about $89 each
Bluetooth Sony transmitter- about $50
Fun designing it then seeing it work- priceless.
I still have SOME things that I'm not sure about but willing to live with. Like, if I get a call, I can't answer from the headset. No issues for me. I don't really take l-o-n-g trips on the bike and so this is not an issue. IF I need it, I can quickly pair the iPhone directly to the SENA unit. 95%+ of the time, I'm interested in music or my Sirius/XM app on my iPhone.
LOTS more details, but we'll stop here.
More pics of more mods to come!
Last edited by Phil; 05-19-2011 at 11:02 AM.
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Mod Monster
FRUNK- Eschew Obfuscation
AKA- Cleaning up the wiring.
When I first added LEDs to the front of the bike, I made a big rookie mistake. I ran each light wire back to the main bike. That would be about 8 of them. THEN I read more here in SpyderLovers and realized that the frunk can come off easily for service needs. Cha... right I thought. Easy for the big pro guys, not me.
Well, listen up newbies.... it IS easy. You unplug about 4 cables (except in my case it was a LOT more complicated), take out 6 (yes SIX) bolts, take out about 4 phillips screws from the skid pan, and LIFT it off as one unit. Ok... it really helps to have a way to lift the front end to get to the 2 bolts and the skid pan screws. I lifted it off with just me, so I'd put its weight at about 40-50 pounds.
Here's the way it looked right after I removed it and put it on a work table for 'the operation':
Kinda hard to see but there are wires from LEDs everywhere, like bad hair. My goal was to get it down to one, weatherproof plug. While in there, I converted the fog lights HID about a month earlier, the hard way without taking off any parts. Kinda like changing the plugs through the tail pipe . Anyway, with the frunk on the bench, it was really easy to clean up the mounting of the ballasts and wiring:
IF you want to do this, be REALLY careful removing the big black dust cover. I broke the little plastic tab at the bottom TWO times at great cost. I ended up changing how the covers mounted to get around the issue.
Next job was to rerun all of the LED wires to one side of the frunk and connect the single plug:
As you might guess, I also took the opportunity to add more LEDs. Like the upper wind deflectors, I used the small LED strips and attached one to the front edge of each fog light. Again, the idea is to get them touching something transparant and let the LED light 'flow'. It also reflects VERY nicely off of the chrome in the fog lights and adds a glow that you ask- where's that coming from?!
As I progressed, I tested all wiring and lights. Here's how:
The battery is from my leaf blower. I probably used this method 150 times as I made all of the mods. You can kind of see the LEDs making the fog lights glow purple. EXACTLY what I wanted. Here's the bike side plug:
Taking the frunk on and off, is NOW a 20 minute job, not 60.
More pics of more mods to come...
Last edited by Phil; 02-01-2011 at 02:53 PM.
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Motorbike Professor
Impressive! Great job.
-Scotty
2011 Spyder RTS-SM5 (mine)
2000 BMW R1100RTP, motorized tricycle & 23 vintage bikes
2011 RT-622 trailer, Aspen Sentry popup camper, custom motorcycle trailer to pull behind the Spyder
Mutant Trikes Forever!
-
Registered Users
WOW!! now i am embarrassed with my wiring job cause i usually take any extra lenght of wire and wad it up an zip tie it out of the way in case i need extra for later but i don't think i need an extra 3' of it. Like Scotty said very impressed.
Roger
-
Mod Monster
12VDC Outlet
Thanks for the comments guys. I am humbled given what all you guys have accomplished. I'm really having fun and doing this for me and my bride. A local guy suggested that I enter it in a show or two. Eh... ya never know.
This mod was to fix what I saw as a BRP design issue. The funky place they put the front 12v convenience outlet wasn't all that convenient. Given the recommendation of several here on SpyderLovers, I disconnected the analogue gages and am really pleased with what shows on the LCD screen. So... what to do with the empty holes. Again, I scoured the Internet and ended up putting various parts together and got this--
The item filling the hole where the gauge was, is a sliding door pull! So happens it's the same diameter as the hole. Then.. but how do I make it stay IN the hole because the forces of putting things in and out of the outlet are not trivial. That answer came from the left over parts from the old gauge. The screws are ones used for electrical outlets when the box is REALLY recessed compared to the outlet. I ground off part of the heads, painted them black, and it all fit.
To balance out the other side:
Here's the family portrate of the dash:
More mods and pics to come...
Last edited by Phil; 05-15-2011 at 11:40 PM.
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Mod Monster
-
Registered Users
Very nice, extremely clean, work.
-
SpyderLovers Founder
-
Very Active Member
Good God... They Found Scotty!!! He is alive!............... Sorry... Star Trek joke... To far? lol
Love it... Man oh man that took a lot of thought and planning... Great job man!
BlUe SpYder RT-S SE5 #303I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it ... Proud Member of A.S.S. ( Average Senile Spyderryder)
Our 2010 RT-S Mods... *Warning* If you can read this, it is already too late and there is no known cure. You have Spydervirus.
-
Mod Monster
Run Brake Turn Mod
To quote Sally Field when she won her Oscar-- "You love me... you really love me!" Thanks guys. Like I said, its humbling.
Ok... this really was a simple mod. It was billed as such, but trust me, once you've drilled a couple of holes, hoping you did them right, it's no big deal. What's the worst? Buy a new piece of tupperware! I really looked at a way to mount it higher on the trunk, but I really couldn't find a way to make it look right due to the curves. Here's the end result:
I love the look of the SOLID light, like a neon tube. It IS descrete LEDS, but they are packed tightly so it looks like one light. Some have written that they had issues with the curve of the light- it was 'peeling up' at the ends. When I opened the package I cound see that might be a problem. I didn't use a heat source, but I did set a toolbox on the very end and let most of the light hang off a work bench for several days then did the same on the opposite end. In the end, I did have one end that wanted to curve out. The answer for me was a very little bit of JB Weld. The kind that is like putty. It dried grey, so I broke out the Sharpie (aka black paint touch up tool) and here's that result. You have to know what to look for to notice it:
Coming up next- Cornering Lights
Last edited by Phil; 02-03-2011 at 12:41 AM.
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Mod Monster
Brighten the Corner Where You Are - Cornering Lights Mod
Old song I learned in Sunday School about 52 years ago
This is one that has been on my list the longest. The older I get, the more help I need to see at night. No real issues, just aging I guess. I wanted a way to light up where I was heading when I turned into a corner. I had this feature on a car I once had and I loved it. I looked into dozens of ways to do this. I walked around the bike 10 times one day, just studying how it might be done. Mounting on the front is the obvious place, so I looked at the not so obvious. I searched the web for the very brightest LED bulbs and fixtures I could find. I bought 1 and 3 watt Pond lights. Waterproof, but large-ish and hard to mount. On a whim, I ordered 'bling' DRL lights for cars. www.SuperBrightLEDs.com is one of my favorite sites. This is where I found the lights called DRL-CW5 Series. Here's where I mounted them:
I made sure the foot rests would fold up when tieing up the wiring. The BIG challenge was figuring out how to turn them on without having one more switch. I remembered a thing called TDR- Time Delay Relays. I found simple DIY circuits to build, but I wanted something more durable. Google found this guy:
I exchanged an email with Mr. Wolsten describing what I wanted to do and he pointed me to the 'P' model. Their website is full of creative, clear DIY type applications. http://www.wolstentech.com/. I mounted it in that 'cavern' behind the headlights. A SLIGHT adjustment in the delay timer, and it worked perfectly first crack. Press the right signal switch, normal turns begin to flash, that closes the TDR relay, lights the Cornering Light, TDR keeps it on between normal turn signal flashes. Cancel the turn signal and within 1 sec, the Cornering Light goes out. Taaaa Daaah! THESE puppies are bright too:
With a little ride time, I may want to aim them up or down a little. But one spin around the block (before the 5 degrees rolled in) tells me they're pretty close. Oh, there is one TDR for left, one for right. I mounted them back to back. You'll see from their web site that the electronics are 'potted' to make them robust. An 'interesting' sidelight... with the Double Play unit on the turn signals, plus the TDRs, it looks like a carnival ride when you press the 4-Way flashers! Once I can figure out about posting a video, I'll SHOW you!!
TDRs- about $30 each.
Lights- about $70 for the pair
More mods and more pics coming...
Last edited by Phil; 02-03-2011 at 01:26 AM.
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
-
Mod Monster
-
Mod Monster
-
Teddys favorite human
-
Mod Monster
Originally Posted by CyncySpyder
Phil, please tell me your going to be at SpyderFest? I've got to meet you & see all of your creative work in person. I'm astounded at all you've done & am planning on many of the mods myself, but having no electrical training, have been procrastinating for fear of 'n up my ryde. & since I ryde year round, cept in rain/sleet/ice or snow covered streets, I actually don't have many down days to do this. It'd take me months to do all you've done. VERY IMPRESSIVE & I hope to meet you in person at SpyderFest!
Thanks so much for the comments.
YES, I'll be at Spyderfest!! Really looking forward to meeting you and others that are my heroes.
BUT... I have to fly in without the Spyder due to my tight schedule. UNLESS there is a group of bikes being shipped up there from Texas and mine could be added to the group for a 'reasonable' fee. But, I'm just coming off one long trip then have a commitment on that Saturday.
pb
____________________________
Phil - Tyler Texas
2010 RT-Premiere Edition (Named DARTH) | Timeless Black | All My Mods--- ARE HERE | Phil. 4:4
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules
|