DMENTR
New member
Sorry, for the long post, but …
Last couple of weekends, my beloved DEMENTR (named by my daughters) was completely molested by the hands of an untrained mechanic, me. I have been buying accessories/mods for the last three months and stacking them in the garage. Nothing new or novel to Spyderlovers mind you, but I am not a mechanic by trade, so my decision to strip the DEMENTR down was more than a little daunting.
So, here is the list: Two Brothers exhaust (Carbon fiber, Black Series), NBV Hwy peg brackets w/ kury pegs, Chrome (Handlebar cvrs, Endcaps, Mirror cvrs, Sidepanels, Driver pegs. Brake lever, Passenger boards), Spyderops heat guard block-off and grilles, misc. chrome bolt cvrs and chrome bolts. Last but not least, I cut down the stock windscreen. I took off 7.5 inches in height.
Observations: If you have found a good dealer mechanic, respect him, this bike was not designed to be “service friendly”. The number of bolt types and placements to remove an assembly is just ridiculous. I can’t say how long it took to complete any one piece, but all the chrome change over took 9hrs. (remove tuperware, swap parts, re-install tuperware). I can say that there is no way the handle bars can be done in two hours. (6hrs would be my guess). Two Bros. exhaust took <1hr.
The videos found on Spyderlovers are an invaluable resource.
To cut down the WS, I plotted different curves on paper and used a highlighter to trace them on the WS. I drove around for two weeks with the three lines. I bought a new, but scratched WS off ebay ($50). Laying out the curve, taping off, etc., 1.5hrs. Staring at WS with Jig-saw in hand, 2hrs. Cutting, sanding, and installing the WS took only 1.5hrs. I used a fine blade on the saw and moved the cut at a careful speed. No problems with heat, cracking etc. Sanded the edge w/100 grit hard block, then with 150, 220, 320 soft blocks. The match to the factory edge is near perfect.
I love the black and chrome look. The exhaust sound is perfect, The riding position from the NBVs is a great improvement. The new WS gives the RTS a more sport bike look and riding feel that I was missing. I ride my RTS extremely aggressively. The next round of mods is all going to be performance based.
Last couple of weekends, my beloved DEMENTR (named by my daughters) was completely molested by the hands of an untrained mechanic, me. I have been buying accessories/mods for the last three months and stacking them in the garage. Nothing new or novel to Spyderlovers mind you, but I am not a mechanic by trade, so my decision to strip the DEMENTR down was more than a little daunting.
So, here is the list: Two Brothers exhaust (Carbon fiber, Black Series), NBV Hwy peg brackets w/ kury pegs, Chrome (Handlebar cvrs, Endcaps, Mirror cvrs, Sidepanels, Driver pegs. Brake lever, Passenger boards), Spyderops heat guard block-off and grilles, misc. chrome bolt cvrs and chrome bolts. Last but not least, I cut down the stock windscreen. I took off 7.5 inches in height.
Observations: If you have found a good dealer mechanic, respect him, this bike was not designed to be “service friendly”. The number of bolt types and placements to remove an assembly is just ridiculous. I can’t say how long it took to complete any one piece, but all the chrome change over took 9hrs. (remove tuperware, swap parts, re-install tuperware). I can say that there is no way the handle bars can be done in two hours. (6hrs would be my guess). Two Bros. exhaust took <1hr.
The videos found on Spyderlovers are an invaluable resource.
To cut down the WS, I plotted different curves on paper and used a highlighter to trace them on the WS. I drove around for two weeks with the three lines. I bought a new, but scratched WS off ebay ($50). Laying out the curve, taping off, etc., 1.5hrs. Staring at WS with Jig-saw in hand, 2hrs. Cutting, sanding, and installing the WS took only 1.5hrs. I used a fine blade on the saw and moved the cut at a careful speed. No problems with heat, cracking etc. Sanded the edge w/100 grit hard block, then with 150, 220, 320 soft blocks. The match to the factory edge is near perfect.
I love the black and chrome look. The exhaust sound is perfect, The riding position from the NBVs is a great improvement. The new WS gives the RTS a more sport bike look and riding feel that I was missing. I ride my RTS extremely aggressively. The next round of mods is all going to be performance based.
