I purchased my 2004 Triumph Thruxton back in 2006 (I think). Since then I’ve made minor modifications but all of those predated this blog. Needless to say as a wannabe DIY mechanic a motorcycle modeled after the classic Triumphs is a pretty tempting toy. This post is just some quick back story on what I’ve done before launching into some of the upgrades I’ve been working on.
Up till now I’ve done little more than make the bike ridable. The Thruxton comes in sad shape stock. It sounds like a sewing machine and has a very tame ride. It doesn’t take much to make it much more fun though with the help of a few aftermarket parts.
The first thing I did was pick up a rear fender removal kit. I got it from newthruxton.com just based on a Google search. For the most part the kit worked out great but the quality of the replacement lights that I purchased with it were pretty bad. The tail light burned out because the bulb they had in it was too big and was making contact with the plastic cover. The blinkers were just super low quality (though they were super cheep).
Second I picked up an airbox removal kit and a Predator exhaust from British Customs. Making such a drastic change to the air intake and the exhaust required jetting the carbs which I had a local shop take on for me. With the new exhaust and no air box the Thruxton is a completely different beast.
That’s pretty much all I’ve done up till now but a buddy of mine just picked up a 1972 Honda Scrambler and I helped him to fix up a few small electrical problems last week. After working on his bike I’ve caught myself ordering a bunch of new parts for my Thruxton, it’s contagious. I’ve been telling myself I’d make these upgrades forever so I’m long overdue. This should be fun so stay tuned.
Here’s a quick picture I took with an old phone of my Thruxton and a buddies Street Triple back in 2009. Pretty much hasn’t changed since then but it will soon.
technomasochism 