I decided to improve my 599 for the upcoming Iron Butt rides this year. Last year, I had an electric jacket so I was warm enough, but I knew I did not have enough lighting. I also had difficulty trying to use a tank bag map, and I knew that a GPS would be a boon. So, I proceeded to work on improvements this spring.
My first focus was on the lights. I decided to do two things -- replace the headlight bulbs with HIDS (real ones, with igniters and ballasts), and add some auxiliary lights (Hella FF50s). I had to fabricate a mount for the auxiliary lights because I could not find anything commercially. I took my time looking around the bike for a way to attach those lights, and I finally decided that I would be able to mount a light bar using the holes on the headlight arms that normally hold the turn signal stalks. So, I bought a square aluminum bar, a three-foot long 1" by 1/8" strip of flat aluminum, and a handful of bolts and nuts, and went to work. I cut the square bar to length, and then bent about 19 inches of the flat aluminum into a square U shape. I bolted the U to the square bar, drilled the bar for the lights and the wiring, and then bolted the upright sides of the U to the holes on the headlight arms. Lo and behold, the thing actually fit and was very sturdy! I was both a bit surprised and quite proud of myself.
Here's a picture of the bike with the light bar.
Here's a closeup of the mounting for the bar.
As you can see, the U mount of the light bar disappears cleanly inside the headlight arms. I had to put on the new turn signals to replace the originals. They are LEDs to save some watts.
I also had to put on mounts for the Garmin GPSs. I bought two -- a new Zumo and an old 2610. I use the Zumo for the map and the 2610 for data -- miles ridden, time stopped, average speed and the like. In this picture you see the locking Touratech mountings for the Zumo on the left, and the 2610 on the right.
A close-up of the Zumo mount shows a bracket I added to hold the Heattroller rheostat.
On the right side, I put the switch for the Hellas in a little box and attached it to the brake fluid reservoir. It's very hard to find room to mount switches and the like on this little bike!
Here's the rat's nest of wiring under my seat! In my defense, I took this picture when it was not quite completed, and before I had cleaned it all up with zip-ties. The silvery thing toward the bottom of the picture is the Centech AP-1 fuse box. Most of my wiring runs all the way back to those fuses. Just above it (or in front of it on the bike) is the HID igniter. Over on the right side, the little square thing with the white tape on it is the relay for the Hellas. All of the wiring is much neater now.
I still want to do some work on the back of the bike, including replacing the turn signals and taillight bulbs with LED bulbs.
A few of the Women in the Wind were gazing upon my lovely ride with sheer admiration . . . (or maybe astonishment at my insanity)!
Of course, the whole purpose of these changes is to make my little bike safer and more efficient for long distance rides. We'll see how well it does soon!
