How to Make Your Bike Lighter

[Beemer]

I couldn't find a thread on this so I started this one. A lot of people already know these things so it's mostly for the benefit of noobs. Add too it if you like, the more tips the better.

 

 

[artwood]

Stop eating junk food.

[gregjet]

Having been a proddy racer and a cycle racer, I am also a weight weinie.

Some good one in the vid but one he forgot ( or my aged brain missed it) is handlebars. Stock steel bars are very often VERY heavy. If you are going to change to a better shape then you might as well go Al at the same time. NOTE: the very nice and good positioning Woodcrafts for the 07 are HEAVIER than anything else I have measured .

Another freebie is any bolts that go through a nut often have a lot of spare thread on them . Cutting the excess off and leaving one or two threads proud with EVERY such bolt, will save more than you think. If you are a racer EVERYTHING counts.

Stock footpegs , especially rubber ones are usually ridiculously heavy , and the rubber takes away tyre/road feedback. On bad vibration bikes can be a poor swap, but ours is perfectly fine with the rubber gone. Just make sure your boots will grip properly on the new pegs.

One of my sneaky ones is on bikes with a bolt on rear subframe. These are almost always steel and heavy. You can make aluminium, or my fav, a carbon fibre monocoque rear that is hugely lighter ( as much weight loss as the exhaust change).

 

I currently have a GS500F lighteneing project ( cause it's an old design covered in cheap and old tech) that I am playing with.

If you want to have a look where you can save some weight check it out.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70598.0

Obsessive but it's my workshop plaything. This one is near finished so time to sell and move on.

My next project will be the overweight, but , like ours, beautifully motored CBR500R. It will get as good a diet as I can manage.

[Cruizin]

Dropping weight is more effective than raising HP,  in most cases. 

 

The Stock Exhaust is very heavy. Exhaust change drops a ton of weight. Especially if you get a full exhaust kit. https://www.revzilla.com/search?_utf8=✓&query=mt-07+exhaust

 

Losing body weight is also good for anyone who needs to. It will make you much faster and hey, you might live longer and get laid more often as a result, too. 

 

 

[Beemer]

19 hours ago, artwood said:

Stop eating junk food.

It's not the junk food that's the problem, it's the lack of calorie burning that's the problem.

When I was younger I couldn't stay still and burned off anything I ate but since the early thirties my energy changed and keeping weight off isn't as easy. I've been eating better lately since I discovered I'm T-2 diabetic and hitting the gym and dropped 10 lbs. in 1 month. Exercise, exercise, exercise more than anything!