My Mods Thread - 2021 Royal Enfield Continental GT 650

[wachuko]

Never had issues with my Thruxton R... still miss it. I know that was the reason I got the Continental GT 650... Looks great with a slight similarity in looks to the Thruxton R... and it was a fraction of the cost of a new Thruxton R. I just could not bring myself to spending that kind of money again... specially when I want to get another bike for going on forest trails and light off-roading...

I have a friend that invited me a few years back, to Bonneville Salt Flats. I was there as a crew member when he was riding his Thruxton R on the salt... He has taken that bike several times to Bonneville and even more times to the local drag strip where he lives... And he has not had a single issue with the bike... and he rides that thing hard... He also did some tuning along with pipes and a few other mods.

Here is a video from his YouTube channel when I went with him:

It was an amazing experience.

Back to the tires... now to balance them.

 

[wachuko]

Not my first tire change... I know that the yellow dot goes to the valve stem... How did I install the tires you ask? Well...



Good grief!! No wonder I was running out of weights trying to balance it!! Now I get to undo the bead and try to see if I can rotate it in situ...

 

[wachuko]

Fixed and balanced!!

 

[wachuko]

Four days since tubeless conversion and new tires installed. Tires have been holding air pressure. That is good news. I should be able to install them back over the weekend...

 

[wachuko]

Tires still holding air fine. I will be installing back tomorrow.

Ordered EVAP / Canister Removal kit PVE-080 just in case I ever have issues with the carbon canister... so I have everything needed to delete all that...

I had ordered the 6005 NSK made in Japan bearings from Amazon... those never made it and got a refund. Ended up ordering from eBay and those arrived quickly. Well, guess what arrived today! Yes, the missing order.



Wrote to the seller to ask for return process and was told to keep them.

Also turns out those were made in Poland... so even if they had arrived on time, it was not what I ordered nor what was described...

 

[wachuko]

Mounted. Just need to check chain tension and set the tires to the correct pressure.

 

[wachuko]

Tire pressure set to factory specs and chain tensioned correctly... done!

 

[wachuko]

LED headlight installed. It was NOT a plug and play affair... the rim is not the same. Besides not being chromed like on my GT 650, the shape was different. I had to swap the rim for my stock unit. Not a big deal... just took a little longer to do the swap...





Close-up on the rim differences



A valve stem core remover is the perfect tool to remove and install the spring wire clips holding the headlight.



I also solder the connectors to avoid wires coming loose due to vibration .





The daylight feature in the new headlight only uses the yellow wire, so I removed the section of the harness with the red connector.





Done!

 

[wachuko]

Nice warm day this last Saturday. Was able to add around 150+ miles to the new tires... trying to break them in before the long ride in April...

 

[Guinnessesxtreme]

at risk of asking a stupid question (I'm good at that!), why do you need the thread sealant on the spokes? Isnt that the point of the tape? Also, what happens if/when you need to adjust the spokes?

nice looking machine btw!

 

[Woodstock]

Good job on all. All I can really say after this thread series is that I am in awe. Noted on the headlight not being plug and play. I will just stick to the Halogen and avoid the dark. Oh well!

 

[wachuko]

at risk of asking a stupid question (I'm good at that!), why do you need the thread sealant on the spokes? Isnt that the point of the tape? Also, what happens if/when you need to adjust the spokes?

nice looking machine btw!

No question is stupid. Ask anything.

The 290 Loctite is added measure of sealing the only area where the there might be a leak if the tape fails. Also avoids anything from the outside leaking into the rim and jeopardizing the integrity of the tape.

On adjusting spokes. That can still be done, just need to check or redo the tape in that section if it leaks afterwards.

 

[wachuko]

Good job on all. All I can really say after this thread series is that I am in awe. Noted on the headlight not being plug and play. I will just stick to the Halogen and avoid the dark. Oh well!

Thank you!

Yeah... Not a lot of work to swap the rims, crimp the connectors to the wires, and build the H4 connector. I knew going in that I needed to do the H4 connector so that was not a surprise. And you really do not need to solder the wires to the connectors. Crimping them is enough, I just solder them to make certain they will not get loose with vibration.

But even if the rim had worked, it was not chromed like the stock one on my bike. So I would have ended up swapping it anyway.

All in all, is a fairly easy modification to make.

 

[wachuko]

For some reason I can no longer update the first post I made on this thread... that sucks.

Here is the list of changes I have made that have stayed on the bike. Did not bother to list those that I have since removed/discarded.

• Single Seat Rider - 1770009/B
• Single Seat Cowl, Black Magic - KXH0011/A
• Tall Flyscreen Kit - 1710010/B - I removed the metal plate in front. I like the looks of just the tinted flyscreen.
• Bar End Mirror Kit - 1720005/A
• Machined Swingarm Bobbin Kit - 1760109/C
• Machined Front Reservoir Cap Black - 1720032/E
• Center Stand Kit (this is the one from the INT650, turned out to be a direct fit for the GT) - 1915500/A
• Aluminum Sump Guard - 1760111/B - that I modified the front mounting bracket so that I could get the oil filter out without having to also remove/loosen the bracket
• Machined Oil Filler Cap Silver - 1740014/E
• Fork Gaiter Kit (rubber protectors) - 1990405
• RSU Finisher for rear shocks - 1990445 - These were the most expensive black washers I have ever purchaed, lol.
• Installed XPEL clear protective film on the back of the tank where a belt or the zipper from the jacket might touch.
• Replaced all factory relays with better quality units. Great feedback on this from this forum. Ordered the Panasonic units from here: Mouser Electronics
• Remove rear grab bar/handle.
• Installed Grip Puppy Comfort Grips. Not fancy but very comfortable.
• Remove rear passenger foot pegs. My wife prefers to ride her own bike as she does not trust her life riding as a passenger with me. So no need for those
• Remove rear mud guard extensions and installed rubber plugs in the holes left behind
• Replaced front cross brace for a stronger and better looking CNC machined one made by a fellow forum member
• Replaced front fender with a polished stainless steel unit
• Replaced rear fender with black unit
• RAM phone holder with mount on unused right mirror mounting hole
• Replaced tag/license plate holder
• Installed different tail light. But want to replace with higher visibility alternative. Brighter LEDs
• Replaced Rear Brake Fluid Reservoir with a Triumph Speed Triple black anodized reservoir...
• Saddles bags - I had some SW-Motech Blaze saddlebags with brackets from my Triumph. I thought it would be nice to be able to use those again.
• Motogadget m-Blaze Disc Bar End LED Turn Signals - these lights are amazing! Super bright.
• Aftermarket black and polished brake and clutch levers
• Modified rear cowl by using the empty space inside the seat cowl to store rarely used tools. The Eastbound tire changing kit, patches, valve cores, etc. is stored in there now.
• Custom made oil wrench with Royal Enfield logo... I was bored...
• Black vinyl applied to the shocks reservoirs. Did not like the gold.
• EMGO Cafe Mufflers Chrome 80-84032 - Much lighter than stock units. Only drawback is that they are loud.
• Motone aluminum Cafe Racer emblems. To me, they just look cool. Secured them with rivets to the side covers as the double face tape that comes with it was not strong enough to hold them in place with the curvature of the side covers.
• Modified shift and rear brake levers... put holes in them. You know, to make the bike faster while also looking cool.
• Hitchcocks Fork Spring Pre-Load Adjusters
• Replaced keyed fuel cap with a Monza setup. Using a MON25X and a COLA25 from B.A.T. Inc.
• Made adapter cable to use Autel Scanner to read and clear any engine codes.
• Installed the Air Injection Delete kit from Hitchcock Motorcycles.
• Installed the CNC machined top yoke from Riga Billet Parts. I just love the looks.
• Because of the wait, Riga sent me CNC machined end caps for the rear adjusters.
• Replaced Front Pads with: EBC Front Brake Pads FA209/2HH
• Replaced Rear Pads with: EBC Rear Brake Pads FA213HH
• Tripmachine toolbag in tobacco. Stores all the additional tools I like to carry.
• Tubeless tires conversion using 3M tape and 290 Loctite
• Replaced stock tires with Bridgestone Battlax BT46 Sport Touring Tires
• Replaced stock headlight with Super Meteor 650 LED headlight
• Replaced stock clutch and seat release cables with Venhill cables
• Installed USB dual port (fork mounted) from Hitchcocks
• Replaced defective ignition switch

MK Shorty Tail Kit - stored away in case I want to do that modification in the future
Adapters (made by a fellow forum member) for larger rotor and caliper - stored away in case I want to do that modification in the future
Several factory spare parts just for peace of mind. Also have better wheel bearings (NSK Japan) for when the stock ones start acting up.