Well I've taken 750 Duo's bike for a ride, and as much as it sounds impressive, in reality, it's a dog. Like so many others who have come before him, he got all "wrapped around the axles" with fancy names, and ended up with a pig that doesn't handle, is a bastard to start, needs a big block chev on a permanently attached trailer behind the "bike" for a starter motor, and with all that junk now weighs 4 times it's original portly 500 lbs! On a hot day that silly razor thin front tire digs a thin trench where ever it goes, (once Duo Boy as he likes people to call him actually gets the thing going) and sure, lots of chicks look at it as it trundles past like an asphmatic elephant, but they're not smiling with admiration, but laughing at how ridiculous it looks!
I on the other hand, have gone ultra-conservative with my mods on my venerable K2, in favour of additional performance via a huge decrease in weight. On top of the 50 pounds that I've personally lost just by reading the "Why I ride" posts by some of the more verbose "Pooets" here, I've replaced all steel items (frame, handlebars, crankshaft and gears, cylinder sleeves wheels, discs, fork tubes etc) with lightweight aluminum and kevlar. I've even machined down and then polished heavier alloy items like levers, engine cases etc, and I've removed every second cooling fin, relying instead on my lightened and balanced oil cooler to cover their cooling duties.
I've completely removed the seat and replaced it with a female "maxxi pad", and to further save weight I've removed the footpegs, instead favouring a lightweight set of "speed Skates" I found in my sons bedroom this morning. This is an excellent mod, as it allows me to better balance the bike at the lights and when low speed lane splitting is required, and the narrower profile of the bike (my custom handlebars are only eight inches wide now) allowes me much easier access when parking or getting the bike thru narrow pedestrian gates etc.
The thin walled 6061 T6/Kevlar 4 into 1 is an engineering masterpiece, particularly as the whole unit is only 14 inches long and finishes just under the oil filter, yet is fully legal and increases the stock BHP by 10%, yet reduces the weight by 99.2%! The 8 drilled out titanium exhaust studs in total weigh less than one OEM steel stud, and I even replaced the tools with cast alloy and kevlar items, brilliant!
Anyway, the total weight of my bike is now down to 17.6 pounds, or 31 with half a tank of gas and 2 litres of pure whale oil in the engine, and even though the stock BHP has only increased slightly with the new pipe and Dyna S ignition, it will do over 300 miles per hour and return a tad over 180 miles per gallon, due to the weight decrease and much narrower profile. Of course the handling and braking have greatly improved due to the unsprung weight decreases, and on the couple of occasions that the modified drinking straw that I use for a sidestand has collapsed under the weight of the bike, there is virtually no damage!
Just shows what a "thinking guy" can do for very little money, without resorting to the "bigger is better" mentaility that seems to pervade this particular site!
