Question for those who installed Carbon Parts

There Gimlet, I agree with you...the gray parts made of crappy plastic or poor quality aluminum are really a pain on this bike...I started to repaint them and I think I'll continue!
 
There Gimlet, I agree with you...the gray parts made of crappy plastic or poor quality aluminum are really a pain on this bike...I started to repaint them and I think I'll continue!
I've thought about repainting the plastics but I'm unsure whether the finish will last, hence carbon. But carbon is best applied as subtle highlights. If you start smothering a bike in the stuff I think it looks garish and over the top.
If I could be confident repainted plastics will keep their finish I'd go that route. I'm not saying they won't, I just don't know enough about repainting plastic.
TBH I'd like to repaint the whole bike. The paint finish on the bodywork isn't very good. The mat black on the engine and chassis is fine but the gloss black on the cycle parts is poor. The Harley 117 FXLRS I had before was vastly better. It had bottomless mirror finish black paintwork you could literally see your face in. And it was tough and resistant to scratching. The Rocket scratches very easily and even when polished with ceramic detailer never achieves the sheen that the Harley had.
I have an annoying set of scuffs and scratches on the tank just above where your left knee would sit. I think the previous onwer was in the habit of refueling while sat astride the bike and was resting the filler cap between the tank and his thigh. And some of the polished alloy parts have dulled and gone furry as well. I might just black the bike out completely with deep gloss paintwork, leaving the stainless tank strap as the only shiny bit. Some carbon would complement this look, like carbon radiator shrouds, but I don't want carbon everywhere.
 
I have a lot of carbon parts on my 430 pound Speed Triple, putting them on a Rocket is like gilding the 700 pound lilly.
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I have a lot of carbon parts on my 430 pound Speed Triple, putting them on a Rocket is like gilding the 700 pound lilly.
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That’s very true! I definitely did it for the looks, the only weight-saving thing I did was to get rid of the stock exhaust. That thing is a chunk!
 
That’s very true! I definitely did it for the looks, the only weight-saving thing I did was to get rid of the stock exhaust. That thing is a chunk!
Yup, it's a lead dust bin because it has the catalytic converter incorporated into it. My 05 had an empty cat box that weighed 11 pounds and it did nothing but add weight and gas flow restriction. I don't think the Rock needs ballast......
 
So, pulled this up, for anybody that got carbon parts. Looking at motocomposites. Does anybody know if the radiator guard they have replaces the stock rad. shroud? Or goes over it like a cover. Talking about the silver piece on top.
 
Cool, thanks. Was there much grinding and fitting? I never used motocomposites. I bought all my carbon stuff for my 1290 from HF carbon in Germany. There was a bit of "fitting" and dremeling for a good fit
 
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Cool, thanks. Was there much grinding and fitting? I never used motocomposites. I bought all my carbon stuff for my 1290 from HC carbon in Germany. There was a bit of "fitting" and dremeling for a good fit

I don't know if I was lucky, but it was surprisingly smooth sailing. In general I hated changing the radiator shroud but it was more to how Triumph designed it, rather than any issue with carbon parts. I feel like radiator shroud is just a horrible design by itself. It is not just over engineered, but has some questionable choices how it chooses to hold on to the radiator itself. I think it is just nuts as a design on such an expensive bike, it is awkward and nuts. Did I say nuts?

Anyway, back to the topic. Again, I also thought that I am going to have some parts that don't fit, hole not there where they have to be, some odd too long - too short issues. But no. Was pretty good. Zero dialing in. And I bought most of my carbon in China too.

PS: My rear wheel huger is fake carbon, it was almost $200 still. That part was very problematic. I went for it because its shape goes with the bike's design, the carbon parts either too short or have a weird too narrow ending that is a weird choice. So, this plastic part is one I had trouble with, you'd think it would be easier to design but no. ~$200 for a plastic part and like 6 hours of dialing it in. Holes were not where they should have been - were offset, horrible bolts provided, very displeased.
 
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Motocomposites are made to swap directly no fiddling. I have their heat shields on my Rocket and a LOT more stuff on my Speed Triple RS. Any gromments or soft parts will have to be moved off the OEM part onto the CF but that's about it in my experience.
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