TNRC51

SP-2s were a slight improvement over the SP-1. The changes to the fuel injection along with the swingarm made the handling and fueling a bit better. All of them in bone stock condition are a bit jumpy to ride at slow speeds. They are also geared too high for most practical riding. Most owners opt for a fuel manager and change the gear ratio. Usually, one up in back and one down if front does very nicely to make it easier around town. The 2006 models are the most "rare" if that matters. By 06 Honda was using up the frames and parts they had on hand and there may have been as few a 400 examples. I've never seen any vin numbers higher than that. The '05 is also all black. From 2002 on they are all identical from year to year except paint schemes. That being said, for some reason the 04 Nicky versions are all much faster than the others... 😉

Getting that line to follow across from the side to the tank was challenging. I ended up using a laser to strike a line for the tape.

Some of you may have seen this on Facebook already but I had a few minutes and thought I would share it here. I acquired this very nice 2006 / ABS model a few years ago and decided pretty quickly that I did not like the graphics or the overall look that much. I began thinking about what I wanted to do. I changed out the rear wheel with a nice 8 spoke that I found on Ebay early on. This helped but still not what I wanted. Then I looked at a lot of paint schemes to see how I wanted to go. I wanted this to be a little understated but "sporty". I am lucky that I have a friend who is a painter who agreed to help me out. I did all of the prep work. I scuffed the existing plastics and the tank with 1000 grit paper to give the new paint something to grip. It's really pretty scary to see what you've done to a pristine finish the first time you try this. Trust that when the clear goes back on it really is like magic. Next I laid out the design and let my friend shoot it. I used two additional colors. This one is a Lexus/Toyota color called "Storm Gray". The second color is from Jaguar and matches the wings on the tank. I finished by adding a pinstripe that we put under the clear. Once the paint and clear was on, I did the final buffing and leveling. Here is the final result...

Here is a link to the version used by a lot of the RC-51 guys. Also here is a forum link to someone who has installed them... http://www.rc51forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7997 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-New-Spal-5-5-Pusher-RC-51-Motorcycle-ATV-Axial-Motor-Fans-/191240676656?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c86d52530

If you live in hot climate you should investigate SPAL fans. They come in many sizes in both rotations. Very common mod in RVT world to help with nut roasting. Most change to "pusher" version. These things move air. As for manual overrides, fighting heat early in traffic is a big help.