**This was originally written about 36 months ago and has been updated as you'll see.**
I have put plenty of time into my bike and have the luxury (if we want to call it that) of being able to look back and think about what I've done to it and which change/upgrade made the biggest improvement. There isn't anything I've done that I wouldn't do again, everything has been positive and basically money well spent.
I look at the Elefant as a "fluke" product. It's *SO* much better than you would ever think from looking at it or reading the spec sheet. I can do just about everything I want with the bike (including keep up with Triumph T595s on back country roads) so my focus is on getting it into as high-performance / low-maintenance shape as possible while keeping in mind that I want to take dual-sport trips with it.
My list of desired upgrades is finally getting shorter. I plan to install a Yoyodyne slave cylinder for the smoother clutch action (installed it and it's great). I'm sorting out a rear shock situation (the Bitubo is installed and is excellent) and then I think I'm done except I'd like some larger panniers (happening right now).
Everytime I get the hankerin' for a new bike, I put a little dough into the Elefant and sure enough it performs even better and I realize I have the bike (E900) everyone would want if they just knew how good it is. I doubt seriously that I could buy a better overall bike unless I threw down 12 thousand plus.
Here's my rundown of what I've done and my feelings about the improvements.
Engine running & handling
Euro-jetting:
Bike ran better overall although I was able to get it pretty close after putzing with the Factory brand jet kit for many hours. The Euro stuff just drops in and you're off. Factory claim to have some nickel plated emulsion tubes for the carbs which I will be checking into as the ovalizing of the tube is the only real wear area on the carbs. I have to admit I wonder about those FCRs from time to time ;-). Update: the FCRs require notching the frame to clear the throttle linkage so it's off the list of things to want. Do the coils and shock, you'll go fast all the time!
Perderzini ignition boxes:
About as much of an improvement as the Euro jetting but at 5 times the price. Still, I wouldn't give 'em back.
Dyna-coils/Magnecor plugwires upgrade:
About as much improvement as each of the 2 upgrades above but at only 60% the cost of the ignition boxes. A nice upgrade for the money. Since the OEM plug wires degrade with age some of the cost is amortized as wear and tear. I haven't fouled a plug since installing the new coils.
Bitubo Shock:
Although many shock makers made a shock for the Elefant in years past there are only a couple of top quality makers who will bother with the low volume anymore (I know because I contacted them all; Ohlin (factory and US distributor), White Power, Penske and Technoflex (factory and US distributor) . *Any* part on a mass produced vehicle is built down to a price unless it is a premium product like a 4 valve Duc or a luxury car. That means our shock is *adequate* and will do the job but not necessarily as good job as we could want. That's what I found to be the case after fitting a Bitubo. The bike handles a *lot* better. Every aspect of the handling is improved including simply going around a left turn at 15 MPH where you would think there was nothing to improve. A very, very nice improvement to your riding enjoyment especially if you do not want to tinker with your reliability by hopping up the HP on your bike with cams.carbs etc.
RaceTech Gold Valves:
Now that my rear shock is doing a really good job I find that my forks are working better too. With the OEM shock I think a lot of extra energy was being shunted up to the front as the bike tried to deal with the road surface. Now that all of rear bumps are getting dealt with properly the front only has to deal with it's end of things and I find the forks are working very well.
Galfer brake lines:
A nice improvement over the OEM lines. Brought the braking up a good notch in feel. Still needed the Ferodo pads to get it right.
Ferodo brake pads:
I installed the pads recommended by the guy who did the killer job on my Norton drum brakes and the new pads work extremely well. The only problem is they squeal just like all the sintered pads so I have to deal with that. But the brakes really stop with good feel throughout the range. I will be installing the recommended rear pads when I do the Scottoiler dual drip kit in a short while. Note: I have never been able to get the squeal out of the front brakes with the Ferodo sintered pads. It seems all sintered pads squeal to some extent and I have a set of extra squeally ones. If brake squeal bothers you stick with organic (not sintered) pads.
Tourance tires:
I tried the Tourance and since they work well I see no reason for me to change. This is not always the best way to go about things as I have run Dunlop K81s on my Norton for about 25 years and everyone I know who has run a wide variety of tires says the Avons are better. But it's the Tourance for the E until I hear better.
Bike maintenance
Scottoiler:
I wish I'd have known of these in the '80s, I'd have put one on my Norton. The best overall hassle-reducer of all. There is a very real difference between a properly lubricated chain and one that's dry and I can feel it. The hassle of getting the chain lubed right used to really degrade my pleasure from riding my bike, but no more. The fact that it pays for itself is the icing on the cake.
Riding pleasure
Bitubo:
I have to mention the shock here again as it really contributes to the riding pleasure. Parts of the road that would normally make you slow down and get a little concerned just disappear when the back end is controlled.
Clutch action:
I have installed both the Yoyodyne clutch slave cylinder and their aluminum clutch pack. Now that the Bitubo holds the rear suspension properly at all times (keeping a fairly uniform tension on the chain) I find that I cannot fault the clutch/gearbox in any way whatsoever. During the 5 years before getting this all sorted out I always had something to gripe about but it's just about perfect now. This also got rid of my carpal tunnel issues which were really getting fierce with the OEM setup.
Chain:
A loose or unevenly worn chain will seriously degrade the pleasure from the bike. I found that out by trying to squeeze every last mile out of the OEM. Not worth it. Change up as soon as you find the chain stretching unevenly, it's on it's way and the small amount of money saved from trying for more miles out of it really take the bikes performance down a notch. Also, if you've kept your chain lubed properly you probably can go with the same sprockets but once you allow the chain to get too far it will eat the sprockets and now you have to replace everything.
Windscreen:
I hated the wind roar from the stock screen and fabricated up a BMW K75 screen to fit my bike. It works well but if I had it to do over I probably would have a custom screen made by one of the companies that do that as I would like another 3-4 inches in height.
Headlight upgrade kit:
I haven't ridden much at night since putting in the kit but during the day the effect has been worth the price. Out on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, the main road I ride) I get people clearing the Hell out of the way since I run both low beams. They think I've either got the high beams on or I'm the police because they get outta the way. With the Xenon bulbs the high beams are just stellar. Only downside is Father Guido Sarducci yelled at me when he thought I was blinding him with my lights, even though they were the low beams (Don Novello lives in my town). And yes, they are adjusted correctly, they're just brighter than F**.
Starter upgrade kit:
I had some bad experiences with the Factory jet kit where I was fouling the rear plug and having to pull the tank to change it out. So I've taken many steps to minimize that ever happening again (even though I took the Factory kit out). I always plug into a Battery Tender after a ride and when starting I make sure I run the choke either all-on or all-off as halfway seems to foul the plugs. And I installed one of my 4GA wiring kits. My bike always starts in about a half a second. It starts easier when hot too which is handy if I ever stall in traffic.
Seat cover:
The stock seat can get a bit hard after a while and I had a sheepskin cover made which is pretty good for an hour or 2. The last step was adding the green gel pads. Now things are way comfy. I looked at the Corbin but didn't like the "you will sit where we say you'll sit" style of bucket seat areas. Plus it's $280 which is somewhere around double what I have into my cover and pads.
So, using a scale of 1-10, 10 being a *must-do* here's the way I rate things. First number is the value of the improvement to the bike or riding the bike, the second number is the value for dollar. For example, the ignition boxes make as big a difference as the jetting or the coils/plug wires but at such a high price they aren't that good a value for the money. But if you've done all the rest and want to make the bike even better, they will make it better. And if I took them out, I might hate the way the bike runs.
Euro-jetting: 10/10
Perderzini ignition boxes: 8/3
Dyna-coils/Magnecor plugwires upgrade: 10/9
Bitubo shock: 10/10
Yoyodyne clutch gear: 8/10
RaceTech Gold valves:5/5
Galfer brake lines:8/10
Ferodo brake pads:10/10
Tourance tires:9/8
Scottoiler:10/10
Windscreen:5/8
Headlight upgrade kit:10/10
Starter upgrade kit:10/9
Seat cover:5/9
So, that's it, maybe it will help people who want to put some money and effort into their bike.