NothingClever
ATP/3C
BLUF: Great product, immediate improvement, buy with confidence.
BACKGROUND: I first heard about www.kustomcockpits.com (KC) at an N2 track day early in the 2023 season. Long term members of N2 know they’re made by two of our CRs (@tdelegram and Anthony S.) who are also Expert class racers.
At that point in my season, I didn’t feel like I had exhausted all efforts to adapt myself to my bike. IOW, I didn’t think it was time to pursue an equipment solution to what might still be a rider problem. Fast forward through a full 2023 season and I was still inconsistent with my outside leg. Sometimes locked in, sometimes not. I‘ve tried the “tank squeeze” technique but it hasn’t worked for me. After seeing multiple MotoAmerica and WSBK bikes with a tank extender, I felt confident it was time to give a tank extender a shot.
Here‘s how I installed mine.
Remove the center tank protector and tape the side tank grips out of the way, clean up any glue residue and then do a final clean with alcohol.
Apply VHB tape to the KC but don’t pull off the tape liner yet.
Move the KC around on the tank until it “settles”. It’s easy to find the Goldilocks spot because the KC’s concave side mates perfectly to the tank. Also, the lines on the exposed side of the KC match perfectly to the tank’s lines. Great attention to detail went into the design and the KC is a complementary fit on the OEM tank.
Once happy, I held the KC in place and used a dry erase marker to trace a reference line on the tank. This was to ensure I positioned the KC right back in the same spot once I removed the VHB tape liner.
Another technique is to use blue painter’s tape to hold the KC in place and then cut along the very edge of the KC with an X-Acto knife . This also creates a perfect reference line between the blue tape left on the tank and the blue tape left on the KC. At any rate, some type of reference line is important when emplacing the KC with exposed tape. VHB tape is super tacky and ductile so if you get your initial emplacement wrong, trying to re-position the KC will probably result in fouled VHB tape. That‘d be pilot error, not design error.
When you stick the KC on the tank, you’ll want to press firmly on the KC into the tank to ensure all the VHB tape adheres. You won’t have any doubts or difficulties doing this because of the previous locating and indexing steps.
The dry erase marker reference line easily wipes away without any cleaner.
Let loose the tank grips and attach them where they lay. I suppose I could trim the lower portion of the tank grips that don’t contact the tank or the extender but I’m not seeing the urgency to do that.
Let bond for 12 hours before riding.
Here’s the finished result.
So, the verdict?
PROs: Early (not later) in the braking zone is when I like to ensure I’ve got my outside knee set. With the KC there is ZERO time spent hunting for optimal contact like in the past. Now I no longer have to think about setting that contact point because it’s already there without being intrusive or obstructive. This keeps me well off the tank, makes it much easier to open up my inside hip, relax my inside arm on tip in, and stay loose on the handlebars. Better BP, more relaxed, less lean angle, faster through the corners - who doesn’t want all that?
CONs: Disappointingly, a MotoAmerica girl didn’t show up at my paddock with one of those permanent camera smiles to help celebrate this modest but dynamic modification. I’m confident the KC designers can integrate this feature in future product updates. I think 3-5 minutes of Umbrella girl coverage after the first two sessions is reasonable. More than that and it may get a little creepy like David Lee Roth’s smile when he’s on camera.
BACKGROUND: I first heard about www.kustomcockpits.com (KC) at an N2 track day early in the 2023 season. Long term members of N2 know they’re made by two of our CRs (@tdelegram and Anthony S.) who are also Expert class racers.
At that point in my season, I didn’t feel like I had exhausted all efforts to adapt myself to my bike. IOW, I didn’t think it was time to pursue an equipment solution to what might still be a rider problem. Fast forward through a full 2023 season and I was still inconsistent with my outside leg. Sometimes locked in, sometimes not. I‘ve tried the “tank squeeze” technique but it hasn’t worked for me. After seeing multiple MotoAmerica and WSBK bikes with a tank extender, I felt confident it was time to give a tank extender a shot.
Here‘s how I installed mine.
Remove the center tank protector and tape the side tank grips out of the way, clean up any glue residue and then do a final clean with alcohol.
Apply VHB tape to the KC but don’t pull off the tape liner yet.
Move the KC around on the tank until it “settles”. It’s easy to find the Goldilocks spot because the KC’s concave side mates perfectly to the tank. Also, the lines on the exposed side of the KC match perfectly to the tank’s lines. Great attention to detail went into the design and the KC is a complementary fit on the OEM tank.
Once happy, I held the KC in place and used a dry erase marker to trace a reference line on the tank. This was to ensure I positioned the KC right back in the same spot once I removed the VHB tape liner.
Another technique is to use blue painter’s tape to hold the KC in place and then cut along the very edge of the KC with an X-Acto knife . This also creates a perfect reference line between the blue tape left on the tank and the blue tape left on the KC. At any rate, some type of reference line is important when emplacing the KC with exposed tape. VHB tape is super tacky and ductile so if you get your initial emplacement wrong, trying to re-position the KC will probably result in fouled VHB tape. That‘d be pilot error, not design error.
When you stick the KC on the tank, you’ll want to press firmly on the KC into the tank to ensure all the VHB tape adheres. You won’t have any doubts or difficulties doing this because of the previous locating and indexing steps.
The dry erase marker reference line easily wipes away without any cleaner.
Let loose the tank grips and attach them where they lay. I suppose I could trim the lower portion of the tank grips that don’t contact the tank or the extender but I’m not seeing the urgency to do that.
Let bond for 12 hours before riding.
Here’s the finished result.
So, the verdict?
PROs: Early (not later) in the braking zone is when I like to ensure I’ve got my outside knee set. With the KC there is ZERO time spent hunting for optimal contact like in the past. Now I no longer have to think about setting that contact point because it’s already there without being intrusive or obstructive. This keeps me well off the tank, makes it much easier to open up my inside hip, relax my inside arm on tip in, and stay loose on the handlebars. Better BP, more relaxed, less lean angle, faster through the corners - who doesn’t want all that?
CONs: Disappointingly, a MotoAmerica girl didn’t show up at my paddock with one of those permanent camera smiles to help celebrate this modest but dynamic modification. I’m confident the KC designers can integrate this feature in future product updates. I think 3-5 minutes of Umbrella girl coverage after the first two sessions is reasonable. More than that and it may get a little creepy like David Lee Roth’s smile when he’s on camera.
I need to try this torque thing all of the cool kids are typing about.