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Modifications for 2009 Rebel

4K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  juli0o0 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I am not sure that this is the right channel for my questions so please feel free to say so.

I am in the process of making a list of parts to purchase for my 2009 Rebel which I will install. Before I go ahead and buy anything I would like to hear your thoughts about these parts and whether they might fit my rebel and if some of you have experience with that specific part.

Mirrors: Mine have quite a lot of rust so I would like change them. Read somewhere that these might work. Any thoughts?

Handlebars: My bike fell. I had parked it overnight on a patch of grass, it rained super heavy which made the dirt soft, and the kickstand just sunk into the ground and the bike fell of its side, giving a small dent on the gas tank but also slightly bending my handlebars. I would like change the handlebars to something resembling more a tracker or dirtbike feel. Would these work. Or these

Odometer: I am thinking of installing a new odometer. I would like it to be something small and minimalist as the stock one feels a bit "stocky". Something like this. Ideally an odometer without gas and oil light as the Rebel does not have it. As long as it has blinkers, neutral and lights I should be good. And depending on what odometer I get i probably need a handlebar clamp like this one. That being said, the odometer that i linked can work if there is a way to install gas and oil readers into the bike, is that possible?

Turn signals: I would like to remove the stock turn signals as they feel and look very cumbersome and change them with something smaller. Something like a bullet style turn signal. there are so many out there that I am not sure which one would work with the Rebel. If I am correct, if i go with LED lights i need to change my electrical system to support LED right? does anyone have smaller less stocky LED turn signals and worked out the electrical component?

Any recommendations on how to remove dings in the gas tank?

I am looking forwards in hearing what you all have to say and recommend.

Best regards, and cheers!
 
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#2 ·
Honda loves to make parts that fit many bikes. Measure the threaded part of your current mirrors - if it's 10mm then those mirrors will fit.

Handlebars are 7/8" - either of those can work

Odometer - the speed may not read correctly and there doesn't appear to be a way to tune it.

Gas level and oil pressure - sure, anything can be done if you have enough money and/or skill

Dings in tank - a spot welder, some body pulling studs, and a pull hammer - otherwise body filler.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the tips. Why would the odometer not read correctly? does it have to do with wheel size?

For the dings i tried using one of those dent removers but unfortunately the ding on the right is right on the decal and the device ripped the decal off. I am going to try using one of those blood pressure bracelets by placing inside the tank and pumping it up and seeing if it pushed the ding out. saw on youtube that it worked. if not im going to go with filler as you said.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I guess this is your first bike judging from the language but the indicators and speedometer on the Rebel are some of the smallest and least offensive I've ever seen on a bike. The handlebars can be bent back by putting the steering lock on and leaning on it with a length of pipe. The mirrors can be scrubbed with steel wool or a brass brush and then polished.

Wouldn't recommend spending any money on it apart from taking dents out of the fuel tank because you'll just lose value especially with changing the speedometer. It's not worth the effort to be honest with you
 
#6 ·
Indeed it is my first real street motobike. I have owned mopeds and dirtbikes while I lived in italy, but never really did any work on them. I am in the process of getting my hands on a pipe and trying that out actually. The left side bent up and out, so ill try seeing how well i can fix it.

For the mirrors I will be doing just that later this week. I will remove them and work at the rust and see how well i can do. The previous owner did scratch the right one pretty badly so ill see how they end up.
 
#4 ·
because of the way signal indicator light is grounded you will need diode kit to isolate it's ground when LED signals installed.. all connections can be made in junction box under headlamp without need to cut any wiring..
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/metric-bike-diode-kit/1190

holler if you need help hooking it up when you get to that point.. you will also need (to make diode plug and play) two male and one female 3.9mm bullet terminals.. Motorcycle Bullet Terminals

you may also need to update flasher relay to an LED compatible relay
 
#7 ·
Oh man installing LED indicators is turning out to be more complicated then I expected haha I will need an LED relay and the diode kit it seems like. do also the front indicators need a relay? I have seen videos where the relay is under the seat, is that for all 4 indicators or just for the rear ones?
 
#8 ·
I don't have a bike that indicated speed isn't lower than actual speed when fitted with the recommended size tires. Pretty much the same for every cage I've had. I guess manufacturers don't want their customers complaining about getting speeding tickets when going the speed the speedo indicates. Not sure if the odometer is off or not. On my VN750, going with a larger diameter tire corrected the speedo, but then the odometer was off (high) just a bit.
 
#9 ·
I don't have a bike that indicated speed isn't lower than actual speed when fitted with the recommended size tires. Pretty much the same for every cage I've had. I guess manufacturers don't want their customers complaining about getting speeding tickets when going the speed the speedo indicates. Not sure if the odometer is off or not. On my VN750, going with a larger diameter tire corrected the speedo, but then the odometer was off (high) just a bit.
Did you possibly mean the opposite?
 
#17 ·
The four percent rule

For ordinary passenger vehicles, there’s no law in the U.S. that regulates speedometers, but U.S. manufacturers (and most Japanese as well) subscribe to a standard called SAE J1226. Your speedometer reading must be within a range of plus or minus four percent off, but that’s four percent over the entire range of the speedometer, and that range can then be shifted in what’s called a bias.
Look at the above chart based on a Scion’s technical guide. At low speeds you’re potentially going faster than the speedometer says, but at 100 mph you’re going at least three miles per hour slower.




From here
https://www.thrillist.com/cars/your...accuracy-in-german-american-and-japanese-cars




This is a good read also
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15136801/speedometer-scandal/
 
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