You will love a new front tire. Nothing changes the vague feeling & handling like new rubber! Try not to go cheap on tires if you can afford it. I like the Avon Road Riders, but there are plenty of other good tires out there.
What type of problems did you have with the original muffler? Or are you just trying to find some more performance/sound? The bike rides pretty good with the original muffler. The EMGO slip on reverse megaphones are the cheapest & easiest mufflers to use on the FT that I am aware of. Unless you can find a great deal on a Sport-Bike take off canister style muffler.
I'm not a big fan of Cafe type of bars on Ascots as the bike is just not layed out well for Cafe bars. Usually when a bike receives Cafe style of bars, or clip-ons, the seat height is reduced somewhat also, to lower you into the top of the bike. The Ascot is designed to be ridden more like a dirt bike & is very comfortable with that style of riding. Plus many times the Cafe bars will allow your hand controls to make contact or dent your fuel tank at full steering lock.
The headlight is easy to swap if you just can't stand the rectangular headlight. Once again... EMGO has several round headlights, mounts & turn signals to choose from. I went with this one (with black turn signals) from this seller:
http://www.speedmotoco.com/product-p/smc.404.mofo.htm Here are several other headlights from the same seller:
http://www.speedmotoco.com/category-s/48.htm Whatever headlight you end up using, make sure that the mounting ears are very solid so the headlight won't vibrate. Below are a couple of pictures of my headlight assembly. (Please excuse the left turn signal not being straight.
) Notice how beefy the headlight mounts are. They just "kiss" the fuel tank at full turn on each side, but they are solid. You will need mounts that will attach to 37mm fork tubes if I recall correctly. All the Honda wiring will just fit into that headlight bucket & it has the same type of cut outs on the back side to allow for the wires. The headlight itself just plugged right in to the original connector. You will also need to relocate the horn when you swap headlights. Here you can use your imagination. I made a simple "L" shaped bracket & mounted a smaller diameter horn just above the handlebar lock. This location is ideal for sound being sent forward, but it prevents me from centering the headlight between the triple clamps.
If & when you change the turn signals, you may need to change out the flasher to a modern lower draw flasher unit. I used this one from SuperBrightLEDs:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-accessories/lf1-s-pin-universal-motorcycle-electronic-flasher/193/841/ I have LED lighting in the back, small incandescent up front & this flasher worked for me. I've heard that adding a resistor to the turn signal lead will allow you to keep the old flasher, but I don't know how to determine the correct size resistor.
When you change your oil. Make sure that you use a motorcycle specific oil like Hondalube, Yamalube, Golden Spectro, etc. Do not use standard automotive oil as it no longer has the additives that a motorcycle engine requires. If all else fails & you can't use a motorcycle oil for whatever reason... Use some Rotello or Delo 400 diesel engine oil. Oil filters are becomming hard to find. Last I knew, Mark at ThumperStuff has filters in stock. You might as well pick up a couple of them, or a 6-pack. If you place an order from ThumperStuff, you might as well order the two jets that are required to perform the jetting upgrade as described in the "Ascot Essentials", plus a 16 or 17 tooth countershaft sprocket. The jets & the countershaft sprocket upgrade really go together well to allow your bike to perform at its best.
That's about it. Good luck & get her going... The snow is melting.
J.
