Isn't that the thing though? How do you know what your taste is unless you try first? Numerous fellow Bonneville riders are shocked (excuse the pun) that I still have the stock suspension and silencers. I've ridden bikes with the "standard upgrade" IKONs and can't tell the difference. I bought the floating disc conversion when my OEM disc wore out, it's marginally better, certainly not worth binning the stock one before you've had serious miles out of it. I've ridden bikes with loud exhausts and that's all they do, turn petrol into noise. I replaced my battered and rusty silencers with a pair from e-bay that a guy was selling because he'd had loud ones fitted at the 600 mile oil change. I paid £30, he was paying over £300. £270 is a lot of petrol and while I see that a bloke who wants to ride his Bonneville to a coffee shop and think about Steve McQueen might want noise, I can't understand why everyone tells me this is what I "need". I did upgrade the seat because after a 3000 mile trip my wife was sliding into me. Same goes for a centre stand, I won't own a bike without one as I do go places where I get the odd puncture.

It does worry me that the net and literature is full of other peoples shopping lists that seem to be taken as must haves, but hey it's your money. When I first started I did the shopping list thing, F650 with every Touratech bit I could cram on. It died in North Africa because I didn't know that Rotax were idiots when it came to understanding waterpump seals. My close to stock Bonneville lightly breathed on with bits like a well greased up coil has made up home every time for the last 7 years. I think prep is items 1 and 2, not shopping and if that's taken as inverse snobbery by guys with different experiences so be it.

Andy