Black Light.

One of the most fun things about owning something is making it yours.  The automotive and motorcycle aftermarkets are a testament to that.

What makes modifying even more fun is doing the work yourself on the cheap.

My 2008 Triumph Bonneville is the Black model.  That means everything is black; the paint, the engine, everything.  Whatever isn't black is chrome.

The headlight on the Bonneville is a big seven-inch bucket of chrome.  While it looks nice on its own, it looks out of place on the front of the bike.  There are all of these black bits and then there's this big piece of chrome.  Mostly, it reflects all of the black around it, so it looks black at a quick glance.

So what I decided to do was paint the bucket part of the headlight black. 

I initially wanted to get it powdercoated but that costs money and I'm cheap.  I had some primer and satin black spray paint laying around and decided to use that.  If it didn't work out, I would then get it powdercoated.

Cheap and fool-proof.  I like that!

Let's get to it:

Here's what the headlight looked like stock.  All black and a big blob of chrome.

Right, the tools of the artist.  Poor Michaelangelo had to mix his own paints.  How easy life has become.

First I needed another headlight.  No way was I going to paint my as-yet-unpayed-for headlight, so I did the next best thing: I bought a used one off of Ebay.  This was from a wrecked Bonneville that looks like it was in a nasty crash.

I hit the chrome with some 400-grit sandpaper to rough the surface up a bit.  I then hit it with some primer.  After wet sanding it with 2,000 grit sandpaper, I hit it with primer again.  That ripple effect on the bucket used to be a dent.  I pounded it out blacksmith-style.

And here is the newly blackened headlight bucket.  I painted it, wet-sanded with 2,000-grit sandpaper and then painted it again.  Awesome.  Now all I have to do is take the old one off.

This is the mess you'll find when you take the headlight off.  All of those wires were shoved in the headlight bucket.  Should be fun putting them back in because it was fun taking them out.

And now, the finished product.  The black bucket definitely looks the business.  It fits in better with its surroundings, moreso than the chrome one did.

Modifying your vehicle is fun.  It's even more fun when your mods are cheap and they work.  For a total investment of around $25, I have a black headlight bucket and a nice new piece of individualization on my motorcycle.

I love it when a plan comes together.