I installed the new bulb on Saturday, and it's definitely brighter, though I may still need to do some adjusting.
In the process I discovered that most of the mount points of the front fairing are cracked, and there's already some glue in places indicating it's been "fixed" before. Nothing catastrophic for a cheap, "starter", workhorse machine, but also not something I'm particularly keen on fixing myself. As a result, I'm considering turning the bike into a streetfighter, especially if I can do it in a reversible manner. It's not super urgent, but I have a feeling that the wobbling plastic will annoy me quite a bit with time.
Somewhat relatedly, I'm thinking about changing up the color scheme as well. Maybe an all-white wrap for the plastics, with a red circle on each side, reminiscent of the Japanese flag. Not really sure about it, and this is even less pressing than the fairing issue (but would make the thread title amusingly inapplicable).
More pressingly, I rode the bike for a few hours this weekend, about an hour or so on Saturday (just a quick ride to the beach, in more fog than I wanted) and 5ish on Sunday (PCH and some canyons). It's so much fun! I even gave it some extra throttle in a tunnel, to hear what it sounds like at over 6krpm, and had some cops promptly on my ass, though they didn't pull me over, since I was actually riding quite slowly. :lol:
I'm hoping to be at the DMV tomorrow morning to submit the paperwork for my full license, transfer the title to my name, and renew the registration on my car (which I somehow managed to forget in the midst of all this two-wheeled excitement). I plan on riding the bike there, and then to work. For now I'll bring both the tinted and clear helmet visors, as it'll be bright and sunny in the morning, and pitch black by the time I head home.