I've added a few things to the bike, too. A second headlight because the primary died on me. You were right about the cables getting cut by the plastic housing-- It happened. I had to splice the negative wire, and the solder it and wrap it up in several layers of electrical tape, and then I cut open the hole in the plastic housing for good measure. Anyway, the second headlight has come in handy, since the primary is sort of dim and doesn't do a very good job of illuminating the road ahead of me in pitch darkness. This second one is pointed downward, so it lights the path while the primary lets people know I'm here.

 

I got a tail light, but since there's no place to put it on the back, I put it in the middle. Since it has a flasher that lights up on both sides, it makes me pretty visible at night, should I feel I need the extra attention.

To paint the plastic, I used Krylon Fusion gloss black paint. It works pretty well. Sometimes the bike gets a little scuffed and you'll see the orange plastic below, but the paint seems solid and it's easy enough to touch-up. It's not the best paint job in the world (I didn't want to remove all the plastic, so it's not as precise as it could be) but it's pretty good and gets attention.

On top of the black paint is a craft paint that has little reflective sparkles in it. It's not very visible from a distance, but when light hits the bike in the dark, you can see it a lot better than if I'd just left it plain black.

The stickers were the tough part. I lost quite a few in the process of painting (they wouldn't go back on) and believe it or not, Currie/ iZip don't offer stickers as a replacement part! Oh well. When these wear out, I can slap some political bumper stickers on there.

Of course, I grant you permission to use my photos as an example of what can be done, provided you don't sell them and you don't take credit for the work and/or photography (I know you wouldn't, but you

know-- Disclaimer). I still think you could make a little extra cash on the HG-1000s if you offered to paint or detail them!

So far, Currie has been OK about replacement parts. They shipped me a new battery housing/guide (that part that the battery slides into behind the seat, because mine was cracked. The new one, luckily enough, was black plastic!) and they've also been pretty forthcoming about advice. I was surprised some parts aren't available as

replacements--- The clear shield on the downtube is not available for replacement, nor are any pieces of basic hardware such as screws, nuts, or that sort of thing. As I said earlier, stickers are a no-go, as well.

Next for my HG-1000 is a new, bigger Topeak basket (this one's a little too small), a bigger trunk (ditto), paint job on the headlight (I've been putting it off. It's going to be a lot of fine detail and taping), and I really, really need to find someone around here who isn't afraid to do work on the rear disc brakes.

So anyway, thanks for the experience! I'm really enjoying this bike.

It gets me to work all week, supports myself and a good size load of groceries (I've managed a gallon of milk, a 2-liter bottle of soda, a six-pack, various small canned goods, a loaf of bread, and a few TV dinners in one trip. Thank goodness for bungee cords!) -- I'd highly recommend this bike to commuters. I can't even calculate how much gas money we've saved since I got the HG-1000, and as a side-effect, I'm making new friends when they ask about it!

Take care and enjoy the photos!