Ducati Monster Forum

I saw somebody asking about this, so I decided to post the schematic for the tailchop bracket that I made. All that you need is a steel sheet, a dremel or other rotary tool, a drill, and a few beers...

The dotted lines is where you bend the metal. And the solid lines is where you cut it, all but the bottom of the first part. The little wings that extend to the side are for the blinkers, so if you have an integrated taillight, you dont need them.

Enjoy!

(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8482/imagenut5.jpg)

If you need a higher res pic, let me know and i'll email it to you..

I wish I had a picture of the bracket but since It's already on, I'll just share pics of how it looks mounted...

(http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6238/desdeatrascj6.jpg)

(http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7042/deladofe8.jpg)

Please email me at davidkmartin@gmail.com

Also, thanks for showing me what my bike would look like with the chop! I have the same exhaust!

Email sent  ;D

I used a different one - and it doesnt look like I can attach a .pdf file... 
Original file was one I downloaded from the DML - made using CAD engineering software (not by me).  Measurements are perfect and scale of .pdf is 1:1 (I just printed it and traced it onto my aluminum sheet).  I dont know if the image below is to scale.  Measurements are in mm.
Let me know if anyone wants me to email them the .pdf (I will need your email address since I cannot PM you a file).

(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b168/mangeldbug/Squidbusters/tail%20chop/platebracket.jpg) 

before bending.  It was cut out of 1/8" aluminum
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b168/mangeldbug/Squidbusters/tail%20chop/DSCF2492.jpg)

Finished product (before and after)
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b168/mangeldbug/Squidbusters/tail%20chop/tailbeforeafter.jpg)

Stock license plate bracket: 1 lb. 6 oz.
New aluminum bracket: 7 oz.
Weight savings: 15 oz, nearly a pound!

As you can see I did not cut down the beer tray.  I decided against doing that since I frequently ride in the rain and I heard about your back getting splattered with water, mud, stones, etc. when you even do a half beer tray chop.  After switching the stock license plate bracket for my small Al one, I am happy to report that my back and the tail end of the bike are just as clean as it was with the stock bracket.   :)

That's Mitt's plateholder, it the bombdiggity!

But, it's not designed for those who want a full chop, like me  ;D

The rear of Your bike looks great mang! good job

Ah, thats who it was!!  I knew I downloaded it from SOMEBODY, but for the life of me couldnt remember who.   ;)
Yes it is the bombdiggity.  I love it.  Looks and works great. 
I originally planned to do a half tail chop - I may still do that in the future and I think Mitt's plateholder would still work for that.

I broke my beer tray while on a group ride the other day so I finally decided to get around to doing the tail chop I've been putting off forever.  I used El matador's schematic and I'm sure I butchered the hell out of it, but since he didn't have any pics of it before he installed it, I figured I'd take some and post em up here. 

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/DSC00699.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/DSC00700.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/DSC00725.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/DSC00723.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/DSC00726.jpg)

(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x34/jakeketchmark/DSC00714.jpg)

Oh and thanks for the schematic  [thumbsup]

Get a Buell taillight lens with a clear bottom, and you can loose the plate light.

Don't the older monsters have clear bottoms as well? Good tip though.

That's probably what I'm going to do. The stock light is red on the bottom, but does shine quite a bit of light onto the license plate...enough so that you can read it. Is it illegal to have the plate illuminated in red?

The shotgun shells are a nice touch!

Yes it is in Minnesota.

Awesomeness! Your bikelooks amazing Minnesota! I have a clear taillight lens lying around if you want it :-

MinnesotaMonster, your bike does look awesome.  I installed a CA LED taillight with integrated blinkers and am going to try a tail chop soon.  Good inspiration.

 [thumbsup]

Thanks! I have to redo my bracket since I accidentally made a few extra holes in it and forgot to paint it. It's starting to surface rust already. If we end up going for a ride tomorrow, I'll show you how I made mine and give you a chunk of the metal I used (I still have a lot left)   [thumbsup]

Well, I've made my bracket, but I messed up.  I didn't need turn signals, so I accidentally left out the ENTIRE tab assembly (even the part the brake light attaches to!)

I am using 16 gauge steel, which is a major $@&* to cut.   I don't really want to start over... so I bought some corner brackets from Home Depot and am going to give them a try. 

Also, the schematic implies that there is a 14cm distance between the top two bolts (that bolt on to the frame).  My '01 has a much shorter distance between the bolts... so I need to make a couple more holes. :)

Thanks for the schematic though... if I wasn't such a noob, and if I had looked at MN Monster's first, it probably would have come out really nice.   It still has a chance though, since all of that junk is hidden under the seat!

Just sand it down and repaint  [thumbsup]

I made all of mine from 16 gauge as well.

The best way to get the bends perfect without using a brake is actually achieved by using a dremel.

Basically, you just "trace" a fine line with your cutting wheel where you want the bend to be. Be careful not to remove too much material, because you will have to start again from scratch. remove just enough so that there is a very shallow groove.

Afterward, either put the piece in a vise and hammer away, or drill your mounting holes and mount it to a piece of 2x4. Screw it into the 2x4 with the piece just hanging off at the point where you want the bend to be and that you've previously ""traced" with the cutting wheel.


The bend should then be a lot easier to make.

Hope that helped  [thumbsup]

(http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9717/1001349vr1.jpg)

(http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/806/1001348ym9.jpg)


I also have a full walk-through explaining step by step how to actually do the tail chop

looks like ill need to make one of these... i just lost $130 bucks to the big man.

Damn that make the beast with two backsing sucks. I think I might have one of these lying around  in my house. I'll let you know.

Yeowch.

Well, the good news is that my second effort went almost 4x as fast as my first. I don't need turn signals and I'm going to use my existing Evoluzione license plate bracket, so I modified the design slightly.

I learned a couple tricks, also, when cutting/drilling steel:

1) Crank up the RPM on the Dremel to 8-10k and the metal cutting wheel works a hell of a lot better.
2) When drilling, start the hole with a Dremel cutting tool, then use a cobalt drill bit to cut out the rest.

I'm a noob, so I found this info to be valuable. You may not. :)

I am now close to hacksawing my bike... just need to sand and paint the license plate bracket and then do some wiring.

Here's a pic:

(http://img91.yfrog.com/img91/817/4q0l.jpg)

Good work. Instead of a hacksaw I reccomend a tube cutter, it is much more precise than a hacksaw and a lot more difficult to mess up. I think I saw some going for 15 bucks not so long ago

you and your silly miniture tools.

nothing beats a $5000 bender! Ill come up with a design tonight, got some 18 gauge left over.

An even better tip for drilling. Get a punch and punch out the hole first. It's the best thing for accuracy and ease of drilling

 [bang]

I hate you so much

i made one specifically for integrated lights, but theres a huge gap where u can jimmy the seat. lol there used to be blinkers there. not sure what to do. ill post up pics later, its only version 1, i had to make something up so i can ride tomorrow.
its basically looks like this


_/\_____

where the left _ hooks onto the frame. the /\ is actually folded onto itself and the lights mount onto, and the ____ is bent down about -130 degrees, velcro license plate! and its got some slits in it for wires and what not. looks pretty cool! but though im going to have to rebuild it. since its made of steel, my brake light is always on since its conducting. lol

ill currently just have a few pieces of electric tape covering the steel to insulate it. LOL

Ghetto>

Broke your beer tray?  What did you do?? Minnesotamonster Crush!!

I have the shittiest of shitty digicams so I'm working on getting some decent images of my chop.  I dig the shotty shells.  I couldn't find any plugs at the hardware store so I just ended up using 3/4" copper plumbing caps PCed black, but they turned out pretty well.

I have good and bad news.

The first, and hopefully, last Chipo Tail Chop was crash tested on tuesday.

A little background: the bike highsided and somersaulted onto some rocks. A lot of the impact was absorbed by the right hand side can, rear frame, and tail chop bracket.

Here are the pics of the aftermath:


(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6Gj9mr-29Fg/Slj5NuCcRtI/AAAAAAAADG8/YHUnTBKGkFM/s720/IMG_0083.JPG)

The bracket held up fantastically, you wouldn't even know it had taken any damage if it wasn't for the license plate  [bacon]

So this is my current tail piece:
(http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/696/monstertail001.th.jpg) (http://img34.imageshack.us/i/monstertail001.jpg/)

I have no stock parts for it. Will I need a pair of stock turn signals to do a chop and use this bracket?

FYI  - I made that CAD file and print...

 ;D

(http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/rappevan/DSC02092.jpg)
(http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/rappevan/DSC02048.jpg)

This is my home rendition of a license plate/tail light bracket for the tail chop. I hooked everything up and it works like a charm. I used both 1/8" aluminum for the tail light and 1/16" for the license plate. SS bolts and nylocks all around. I sanded it all with 80 grit, primed it with vari-prime and painted it flat black with a lacquer based paint. A few coats of clear coat and this is what you get. It is still considered prototype in my opinion because I had to use a few washers here and there to add some space, but it works for now. This is for an 02 S4 so if anybody needs more info, shoot me a PM. Those are also some plugs that I had a machinist at work mill out for me. They also got painted and look sharp.

Hi, sorry to reopen an old post. For some reason I can't see any of the images. I was hoping someone had the diagrams so I could print and trace, cut and bend. I am trying to avoid the huge postage on a pro made unit as they want more than the bracket price to ship to oz. I never planned on chopping but some prick busted my tray by ripping turn signals off and it's a pain to find the parts. Mine are beyond repair. I need to make it asap as I want to ride.  If they don't exist will draw my own. Just hoping to save time. Need one with holes for plate light and turn signals.

Cheers