New Mods: UPDATE headlight/gauge lowering

[CowboyBeebop]

How do you like the Odyssey battery?  How much lighter is it than stock?

[TJR178]

Any ideas on how you're going to lower your guages pompetta?  I have a CC triple too and I'm not sure how to do it the right way.

[jesse370]

Taft had a post where he talked about how he dropped he gauges on his R....He went into pretty good detail as to what at least he did. Would be a great resource to at least use as a reference.

[He Man]

Taft is actually doing them for a fee. I sent mine to him and he can also include the required bolts for re-assembly. I should be getting them back soon. from the pictures, he does some really fine work!

[DucHead]

Wow,  your bike looks so awesome!

Glad you are enjoying some of the stuff you bought from us!

 

Thanks Candice!  Frankly, I wasn't expecting a noticeable difference with the Wave rotors, but holy crap: one-finger braking!

How do you like the Odyssey battery?  How much lighter is it than stock?

I didn't weigh it, but I believe the weight is listed on the Odyssey site or at Motowheels.  It is lighter and smaller.  I had to remove the spacers under the battery tray and replace them with 2-3 washers to make up for the greater width of the Odyssey.

Any ideas on how you're going to lower your guages pompetta?  I have a CC triple too and I'm not sure how to do it the right way.

Yes, I have some ideas that will allow me to keep the bolts that secure the gauges.  This way, the gauges are still easily removed.  I probably won't get to that job until after Christmas, but I'll post up once I've figured it out.

Taft had a post where he talked about how he dropped he gauges on his R....He went into pretty good detail as to what at least he did. Would be a great resource to at least use as a reference.

Yup, I read all of his posts. 

Taft is actually doing them for a fee. I sent mine to him and he can also include the required bolts for re-assembly. I should be getting them back soon. from the pictures, he does some really fine work!

Taft has skills for sure, but I can do most of this myself.  There's a local guy who can do both the Al welding and the powder-coating.  The rest is fiddling with spacers, nuts and bolts.   

[DucNrun]

Your bike is beautiful....but I liked the Termi's better.




Ducking for cover...........

Aww to hell with my opinion, it's your bike and you've done some very tasteful mods.   

[SikDuc]

  The red swingarm stands out the nicest of all your nods.  Keep the white wheels.  Good job!

Lou

[800duc]

 i want to lick it sweeeeeeeeeeet bike

[ruester007]

man I hate to tell you this but those rotors suck. You should take my stock rotors and I will suffer through the shame of using those. Really though, every thing looks great.

[duc996]

The bike looks awesome!!! how about a nice red stripes on the wheels

[DucHead]

The bike looks awesome!!! how about a nice red stripes on the wheels

Thanks mang.  I think wheel stripes would look good, but I thought they were a bit of a pain in the ass to apply (and look good).  I had some on my Bandit before I stripped the paint from the rims.  Tapeworks is here in Raleigh, maybe I could pay a little more and have them do the application.

[DucHead]

UPDATE: Headlight/gauge lowering
NOTE: I have the Cycle Cat DTC-7 triple clamp and DBR-53 bars

Here's what I came up with...all OEM fasteners used.  However, I cut about 7mm too much off of the U-bracket (I'll make spacers).

The bracket is at the shop getting welded and powder-coated.

Here's a view from the top.  I'll have to make a new "dash" to fill the hole between the gauges and the triple.  Note that the special allen fasteners fit into the recess in the Cycle Cat triple.  I think it looks pretty clean, and better than with the gauges on top of the triple.


More pics when I get the bracket back and bolt everything up.

[DucHead]

So, here's what I came up with for lowering the gauges/headlight with the Cycle Cat triple.

As I stated above, I used the OEM special screws, the metal fastener with M5 threaded rod protruding from each side, and the hexagonal fasteners with a pin that fits into the plastic inserts that are pressed into the U-tube.

First, I used a utility knife to carve a little material from the area where the gauges rest against the bottom of the triple.  This allows the gauges to sit flush against the bottom of the triple.  In these two pictures, you can see where I cut material away.



Instead of the OEM plastic plugs that insert into the U-tubes, I used some stiff rubber tubing, shown on the pins above.  This allows the whole thing to be disassembled easily, provides damping, and is nevertheless sturdy when assembled.

Here is the U-tube after welding and powdercoating:


Then I drilled 3/8" holes for M6 rivnuts (rivnuts will obviate nuts for securing the screen):


Rivnuts inserted:


Now some polishing:


With the pieces of rubber tubing inserted into the U-tube, I put a little greast on pins which are attached to the fasteners holding the guages onto the triple, and pushed upward to secure the U-tube:


The rubber fittings allow the U-tube to be removed easily.  First, remove the two bolts from the lower triple clamp, and then pull the U-tube outward and downward.

Here you can see how an allen bolt (and wavy washer) is used to secure the windscreen to the brackets on the U-tube.  No more difficult-to-reach nuts on the inside of the bracket.


Here's a shot from the side with everything bolted up:


And a shot of the cockpit:


If nothing else, this mod cleans up the area around the top triple.  I also added (temporarily) an Al "dash" to hide the wires behind the headlight.

[ruester007]

Dave it looks great. I think I have been convinced to make the change on my bike. Have you thought of running without your fairing? I hope I can make it over your way this weekend.

[DucHead]

Dave it looks great. I think I have been convinced to make the change on my bike. Have you thought of running without your fairing? I hope I can make it over your way this weekend.

Thanks Dave!  I think the bike looks funny without a windscreen...the gauges are too large or something.