Update: 12.29.2004
I had an email exchange with one of the guys from the Chain
Gang. The relevant information is posted below (read bottom
up):
----- Original Message -----
From: bill
To:
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 9:51 AM
Subject: Re: Question about your f650 that is on the f650 board
Will you be able to send me both of them?
I will cut you a piece 22" long. From this piece, you can
cut the 18" light bar and the 3-15/16" backer bracket.
When you make the cut, the width of the blade will take away the
1/16". I also drew you a picture (attached) of how to cut
the metal.
Make the first cut as indicated it the drawing so you have the entire
length of bar to hold onto while you make your cut. Do not cut
too far though... stop exactly where you will cut the lightbar to
length.
On a 1-10 rating how difficult was it to wire this up?
I'd say it is a pretty simple install. The hard part getting
everything mounted and hidden. There is so little room... that's
the challenge. The directions for both products are very
clear. Read them twice before you do anything. If I were
to rate it given all factors involved, I would say it is a 4 or 5...
but I am quite skilled at mechanical stuff. But, it really is
pretty simple.
One other thing I did was to go behind the dash where the LED for
the volt meter mounts and glue it in place with plastic epoxy.
The LED doesn't want to stay in there all that well... and with all of
the vibration... you get the idea.
Also, make sure to really think about where everything goes.
There really is very limited room. Remember you have to put the
headlight back in there.
And, zip-ties are your best friend. You can use LARGE
zip-ties to hold the components in place. Just use several along
both axes (I am not sure how to spell the plural of
"axis"... I think that's it).
And finally, I used two 5/16" (diameter) X 3/4" (long)
stainless steel bolts and stainless steel nylon lock nuts to sandwich
the brackets between the fender. The backer bracket acts as the
washer.
----- Original Message -----
From:
To: bill
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 9:51 AM
Subject: Re: Question about your f650 that is on the f650 board
Bill,
Your the man!!!!!!!!!!
Once again, your set up is exactly what I was looking for. I
love the idea of the volt reducer. Rather than shutting the
lights down you still get some use of them. I want the lights
for more safety reasons so people can see me rather than me seeing
them. I have also installed the Hyperlights. They were
easy and work really well.
I have just ordered everything. The volt monitor, volt
regulator and lights. I went for the Hella Opix. Series because
of the cost. They should work out well.
I would like to take you up on your offer on the light bracket if
that is cool. I noticed that you used two brackets. The
first is what you connected the lights to and the other was more for
bracing the light bracket to the bike. Will you be able to send
me both of them?
If you will supply me with your address I will send you some money
for the material as well as the shipping. Don't be to nice of a
guy here with the cost. Make it worth your time. You have
been really helpful by spoon feeding me the information that you have
supplied.
On a 1-10 rating how difficult was it to wire this up? I have
a buddy of
mine that is good with electrical systems that I sure would help if he
has
the time.
Bill, thanks again for the help. I need all I can get.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill"
To:
Subject: Re: Question about your f650 that is on the f650 board
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:54:01 -0600
Read this: http://f650.com/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=100873
and this: http://www.f650.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=95990
I did similar research...
The bar is 18". I have some extra if you want me to cut
you a piece and mail it to you. You can have it for free if you
send me a few dollars for shipping.
Let me know if you have other questions... I enjoy helping folks
willing to do their own work.
----- Original Message -----
From:
To: bill
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 8:20 AM
Subject: Question about your f650 that is on the f650 board
I have been doing some research on putting lights on my 02GSA and
then came by your website, which is nice, and you have the set up I
would love to copy. You have the voltage meter as well as the
reducer. I have not seen a reducer before, the only thing dad
taught me about electricity was to stay away, so I am interested to
see where you got yours? Did you get the reducer from signal
dynamic's also?
Also, how wide did you make your bar to hold the lights?
Thanks you for any of the information that you can share with me.
Update: 12.30.2004
Mounting the lights only to the fender permitted them to vibrate
a bit even though they were attached to the fender very close to where
the fender bolts onto something more solid. As a result, the
lights would "flicker" up and down as the motorcycle idled
or as it went over bumps. Unacceptable!
To fix this, I fabricated a bracket to go from the location
where the fender mounts to the solid metal piece where the forks
attach, and I bolted it to the light bar. Now instead of only
being attached to the plastic fender, it is bolted solidly to the bike
and there is absolutely no vibration. Perfect!
Numbering is only to identify pieces; it's not an
assembly order.
Though blurry, the following two pictures show the last of the
three brackets. It's the one that fits inside the fender... #6
from the drawing above. The first picture simply shows the piece
cut to length, the second picture is after I grinded some curves in
the bracket so it fit perfectly (a Dremel tool and belt sander works
well on aluminum).
