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Performance and CustomizingShare your tips and tricks on customizing your sportbike. From windscreens, footpegs, undertails, flushmounts, paint, exhausts, and tires.
Stopped by Cycle Gear on my lunch break today looking for some parts. I currently have the "frisbee" flushmounts with a incadesent bulb. I've felt that cars might not be able to see these as well from the front since they sit flush. You can see them, but not nearly as much as you can from the side. So I have been wanting to switch that out for a stalk style LED to seperate the turn signal a little form the bike. Opposite of what most people do as they generally want flushmounts and discard their stalk stockers LOL.
While in CG I saw a few LED front designs I liked from both Lockhart Philips and Motrax. The Motrax are all E-code which is a higher lighting standard than here in the states. I decided to go with the Motrax "LED Arrow" lights with the short stalk.
Like most bikes, there is a big ass hole left in the stock fairing when you remove the turn signals. I didn't see any adapter plates while at CG so I shrugged it off and decided I'd make my own from some ABS sheets I have lying around in the garage. I had to make a front plate and a rear backplate.
For the front, all I did was trace the outline of my old frisbee turnsignal as that resembles the stock Honda hole fairly close. I trimmed up a piece of ABS roughly to the shape desired. I'll go back and smooth the edges with sand paper using multiple grit until I get a nice clean edge. For now, it's fairly rough as I'm still test fitting everything.
For the rear I did a similar method, only I had nothing to use as a pattern to trace out for my shape. I started with a rectangular shape of ABS I cut up. After test fitting the general shape and trimming a few times, I finally got it to a shape I wanted. The first problem I encountered was the SH has a very contoured surface both on the outside and inside of the fairing side. Thise poses an issue for bolt clearance of the turn signal as it wouldn't allow me enough space to get the retaining nut started on the threads of the turn signal. So....I then grabbed my trusty old heat gun and took the backplate I trimmed up and placed it on the garage floor to heat it thoroughly. Once hot as hell, I grabbed it with some oven mitts and then took it over to the bike where I then placed it how I wanted on the inside of the fairing and then press formed it to mold it to the contours of the fairing. This free'd up a good bit of space but I still wanted some more just for a good initial bite on the threads. So I then took a dremel sandstone grinding bit and made a countersunk area since the ABS is 1/8" thick. I removed maybe a 1/32" of material and this allowed the nut to get a good initial bite.
Now all that is left is to finish the edges of the front plate to give it a finished look. I might even go by some rattle can in red to blend the plate in a little bit better. Although the contrast of black on red works for my bike, so I may leave it black. I'm undecided at this point.
Enough rambling, here are some pics of the turn signal mod....
Old frisbee flushmounts (OFF)
Old frisbee's (ON)
Here is one Motrax LED Arrow installed with the custom plates....
Cool. There has got to be a product out there that would be semi-flush, seen from the front and side, and also be bright. (have found nothing as yet)
I agree i would like to see that also. THat's the particular thing that attrach's me to flush mount so i can be seen from all sides. yeah ok if you can't see my head light a signal isn't going to do much for me. I am going with the smal stalks on the back though when i get my fender eliminator.
Cool. There has got to be a product out there that would be semi-flush, seen from the front and side, and also be bright. (have found nothing as yet)
Protons or Watsen Design. They aren't exactly flush but they are they aren't stalks either. A lot of people swear by them. Although, they are a bit on the pricey side.
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I like them, but I think the old ones actually looked a little bit cleaner.
Too bad there's nothing that is "best of both worlds."
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2002 Kawasaki Ninja 250--SV-650 rear shock, Sonic Springs .80kg/mm front springs, ZX-2R graphics, flush mount front signals, tail pod rear signals, Kerker 2-1 race pipe, Factory Pro Stage 3 jet kit, UNI pod filters, ZG Double Bubble, Custom Creations soft vinyl seat cover, Kawi Green rim stripes, carbon brake fluid cap, carbon control levers, No Rear Fender, Yamaha R1 Style Mirrors, V-LEDs.com H4 HID Kit, Nelson Rigg Silver Streak Mini Saddle Bags, Rapid Transit Recon Tank Bag, Various Manufacturers Decals
Yeah Protons and Watsens are some of the pricier ones that give great brightness with great visibility. The Protons can be seen from any angle I believe and they have a nice 3-mode option where they can strobe, flash, or steady. I agree the old ones looked cleaner because they sat flush but they have that dated frisbee style that I'm not a fan of. Just wanted to change it up a bit and get something a little newer on there while still being bright. I'll probably go with the flush Protons and sell these later on.
Tuffguy #2, they are bright but the LEDs deliver a direct beam rather than the regular bulb that directs light everywhere. They can be seen pretty well in the daytime from the front and a little bit of an angle. After that they are still bright but not as intense as from looking head-on.
Last edited by haknslash : 06-17-2008 at 04:04 PM.
Need to take those plates and sand it down so you cant see the cut marks and jagged edges...
Also when your done sanding paint it red or black so the sides where it was cut matches the top of the plates...the sides look gray now and the top black..just helping out bro...I used to be a custom audio and after market parts installer for dealerships .That wouldnt fly in our shop...Good your doing it yourself though..
Need to take those plates and sand it down so you cant see the cut marks and jagged edges...
Also when your done sanding paint it red or black so the sides where it was cut matches the top of the plates...the sides look gray now and the top black..just helping out bro...I used to be a custom audio and after market parts installer for dealerships .That wouldnt fly in our shop...Good your doing it yourself though..
Thanks for your thoughts but please read over my post ;)
I mentioned these were not done and I was going to sand them and possibly paint them. I also used to do car audio installation when I was younger. And yeah this wouldn't of left any "shop" leaving like that. I'm still not done with the plates as all I have done is what you see (in progress). Haven't had time to finish them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyBiker
What a clean bike? How do you keep it so spanking new??
Thanks. She gets wiped down about every other day I ride. also helps that it's been well cared for by the P.O. and was garaged
Last edited by haknslash : 06-18-2008 at 12:31 PM.
Anyone looking to do something similar try pricing the LED rear turn signals from a 2008 Buell 1125R. They have three 3 watt leds and DOT legal difusers. They're bright as hell from 170* and don't look half bad. Noticably bigger than those however and longer stalks.
Here's a pic that shows them pretty well. Feel free to make fun of the trunk, but it's nice to not have to drive the F150 just to pick up a couple small things from the store.
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Motrax LED "Arrow" signal install *pics*
