Undertail install pointers

Zippy · 06-28-2004, 10:56 PM

Well, my undertail came in at long last and the job ahead looks a little dicey. Did you folks just lop the whole stocker liner off or just the end/mud flap?

siccboy · 06-29-2004, 12:08 AM

when I installed mine I just took off about 2 inches back from where it curves on the side and I still have my storage.

noir · 06-29-2004, 02:18 AM

i was looking for a race under tail for my solo tail since i have custom led tail lights and have no use for an undertail with a groove for the stock tail light, and i just found out the hot bodies discontinued the race undertail to go with their solo tail for our bike.

oh and my stock liner is gone from the tool box back, no storage.

Zippy · 06-29-2004, 03:50 PM

how did you affix it to the stock fender up front? I'm fabbing an L out of aluminum to screw to the undertail, then to the battery box.

Zippy · 06-29-2004, 04:53 PM

ah shit, looks like mine isn't the right dimensions! Has anyone ordered an undertail from www.thesuperbikestore.com? Seriously, this thing is missing about 1/2" of material!

Zippy · 06-29-2004, 11:06 PM

Nevermind, looks like my bracket idea needs some refining. What do ya'll use to affix the rear part (under the taillight)?

siccboy · 06-30-2004, 02:23 PM

I couldn't secure it by the one screw because it was to short so i just tucked it under and secured it at all the other points. I also put one screw in the middle to keep it from moving. You may also have to put a screw through the fairing to the undertail up under because the lip on the side may be a little short to tuck and stay behind the fairing.

Zippy · 06-30-2004, 02:44 PM

Just finished it. I ended up having to put a third screw in the rear, behind the plate, going into what's left of the storage box. The part wasn't manufactured to exact standards, but I think I managed to make it look pretty good. All in all, it looks waaaay better than stock. Check the pic:

Tiamat · 06-30-2004, 05:06 PM

Yeah, Zippy, I bought one from there - still have yet to find a secure way to put it on myself. Instead of hacking up the original fender I actually unbolted and removed the back half of it, so now I have nothing to secure the replacement to. It would have been nice if I could have at least used the existing screw that holds the two side tail pieces together (directly under the tail light) but that little section of plastic on the new undertail isn't there like on other models.

I was thinking of trying either some double sided tape or velcro and attach it directly to the subframe, but that just seems too redneck for me.

BTW, I think you did a fine job on yours - it looks good from here.

Zippy · 06-30-2004, 09:17 PM

You have to leave the box in. I have mine secured up front with an L bracket I made out of aluminum that is bolted to the battery box and the undertail itself. In the rear, I drilled a hole through what was left of the storage box and the undertail. It's very solid, and it passed the 120mph test so I guess it's more than enough for tooling around.
Here's what the inside of my pilion looks like:
(I'd take a pic of the bracket, but it's way too hard to take apart)

noir · 06-30-2004, 10:30 PM

looks good

siccboy · 07-05-2004, 01:12 AM

looks really good almost identical to mine

WOLF7R · 07-05-2004, 09:50 AM

looks good, it cleans up the rear of the 7 very nice

Tiamat · 07-05-2004, 11:46 PM

Well I finished the install of my undertail today. Like I said before, removing the back half of the original undertail left me with very little to mount the new one. Like you said Zippy, these parts aren't manufactured to very high specs, but there was enough of a flange around the whole part to use some very small self-tapping pan head screws at four points and just screwed it to the left and right tail halves from below. You can really only see the screw heads if you look underneath, and I'll probably just paint them to match the body color.

Now, all I need to do is get some aftermarket turn signals, or a turn signal eliminator - the bracket supplied with the undertail doesn't work with the stock zx7's gigantic signals (wish I would have thought to check that before I drilled for to mount the dumb bracket).

Tiamat · 07-05-2004, 11:55 PM

Oh, I also forgot, I drew up a template to make a bracket that will allow me to bolt the back end of the undertail in place to make it a bit more secure. It will use the two license plate bolts and the bottom two bolts of the rear brake light as mounting points. If I remember, I'll post some pics of it when I complete it.