Mounting Cats-Eye tail light

[Mitch]

Just wondering, what's the best way of mounting a cats eye tail light into a flat bobbed mudguard?

I bought them both when I first had the idea of how my bike was going to look but never thought of the practicalities of it all

Any ideas?

[Blackjack]

Flat piece of steel to back the number plate, with a "protruberance" suitable for the light.

Then you can bend the protruberance so the light is horizontal.

2mm thick steel, 3mm thick ally (road sign?).

There are various ways to finesse it, such as dimpling the plate so the mounting bolts don't have to go through the number plate and so on.

Get the number plate made, use that and the light unit to make a flat cardboard template (all real bike builders eat cereals as the boxes make excellent templates!). Then you can either chop it out yourself (a half decent speed adjustable jig saw helps) or get a sheet metal company to chop you one out on a guillotine. If you provide them with a bent piece of wire to establish the angle needed, then they could bend it for you too.

A vice, pair of mole grips, 2 pieces of reasonably stout angle iron, a large block of hard wood, and a FBH will make an improptu sheet metal bender if you want to do it yourself.

[Rogue Monkey]

You could fassion your own "Protruberance cover" so it doesnt look a bit home made with some Glass fiber! I did it once on Me old Dragstar! made me self a backing plate and **** so I could fit a Harley S+S teardrop Air Filter. Dude! If I can do it , anyone can! Just get down to Halfords an get some fiber glass. Fix yer metal mount like BlackJack explained and there ya go! The beuty Of it will be the admiring looks and the "Where did ya get that from, Mate" type comments! Good Luck!

[Mitch]

I wish I had a better pic than the one below that only shows the whole bike, which I'm basing mine on (Blue - there isn't an AWoL archive is there, that might have a better piccy?)

I'm a bit confused by all this ... would I have to get someone to weld in some bits of steel into the guard etc.? I don't suppose anyone's got any diagrams or some such?

[Mitch]

OK, because time's marching on and I've still got a lot to do:

-Fix wire in Headlight (main live) with scotchlock
-Swap engine clutch and crank covers with those on spare engine (that's been in the shed for ages and is happily donating M6 screws!!)
-Fill forks with oil
-Repair tank with Helicoil where I the old petrol tap was dragged out of the tank stripping the thread (by the arse of a breaker I bought it off - thieving sod!) (will this work? :confused: )
-de-lug frame with anglegrinder
-Make Seat (using old GT750 Seat Cover and foam if not too wet!!)
-Final paint (re-do front mudguard and paint back one - done this the night before a rally before now, Purple CX500 on the night before the Sh1thouse Door Rally in 1991, plus blather anything I've missed on the frame in smootherite)

As you can see I ain't much time :eek: I would like to get the bike ready for the Forum party, so I've decided to spend £40 on a mounting plate and some indicators (front and back) - so that solves that little conundrum... FuKit, I get paid Wednesday!!

I've also been round the local Builders Centre and picked up 2 x 1m lengths of steel banding - 2.5mm thick and about 3/4" wide - with loads of holes drilled down their length. I'm using these to keep the mudguard rigid (as it's now in two halves - the only way I could get it to fit properly) and to attach to the frame under the seat. Once the mounting plate arrives, I will be finishing off the mudguard ready for painting... It is bloody strong!! :D

Sooooo glad I have the week of the Forum Party off!!

Oh yeah, the nose fairing can wait... Gonna use standard GT front light and clocks for now - still looks good though!

[Dougie]

Don't use Scotchloks,they will let you down,I speak from experience.Even those cheap'n'nasty crimp on connectors from Maplins would be much much better.

[Mitch]

Don't use Scotchloks,they will let you down,I speak from experience.Even those cheap'n'nasty crimp on connectors from Maplins would be much much better.

Methinks I've had this conversation somewhere before (last forum probably) - I last used those crimp on things when I had my XS750 back in 1995, maybe I haven't got a lot of strength in my wrist or summat, but I can't do with them...

I only use scotchloks where rain can't get to them, like inside the headlight shell.

[smeghead]

mitch you could always use the crimp connecters,if your not happy with the crimp tou made then solder the wire to the crimp and use a bit of heat shrink over that (far better joint) if push comes to shove use a chocolate block connector and heat shrink over it to keep water out hth

[Mitch]

mitch you could always use the crimp connecters,if your not happy with the crimp tou made then solder the wire to the crimp and use a bit of heat shrink over that (far better joint) if push comes to shove use a chocolate block connector and heat shrink over it to keep water out hth

Sounds a bit much for one little wire though, cheers anyway - the reason why I can't use those crimp connectors is mainly because of the crimper; I've not got a great deal of strength in my wrists and ankles (I've even got orthotic inserts in my boots to strengthen my ankles - one perk of Mrs R's course at Uni :D ) so I find using them (with their tiny handles) a bit difficult.

I even find using an angle grinder bloody awkward... which is a total pisser as I've just spent four hours today with the damn thing de-lugging the frame (it's done now - deep joy!!!) my right wrist and thumb hurt :eek: at one point I ended up grinding left handed!! (got pretty good at that by the end)

The back mudguard's in its final position - all the struts have been cut to the right length now ready for the taillight bracket (should be here Tuesday) and it just needs cleaning up (a bit rusty where it'd been left in its bag) and painting.

Next job... start making the seat!