Light bar, I own thee!!

[Seaking]

Sweet, after a year of loose light bar issues and frustrations with vibes, cut wires and what ever else, the job is done and doods, if *I* can do it, anyone else can lol..

 

if your bolt hole threads in the lower triple tree clamp are munged or stripped, this is the fix for you.. Or even if you're sick and tired of not ever being able to get them frikken bolts in proper, this would be a good fix as well..

 

I have tried to find the link or threads of this aluminium block adapter that mounts your highway light bar ahead of your fairing so that you'll never ever have to remove your light bar to take off the front fairing.. if someone can find it, please advise.. this is an awesome adapter. I had never been before able to make it work for various reasons and now I know why.. nothing wrong with the adapter, it's AWESOME but my bike, for what ever reason, always rejected the adapter or proper installation of the light bar.. Me being the 3rd owner of this magnificent bike, I'm finding a lot of previously buckshee maintenance done to the bike causing me problems.. Now that I have my heated garage for the winter, boom, time to fix it all up proper.. and the light bar is my first victim.. mou'aha..

 

The main ingredient was to use a 2 inch 7/16th bolt with washer and lock nut (nylon insert) or what ever you feel safe with.. As you'll notice, in the photo, I had to nibble away at the shroud with a dremel tool to make tool alignment easier. These are the bolts passing through the triple tree clamp.. The bolts mounting the light bar are now Loktite and have a lock washer as well.. (if I ever have to remove this again for what ever reason, I'll have found proper sized washed to put under the bolt heads in the recess, but couldn't find them around here)..

 

http://www.myvstar.ca/venture06/mount001.jpg

 

The shot below is taken from the floor looking up in front of the radiator. The brake line splitter is removed as is the half moon mud flap (2 bolts each). You'll want to remove these for easier and better access to the nuts. As you can see, the threaded portion of the triple tree clamp where your highway lamp attachment bolts bolt into isn't all that thick after all.. so the 2 inch bolt used here leaves enough thread showing for safety (min 3 threads etc).. When you're torquing down the bolts, you'll want to be very careful and ensure your wiring isn't being pinched or caught in behind the adapter block.. I have mine laying across the top and out to the left side (kick stand side) of the block.

 

http://www.myvstar.ca/venture06/mount002.jpg

 

Photo below shows why I thought it best to nibble away at the shroud for better access to the bolt head. I used a thin walled 7/16 deep socket to turn the bolt head to get the nut started. However, when the nut tightens up against the washer, its best to turn the nut, and not the bolt to avoid damaging the adapter.. There is sufficient 'bolt head size' to take up the hole without a washer.. but if you're able to fit a washer down that recessed hole, the better.

 

 

http://www.myvstar.ca/venture06/mount003.jpg

 

Below is the hardware I used.. go for high tensile steel if you're going to torque onto these puppies..

 

http://www.myvstar.ca/venture06/bolt.jpg

 

 

Below is where a lot of my problems with wiring happened, the wiring would basically drop down into the fork stops and be guillotined causing shorts, failures and freaking annoyances like you wouldn't believe.. I had used a zip tie to hold this bundle up and away from the fork stops but they eventually fell into them again something got nicked.. Now that the bike is sitting high and pretty on the jack adapter, I'll be able to do properly tuck these bad boys away for good..

 

http://www.myvstar.ca/venture06/wires-cut.jpg

 

 

So there ya go.. the hardest part of all this was finding out what proper sized bolt I should be using.. originally I had started with a 2.5 inch bolt but the shank was too long so the 2 inch bolt was perfect.. It will be a while before I can test ride this set up properly but I think this is the permanent fix for my bike.. no more BS with munged threads etc.. never more having to drop the light bar to remove the fairing.. Ahhh nice..

 

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free..

[RossKean]

Is this the link?

 

[ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1656]Passing Light Spacer - VentureRider.Org[/ame]

 

Ross

[Riderduke]

Is this the link?

 

Passing Light Spacer - VentureRider.Org

 

Ross

Thats where I got mine about 4 years ago.

[Seaking]

Is this the link?

 

Passing Light Spacer - VentureRider.Org

 

Ross

 

THAT would be the one!!! Money well spent on this bike.. many thanks!

 

no joke, if you guys ever suffer the perpetual loose light bar affair, putting one of these with the pass through bolts will make a world of difference! Later, I might get my machinist guy to come in and drill through the threaded part of the triple tree so that I can use a heavier bolt. I am very confident that the 7/16 bolt is sufficient for what I am doing with it but you know how it is.. 'go big or stay home'

 

cheers