So, in this installment I'll commence fitting the electrical system, starting with installation of the rear fender. I know this isn't necessarily an intuitive beginning, but bear with me and (hopefully) all will be made clear. Here it is with its associated mounting harware
At upper left is the inner fender (which I've already installed! Wahoo!). Next to that is the fender itself, rechromed by The Chrome Shop (and liberally doused with Boeshield, of course!). Moving down to the center bottom is the tail light / license plate bracket; then, to the left, the upper fender mounting bolts, spacers and washers. Last (but not least), on the right is the tail light mounting hardware.
So, before I install the fender, I'm going to do some preliminary work by fitting the tail light bracket. This would be bothersome to do with the fender already on the bike, so I believe it's best to get it out of the way right at the outset. Here's a shot of the bracket and its adjunct mounting hardware: four each rubber grommets, shoulder bolts and washers
I began by inserting the grommets into the holes provided in the bracket...
...the tail light wires are then threaded down through this rubber grommet previously installed
Underneath, the wires then run through this little tunnel welded to the bottom of the fender
The tail light bracket is then affixed to the fender using the shoulder bolts and washers, and the fender is now ready for installation
Oh, and one more thing: I'm going to do something I haven't done so far in the build - I'm installing the bike's first sticker. It's a warning decal covering tire specs, and installing it after the fender has been fitted would just be a pain, so I'm applying it now
Just the first of many more to come.
Now, the inner fender has already been installed as a preliminary step to adding the air intake system, but I wanted to include it here as it's a major part of the rear fender arrangement. With it in place, we can begin fitting the fender
Here's the fender mounting hardware: two 10mm bolts with washers (upper mounting bolts), two 10mm chrome bolts (lower fender/grab bar mounting bolts), and two special oval-shaped stand-offs
The little stand-off spacers are slotted, and they fit down into holes provided in the inner fender like this, with the slots oriented front-to-back
Like the spacers used in the airbox, these keep the ABS plastic inner fender from crushing and eventually splitting at the mounting holes.
Raising the fender into position, I then threaded the tail light wires up through another grommet installed in the inner fender...
...then positioned the fender in place between the two "ears" on the frame and installed the upper mounting bolts and washers. This turned out to be a major hassle in that it was difficult to insert the bolts through the mounting holes on the frame "hump", then through the standoffs and have the fender in the right place to accept the bolts. It was hard to hold everything "just right" so as to avoid cross-threading the blind nuts welded to the back side of the fender. What I ended up doing was to temporarily install the lower fender/grab bar mounting bolts just to hold the fender in place, after which all I had to do was pivot the fender into position and the top bolts inserted easily. I left them a little loose; they're just supporting the fender for now
With the upper mounting bolts supporting the fender, the next order of business is fitting the grab bar. Here it is, along with the rear turn signals and the signal mounting hardware
There are a couple of preliminary steps I undertook before mounting the bar. These two little grommets (inset below) are supports for the rear turn signals and, as they are a serious beee-otch to install into the brackets welded onto the grab bar, I took the opportunity to insert them now. They are two sided - one side has a smiley face, while the other wears a blank, befuddled expression; and there's a slot that goes around the perimeter of each grommet as well. The grommets are fitted onto the grab bar brackets with the blank side outward, while the smiley side faces inboard and chomps down onto the bottom rail of the bracket. The perimeter slot is pressed through the opening in the bracket and holds the grommet in place
Next, I removed the temporarily installed lower fender mounting bolts as well as the acorn nuts and washers on the upper shock mounts on each side of the bike. The grab bar then fits like a wishbone onto the shock mount studs; once it's in position, the shock mount nuts and washers are loosely re-installed, as well as the lower fender mounting bolts and washers
Once all of the nuts and bolts are in position, all are tightened to spec. The recommended sequence for tightening all of the bolts would be: upper fender mounting bolts first, then the lower fender/grab bar bolts and, finally, the shock mount nuts.
And, voila!... it's a rear fender!
The next order of business is to complete installation of the rear turn signals that began with mounting the grommets. Here's a closer look at the signal mounting hardware
At top are the signal mounting brackets; in addition to mounting the signal light stems, they provide grounding for the lights, and there's a ground wire soldered to a lug on the back of each bracket. These, like the grommets pictured just below them, come in pairs - though, unlike the grommets, there's a left and a right side. Also included in the above pic are two small tubular spacers, and two oval-headed screws that affix the signals to the mounts.
I started out by inserting the little spacers into the previously installed grommets. Each grommet has two holes molded into it, and the spacer is inserted into the front hole on the grommet (below left)
Once the spacer is in place, the mounting bracket slides up over it (above right). Things to note about the above pic are that the side of the bracket with the ground lug is facing inboard; the larger hole in the bracket is oriented to the rear; and the ground wire leads off toward the front of the bike. Orientation is the same on both sides of the bike
The wire for the signal light is then threaded through the rear hole in the bracket (below left)...
...then the signal light stem is inserted into the mounting bracket, and the whole she-bang is held in place with the oval-headed screw (above right)
Both the ground and signal wires are then gathered together and fed through this little loop welded to the back side of the grab bar (below left - shown here previous to installation for clarity)...
...then routed up inside the frame "ears" through this clip (above right) and through a gap that lies between the fender and inner fender. They are then routed through the inner fender wiring guides, along with the tail light bundle
...and, of course, all of this happens on the other side, too!
And, here we have it: rear fender, tail light and turn signals
In Part 2, I'll be installing the main harness, some associated electrical devices and the clutch cable, of all things. Who knows... I might even get to the elusive throttle cables (don't hold your breath)!
'til next time
