There are a dozen different ways of doing this. Since I am not planning on extended road trips requiring jerrycans and survival gear, I decided to lighten the entire top heavy structure of the bike before I start planning other upgrades.
I rummaged through my eBay collection of random “used/takeoff” purchases that included a used Interceptor 650 tail light, turn signals, and front headlight mounts…..also a Himalayan instrument panel bracket. This forum has expanded well beyond its US origins so please rely upon common sense, personal abilities and your local regulations…..safety is always #1.
Stepwise:
1. Removed rear seat and unbolted brake light unit from frame (two bolts), and the rear rack (four bolts). Replaced the solid red plastic lens with an interceptor lens that has a clear window below it for illuminating the license plate….both lenses are the same size and shape and DOT marked.
2. Unbolted the black liner under the fender…..3 bolts and 2 Allen head screws. You don’t need to remove the rear turn signals. Cut the liner with a hacksaw to delete the part with the license plate as shown. Retained the upper section as this adds structural integrity to the fender, and covers the wires and a large hole.
3. Made a metal bracket and attached it to the fender under the tail light (drilled 2 holes)…..objective was to lift up the license plate higher underneath the taillight so that it is fully visible from the rear, and illuminated properly.
4. Painted the new bracket black and reinstalled everything except the heavy rear rack.
5. For the front I unbolted the racks on both sides, and plugged the holes with existing rubber bungs. Bracket for the instrument panel can be removed and discarded. I had purchased an extra bracket to cut up/weld etc. but ended up wasting my time on that. Ended up bending two strips of 1” wide and 1/8” thick steel into a Z or S shape with a hole drilled at each end. One end bolted into the two holes under the top T after you remove the thick wire guide for the cables….other end bolted to the outer bolts on the instrument panel….rubberized washers added to prevent vibrations. Painted the new mounts and carefully rerouted the wiring including adding extra protection against scuffing at some areas.
6. The front wheel was removed after supporting the bike safely. Both shocks were loosened at the triple Ts and lowered to slip on interceptor headlight mounts (painted black). The headlight was an extremely tight fit and I lowered the front top fender about 1-2 mm by adding a metal washer at each one of the 4 bolts to keep it from touching the headlight.
7. The round, black Himalayan turn signal head units will attach to the black rubber stalks of the chrome interceptor turn signals as both heads are identical. Wiring was an easy cut and solder to retain the Himalayan harness plugs.
In the end I used a DOT compliant tail light and DOT compliant turn signals from the Interceptor and these are identical, and in the same location as the OEM Himalayan locations. Bike is lighter, easier to handle, retains full fenders, and only the license plate got moved up and out of the way of gravel and dirt.
Topic: Tail tidy (Read 1663 times)