motorjones |
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:20 am
Subject: Maybe I can help |
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Hi
I did the same treatment to my bike after seeing this thread. Thanks aristurtle.
The bracket link is in his post where it says "here" . It's the 36mm one and it looks and works great, but they are just a tad longer than expected.
The headlight shell can be found by searching "Emgo Kawasaki style headlight" on eBay.
The headlight glass is sold separately, search eBay "7 inch motorcycle headlight glass h4".
My cost for the three items was 136.50.
Have fun,
Jones |
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iliveforcurves |
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Turism0remix |
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darpatnm-IS-MY-username |
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:42 pm
Subject: Custom mirror mounts |
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aristurtle wrote: | So I've run into a problem with the right side mirror--I cannot find a way to mount one. The Emgo mount that clamps to the bar that the FAQ suggested doesn't fit on the bar. The FAQ suggested getting a replacement for the front brake perch that has a mirror thread on it -- all the aftermarket ones have a different bolt pattern than the one on the bike. (They are straight up-and-down, which I guess is typical on a dirtbike, but on the EX250, the bolts are offset). Am I just screwed? Should I try and grind down the Emgo mount so that it's narrow enough to fit? Should I just get bar end mirrors? What did other people do? |
I am still adapting from the "enjoyable but gutless" Honda / Suzuki / Yamaha (zippiest of the lot?) light cruisers to my "back bending, wrist abusing, pretzel leg" Ninja. One of the first things I noted was the wonderful forward location of the mirrors, and how when I sat up best as best could, they were so narrow that I could not see much of my own lane. After I created my own pullback-riser handlebar mounts for Honda Rebel bars, my lane disappeared completely! I now have a wonderful mounting bar! It is a 1/2" x 1" x 8" bar with a pair of holes near each end to match the mirror holes. Bolt one end to the bike, mount the mirror on the other end, and VOILA! (French, "There it is!"). The mirrors are 5" or so higher, about 2" wider, and about 1-2" closer to the rider. I can see about 60% of my lane in either mirror, with ESSENTIALLY NO BLIND SPOT. Looking straight ahead, a vehicle in either side lane appears in peripheral vision just as it disappears from the mirrors. WONDERFUL, and inexpensive and easy to make. The distance between holes is quite sensitive, however. |
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aristurtle |
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:13 am
Subject: Turn signals, done with the front end |
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I bought a pair of "DOT Certified" turn signals from K&S. (I don't care that much about DOT compliance per se, as I'm pretty sure that the bike is non-compliant in some other area, but this was the only way to make sure they used an actual halogen bulb and were reasonably close to water-resistant). The original plan was to put them on one of the other holes in the headlight bracket, but when I switched from those garbage sheet metal brackets (seriously, how are so many other bikes in this section using those? did I just get a bad batch or something?) I didn't have any spare holes to mount turn signals to. I looked everywhere for some way to clamp them on to the forks, everything I found online was either hilariously overpriced, of questionable fitment, or both.
Then I realized I could probably attach them to the clamps on the lower triple. I went to Home Depot and got some angle brackets and drilled, filed, and Dremeled them into something that might work.
A little thin on the sides, but it'll do.
Remove the lower clamp bolt, add on the new bracket, put the bolt back in, and there you go.
End result. I'm liking how this is coming out. Next weekend I'll strip and re-paint those rusty exhaust headers, and maybe cut down the fender. |
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aristurtle |
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:53 am
Subject: Ground down the EMGO mount |
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Ah, the Dremel, always there for me. I ground the sides off the Emgo mount and ground one of those tabs off of the brake lever clamp.
Next stop: turn signals. |
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aristurtle |
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 9:16 pm
Subject: No solution for mirror? |
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So I've run into a problem with the right side mirror--I cannot find a way to mount one. The Emgo mount that clamps to the bar that the FAQ suggested doesn't fit on the bar. The FAQ suggested getting a replacement for the front brake perch that has a mirror thread on it -- all the aftermarket ones have a different bolt pattern than the one on the bike. (They are straight up-and-down, which I guess is typical on a dirtbike, but on the EX250, the bolts are offset). Am I just screwed? Should I try and grind down the Emgo mount so that it's narrow enough to fit? Should I just get bar end mirrors? What did other people do? |
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halfSpin |
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TonyKZ1 |
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:59 am
Subject: Looks pretty good. |
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I had thought about doing the same when I wrecked my bike some years ago, but I found another color body and installed that instead.
Tony |
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aristurtle |
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:04 pm
Subject: Took the plunge... |
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So, a year or two ago I had a moderately serious crash, and I started looking into pulling the fairings off for good. Then life happened, and between a wedding and moving to a new apartment I had neither time nor money, so I slathered on a coat of ABS cement and kept on keeping on.
Last month, the other side of the fairing decided to break all on its own. I guess the strain of the slightly-bent front bracket, over the course of twenty-odd months, finally made it snap. So, now both sides of my fairing were held together with glue, and the seat was held together with duct tape. Too much of a "beater" even for me. And, frankly, the 80s-style plastic oragami never really rubbed me the right way in the first place. So I pulled off all of the front plastic.
Now we're getting somewhere. I started buying parts. I took the FAQ's suggestion with EMGO because, well, they were pretty cheap, but a lot of the stuff was hit-or-miss. The headlight bucket I got was great, and the mirrors were fine, but those brackets that I see in a lot of these builds: I have no idea how you guys deal with them. You know the ones I mean, these ones:
http://www.nichecycle.com/mmNCS/Images/66-35810.jpg. I bought a pair, and they are shit. Like, from a butt. I don't know if I just got unlucky or what, but the part where the small piece clips into the big piece? On one of them, when I tightened it, it was visibly hanging on by less than a millimeter, and on the other one it just popped off.
So I bought some cast aluminum headlight brackets here, with rush shipping because it had already been a week since I rode a motorcycle. They worked fantastically. I had to temporarily remove the upper triple to get them on, but it was worth it compared to the crappy ones I had been trying to make work.
Another thing: my bike is a 2002, which was after Kawasaki started putting a mirror mount on the clutch lever perch, but before they put one on the brake master cylinder. So I tried to buy the Emgo mirror mount that the FAQ suggests. Guys, it just doesn't fit. Has anyone here managed to make this work? How?
So, right now I only have a mirror on the left side. I'm trying to get a replacement for that front part of the brake lever bracket that has a mirror perch on it; it won't be symmetrical but I'll find some way to deal with that.
Anyway, I have the headlamp on, with some neoprene washers to try and mitigate the vibrations. I got a speedometer from the same place that sold me the headlight mount; it came with hilarious Engrish instructions.
I believe this is sold under the "Drag Specialties" and "BikeMaster" brands, but I just bought it from here. Whatever, it's all coming out of the same Chinese factory. At first I was apprehensive about cutting into the stock wiring harness from the instrument cluster, so I tried to find some crimp-type quick disconnect connectors that would fit into the chassis harness connectors, but nobody local had any small enough. Then I remembered that my stock instrument cluster is held together with JB-Weld, and so the resale value is probably negligible, at which point I carved into the stock harness with gusto.
I looked at the wiring diagram for a bit in the FAQ until everything made sense. The lights on the replacement gauge are LEDs, and that D stands for "Diode", so they only wire up one way. On the oil light and "neautral" light, the switch is on the ground (cathode) side, but on the high beam light the switch is on the anode side and the ground pin is just wired to that black/yellow wire that is chassis ground everywhere. And the way Kawasaki wired the turn signal indicator was just too clever for their own good. I took both wires (grey and dark green) and connected them to diodes and ran the cathode ends of the diodes into the anode of the LED, and the cathode of the LED to ground.
The actual speedometer part uses a mechanical cable, and the stock cable fits fine. The speedometer expects a 2:1 ratio, and the stock speedometer is 23:9. But the new speedometer also expects a 19" front wheel, and the stock is 16". If my math is right, they both just about cancel out. I'm going to test this tomorrow against one of those displays that shows your current speed against the speed limit.
I mounted it to the top triple by replacing one of the handlebar bolts with a longer one and spacing it out with a couple washers and a nut.
I'm pretty happy with how this whole thing came out. I still need a right side mirror, and the turn signals haven't come in the mail yet, but it's looking good. I think, though, if I repaint the tank next spring (and it really needs it), I'm going to paint the headlight bucket the same color.
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