Hey Squidley....old project came back to life.

[Snaggletooth]

You remember way back when that you helped me out on the 4 1/2" Drag Specialty driving lights I was trying to mount on the brackets you made? I sent you the frame mounting brackets while you were still in MI and you added a gusset to them to stiffen them up. I think those brackets got more miles on them than my bike did that year. They ended up in Texas when you headed south and you and Ponch finshed them up and even powered coated them for me.

 

Well that project died out as the lights were pretty heavy and big and caught a lot of wind and they would shake so bad going down the road it would knock the filiments out of the headlights. I gave up and went back to the smaller and lighter lights.

 

For a while. I liked those DS lights. So back to the drawing board.

 

I think I've nailed it. I fabbed up a set of prototype braces out of aluminum tubing and installed them on the bike with the DS lights. No more shakey at all. Even at highway speeds they are solid. Finally. So now to make a set out of SS tubing and finish this up.

 

They don't look too bad and do clear the lower fairing and the foot wings with plenty of room to spare. That was the whole problem before. No where to really mount any type of brace that would clear everything. I'll go with function over form on this one.

 

So your efforts to help me out were not wasted. It paid off in the end. Thank you once again.

 

Mike

[bongobobny]

It looks so, so, so, RETRO!

 

Good job Mike!

[Snaggletooth]

I'll go with "retro". I'm afraid that in a few more years it might be closer to "Steamship Punk". LOL!

 

I got to looking into the DS lights again after installing the Shindengen R/R last week. Man that lil bugger works well. The other driving lights I was running were 65 watts each and the charge only dropped 2/10th of a volt when I kicked them on. With these lights, 35 watts each it only drops 1/10th.

 

With the Hella H9 setup for the headlight I have all the down the road light I need. These will give me more spread and won't be so intense for oncoming traffic.

[Aussie Annie]

Starship snaggletooth"

[Squidley]

Nice out of the box thinking Mike! I agree that heavier lights didn't work as well on the brackets. I like the idea of the bigger lights as you get a much better beam projection. I always like to see others creativity, especially on something I designed. Make me a better fabricator when I have input on things I made...Good on ya bud!

[Snaggletooth]

Squidley, I've been so far out of the box for so long with this bike I don't even know where the box is anymore.

 

The other plus side of this is with the heavier lights the brackets tend to droop a bit with the little bit of play that exists between the tab on the frame bracket the alignment slot in your brackets. With the braces I able to add a lil up pressure to the light and keep them level. Works out well.

 

Rather that the beams being a few degrees off level they are closer to straight across.

 

I'm really starting to think that all you need in the tool box for these bikes is a big hammer, an anvil and a drill. Well....sometimes.

[Marcarl]

Two great minds think alike,,,,, I love my BIG lights and at 35 watts, no power issue,,, and they can be seen in bright daylight. Also no more shimmering, works great!

Check out the brackets, original Yamaha I believe, re-chromed,,,, thanks Brad!

[Snaggletooth]

Hey Marcarl,

 

Ya just had to tease didn't ya. You have any idea long long I looked for a set of those lightbars? I found one and it was a rusted mess.

 

Look good though.

 

Mike

[Squidley]

Carl,

Glad to see you getting some use out of them They are the best bet to use if you can get ahold of a set of them, but they are as rare as chicken lips. If I was going to start making driving light brackets again I would make them like the originals as they are very stout, but take a while to make.