The WJ5 is going on the Nighthawk after all!

[Larry Fine]

Well, I'm doing it! I cut out the lower section of the bracket, coated the cut ends with liquid rubber, contact-cemented rubber pads (cut from a hose) to the saddles for spacing and friction, and clamped them onto the bike's frame with two hose clamps per saddle.

The bracket is rock solid, and the WJ5 fits on the bike and looks great, but I haven't fastened the WJ to the bracket permanently. I need to fashion a pair of wedges, about 1" thick at the rear, and longer bolts to place the angle of the windshield parallel with the fork tubes.

I'm thinking of making a simple pair of wedges out of a wood 2x2 (actual size 1.5" sq), and painting them black. I'm also thinking a hollow black plastic square tube of some sort might be lighter. Please check out the attached thumbs and let me know what you think so far.

 

[brianinpa]

Looks like it will work. Just wondering though: is some additional strength needed across the bottom where you removed the two pieces? Is there enough clearance to weld something a little higher up and tie it into both of the down tubes of the mount?

 

[Larry Fine]

Brian, there is a horizontal frame member under the exhaust pipes that connect the frame's cradles together immediately below the bracket's lower saddles, so I'm convinced that there is no compromise in strength. You can see that member in the last two pics.

Got a sound enclosure for me???

 

[Larry Fine]

Okay, I have done the following off the bike in preparation:

1. I rewired the running lights, moving the right-side's green wire to the harness' brown wire.

2. I relocated the bike's separate H4 halogen bulb-and-housing to the fairing's headlight bucket.

3. I installed and wired an illuminated lighter socket, enlarging the fairing's lighter hole slightly.

 

[Larry Fine]

I wired the bike half of the wiring harness into the headlight bucket. Everything plugged right in, thanks to prep-work on the workbench (picnic table on the back deck, actually). I mounted the WJ using a pair of thread spools and 3"-long 1/4-20 bolts & nuts (as temporary spacers to raise the rear). The final mounting spacers will need to be about 1/4" thinner than the spools to angle the windshield just right.

I went for a ride this afternoon. Everything works, and the bike barely feels different at speed, but the weight is apparent at lower and parking speeds. The main difference is that it's so weird for the fairing to remain stationary when turning the front end. Plus, the lower triple clamp meets the bracket, reducing the steering travel just enough that I can no longer engage the steering-lock position with the key.

 

[Beekman]

I would think you should be fine, strength wise. Both brackets in my possession, one from a cb750 and one from a bmw both do not have a cross member like what you removed. They are both unmodified (save for a bit of bending to make the cb one fit my maxim)

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[Beekman]

Took me a bit to get used to the fairing not turning with the handlebars as well, still weirda me out on some turns at speed because the visual tricks me into thinking im not actually counter steering.

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[Larry Fine]

. . . counter steering.

Interesting you mentioned that. I learned counter-steering early on in my riding experience. I've thought about bringing it up in an off-topic thread, discussing riding techniques. If anyone asks what counter-steering is, I'll do so. Many riders are not consciously aware that they're doing it when they ride.


Added: I am riding cautiously, and treating it kinda like a new bike, with a learning curve.

 

[Larry Fine]

both do not have a cross member like what you removed.

I've seen pics of the one you describe, with only the side angled (albeit thicker) tubes. That's another reason I wasn't extremely hesitant to make the mod, and I'm more than satisfied with the results.

Hey, I put a 'Jammer on a bike it was not remotely designed for, nor was it intended to ever have one, so I'm ebullient.


Not only that, everything came color-coordinated!

 

[Saxonplace]

Well, I'm doing it! I cut out the lower section of the bracket, coated the cut ends with liquid rubber, contact-cemented rubber pads (cut from a hose) to the saddles for spacing and friction, and clamped them onto the bike's frame with two hose clamps per saddle.

The bracket is rock solid, and the WJ5 fits on the bike and looks great, but I haven't fastened the WJ to the bracket permanently. I need to fashion a pair of wedges, about 1" thick at the rear, and longer bolts to place the angle of the windshield parallel with the fork tubes.

I'm thinking of making a simple pair of wedges out of a wood 2x2 (actual size 1.5" sq), and painting them black. I'm also thinking a hollow black plastic square tube of some sort might be lighter. Please check out the attached thumbs and let me know what you think so far.

I had to cut the centre rails out on a Rickman fairing frame I had many years ago as the exhaust headers on the aftermarket exhaust came out further than the stock ones, it did not seem to make any difference to stability although Rickman used thicker tubing than Vetter for their mounts.
Only thing I have found is that hose clamps either rust away or strip when you tighten them up so I now use exhaust clamps the ones with the metal plate back plate and "U" bracket to attach the down tubes to the frame on my SS as they seem much stronger.

 

[Larry Fine]

Okay, mounted and adjusted. What do you guys think?

 

[PeteB]

I would think you should be fine, strength wise. Both brackets in my possession, one from a cb750 and one from a bmw both do not have a cross member like what you removed. They are both unmodified (save for a bit of bending to make the cb one fit my maxim)

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

I would agree with you on the strength of the bracket without the lower cross member. On my Shadow ACE Tourer I had to split my bracket and fabricate a weld point to the frame on either side. Each of these bikes present a unique challenge, that's for sure.

 

[PeteB]

Okay, mounted and adjusted. What do you guys think?
View attachment 1725 View attachment 1726 View attachment 1727 View attachment 1728 View attachment 1729

Larry this looks great! Nice work on fitting the WJ5 to this bike.

 

[brianinpa]

Looks good to me!

 

[Larry Fine]

Thanx, guys!

 

[Larry Fine]

A few new pics:



(You all know they're clickable thumbnails, right?)


I think I need to try to bring the fairing rearward some.

 

[Beekman]

Looks great larry

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[Kynan C.]

Super sharp Larry. Great job! Cycle Sound? Yep thats me! Unpacking today. Ill shoot you details.

 

[Larry Fine]

Thanx!!!

 

[Larry Fine]

I just put together my own lowers mounting-hardware kit. I bought 3/8" rubber well nuts from Grainger (#3ZLW1), and 10-32 x 3/4" stainless button-head hex screws and black plastic hinged #10 screw covers from Home Depot. The screw covers take the place of the plastic washers.

I tried the Philips-head stainless first, but the head was too thick for the screw cover to snap and stay closed. The covers hide the screw heads and give a finished look. They come in different colors (inlcuding white) and sizes, and could be used to clean up exposed screw heads.

Don't start yammering for pics just yet; they're coming.