Hey guys,
This is my first post on HD Forums. I'm pretty much a newbie to Harley's - I've previously been a Ninja fan, owning a 250 and then a 600 - but times change, and so does your idea of what a nice looking bike is. I've had no experience what so ever when it comes to customisation, or even working with a motorbike in that fact, so for those of you who are pretty eager to customise their bike, but are a bit nervous to give it a propper go them selves, don't be afraid! Haha - i'm in the same position as you guys. I recently purchased a 2013 Iron 883, to basically use as a project bike, and help me get a grip on how bikes are put together. I'm still pretty young, so may as well start learning these things now. Anyways, lucky for me, my dads had a little bit of experience in customisng bikes (when he was super young - he use to drag bikes), and my brother works at Super Cheap, so he's been able to either lend me most of his tools, or buy any I need for pretty cheap. Anyways, lets get to the point!
So this is my first little DIY project : I've been wanting to relocate the Speedo on the bike since the day I bought it. I think it's one of the best looking, minimal cost mods out there. There's a super cheap clamp you can get off ebay that I know a lot of people have grabbed, for about $48 + postage. Works up to around $60 all up. I will definitely be putting together a little how-to vid on that when I get round to installing it.
So, on the 2013 model, you'll notice that the speedo is actually made as one piece with your indicator / dummy lights and top clamp. So if your plan is to relocate your speedo, then these are your 4 options as to everything you need to do and buy:
i. You can purchase an all-in-one speedo relocationg bracket which includes the dummy lights (I personally don't like the look of these - and they a like $250!) - plus you will still need to replace your current top clamp as it now has an empty speedo bracket, with a new top clamp (at least another $60)
ii. You can purchase the cheap ebay relocation kit, a new top clamp which has no speedo bracket, and the a little bracket that you can attach to the new top clamp which allows you to double-side tape your original indicator / dummy lights back on. All up, this option will probably come to around $150 - 200 all up as apposed to the $300+ option above.
iii. You can purchase the cheap ebay relocation kit, and a new top clamp which HAS a dummy light section intergrated (such as the joker machine top clamp). This is the cleanest and best option out of the 3 so far, as there are only 2 parts, and the price will still only be in the $150 - $200 price bracket.
iv. The last option is to purchase the cheap ebay relocation kit, and then take your original top clamp that has the speedo bracket on it, and basically grab an angle grinder and chop it off! This option will keep you well under $100 to do, and honestly look the best out of the lot, as the shape and look of the original top clamp is far better in my opinion than the Joker Machine one.
HOW TO PREP AND CHOP YOUR ORIGINAL SPEEDO
1. First up, you need a couple tools - An Angle Grinder, Sander, Sand Paper, Masking Tape, a bucket of water, some torn off carboard or thin plastic, and some Selleys Auto Knead It Putty (used to fill the holes left over in the back of the top clamp once the speedo is chopped off).
2. Take the speedo/top clamp off your bike. There's plenty videos on youtube that show you how. It's really easy.
3. Once your top clamp is off your bike, grab some masking tape, and basically just wrap the tape around your top clamp so that you can see where you need to cut. It's a good idea to also remove the dummy lights from the clamp now, as the clamp can get very hot when ur cutting, and it may melt the plastics of the dummy lights.
4. Once its all masked up, and you have a clear indication of where you will be cutting your clamp, grab your angle grinder and just place your clamp on a piece ply wood, or some sort of protection for the floor. Basically just use your foot (be carefull - dad helped me cut it so thats his foot you see) to hold the clamp nice and steady, and start cutting along the masking tape - make sure to cut on the speedo mount side, and not the side of the clamp that you'll be using after this is all done!
5. It usually will take a good 5 minutes to cut through it properly, as I am pretty sure the clamp is made of cast iron, so it's pretty tough stuff! The clamp will get very hot as you cut more and more, so it's a good idea to just grab a bucket of water, and throw the clamp into the bucket every now and again, just to keep it cool. (I did it about 3 times while I cut mine).
6. Once its cut through (and don't stress if it's a little rough), give the new clamp a bit of a clean and dry it out nicely. You'll notice there are now two pretty big holes on either side of the back of the clamp which scares everyone for a sec, but don't worry, that is what our Selleys Auto Putty is for!
7. Once the clamp is all nice and dry, grab the Selleys Auto Putty and a relatively thick piece of carboard. The cardboard is used as a backbone for the holes in your clamp. You don't want your putty to fill the inside of your clamp, as your dummy lights still need to go here, so some torn off cardboard is a great way to just keep the putty from going too far into the clamp.
8. Read the insructions in the Putty tube so you can understand how the putty works. Basically, all you have to do is cut a small piece (I took about 3 cm) of the putty off, and knead the putty with your fingers until the putty is one solid colour. Now you can apply it to the back of your clamp, and start filling the holes. The putty dries within a few minutes, but gives you more than enough time to work your putty around the back of the clamp. It's best to add a little extra putty as you can always sand away the excess. I filled up the two holes, and added about 2mm of putty covering the whole back of the clamp to allow for any holes in the roughly cut clamp to be filled and then later smoothed out with a sander and some sanding paper.
9. Once you're happy that all the holes have been nicely filled, let the putty set for about an hour. I waited an hour and a half, just to be sure.
10. Grab a sander (if you have one) and sand a nice straight base on the back of the clamp. I only used the sander for this section, as you want this section to be a smooth and a straight as possible. Then grab some med-rough sand paper, and sand off all the rough excess putty, smoothing out all the edges and getting rid of any left over clunks.
11. By this stage, your clamp should be looking pretty damn good. If you do spot a couple little chips or holes in the putty (like I did), just add a little more putty - pretty simple!
12. Now that your clamp is done, and is looking like a solid piece of art - Give the clamp at least another day or two to properly dry, and then you can prep her for paint. I'm in the process of painting my entire bike, so I'll be using the bike paint to paint the clamp, so bare with me. I'll most likely be painting the bike myself within the next 2 weeks, so should have some final photos for everyone by then. And yes, this will be my first experience painting a motorbike too, so wish me luck ha ha.
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Hey Guys, so looks like I won't be painting the bike for at least another few weeks, so I decided to just do a temporary paint job, at least until I get to painting the new bike. Most of you who end up giving this project a go will do it this way anyways, as 90% of people will wanna' keep it black.
So taking off from where left off - Once you are happy with the sand job, and everything is looking nice and flush, you can prep it up for paint. If your top clamp is pretty dirty, I reccomend that you degrease it, and give it a nice clean with some metholated sprits, to remove any muck and grime. Once you're happy that your top clamp is clean, you'll want to try get your hands on 3 things: a primer, some matt black vehicle spray paint, and some clear cloat.
All up this process will take around 2-3 hours to be done properly, but about 90% of that time you'll be sipping on a coffee and just waiting for it all to dry.
1. First up, you'll need to lay a couple primer coats on. I just did two quick coats myself, with about 10 minutes wait in between the coats. Try keep the coating nice and even, don't get too close, and make sure you reach any hidden sports.
2. Once your 2-3 primer coats are done, grab the black spray paint. Again, I recommend 2 - 3 coats of this, but you will need to wait it out a little longer than the primer coat. I only gave mine 2 coats, with about a 30 minutes wait between the first and second coat. But if you have the time to wait an hour of longer and do 3 coats, it's probably better. I got a hold of mum's hair dryer, and just gave it a bit of extra air to help it dry quicker. Whatever works for you pretty much.
3. Once all your black is on, it should be looking pretty good! You can now grab your clear coat, and just lightly spray one or two coats on top of it. Clear coat has a little bit of shine to it, so if you just dust a couple layers on, you'll get a very nice metal matte black finish, which I recon looks great. You pretty much can't tell that it was a DIY job.
Some more How-To's to come from me : Flipping Mirrors, Changing Handlebars, Changing Headlight, Replacing your full exhaust system, Replacing your Rear and Front springs/shocks, How to paint your own Helmet, Cutting the rear fender, Custom Rear Fender Number Plate and light, and hopefully a few others too. Stay posted.
Hope this helps guys, and I'm sure it will save you quite a bit of $$$ - Appologies for the shitty photos, they were all on the phone. I'll make sure I use the SLR for the rest of the How-To's.
B
How much are the relocation kits anyway? And you're right, the best way to use a grinder like that is by using someone else's foot. Unless you like your Dad in which case clamp it or get a vice or something...
Great first post mate. Like your approach and hands on efforts. And I would wear boots.....just in case...Cheers, TC
How is this project going?
Any updates?
Sorry man, nothing just yet. Spray guns arrived on Friday, so i'll hopefully get around to doing the first couple coats next weekend, and hopefully have it finished by the next? The day it's done i'll have some updates for ya though.
Check out JOKER MACHINE, they have a good website and they offer a clamp that holds the dummy lights.
Actually I found them but they are for this type of sportster. Spose the factory alloy one can be cut up like this too. You know the one that covers the headlamp?
Update: This is how the bike front end is currently looking after the re-lo... Lovin it!
