lol now ill just change the housing...
i love this forum
Hmph, f*cken' ass... Well I am proud owner of a left hand side installed chrome switch cap kit. The right can wait til tomorrow. I took 3 hours for the non-throttle side and I have sore fingers (and half of my life is playing guitars I need to think of them)... I will say it was frustrating, insofar that it was awkward. Here's a little plot of my night of fun (over already)... Some hints/tips/pitfalls noted in bold to compliment the 'roadhousemonkey' link/instructions above. - my new torx key set-in-one worked a treat. $22 for all torx sizes, it'd best last a lifetime. - Little watchmaker's sized screwdrivers are your friend. Non-throttle side: - I went for the turning switch first, it popped off after I picked up how it worked. Whilst you need caution dealing with plastic and the tabs, you also need some elbow grease as well. Moderation. Frustration cured by walking away and amusing yourself for a five-min break in between. - You might want a rag to wipe the lubricant stuff from your fingers on some of the switches that I had on mine... - Getting that left-turn cap back on was an ass. I realise you need to allow for the spring's action, not sit it flush as it is when housed - the spring then does it job when assembled.. Done. - Next the horn and headlights caps. Popped off like a charm. Oh shit - so did that UNATTACHED spring from the Horn switch. I better pick that up - be wary of this... - Organising to replace the cap, and apply the screw again I drop it... and under a bench where there are no mats and the dirt floor of the shed shows... - 30 mins of searching with my little magnet stick and nothing. Feeling beaten, I move the bike forward for one last look at it appears with the shadow of the bike gone - huge relief. [I'll take ten dickhead points for that one]. - This spring installs easily in the housed little holes in the Horn cap and you'll know its right as it will feel and operate as it should. - Finally got these bastards back on, and the housing reassembled - no pinches on the wiring take a good mental note of how it sat beforehand. - That one 's done, but it was 11:55pm, and time for some Playstation. The Sporty can keep the equivalent of 'odd shoes' for the next 24 hours... - Final tip I can think of, keep checking the switches work as you're making your replacement. Given I have had a crash run, I should get the throttle side done quicker (learning curve), but I'll still allow an hour or two. Its not overly hard, its just fiddly with a few surprises for what seems an easy bling job. I thought I'd f'd up majorly a couple of times. When I'm done on the throttle I am gonna MAKE everyone I know admire the new caps.
Thanks for the tips Mapleleafs, I was expecting those problems with the springs as well. When I do mine I will take some pics of the important bits to take note of and post them here. Going to make a new tank cover as well as the original is bland. Just got to figure out a design for it. I was thinking of following along with the studs that are on the bags and seat and a HD emblem center of the cover. I need to have a look at some bikes to get an idea.
Nice one. I might photo the right side installation tonight... though I figure I'll be getting wound up at certain times and the camera might get the John Daly treatment. Some pics of the inner mechanisms by us would be the goal - even the roadmonkey one is an overview and didn't have much on the caps and/or springs. The good thing is it works together logically, its just so damn fiddly. Another American tip was to use a hair dryer on the caps before popping them on - it makes them more malleable... I haven't tried that yet myself.
Haha I got all six on and shining now - and the right side was a breeze. Took about an hour from opening up the housing to getting it done and then resetting the cables and ensuring positioning. In fact, locking down the internal screws. positioning and packing away my tools took over half the time - no drama with the dastardly ferrules either. I at least smiled all the way through it. Its also handy to know how firm you can be with the chrome caps going on, and the spring setups. More confidence and last night's learning curve helped speed things up a lot. Impressed with the look, and have the stock caps packed away. Now I can do chrome caps, I'll have to try learning how to masturbate as advised earlier in the thread!! Throttle side tip: as with any adjustment to the switch housing on this side, jam a 4mm or larger 'shim'/wedge between your brake lever and the housing to protect your brake light switch from being damaged. Give it a go, take it slow. I'm usually all thumbs with anything other than a guitar... and its well worth the look you get with these caps.
Well done mate and thanks for the tips.
Ok just done mine. It took me about an hour and half from wow to go. I ended up taking both clutch and brake asseblies of the bars and removing the throttle cables to allow easy access. The points that Mapleleafs raised are very helpful. One thing that caught me out was the small brass ferrul ends on the throttle cables. I dropped one, they are very small. Overall not a hard job but very fiddly. The jewelers screwdriver helped a lot. if you follow the idiots guide it is quite and simle job as the pictures make it easy to understand the process.
